Staring into camera with a terrifying smile, the chilling mugshot of Tucson shooting suspect Jared Loughner
By Daniel Bates, David Gardner and Sarah TittertonLast updated at 1:34 AM on 11th January 2011
He was handcuffed, his head shaved and his face impassive - and there was a cut on his right temple.
Jared Lee Loughner appeared in a Phoenix court this afternoon wearing a tan inmate jumpsuit.
As he walked in, he looked straight at the crowd. His lawyer Judy Clarke, who defended Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, whispered to him.
The courtroom was under heavy guard with about more than a dozen U.S. marshals.
The 22-year-old accused of gunning down six innocent people in a botched assassination attempt on U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords seemed 'robotic' - but onlookers said he appeared to be comprehending everything that was happening.
Loughner has been provided with the lawyer who defended Oklahoma City bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh.
His trial will be held in Arizona - but all Arizona judges have recused themselves from presiding over it, meaning an outside judge will have to be brought in.
Cryptic: A skull sits surrounded by rotting fruit near burnt candles at what appears to be a makeshift altar at Jared Loughner's Tucson home
Loughner has been provided with the lawyer who defended Oklahoma City bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh.
His trial will be held in Arizona - but all Arizona judges have recused themselves from presiding over it, meaning an outside judge will have to be brought in.
Cryptic: A skull sits surrounded by rotting fruit near burnt candles at what appears to be a makeshift altar at Jared Loughner's Tucson home
Witnesses said there did not appear to be any friends or family - such as his parents - in the Sandra Day O'Connor Courthouse in Phoenix supporting Loughner this afternoon.
None of the victims' family members were present either.
Loughner seemed nervous, a CNN reporter said, but answer clearly and in a strong voice when U.S. Magistrate Judge Lawrence Anderson asked him to confirm his name.
He appeared to be understanding and answering his lawyer's questions.
He is not due to appear in court again until a preliminary hearing on January 24.
However, his place on the mission is now in jeopardy as he stays at his wife’s hospital bedside.
In a statement, Mark Kelly expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support their family has received, adding that it was important to remember those who died in the shooting.
He said: ‘Many of you have offered help. There is little that we can do but pray for those who are struggling.’
Meanwhile his brother did his best to keep updated on the situation through Mission Control, the internet and the lone phone aboard the space station.
He told Mission Control in Houston: ‘We have a unique vantage point here aboard the International Space Station.
'As I look out the window I see a very beautiful planet that seems very inviting and peaceful.
'Unfortunately it is not.’
He also sent a message from space via Twitter: ‘My sister-in-law, Gabrielle Giffords, is a kind, compassionate, brilliant woman, loved by friends and political adversaries alike – a true patriot.
‘What is going on in our country that such a good person can be the subject of such senseless violence?’
Officials from Nasa said on Sunday that it was premature to speculate on whether Mark Kelly would step down as commander of the Endeavour.
He was suspended from community college in Tucson after five encounters with campus police between February and September last year, the Mail has learned.
His behaviour so frightened his classmates that they became convinced he was on the edge of a violent breakdown.
He was also arrested twice on separate drug and graffiti offences.
Lynda Sorenson, 52, who shared an algebra class with Loughner, had painted a disturbing picture of him in emails to friends, writing: ‘We have a mentally unstable person in the class that scares the living c**p out of me.
‘He is one of those whose picture you see on the news, after he has come into class with an automatic weapon.’
Acquaintances said he was obsessed with the Mayan prophecy of a 2012 apocalypse and mind control.
A sinister-looking shrine with a skull and candles was found yesterday behind a camouflage tent in his garden, raising the possibility that he also dabbled in satanic rituals.
Police said Loughner would have been refused a gun licence only if convicted of a ‘serious’ criminal offence.
But Noel Hentschel, a former mental health adviser for the UK Royal Society of Medicine, called the shooting ‘a critical breakdown of mental health care in America’.
She wrote yesterday: ‘The bar is so high for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others that they literally have to already be in the middle of a horrendous act like this vicious attack for law enforcement, family or medical professionals to be able to provide treatment to the disturbed person.
'What a travesty of justice for all concerned!’
FBI sources said Loughner had refused to give any reason for Saturday’s killings.
Agents believe he had developed a festering and irrational hatred of Democrat Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords after she failed to answer his question – ‘What is government if words have no meaning?’ – at a political rally at his college two years ago.
Miss Giffords was still said to be in a critical condition today, though doctors said they were ‘optimistic’ about her chances of survival.
She was able to move her fingers in response to simple commands, but fears remained that the bullet that went right through her brain may have caused lasting brain damage, possibly leaving her unable to speak.
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