More Being Learned About Aurora Shooter as Victims are Remembered

Holmes sent letter to former teacher

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By Teresa Garcia, CBS News

Story Created: Jul 26, 2012 at 8:25 AM AKDT

Story Updated: Jul 26, 2012 at 10:11 AM AKDT

Aurora, CO - We are learning more about the former University of Colorado graduate student accused in last week's movie theater massacre.

Authorities have found a letter he sent to one of his former teachers.

This as the first of the victims was remembered by family and friends.

Investigators say a package from accused movie theater gunman James Holmes was found in the mailroom of the University of Colorado - Denver. The package, which was discovered Monday, was handled by a bomb squad robot and x-rayed to check for explosives.

Sources say the letter was sent to one of Holmes' former professors - a psychiatrist. In it, he talked about shooting people, and even included crude drawings of a gunman and his victims. The letter arrived days before last Friday’s shooting, but had not yet been processed out of the mailroom.

The letter may help investigators learn more about Holmes, but experts say not to expect closure.

"There’s nothing that this individual could say to us the general public to sit back and say now I understand why you did this," said Mary Ellen O’Toole, a former FBI profiler.

Defense attorneys got their first look inside Holmes' apartment, where authorities say he had planned to kill police officers using a complex network of booby traps, explosives and chemicals.

Police have finally released Holmes' apartment building from being a crime scene, and displaced residents will now be allowed back home.

Work crews spent the day repairing damage to the building caused during the police investigation.

People continue to heal as well... Mourners shed tears at a memorial across the street from the theater. Wednesday, the first memorial service paid tribute to 51-year-old Gordon Cowden, who took his teenage daughters to the movie last Friday. His girls were not harmed.

Holmes is being held without bail. Formal charges – including first-degree murder – are expected to be filed by Monday.
 

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