Eddie Ray Routh watched on as jurors one-after-one handed down the guilty verdict in the murder of ‘American Sniper’ Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield.
Eddie Ray Routh was found guilty late Tuesday of the 2013 shooting deaths of former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the “American Sniper,” and his friend Chad Littlefield.
An Erath County, Texas jury came back in less than two hours to convict Eddie Ray Routh of capital murder and District Judge Jason Cashon sentenced Routh to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors had not sought the death penalty in the case, but Routh’s defense team said they would appeal the conviction anyway.
“We have waited two years for God to get justice on behalf of our son,” Littlefield’s mother, Judy, told reporters outside the courthouse. “And as always, God has proven to be faithful, and we’re so thrilled that we have the verdict that we have tonight.”
Chris Kyle’s widow, Taya, was not in the courtroom when the verdict was read. Earlier in the day, she left the courtroom visibly angry in the middle of the defense’s closing arguments, whispering an expletive and slamming her hand on the wall as she walked out the door. At the time, attorneys were discussing how useful it would have been for Routh’s mother to have told Chris Kyle about her son’s history of violence. Prosecutors had slammed Routh’s mother for not telling Kyle any details before asking him to “help” her son, whom all knew was unstable.
Routh showed no visible emotion as the verdict was read, but watched each juror one-by-one tell the judge the guilty verdict was unanimous. The remaining members of the Kyle family present, which included the victim’s brother and mother and friends — held hands and cried.
Jerry Richardson, Littlefield’s half-brother, told Routh that he “took the lives of two heroes, men who tried to be a friend to you, and you became an American disgrace.” Routh had no reaction.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted “JUSTICE!” in response to the verdict.
JUSTICE! Chris Kyle's killer convicted of capital murder. Jury didn't buy insanity defense. #AmericanSniper #ChrisKyletrial
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) February 25, 2015
Routh, 27, had admitted to killing Kyle and Littlefield at a gun range on Feb. 2, 2013 but pleaded not guilty. His attorneys and family members asserted that he suffers from psychotic episodes caused by post-traumatic stress disorder and other factors.
“He didn’t kill those men because of who he wanted to be, he killed those men because he had a delusion,” Warren St. John said in the defense’s closing arguments. “He thought that they were going to kill him.”
But prosecutors said Tuesday that whatever episodes Routh suffers are self-induced through alcohol and marijuana.
“That is not insanity. That is just cold, calculated capital murder,” Starnes said. “(Routh) is guilty of capital murder and he was not by any means insane.”
Erath County District Attorney Alan Nash noted Routh shot Kyle and Littlefield in the back, in our county.
“This defendant gunned down two men in cold blood, in the back, in our county,” Nash said in closing. “Find him guilty!”
They did, indeed.
Kyle made more than 300 kills as a sniper for SEAL Team 3, according to his own count. After leaving the military, he volunteered with veterans facing mental health problems, often taking them shooting.
