Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper says even he doesn’t know where the man who committed the Aurora movie theater shooting is currently incarcerated.

But, in comments to reporters this week, Hickenlooper said he is willing to look into ways that attorneys for victims of the attack might be able to question James Holmes as part of a civil lawsuit that the victims are pursuing.

The group of victims — including both survivors of the 2012 attack and family members of those killed — are suing theater owner Cinemark in state court, alleging the company should have taken security measures that could have deterred the shooting. Holmes’ answers to questions about his scouting for the attack and why he chose the theater as a target could be pivotal to the case.

The victims’ lawyers had planned to question Holmes under oath in January, only for the state Department of Corrections to transfer the killer to an out-of-state prison as little as a day before the scheduled deposition. Prison officials said they moved Holmes for his own safety and won’t say where he was transferred to.

On Tuesday, Hickenlooper said he does not know where Holmes is and said he hadn’t asked prison officials about it.

When questioned by a reporter whether he would ask the Department of Corrections to help arrange a new time for a deposition, Hickenlooper said, “I think that’s fine. I don’t know whether that solves the problem.”

“Part of the difficulty in that incarceration situation is protecting his life, the inmate’s life,” Hickenlooper said.

The state court case is one of two lawsuits against Cinemark over the shooting. Another group of victims is suing the theater company in federal court. Both lawsuits are scheduled for trial later this year.

Holmes was convicted last summer of murdering 12 people and trying to kill 70 more in the attack on the Century Aurora 16 theater. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

John Ingold: 303-954-1068, jingold@denverpost.com or @johningold