CENTENNIAL, Colo. 鈥� Kaitlyn Fonzi was not at the Century 16 in Aurora, Colorado on July 20, 2012, when a masked assailant opened fired on a crowded theater. She was at home, sleeping in the apartment directly below the gunman鈥檚 residence at 1690 Paris St.
Fonzi awoke to techno music blasting. She traced the noise back to the apartment directly above hers, and she knocked on the door. No one answered, and when she discovered that the door was unlocked, she opted not to go any farther in her pursuit to shut off the music.
鈥淚 had a bad gut feeling that I didn鈥檛 want to see what was ever behind that door,鈥� Fonzi said on the stand today on the ninth day of the Aurora theater shooting trial.
She retreated to her apartment downstairs and called the police to report a noise complaint. The police, however, were busy responding to a mass shooting at the Aurora movie theater. Fonzi called the police twice in total, and eventually a S.W.A.T. team and a bomb squad responded.
Following Fonzi鈥檚 testimony, the prosecution presented evidence which suggested the young woman could have been blown away 鈥� along with the rest of the apartment building 鈥� 聽if she had opened James Holmes鈥� front door. Holmes elaborately booby trapped his apartment with various explosive devices, and he rigged the front door with fishing line so that anyone who entered would detonate the setup.
The music began playing by itself, according to Holmes鈥� schedule, as a ploy to distract law enforcement and medical officials from the events happening at the movie theater.
But Holmes鈥� plan to blow up his apartment failed. Under the leadership of Sgt. James Gerdeman of the Adams County Bomb Squad, police entered the apartment with a robot just after 4 a.m. on July 20, hours after the shooting that left 70 injured and 12 dead. Rather than potentially endangering a police officer, the team sent up a robot armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and a camera聽to view the apartment鈥檚 interior.
The robot camera revealed a jungle gym of booby traps and hazardous devices believed to be explosive. The floor was covered with a sprawling arrangement of white powder, plastic bottles, and clear tubs full of bullets and napalm (a gelling agent similar to petrol and used in warfare). There was a bottle of pure gasoline, and six-inch mortar shells filled with 3-inch mortar shells, which contained gunpowder.
The apartment, Gerdeman said, was configured to detonate, and the blow could have taken out the entire building.
During cross examination, public defender Katherine Spengler downplayed the danger of the apartment鈥檚 contents, stressing repeatedly that certain materials were 鈥渕ore incendiary than explosive.鈥� But the prosecution fought back.
鈥淎re incendiary devices by their very nature safe?鈥� asked prosecuting attorney Richard Orman.
鈥淣o,鈥� Gerdeman said.
鈥凄补苍驳别谤辞耻蝉?鈥�
鈥渊别蝉.鈥�
鈥淜ill people? Hurt People? Can they burn down apartment buildings full of sleeping people?鈥�
鈥渊别蝉.鈥�
Shane Peters of the Adams County Bomb Squad described the defendant鈥檚 setup of explosive devices as 鈥渧ery precise鈥�.
The prosecution continues its effort to convince the jury that the defendant was clear-minded, intended great harm and meticulously calculated his actions. The defense continues to present evidence that aims to show, perhaps, that Holmes was not legally sane at time of the shooting. If the defendant is found to be sane by the jury he will face the death penalty.