Attention Profiler : James Holmes

I wonder if mass-killer James Holmes will give a live interview from prison within the next week. Will he issue a statement? Once the police have detonated all of the ‘booby-trap-bombs’ in the assailant’s apartment, will they find some sort of manifesto, like that of the Unabomber? In other words, does James Eagan Holmes have anything left in his performance? Because, he certainly has the stage, and the spotlight:






The cyberspace editions of the biggest media outlets are all clearly latching onto this wave, milking it for every ounce of readership they can. It is no surprise to find their tv versions equally devoting wall-to-wall coverage of the mass murder:







I’ve said before that the news needs wars and crisis in order to keep itself relevant. In the absence of such attention waves, the ‘news’ – the cable variety especially – often resorts to politics. But the truth of the matter is, politics are increasingly becoming a bore to many Americans.  In fact, this recent tragedy usurped the attention that might have otherwise gone to the Presidential candidates Obama, and Mitt Romney.  Both politicians were forced to interrupt their normal speeches, and acknowledge the shooting in Colorado, likely because they knew the ‘news’ would do it anyway:

from cbsnews.com:

President Obama addressed the shooting from Fort Myers, Fla., calling for a moment of silence.

“There are going to be other days for politics,” Mr. Obama said. “This, I think, is a day for prayer and reflection.”

The president thanked the gathered crowd and told them he was grateful for their support.

“I was looking forward to having a fun conversation with you about some really important matters we face as a country … the differences between myself and my opponent in this election,” he said. “But this morning we woke up to news of a tragedy that reminds us of all the ways we are united as one American family.”

Republican challenger Mitt Romney embraced the same sentiment of unity in Bow, N.H., where he had been scheduled to campaign.

“We’ll all spend a little less time thinking about the worries of our day and more time wondering about how to help those who are in need of compassion most,” he said in brief remarks to a subdued audience. “The answer is that we can come together. We will show our fellow citizens the good heart of the America we know and love.

Mr. Obama canceled a second appearance scheduled near Orlando, Fla., and was returning to Washington. Romney, too, canceled some media interviews. And both candidates moved to pull ads against each other airing in Colorado.

So then, where does this James Holmes attention wave go next? By tonight, much of the ‘developing’ aspect of the story will be in the books. The wave will move into the next phase stories like this always move into: analysis of the culprit. In fact, it has already begun:




Mr. Jack Levin (and his moustache) is obviously, a criminologist. He studies crime and criminals. He was on MSNBC today trying to explain to the viewing public the ‘type’ of person Mr. Holmes is. After all, as pop culture has shown, ‘oddball’ criminals like serial killers, mass murderers, bombers, and terrorists fascinate Americans. These individuals, due to the bizarre (and rare) details of their crimes, are remembered as ‘stars’ of criminal history. James Holmes is now a mass-murderer. Will he ‘join the canon’ of the ‘star’ criminals America has produced? I’m not so sure. But he has given himself a chance, due to one detail unique in his line of ‘work’: he’s still alive.


I’m no criminologist, but I am an avid reader of true crime books. Some of the best stuff I’ve read was written by John E. Douglas, a retired FBI special agent, and one of the  first ‘criminal profilers’.  He’s an expert on criminal psychology. In Douglas’ Anatomy of Motive, the author provides analysis of crimes falling under broad categories of ‘special crimes’, like serial killings, mass murders, spree killings, mass poisonings, etc. The fascinating thing about Douglas’ analysis is that it shows the importance of spotting sometimes minute differences between the different types of offenses, and offenders.


from wikipedia.org:

Mass murder (in military contexts, sometimes interchangeable with “mass destruction” or “genocide“) is the act of murdering a large number of people (four or more), typically at the same time or over a relatively short period of time.^[1] According to the FBI, mass murder is defined as four or more murders occurring during a particular event with no cooling-off period between the murders. A mass murder typically occurs in a single location in which a number of victims are killed by an individual or more.^[2] Most acts of mass murder end with the death of the perpetrator(s), whether by direct suicide, or being killed by law enforcement.

James Holmes is a mass murderer. Pay close attention to the very last line of the excerpt, and you come to the conclusion that, statistically speaking, Mr. Holmes should have shot himself, or gone out in a ‘blaze of glory’ with the police, much like Seung-Hui Cho, or  the North Hollywood Shootout of 1997,

Mass murderers are generally of a ‘doomsday’ mentality. They are – like most criminals – individuals who are greatly frustrated by the disconnect between their (usually narcissitic) view of themselves, coupled with their general failure in societal achievement. But, unlike, say the serial killer – who is most interested in ‘repeating his crimes over and over – the mass murderer plans for a ‘final day’ of revenge against what he feels is society’s failure to acknowledge his supposed ‘worth’. Thus, the details of Holmes’ known bio reads like a broken record:


from cbsnews.com

• One federal official told CBS News that at this time Holmes appears to have been “under the radar.”
• CBS News reports Holmes doesn’t appear to have a criminal record in Colorado or in San Diego, Calif., where he graduated from high school in 2006.
• there’s nothing to suggest the family had any involvement.
• a retired electrical engineer who lives next door to Holmes’ family, told The Associated Press that Holmes was a loner.
• Holmes couldn’t find a job after graduating from a public university in California. (Holmes graduated in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience.)
• There was no immediate word of any motive for the attack.

The usual fascination with ‘odd’ criminals such as Holmes comes from the fact that they appear ‘out of the blue’, just some ‘regular guy’ who one day ‘freaks out’ and kills lots of people. The ‘holes’ in the story behind such an innocent facade beg to be filled-in, each new detail a riveting piece to the puzzle.

Such bizarre and ‘grisly’ details have already been filled-in to some degree already in the Holmes case:

• Police recovered four guns at the theater, including two pistols, a shotgun and an assault rifle, Oates told reporters at a news conference. All four guns were purchased legally at three Colorado gun stores between May 22 and July 6, Orr reports. Authorities also recovered a ballistic helmet and a gas mask.
• The suspect in Friday’s (July 20) shooting at an Aurora, Colorado, midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” had been planning the attack for at least two months, new reports indicated. According to NBC News, James Holmes, 24, the suspect in the Friday massacre that left 12 dead and 58 injured, began legally purchasing weapons and ammunition in May. Holmes also extensively booby-trapped his apartment, located roughly five miles from the theater.

So, clearly Mr. Holmes – remember a ‘smart’ guy – had envisioned his final ‘day of glory’ in minute detail. The fact that the man ‘planned his attack for weeks’ is logical; whether or not he had a criminal record, he had a criminal ‘mind’. Like many of his ilk, he lived largely in a world of fantasy. There is clearly a sort of militaristic theme in this crime, with the wide selection of gun-types and ammo recovered from the theater, along with the (unnecessary?) ballistic helmet and gas mask. I’ll bet Holmes looked really scary in the theater, his face hidden behind the mask, helmet secured tightly, for the ‘second act’ of his ‘performance’: the shootout with police.

Only there was no ‘second act.’ After Holmes’ carnage inside the theater, and after police descended on the crime scene, Holmes was ‘Officers found Holmes near a car behind the theater.’ Strange. Colorado is a death penalty state. It is likely that though Mr. Holmes both spared his own life, and did not force police to kill him after his ‘final act’ (suicide by cop), he will die by lethal injection in prison. Hence, the logical decision made by most mass murderers to just ‘end it all’ right at the crime scene, or soon thereafter; you’re gonna probably die anyway if you get caught.


But yet Mr. Holmes declined to take his own life? This reminds me of the Anders Behring Breivik case from almost exactly one year ago (July 22, 2011):

from wikipedia:

On 22 July 2011, Breivik bombed government buildings in Oslo, which resulted in eight deaths.

Within hours after the explosion he arrived at Utøya island, the site of a Labour Party youth camp, posing as a police officer and then opened fire on the unarmed adolescents present, reportedly killing 69.^[19][69][70] The youngest victim was Sharidyn Svebakk-Bøhn of Drammen,^[71] who was 14 years old.^[72] Another victim was Trond Berntsen, the step-brother of Crown Princess Mette-Marit (the son of Princess Mette-Marit’s late stepfather).^[73]

Breivik confessed and stated that the purpose of the attack was to save Norway and Western Europe from a Muslim takeover, and that the Labour Party had to “pay the price” for “letting down Norway and the Norwegian people”.^[74]

When an armed police SWAT unit from Oslo arrived on the island and confronted him, he surrendered without resistance.^[75] After his arrest, he was held by armed police on the island, and interrogated throughout the night, before being moved to a holding cell in Oslo. On the way to his first jail meeting, Breivik’s police escort was met with an angry crowd, some of whom shouted “burn in hell” or “traitor”, while some used stronger words.^[70][74][76]

Breivik is described as a ‘terrorist’ for some unknown reason. This is likely due to the fact that, after his arrest, he made an outrageous statement about his personal mission to ‘save Norway from a Muslim takeover.’ I recall being equally surprised that the perpetrator in those killings declined to end his own life after such compiling such a high body-count in his crimes. Again, the psychology of the mass murderer is such that by the time they ‘act out’, they’re usually at the end of their rope; living in a world they hate makes no sense to them. Unless, of course, they have ‘something to say’, as Breivik obviously showed.

So, then, does James Eagan Holmes have ‘something more to say’ to whoever will listen? Is there a rhyme to the ‘reason’ the 24 year old ‘neuroscientist’ / mass murderer  chose not to follow the normal course charted for him by other ‘stars’ in his line of ‘work’? A friend of mine said yesterday, ‘..these motherfuckers want to make history,’.  Time will tell how much ‘remembered’ the ciminal act of James Holmes will be.  His deed speaks for itself. Unlike  Seung-Hui Cho, however, Holmes elected (against type) to separate himself from his deed. He’s managed to prolong his attention wave just a bit longer. Now, then, what – if anything – does the man  have to say?