Thomas Cooper / Getty Images file
Police break the window of the apartment of of James Holmes, the suspect of in the Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting on July 20.
By Tracy Connor, NBC News
James Holmes used a thermos, frying pan, remote-control car and volatile chemicals to booby-trap his apartment to blow up during the Aurora theater massacre, an FBI agent testified Tuesday.
On the stand for a preliminary hearing, bomb technician Garret Gumbinner described the diabolical contraptions authorities found when they went to the grad-school dropout?s Colorado apartment.
There was a trip-wire leading from the door to a thermos filled with glycerine that was perched over a frying pan filled with potassium permanganate, Gumbinner said.
If they combined, there would be a spark that would set off a chain-reaction: fast-moving flames and a series of explosions as homemade devices scattered around the apartment ignited.
On top of the fridge was a remote-controlled ?pyrotechnic? box filled with 6-inch fireworks shells. Holmes left the remote for it outside, in a trash bag with a toy car and a boom box on a timer, the agent said.
His fantasy was that someone on the street would hear the music, open the bag, decide to play with the car, fiddle with the remote and detonate the explosives, Gumbinner said.
In all, there were more than a dozen explosive devices in his apartment loaded with napalm, smokeless powder and live ammunition. Carpets were soaked with oil and gasoline to fuel any blast.
His computer was set to play loud music at a designated time. He was hoping ?someone would call the police and that the police would respond to his apartment,? Gumbinner said.
Bill Robles
James Holmes, the suspect in the Aurora movie theater massacre, appeared at the second day of a preliminary hearing on Tuesday.
"He said he rigged his apartment to explode or catch fire in order to divert police resources to his apartment,? Gumbinner said, recounting an interview with Holmes.
No one played with the toy car or banged on the door, though. And when Holmes was arrested outside the Century 16 multiplex ? after allegedly killing a dozen people and wounding 58 ? he quickly told police about his traps.
The scope of the bizarre setup was revealed during the second day of a hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to put the neuroscience scholar on trial for first-degree murder.
A parade of law-enforcement officials took the stand to describe Holmes? painstaking preparations and the horrific aftermath of the July 20 shooting at the Century 16 multiplex ? but there was no mention of motive.
The picture they presented was of a methodical killer who left nothing to chance and foreshadowed his own fate in a question posted to two online dating-service profiles: ?Will you visit me in prison??
Courtesy the family via KUSA
Veronica Moser-Sullivan, in an undated family photo.
Holmes bought his ticket, through Fandango, 12 days before the opening of the Batman flick ?The Dark Knight Rises,? police testified, though it emerged that he was supposed to see it in Theater No. 8, not No. 9 where the ambush took place.
With so much evidence against their client, Holmes? legal team is expected to mount an insanity defense, and his attorneys tried to highlight his state of mind at several points during the day?s testimony.
They questioned Aurora Police Department Detective Craig Appel about why Holmes wasn?t tested for drugs or alcohol even though his pupils were hugely dilated and he acted strangely after his arrest.
'Help me!': Teen's 911 call played at Holmes hearing
Appel told the court that police had placed paper bags over Holmes? hands to preserve gunpowder residue, and he pretended they were puppets. He also ripped a staple out of a table and tried to stick it in an electrical socket.
Earlier, the defense asked an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms whether there is any legal process in Colorado to stop a ?severely mentally ill? person from buying guns or ammunition.
The agent had just ticked off the items Holmes legally purchased in the two months before the rampage, including two handguns, a shotgun, a rifle, more than 6,200 rounds of ammunition, body armor, chemicals, fireworks and practice targets.
Holmes ? wearing a beard and jail jumpsuit and looking disheveled ? showed little reaction to any of the testimony.
He simply stared straight ahead when prosecutors played a heart-breaking 911 tape of a 13-year-old girl pleading for help for her mortally wounded 6-year-old cousin, Veronica Moser-Sullivan.
Veronica?s father, Ian Sullivan, wept with his eyes closed as he listened for four long minutes to the chaos that marked his daughter?s final moments.
The day?s proceedings ended with Sgt. Matthew Fyles reading a grim catalog: the name of every person wounded and the nature of their injury.? When he got to Ashley Moser ? who suffered a miscarriage, was paralyzed and lost her daughter, Veronica ? he choked up.
NBC News? Mike Taibbi and KUSA contributed to this report.
More than 100 victims' relatives and survivors packed the courtroom and overflow rooms in Centennial, Colo., where a hearing was held Monday to hear details of the case against accused Aurora shooter James Holmes. NBC's Mike Taibbi reports.
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