Colorado movie theater gunman, James Holmes, will be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.

The sentencing at a three-day hearing follows Holmes’ conviction for killing 12 people and wounding 70 others at a movie theater near Denver in 2012.

Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. will formally sentence Holmes to life on 24 counts of first-degree murder — two for each of those killed.

At least 100 people are expected to testify at the hearing which started Monday. This week’s testimony will help the judge determine Holmes’ sentences on 141 other counts that include attempted murder and an explosives charge.

A jury last month found Holmes, a 27-year-old former neuroscience graduate student from California, guilty of the July, 2012, massacre in a suburban theater during a showing of the Batman film “The Dark Night Rises.”

Police testimony during the trial showed Holmes purchased a ticket to the midnight screening of the movie and sat in the front row. About 20 minutes into the premiere, he left the theater and returned dressed in black, and threw two gas canisters into the audience before opening fire with a 12-gauge shotgun, a semi-automatic assault rifle and a .40 caliber handgun. Police said 76 shots were fired.

During his four-month trial, two court-appointed psychiatrists testified for the prosecution that while the defendant was severely mentally ill, he was sane when he plotted and carried out the massacre.

The defense said Holmes was delusional and schizophrenic, and cannot be held legally accountable.

Jurors, however, rejected the insanity defense and convicted him on July 16 of 165 felony counts. Earlier this month, he was given a sentence of life in prison after a jury failed to unanimously agree on the death penalty for him.
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