Sherlock or Katie?
I thought it was going to be about H. H. Holmes, Chicago’s own first serial killer (perhaps the first documented one in America).
eta: what Student Driver said. Also, Devil in the White City is an awesome book about Holmes and the World’s Fair in Chicago in the 1880s.
Yah, that’s a common problem in these stories; they tend to describe these very disturbed people in ways that ordinary folks can relate to, but a guy like Holmes is very far from normal; you needn’t worry. For example, the article about his post-high-school internship mentions that he struggled with mastering object-oriented programming, and insisted upon completing assignments with procedural programming. Well, I went through the very same thing in high school, and never really got over it. This makes me a bad programmer; it doesn’t make me a potential mass-murderer. Nor does my own social awkwardness.
Rule of thumb: If you see that Holmes is like you in some way, and that fact horrifies you, you’re not like Holmes in any way that matters.
Exactly what I thought.
That was my second thought.
I don’t think the Mark Twain Cheesesteak was referring to has, or will ever post on this board.
Eta: Did I just get whooshed?
Yes, Hairy Bob, you’ve been whooshed.
Though we also had (have? I haven’t seen him in a while) a very prolific poster called samclem.
I think you’ll find your hat in the next county. 
Since this thread is all about speculation, one reason for Holmes to tell the police is because he views them as his rivals or his audience. Killing innocents by the dozen is fun. Taking out your rival leaves you with no more rival, which makes the world boring. Ditto for audiences.
Also, he was dressed as a SWAT team member, with a set of weapons commonly used by SWAT teams. When the police showed up and saw him, it was only because he had a specific piece of equipment in a different location the police spotted him as not a member of the SWAT team.
So to a great extent, there may be a lot of the “wanna-be” to Holmes’ psychological make-up.
Could you be any more specific?
Also, it would suck to be that rookie SWAT team member, with all of his or her equipment out of place :eek:.
Interview with Aurora Chief of Police Daniel Oates on Dateline:
First segment, 1:49 in - “These guys were sharp enough to see that something wasn’t quite right, and they immediately challenged him.”
He mentioned that a specific bit in the wrong place in an interview on Weekends with Alex Witt, but they don’t have clips up.
Another thing mentioned was that he gave up immediately. If he wanted to die, all he had to do was start to raise a weapon.