(Newswire.net — February 25, 2015) — Stephenville, Texas – The trial of Eddie Ray Routh has drawn huge public attention because one of his victims was someone that Americans know very well thanks to the recently released Oscar nominee ‘American Sniper’.
The actual ‘American Sniper’, former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield were killed at a shooting range in 2013 by Eddie Ray Routh, who was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without parole.
“We just want say that we waited two years for God to give justice for us on behalf of our son and as always God proved to be faithful, and we are so thrilled that we have the verdict,” the mother of Chad Littlefield told to media.
According to court document, Kyle and Littlefield had taken Routh to the shooting range at Rough Creek Lodge and Resort on Feb. 2, 2013, after Routh’s mother asked Kyle to help her troubled son. Family members say Routh suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from serving in Iraq and in Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake.
According to a recorded phone call between Routh and a reporter from The New Yorker magazine, which was entered as evidence by prosecutors, Routh said he was annoyed that Littlefield wasn’t shooting, but instead seemed to be watching him.
“Are you gonna shoot? Are you gonna shoot? It’s a shooting sport. You shoot,” Routh said in the phone call. “That’s what got me all riled up.”
According to an ABC report, defense attorneys said Routh, who had been prescribed an anti-psychotic medication often used for schizophrenia, believed Littlefield planned to kill him. Routh then shot him and Kyle on the spot.
“I had to take care of business. I took care of business, and then I got in the truck and left,” Routh said in the phone call.
In fact, Ralph stole Kyle’s vehicle and led police on a high-speed chase. After the police apprehended him, Ralph confessed to the shootings while in custody.
Ralph’s lawyers were trying to have him declared innocent by reason of insanity.
After disabling the vehicle, officers tried to coax Routh from the truck. A police video shows Routh makes comments including: “I don’t know if I’m going insane” and “Is this about hell walking on earth right now?”
“He told us he’d taken a couple of souls and he had more souls to take,” Lancaster police Lt. Michael Smith testified.
According to the ABC report, a forensic psychologist testified to prosecutors that Routh was not legally insane and suggested he may have gotten some of his ideas from television. Dr. Randall Price said Routh had a paranoid disorder made worse by his use of alcohol and marijuana, calling his condition “cannabis-induced psychosis.”