Eddie Ray Routh Found Guilty in ‘American Sniper’ Murder Trial

A Texas jury has found Eddie Ray Routh guilty of murder in the killings of “American Sniper” Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield. Routh, 27, admitted to killing both men at the shooting range of Rough Creek Lodge and Resort, southwest of Dallas, on Feb. 2, 2013. Routh pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to capital murder. His attorneys have said Routh, a former Marine corporal who served in Iraq but not in a combat role, was in the grip of a medically diagnosed psychosis at the time of the killings.

This defendant has gone to the deep well of excuses for his violent behaviors one too many times. I am tired of the proposition that if you have mental illness that you can’t be held responsible for what you do.

Alan Nash, Erath County District Attorney

Prosecutors said that Routh was drinking and smoking marijuana on the morning of the crime. They argue that he was paranoid because he was high, and that he was angry about living with his parents, relationship problems, money and his job — then finally exploded when Kyle and Littlefield snubbed him. Since prosecutors aren’t seeking the death penalty, Routh would face an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted of capital murder. If he’s found not guilty by reason of insanity, the state can move to have him committed.

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