People are saying a selfie of mass murderer James Holmes is one of the 'creepiest' photos ever taken.
Holmes was responsible for the Aurora, Colorado, theatre shooting at a screening for The Dark Knight Rises on July 20, 2012, which ended up killing 12 people and injuring 70 others.
Dressed in tactical clothing, the 24-year-old Holmes set off tear gas grenades and shot into the audience with multiple firearms.
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Holmes was later convicted of 165 felonies and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
In his trial, some photos of Holmes which he had reportedly taken before the attack on his cell phone was used as evidence in the trial, as per CBS.
These showed the mass shooter posing with guns while wearing black contacts.
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He can also been seen sporting bright orange hair while smiling gleefully at the camera.
The pictures were included on a X (formerly known as Twitter) thread discussing 'some of the creepiest photos ever taken' - and some commenters seemed to agree with that statement.
Writing on X, one user simply wrote: “This guy doesn't look normal”
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“God, this picture of the Aurora shooter freaked me out coming through my feed as I scrolled,” added another.
“Why are James Holmes' eyes black like that? So creepy!” a third commented.
"Their eyes..." someone else wrote about his contact lenses.
“Even his face looks creepy.. Too early for Halloween,” a fifth added.
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When Holmes was apprehended by police on the day of the shooting, he told them that he had booby trapped his home with explosive devices.
Police then evacuated five buildings surrounding his Aurora residence, which was about 5 miles north of the cinema.
One day after the shooting, officials disarmed an explosive device that was wired to the apartment's front door, allowing a remote-controlled robot to enter and disable other explosives.
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Holmes was initially found guilty of all charges against him, including two counts of first-degree murder for each of the victims and two counts of attempted murder for each of the 70 survivors, as per ABC News.
While admitting to the killings, he entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, which was accepted.
His trial began on April 27, 2015 and concluded on August 26, 2015.
A judge concluded that he should serve 12 consecutive life sentences plus 3,318 years without parole after the jury spared Holmes the death penalty due to failure to reach an unanimous verdict.
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The judge stated it is the court’s intention that ‘the defendant never set foot in free society again.’
Gerrard Kaonga