- Applied to become a member at Lead Valley Range in Byers on June 25
- Owner Glenn Rotkovich tried to schedule orientation but ‘weird’ voice message was ‘guttural, incoherent and rambling’
- Killer was rejected from joining club and staff were given killer’s name and told to get boss if he entered range
- Put his mother as emergency contact on application form
Suspected mass-murderer James Holmes was rejected from joining a Colorado gun club just weeks before his horrific shooting spree, because the message on his answering machine was ‘bizarre and freaky’.
The 24-year-old who killed 12 people and injured scores more when he opened fire at a midnight screening of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ on Friday, applied for membership to the Lead Valley Range in Byers on June 25 but owner Glenn Rotkovich banned the man from the club after being unnerved by his ‘incoherent, rambling’ message.
‘I called to see if he could come down for an orientation and I got his answering machine and the message was just bizarre, freaky,’ Mr Rotkovich told MailOnline.
‘I thought it was weird and strange. I called a couple more times and then decided not to call again because of the nature of his answering message.
‘I gave my staff his name – James Holmes – and told everyone here to get me if he shows up at the range. I wanted to know who he was before we considered doing anything with him, let alone make him a member. He was flagged.’
MailOnline got hold of the application form that Holmes sent through to the Range, which detailed his residential address, email address, his marital status as single and birthday. It also lists his mother, Arlene, as his emergency contact.
Mr Rotkovich said he initially thought the gunman was drunk on the answering message because he was slurring his words, but on subsequent listens realised the creepy voice was deliberate.
Application form: James Holmes submitted the application form, pictured, to become a member at Lead Valley Range on June 25
Sinister: The range’s owner had misgivings about allowing Holmes, pictured, to become a member
‘The message was guttural, spoken with a deep voice, incoherent and rambling,’ he said.
‘I could make out that he said his name was James but not a lot else. On first listen I thought he might have been drunk but after I’d heard it a few more times I realised it was deliberate. He meant it to sound that way.’
