AURORA: Family and friends will hold a funeral on Thursday for a 23-year-old woman who was among the 12 people killed during a massacre at the opening of the new "Batman" film, as investigators search for fresh clues to a motive behind the deadly movie theater shooting.

One of the leads investigators are examining is a notebook suspect James Eagan Holmes allegedly used to detail his plans, and later sent to a psychiatrist at his university, according to a news report. The Fox News report, which cited a source close to the investigation, said images in the notebook included drawings of stick figures shooting at other stick figures.

Fox News on Wednesday quoted its source as saying: "Inside the package was a notebook full of details about how he was going to kill people. There were drawings of what he was going to do in it - drawings and illustrations of the massacre."

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Messages left with police in Aurora and other law enforcement officials involved in the case were not immediately returned.

The same day the news report surfaced the judge overseeing the case sought to crack down on any leaks related to the investigation, reiterating an order barring law enforcement authorities from "disseminating information that presents a danger to the fairness of a trial in this matter."

Among those killed in the shooting last week was Micayla Medek, a community college student and self-described "sandwich artist" at a Subway restaurant. Her funeral will be held later Thursday, the second funeral for a victim of the attack.

Medek had gone to the midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" in the Denver suburb of Aurora with several friends. One of those friends called her house around 1 a.m. with news her parents could barely process.

The friend described the attack and said Medek had called out "I've been shot!" before falling to the ground, her aunt, Jenny Zakovich, recounted in a recent interview.

Friday night authorities knocked at the family's door with confirmation that Micayla had died in the theater.

Police arrested Holmes, a former doctoral student, behind the theater immediately after the attack. They said Holmes left his 800-square-foot (75-square-metre) apartment booby-trapped with explosives that authorities said could have destroyed the entire complex.

Authorities have not offered a motive for the shooting spree. AGENCIES