911 Calls Played And Traps In Holmes' Apartment Described In Colo. Court

By Mark Memmott

Published January 8, 2013 at 1:09 PM CST

A courtroom sketch of James Holmes as he was brought into a courtroom in Centennial, Colo., this week.

On Day 2 of the preliminary hearing for James Holmes, who is charged with the murders of 12 people and wounding of dozens at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., last summer:

-- Some of the 911 calls made from inside the theater during the midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises were played. "My two cousins, they're sitting on the floor ... one of them" isn't breathing, a 13-year-old girl tells the dispatcher. ( Denver Post)

The girl was "the cousin of Ashley Moser and Veronica Moser-Sullivan. Veronica is a 6-year-old who passed away during the shooting. Ashley is her mother. ... The caller was frantic, saying multiple times that she could not hear the dispatcher. A few times, the caller shouted 'Help me.' During the 911 call, Veronica's father, Ian Sullivan, had his eyes closed and was crying." ( 9News)

-- "The magnitude of the Colorado theater shooting could be heard in the first 911 call to police. The call was played Tuesday in court during a hearing laying out the prosecution's case against suspected gunman James Holmes. The call lasted 27 seconds and police say at least 30 shots could be heard." ( CBS Denver)

-- "Photos were shown of what officials found when they entered James Holmes' apartment in Aurora; an FBI bomb technician testified about what was found there. The carpet was soaked with gasoline. A trip wire had been set up across the door, attached to a thermos full of glycerine. The thermos was positioned over a pan full of chemicals. A spark would have ignited the whole apartment." ( Denver Post)

Bill summed up the news from Day 1 here.

The purpose of this week's hearings is to officially determine if there's enough evidence to bring Holmes, 25, to trial on 164 counts, with charges that range from murder and attempted murder to possessing explosives illegally. The hearings will both give a sense of the evidence and the strategies likely to be used by the prosecution and the defense (which may make the case that Holmes is insane).