An Oregon man who contacted at least a dozen families of the victims of the Aurora theater shooting has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor stalking and telephonic harassment.
Kevin Purfield, 45, of Portland told relatives of the dead that the killings didn’t happen.
Purfield’s trial had been scheduled for Wednesday. He will now be sentenced Friday to what will likely be a year of mental-health court, where he will have to regularly check in with a specialist.
Purfield also will be ordered not to contact the relatives of those who were injured or killed at the screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.”
Prosecutor Kirsten Snowden told The Oregonian, “We just want to stop the behavior and get him help.”
In e-mails sent to The Denver Post, Purfield has said he believes no one was killed in the July 20, 2012, theater attack and suggested the victims are at a secret moon base. On Purfield’s Twitter page, he also promotes conspiracy theories about the attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
