![]() He told his parents he was responsible for clearing the land of corpses, including dead babies. It was his only war-related experience, though in January 2010 the Marines sent him to Haiti on a humanitarian mission, after an earthquake devastated the country. In September 2007, Routh was deployed to a forward operating base about 60 miles north of Baghdad, where he repaired weapons and worked as prison guard for six months. REUTERS/Mike StoneĪcross the country, thousands of Americans have come home scarred by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Something was missed."Ī sign marks the entrance to a shooting complex at the Rough Creek Lodge, where Eddie Ray Routh killed former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield near Glen Rose, Texas. Amam Saleh, a forensic psychiatrist who reviewed Routh's medical records at my request. "The VA should have been more careful," says Dr. The documents, which went largely unused during the trial, show that in the two years leading up to Kyle's murder, Routh suffered a series of psychotic breaks and may have been misdiagnosed. Recently, Jodi and Raymond shared hundreds of pages of confidential medical records with me. Marcus Luttrell, the former Navy SEAL whose autobiography was the basis for the film Lone Survivor, tweeted, "Justice served for Chris and the Littlefield family." To Routh, he continued: Just wait until the correctional officers "find out you killed a Texas hero."īut the truth about Routh is far more complicated. Related: 'American Sniper' and the Soul of War After deliberating for less than two hours, the jury agreed, and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The prosecution, however, said Routh was a psychopath who had calculated his odd statements to keep himself out of jail. ![]() In a videotaped confession to a Texas Ranger after the killings, Routh said, in reference to Kyle, "I knew if I did not take his soul, he was going to take mine." The expert believed Routh was schizophrenic and suggested he suffered from paranoid delusions. Routh pleaded innocent by reason of insanity, though the medical expert hired by the defense, a forensic psychiatrist, disagreed with the PTSD diagnosis the Marine had received at the Dallas Veterans Affairs hospital. A week earlier, Governor Greg Abbott declared February 2, the anniversary of the murders, Chris Kyle Day. Outside the courthouse, local vendors sold Chris Kyle baseball caps. The film adaptation of his story, starring Bradley Cooper, was already in theaters in Stephenville when Routh's murder trial began there on February 11, 2014. His legacy was enhanced by his books, especially American Sniper, which chronicled his exploits as a Navy Seal in Iraq, where he logged 160 kills, a U.S. It also resonated with gun enthusiasts across the country, who had embraced Kyle as a modern Wyatt Earp. Kyle's death generated an outpouring of grief in Texas, where thousands piled into Texas Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, for his memorial service. She took comfort in knowing that Routh's girlfriend would be staying at the house and that his uncle would check on him.Ĭhris Kyle's grave at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin on February 10. Jodi was headed out of town that afternoon to spend the weekend with her husband, Raymond. Before he left the car, he asked the Lord to watch over his mom and dad. Wiry since boyhood, he had a narrow face and a beak nose, with nervous eyes and an unkempt beard. In the parking lot, Jodi held her son's hand. Routh had become concerned about the state of his soul, and when he and his mother arrived at the cabinet shop on the morning of February 1, 2013, he asked if they could pray together. ![]() Because that's what he wanted." Late at night, he would often climb into bed with her. I was so afraid he was going to kill himself. "When I'd start back to the house," Jodi recalls, "I'd be like, Please don't let me find him dead. Because Jodi worked later, Routh was alone for a few hours each afternoon. Jodi would drop off her son in the morning on her way to work, and the shop's owner would bring him home. ![]()
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