Colorado cinema gunman James Holmes revealed Tuesday that he perceives life in prison just as bad as the death penalty, though he still wishes to be given life out of concern for his family. The disclosure came during an interview session conducted with court-appointed psychiatrist William Reid.
Former neuroscience graduate student, 27-year old Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He was the arrested after fatally shooting 12 moviegoers and injuring dozens more during a rampage at a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" in July 2012, according to Reuters.
Holmes was charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder. The prosecution has also stated that it will seek the death penalty if Holmes gets convicted, according to Business Insider.
When asked during the taped interview how he felt about the prospect of facing possible execution, Holmes said that he initially though capital punishment would be worse than a life sentence, but now he sees both punishments as being equal.
However, he added that he still prefers to get a life sentence out of concern for his family, according to Reuters.
"I think it would matter if I died to them," he said, referring to the loss and grief that his parents and sister would feel if he is indeed executed.
The defense has stated that Holmes suffers from schizophrenia and was not in control of his actions at the time of the shooting. Conversely, Reid has testified that he believes that Holmes was sane when he went on a rampage, Reuters reported.
Holmes said in the video interview that he was not nervous prior to launching the attack, though he stated that his mind went on "autopilot" once the first shot was fired, Business Insider reported.
He added that other jail inmates have dubbed him as the "Joker" after Batman's arch-nemesis. Holmes dyed his hair red prior to the attack, resembling the famous comic villain.
Though he maintains that he simply dyed his hair to look more "exotic" in dating sites, Holmes does not think that the moniker is necessarily a bad thing.
"It makes me feel like they kind of turned me into a supervillain," he said.
