Saturday, July 21, 2012

Searching for more info on James Holmes

In the latest Reuters account of the Dark Knight rampage, we still have few details about the killer and his motive. I've been trying to add a new piece or two to the puzzle.

In the post below, we looked at a profile on Adult Friend Finder featuring suspected Dark Knight killer James Holmes. In the photo, his hair is red. Mediaite has voiced some doubts about the identification because the birth date differs from Holmes' by a couple of days. Personally, I never would divulge my real date of birth on such a forum.

I believe that we can conclusively demonstrate that the AFF page belongs to our "Joker." Here's a PeekYou page that may be of some interest:


This is clearly a profile for the right James Holmes, including the very first photo that came to public attention. The site claims that he is an "alumnus" of the University of Colorado, which is a bit odd, since he still officially attended that school.
On the internet, James goes by the aliases LDMaster and ClassicJimbo.
The "ClassicJimbo" nick assures that the AFF profile is of the right guy. PeekYou offers links to pages on mylife, tnaboard, preparedsociety, ar15 and defensivecarry.

Alas, as you peer through those links, it quickly becomes clear that PeekYou has made a mistake (as it often does): LDMaster is an older man who has lived in Colorado for a long time. Some researchers have identified him as a retired cop in his 50s whose real name is also Jim Holmes, hence the confusion.

Nevertheless, I believe that PeekYou's error may deserve more attention. Although others have dismissed the LDMaster reference as a false lead, something about this intersection of nomenclature doesn't sit well with me. To be specific:

LDMaster owned a Glock, an AR15 and a Remington 870. "Joker" James Holmes used an AR15, a Glock, and a Remington 870

Let's face it: That's an interesting coincidence. Sure, it may be just a coincidence, but as Fox Mulder once said: "If coincidence is just coincidence, why does it feel so contrived?"

Judging from his online activity, LDMaster (who also lives in the Denver area) buys and sells a lot of weaponry. It's not impossible that he sold firearms to the killer, although Reuters says that our "Joker" bought from local gun shops.

Please don't read things into the above paragraphs that I did not write. And puh-leeze: Let's have no outraged lectures about the right to bear arms. This ain't about that.

(By the way, TNAboard reviews hookers. "Joker" Jim probably didn't write any of the reviews there.)

So many websites and blogs have repeated the Adult Friend Finder story that any pre-massacre references to "classicjimbo" have become buried under a pile of internet rubble. I googled that name (in quotes), came up with 1,330 results, went through all of them, and found nothing useful, aside from the PeekYou page referenced above. I must admit, however, that attention does tend to wander after skimming the first few hundred hits, so I might have missed a revelatory link or two. Feel free to double check!

17 comments:

Lea said...

So someone named "AssholeBlogger" has posited an interesting theory that James Holmes upon arrest didn't call himself "The Joker" but rather "The Riddler" and that Holmes' "classicjimbo" moniker refers to Jim Carrey's role as the Riddler in Joel Schumacher's 1995 "Batman Forever" movie. Which, if you've seen Carrey in the role, would explain the red hair. And I suppose you could consider Schumacher's Batman movies to be "classic"...

Here's the link to AssholeBlogger's video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEHQCOdWukY

affinis said...

http://reviews.invitrogen.com/1160/A1014201/reviews.htm
product review - James Holmes; UC Denver; neural cell work; posted 5/10/12 (shortly before he dropped out of the doctoral program; apparently he failed his prelims in spring; according to the police, he began buying guns two months ago)
http://www.cccewd.net/intranet/files/newsletter/GettingItDone%20Vol4-3.pdf
2006 summer biotech "bootcamp" at Miramar College(second photo)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/100612191/James-Holmes-Class-PDF
Class - Holmes scheduled to give a presentation on microRNAs.

Dwight said...

Is it worth pointing out that, in the wake of these events, a certain anti-Romney momentum in the newsosphere has been temporarily suspended? Tragedy in Colorado has replaced tax returns in the hive mind.
Fox news went to great lengths to explain why Holmes would tell police about his booby-trapped apartment, if that's what happened. It seems he was satiated with carnage for the moment and needed to brag to his new cop buddies. It sounds weak. The fact that Fox had in their expert to educate us shows that they see a possible inconsistency in the official storyline and are hurrying to explain it away. Another crazy lone gunman, all because we took prayer out of the schools.. wrap it up with bows.

Anonymous said...

Also, LDMaster posted on preparedplanet about gas masks, fires...

http://www.preparedsociety.com/members/ldmaster

I think this coincidence is very strange.

dakinikat said...

Got one for you to chase, Joe ...

http://www.examiner.com/article/media-ignore-alleged-assassination-attempt-on-hillary-clinton-israel

ColoradoGuy said...

No need to publish this - it's on a different topic.

Just out on the Guardian: 20 to 30 Trillion dollars (yes, 1/4 of the world economy) is hidden in offshore bank accounts.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jul/21/global-elite-tax-offshore-economy

Not by accident, this is similar to amount needed to re-start the world economy, and pay off gov't deficits.

affinis said...

On motive....this is entirely speculation, but... He was clearly a withdrawn and alienated individual. I would guess that some form of mental illness/personality disorder was involved. There's contempt in his expressions in some of the photos and someone described him as walking with a "swagger" (such that I wonder about the level of narcissism). Many have described him as intensely shy/untrusting (to the point of paranoia?), yet he also apparently intensely wanted to be liked. In high school and college, his performance drew high plaudits/awards (and he perhaps perceived himself as potentially destined for great things), yet when he graduated from Riverside, the only job he could get was in McDonalds (and this reportedly left him depressed). A year later (in June 2011) he applied for and entered the University of Colorado-Denver neurosciences doctoral program. But his grades apparently crashed this past spring and one faculty member reported that he failed his prelims (such that he was likely facing academic probation). The technical, dry product review link I posted reflects a failed project that probably involved weeks or possibly even months of work (it's a field of science I'm familiar with - cell culture projects take time). Incoming grad students are judged heavily on their initial research successes/failures (i.e. as a marker of competence) - so the failure in that project (on top of falling grades and failed prelims) probably didn't help his mental state. Who knows the direction of causality - to what extent a deteriorating mental state caused academic failure or vice versa. But his psyche probably couldn't handle academic failure (especially given "destined for stardom" messages he probably received in high school/college). From his perspective, facing academic failure, he might have perceived a life of working in McDonalds (or something equivalent). So I guess he went over the edge. He apparently was spending a lot of time playing online video games (including while at work), playing loud trance music while alone at home, and always had his curtains drawn with no lights on (or perhaps just a black light on) - none of which is conducive to restoring sanity/groundedness/sense of belongingness. It's also reported that as a child, he rooted for the comic book villains (rather than the heroes), which might help explain the role he took on.

affinis said...

Info about his resume on Monster.com
http://blog.pe.com/crime-blotter/2012/07/20/colorado-gunmans-resume-touts-lab-work-camp-counselor/

affinis said...

One final point. I find myself wondering about possibility of derealization. It would explain aspects of Holmes behavior during and after the shooting. Additional descriptions and info on derealization here, here, and here.

affinis said...

Here's an additional lengthy comment on the case. It was too long to post in full here given the character limit - so I posted it to a blog I use to hold overly-long comments (i.e. it's posted under the header "psychology/motives"), and merely provide a link here.

Anonymous said...

Rumors of a person of interest.

Supposedly made phone threats from assailants apt after arrest

https://www.facebook.com/yeompyo

Ben Franklin

Anonymous said...

ldmaster is Holmes. He lied about his age and about being a retired cop. There are just too many coincidences otherwise (the 52 year old moved from "Kalifornia" to Arapahoe County at the same time as Holmes).

http://www.ar-15.co/forums/showthread.php?t=37125

Anonymous said...

Just a thought...LD Master search brings up lucid dreams master. Could the possible derealization be the result of lucid dreaming astral projection etc. He was a neuroscience phd student.

Anonymous said...

I agree, there are WAY too many coincidences and overlaps for it to be a different person. However, doesn't the media report that the mistaken James Holmes ABC report of him being tea party member say he was actually 52 year old ex-cop? Unless they fell for same thing. But the posts are old, some would have been made when Joker Jim was a teenager.

Anonymous said...

As far as the hooker review board, which had posts under LDMaster name, it sounds consistent with Joker James Holmes and the media seems to be reporting as such. The prostitutes were even contacted and one supposedly confirmed that the Joker Holmes was a client...Now, I don't know about the accuracy, but following the logic used that 52 (possible tea party) James Holmes (LDMaster) is just a mistake, it is strange they are not attacking media again for reporting on the 'wrong' james holmes.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2178752/James-Holmes-Dark-Knight-gunman-involved-multiple-prostitutes-months-movie-massacre.html

Anonymous said...

ldmaster were registered in those boards as early as 2007! do you really think James would be already buying guns and making reviews of prostitutes when he was 19 years old? lol get a grip people

Anonymous said...

also just noticed the hooker board account was made in 2007, wasn't Joker Holmes in a summer camp helping kids when he was 20 and still living in California? He moved to Colorado about a year ago. but the account was last used 05/23/2012 which would fit.

hmmm there was only the 1 hooker that came forward, and I think she did it just to get some attention. the rest didn't seem to remember him or just said he looked familiar but not certain. James sorta has a generic look to him when he had the brown hair so maybe it was hard to remember him. Or they just didn't want to admit they went with him because they might lose customers. on the other hand, if they did screw him it's funny they don't remember him, he must of not been that good lol :)

I couldn't find an advanced search feature on the site to search the username to maybe get a better idea.