Theater Shooting Victim Says Arlene Holmes' Book 'Doesn't Make Any Sense To Us'
DENVER (CBS4) - The mother of the Aurora theater shooter says she prays for the victims daily. Those comments come in her controversial new book.
James Holmes' parents issued their statement against the death penalty just before the jury selection began. Now the self-published book by the defendant's mother is out with the trial to begin in just a few weeks. Some people are critical of the timing of the release of Arlene Holmes' book.
The book is called "When The Focus Shifts: The Prayer Book of Arlene Holmes 2013 -2014."
Arlene and her husband Robert have frequently attended the court proceedings. Now once again they are having their say in their own way. But Marcus Weaver, who was shot in the shoulder during the massacre and lost a friend, said he sees the book as an affront to the victims.
"Her son's life matters more than theirs does, and so I think that's the most insulting part about it -- and the timing of course," Weaver said.
Arlene Holmes wrote, "I was shaking, overcome. Kept praying; made it through the list. Please, victims, please, feel my prayers. I pray for you by name."
"It doesn't make any sense to us that she would write a book and then say that she prays for the victims," Weaver said. "We go to court with her, we see her all the time; she's not spoken once to any of us."
On mental illness Arlene Holmes wrote, "Forgive yourself for not always being right. Forgive yourself for not knowing what was happening. And then forgive the people who hate your guts and want you dead."
"She's operating off a mothers love and I understand that," Weaver said.
About her son she wrote, "Funny and intelligent kid, hopeful; a future ahead. Adolescence. University. Far away from home. Violence. What the hell happened?"
"It doesn't seem like a person who is mentally unstable, but a person who is very calculated, devious," Weaver said.
RELATED STORIES: Aurora Movie Shooting Story Archive
James Holmes could face death row if found guilty. His mother wrote about it: "If you think they deserve death, you are wrong. It could have been your child. It just wasn't."
Arlene Holmes is still hopeful a trial can be headed off with a guilty in exchange for life in prison without parole. So far there's no indication that will happen.
