The arguments were in direct contrast to one another. Prosecutors argued that Routh is a “troubled man” who struggles with a “personality disorder,” not insanity. Routh’s attorneys said the former Marine suffers from psychosis, paranoia and schizophrenia.
#EDDIE RAY ROUTH BIO SERIES#
Instead, the jury heard a series of bizarre explanations for why Routh allegedly turned the guns on Kyle and Littlefield. Littlefield was shot five times in the back. Kyle was shot four times in the back and once in the face. Yet Routh didn’t reveal a clear reason in the fatal shootings. His sanity will play a big role in determining whether or not he is found guilty.'American Sniper' widow breaks down on witness stand On February 2, 2013, it all came to a head.
His parents said he had threatened suicide on a number of occasions. Doctors at the Green Oaks Hospital in Dallas, a psychiatric facility, knew Routh was prone to violence, too, though he was discharged and sent back to a veterans affairs hospital two days into his stay.Ĭrowds made him anxious. She could just as easily have said he was depressed, paranoid, or exhibiting symptoms consistent with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. “He told me that he’s committed a murder. “My brother just came by here,” she told the dispatcher in the chilling audio recording that will be played for the jury in Erath County. ROUTH’S sister Laura Blevins phoned 911 late in the evening of February 2. The truck was gone.īradley Cooper played the role of Chris Kyle in Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper. His pistol was in reach, lying in the sand. Several feet away, Kyle was lying face down with two bullet wounds - one in the back and one in the back of the head. Police reports at the time showed Littlefield was on his back with a single gunshot wound to the chest. It was still flying when an attendant arrived at 4.55pm. Their red flag was raised upon reaching the shooting platform to warn others away. At Kyle’s request, an employee radioed ahead to unlock the gate to the otherwise empty range. Kyle, Littlefield and Routh arrived about 3pm. Kyle used it regularly to take many of his fellow ex-servicemen out shooting as a form of therapy for those battling PTSD and an uneasy return to civilian life. Less than a month later, Routh and Kyle drove 150 kilometres to the range that Kyle had helped design. “I was so happy that somebody was listening and that somebody was willing to help.” They hugged - “a really good hug,” Jodi recalled. “I’m going to do everything I can to help your son,” Kyle told her, according to the New Yorker. She told Kyle about her son and how he was struggling to deal with his military experiences. Kyle had dropped his kids off at school one January morning in 2013 when Jodi Routh approached and introduced herself. They both served in Iraq and they both succumbed to post traumatic stress disorder, which would bring them together.
They attended the same high school, though Kyle graduated 10 years ahead of Routh. Routh left active service six months later, and by then, the wheels had officially come off.ĮDDIE Ray Routh and Chris Kyle had plenty in common. “They didn’t train me to go and pick up baby bodies off the beach,” he told his mother Jodi. The bodies were everywhere and Routh was tasked with collecting them. On January 12, 2010, Routh joined thousands of marines on humanitarian duty in earthquake devastated Haiti, where the death toll would eventually be estimated at 300,000.
He drank heavily, according to his father, but would soon be posted to another kind of “war zone”. He reportedly lunged for the ground and yelled “get down” when a neighbour fired a nail gun. Routh returned to the US in 2009 but nothing was the same.
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