![]() She called police, who later located Routh sitting in front of his home in the truck. About 45 minutes later, authorities say Routh pulled up to his sister’s home in Kyle’s truck and told her he had killed two people. I took care of business, and then I got in the truck and left,” Routh said in the phone call.Ī resort employee discovered the bodies of Kyle and Littlefield about 5 p.m. “That’s what got me all riled up.”ĭefense attorneys said Routh, who had been prescribed anti-psychotic medication often used for schizophrenia, believed the men planned to kill him. You shoot,” Routh said in the phone call. “Are you gonna shoot? Are you gonna shoot? It’s a shooting sport. Randall Price said Routh had a paranoid disorder made worse by his use of alcohol and marijuana, calling his condition “cannabis-induced psychosis.”ĭefense attorneys noted that Kyle had described Routh as “straight-up nuts” in a text message to Littlefield as they drove to the luxury resort.Īmong evidence entered by prosecutors was a recorded phone call between Routh and a reporter from The New Yorker magazine in which Routh said he was annoyed Littlefield wasn’t shooting, but instead seemed to be watching him. Family members say Routh suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from serving in Iraq and in Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake.Ī forensic psychologist testified for prosecutors that Routh was not legally insane and suggested he may have gotten some of his ideas from television. 2, 2013, after Routh’s mother asked Kyle to help her troubled son. Kyle and Littlefield had taken Routh to the shooting range at Rough Creek Lodge and Resort on Feb. If found not guilty by reason of insanity, the court could have initiated proceedings to have him committed to a state mental hospital. Jurors had three options: find Routh guilty of capital murder, find him not guilty, or find him not guilty by reason of insanity. While trial testimony and evidence often included Routh making odd statements and referring to insanity, he also confessed several times, apologized for the crimes and tried to evade police.Ĭriminal law experts said the verdict hinged on whether the defense could prove Routh was insane and did not know the killings were wrong at the time they were committed. The prosecution painted Routh as a troubled drug user who knew right from wrong, despite any mental illnesses. Since prosecutors didn’t seek the death penalty in the capital murder case, the 27-year-old receives an automatic life sentence without parole in the deaths of Kyle and Kyle’s friend, Chad Littlefield. The trial of Eddie Ray Routh has drawn intense interest, in part because of the blockbuster film based on former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle’s memoir about his four tours in Iraq. ![]() STEPHENVILLE, Texas - A former Marine was convicted Tuesday in the deaths of the “American Sniper” author and another man at a shooting range two years ago, as jurors rejected defense arguments that he was insane and suffered from psychosis. ![]()
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