Burnt currency in package to psychiatrist

CENTENNIAL, Colo., Dec. 10 (UPI) -- The Aurora, Colo., theater shooting suspect mailed burnt currency to a psychiatrist he was seeing prior to the July 20 shooting rampage, court documents said.

At a hearing Monday in an Arapahoe County, Colo., courtroom in the trial of suspect James Holmes, three members of the university police department testified about the contents of a package mailed to University of Colorado psychiatrist Lynne Felton. The package was described as a bubble envelope with a notebook, burnt currency and ashes inside, KUSA-TV, Denver, reported.

University Police Chief Doug Abraham said he shook the envelope and touched the notebook without wearing gloves, which he admitted in court was a mistake.

Holmes' attorneys argued in a previous hearing that information leaked to the media on the contents of the package violated a gag order in the case. Monday's hearing was, in part, to address potential sanctions against the prosecution, the Denver Post reporter Monday.