Aurora police describe suspect's behavior

CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- It was just hours after a deadly theater shooting, and James Holmes was not acting like a man accused of methodically planning the attack and booby-trapping his apartment.

As a police detective interviewed the suspect they'd picked up outside the theater in Aurora, he started pretending the paper bags on his hands, meant to preserve gunshot residue, were puppets.

The former neuroscience graduate student tried to jam a staple into an electrical outlet. He played with a cup on the table. An officer noted that his eyes were dilated.

The description came yesterday as prosecutors try to show that Holmes should face a trial for the July 20 attack. He faces more than 160 felony charges for allegedly killing 12 and injuring 70.

Defense attorneys say Holmes is mentally ill, and used their questions to try to make that point. They haven't elaborated but have said they might call witnesses later in the week who could discuss Holmes' mental health.

The description of Holmes after the attack, by police detective Craig Appel, seemed to undercut prosecutors' attempts to show him as methodical, spending two months assembling his arsenal.

The first recorded purchase: two tear gas grenades, ordered online May 10. Holmes also bought two Glock handguns, a shotgun and an AR-15 rifle, along with 6,295 rounds of ammunition, targets, body armor and chemicals, prosecutors said.

He dyed his hair orange, then bought a scope and non-firing dummy bullets on July 1. The visit and hair color were documented in security video.

Finally, he bought glycerin and potassium permanganate, chemicals that could combine to create fire and sparks, from a Denver science store. At some point, he improvised napalm, as well as thermite, a substance that burns so hot that water can't put it out.

Holmes' purchases were split between two planned attacks, prosecutors said -- the theater shooting and a booby-trapped apartment that would've blown up if anyone had entered. The bottle of glycerin was meant to fall into the permanganate when the door to his apartment opened, to cause an explosion and then a fire, prosecutors said.

The manager of The Science Company, Steve Grebe, confirmed the purchase, noting the amount was small and the materials are common in junior high experiments.

Attorney Daniel King asked Appel if Holmes was tested for drugs or other substances. "I saw no indication that he was under the influence of anything," Appel said.