(CNN) -- The man accused of opening fire at a Colorado movie
theater wanted to study "the primary source of all things, our own minds,"
according to a personal statement he submitted as part of a graduate studies
application.
The application included the
statement, professional references and test scores.
It offered new details into the
background of James Holmes, 24, the man charged with killing 12 people and
wounding 58 others at an Aurora multiplex.
The documents were released
Friday by the University of Illinois, where Holmes applied to the neuroscience
department before opting to attend the University of Colorado.
The application, part of 176
pages released by the university, was first obtained by The News-Gazette in
Champaign, Illinois.
While the documents do little to
answer questions about the alleged suspect's possible motive in the July 20
shooting during a showing of the Batman movie at the Century 16 multiplex, they
offer new insight into Holmes as a student and his aspirations to study the
human brain.
In the statement, Holmes wrote
that he has long been "fascinated by the complexities of long lost thought
seemingly arising out of nowhere into stream of awareness.
"These fascinations likely
stemmed from my interest in puzzles and paradoxes as an adolescent and continued
through my curiosity in academic research," he wrote in the statement submitted
in early 2011.
He titled his resume "aspiring
scientist."
Holmes was described as taking
"an active role in his education, and brings a great amount of intellectual and
emotional maturity into the classroom," according to a letter of reference that
appeared to be from one of his former professors.
Media urge unsealing of documents in Colorado shooting
case
As part of his graduate studies
application, Holmes submitted a photo of himself offering a piece of straw to a
llama.
The move caught the attention of
Samuel Beshers, the university's neuroscience program coordinator, who pointed
Holmes application to a colleague in an e-mail.
"You can't miss the llama,"
Beshers wrote.
One staff member, whose name was
redacted from the documents, took to referring to Holmes as "the llama" in
communication with others at the university.
"Do you have any of llama's
travel details for next week?" one e-mail said.
According to e-mails released by
the University of Illinois, Holmes visited the Urbana-Champaign campus in March
2011 and met with professors, research assistants and Beshers while touring the
facilities.
The documents released by the
university were heavily redacted, with nearly all names, addresses, locations
and, in some cases, dates removed.
Also redacted was a character
assessment by a member of the university staff.
Overall, the documents show that
the faculty at the University of Illinois appeared to be taken with Holmes,
offering him admission, a $22,660 stipend , and a tuition and fee waiver.
University of Colorado to review how it handled shooting
suspect
In a brief e-mail, Holmes
declined the offer without giving an explanation: "Thank you for offering me a
position in the Neuroscience Program at UIUC but unfortunately I will not be
accepting your offer for admission. My apologies for any inconvenience this may
have caused."
Holmes appears to have been
accepted for admission, about the same time, to the University of Colorado's
neuroscience program at the Anschutz campus in Aurora.
The University of Colorado has
declined a request to release Holmes' records, citing a judge's order that
sealed documents in the case.
Holmes withdrew from the
neuroscience program in June, a month before the shooting, though gave no reason
for his withdrawal, said Jacque Montgomery, a spokeswoman for the University of
Colorado.
Colorado authorities have
declined to comment on a possible motive, citing a judge's order that sealed the
court record in the case. More than a dozen news organizations, including CNN,
have asked the presiding judge to unseal the full record.
The events in Colorado also
appear to have affected the faculty at the University of Illinois.
In an e-mail dated July 23, days
after Holmes was identified as the alleged movie theater shooter, Beshers wrote
an e-mail to a colleague saying "we (the program and esp. students) need to
ponder this and maybe have a discussion about it."
While Beshers did not want to
announce the university's connection to Holmes on its website, he wrote "at the
same time there's no point in try to hide it, or hide from it."
He suggested meeting at a local
restaurant and bar "where we could have a beer and talk amongst ourselves then
maybe we could announce a gathering for anyone interested."
It's not clear whether the
gathering occurred. Beshers did not immediately return a telephone call from CNN
early Saturday seeking comment.
Complete coverage of the Aurora theater shooting
