Summary: The killer of Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, Eddie Ray Routh, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday.
The veteran who killed former Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle has been found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison, according to The New York Times.
The jury rejected claims that Eddie Ray Routh was legally insane.
The lawyers for Routh argued that he was not guilty by reason of insanity and that he should not go to prison, but instead a mental hospital.
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Kyle was killed in 2013 by Routh along with Kyle’s friend Chad Littlefield.
The trial centered around the mental state of Routh as jurors had to determine if the defendant’s erratic behavior, delusions about hybrid pig people and heavy drug use proved he was insane.
Deliberations by the jury last just two and a half hours.
“We’ve waited two years for God to get justice for us on behalf of our son,” Judy Littlefield, Littlefield’s mother, said following the verdict. “And as always, God has proven to be faithful.”
To read more about Chris Kyle, click here.
Routh shot Kyle and Littlefield in the back on February 2, 2013 at a gun range south of Dallas not long after Routh’s mother asked Kyle to befriend him.
Routh was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and psychosis after serving as a Marine.
Kyle and Littlefield were shot 13 times, using two of Kyle’s handguns.
Routh told investigators he thought Kyle and Littlefield were going to take his life, which is why he shot them. Routh also spoke about the smell of cologne in Kyle’s truck, that the two men did not speak to him on the way to the shooting range and that Littlefield did not shoot while at the range. He claimed all of these items bothered him.
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Source: New York Times