James Holmes walks to the lectern to hear Judge Carlos Samour formally sentence him to life in prison.(Photo: KUSA-TV)

CENTENNIAL, Colo. – A judge on Wednesday formally sentenced the Aurora movie theater shooter to life in prison without the possibility of parole, ending a three-year saga that began when James Holmes walked into a darkened auditorium on a hot July night and opened fire.

As Holmes stood before him, Judge Carlos Samour Jr. pronounced 12 life sentences and hundreds of additional years for his other crimes.

“The defendant will never be a free man again, ever,” Samour said. “The place of death, generally speaking, has been determined. The only question that remains unanswered is the time of death.”

A jury earlier this month decided Holmes would receive a life sentence after members were unable to unanimously decide to have him executed for the 12 murders committed at a suburban Denver movie theater on July 20, 2012. Samour was legally required to pronounce sentence for the murders and other crimes of which Holmes was convicted, including attempted murder of other movie-goers and booby-trapping his nearby apartment to draw away first responders.

Armed sheriff's deputies kept the audience separated from Holmes as he stood at the lectern, his arms and legs shackled, listening without reaction as Samour pronounced sentence.

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