Ep 132: Part 2 “Ultraception” - A Dark In Aurora: Inside James Holmes and the Colorado Mass Shooting by William H. Reid, MD.

Murder Shelf Book Club Podcast

Part 2: Neuroscience graduate student James Holmes is in therapy with psychiatrists Dr. Lynne Fenton and Dr. Robert Feinstein. He struggles with anxiety and intrusive, violent thoughts, but withholds crucial information from his psychiatrists, including his purchase of weapons. His lack of transparency leaves the psychiatrists concerned but unable to take action. After failing his preliminary exams, James withdraws from school and quits therapy. Now, he focuses on his ‘mission’ to unleash carnage and commit mass murder. Enacted, the Century 16 Theater in Aurora, Colorado erupts in bloodshed and death. Immediately arrested, the police begin the investigation, as a traumatized community struggles to cope with the horrific reality that has engulfed their community, pleading to understand ‘why’ 70 people were grievously wounded, and 12 murdered.

Note: While editing this episode, I realized that instead of saying "End Quote" as I have hundreds of times, this time, I said "End Twelve". It was entirely unconscious, a pure Freudian slip, and an all too grim example of the very unconscious factors that I've attempted to explain. I didn't correct this, I left it, because it was all too accurate, my heartbreak bleeding through.

Buy A Dark Night in Aurora: Inside James Holmes and the Colorado Mass Shooting by Dr William H. Reid, MD

Buy AURORA: The Psychiatrist Who Treated the Movie Theater Killer Tells Her Story by Dr Lynne Fenton and Kerrie Droban.

Sources, photographs, recipes and drink information can be found Jill’s blog: www.murdershelfbookclub.com July 2025

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