Eddie Ray Routh has been accused of capital murder in the shooting deaths of “American Sniper” Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield. (Photo: Erath County Sheriffs Department)
Video footage from a dashboard camera shows a driver attempting to evade Texas police in a dark-colored truck on Feb. 2, 2013 – the same truck which belonged to Chris Kyle just hours before.
The video was played in the Erath County courtroom Thursday, the second day in the trial of Eddie Ray Routh, 27, the former Marine who admitted to the killings of Chad Littlefield and Kyle, ABC reported.
Kyle, the Navy SEAL who penned a memoir titled “American Sniper,” was characterized by Bradley Cooper in Clint Eastwood’s blockbuster adaptation for the big screen.
Routh led police on a high-speed chase in Kyle’s truck just a few hours after the murders took place. Upon his arrest, Routh told officers he didn’t know if he was going insane and that he had taken a couple souls and had more to take, Lt. Michael Smith testified.
“Is the apocalypse upon us right now?” Routh could be heard saying on the body-cam recording, The Daily Mail reported.
Routh’s attorneys claim their client’s post-traumatic stress disorder played a roll in his psychotic state the night he killed the two men. Routh claims he thought Kyle and Littlefield were going to kill him.
Police said they found evidence in the truck suggesting Routh stopped at a Taco Bell drive-thru before his arrest, which means he must have had his wits about him.
Prosecutors further argue that because Routh claimed PTSD each of the several times he clashed with law enforcement in the past, the claim could be an attempt to manipulate the legal system.
The veteran’s past is riddled with drugs, alcohol and run-ins with the law. Routh served as a small arms technician in the Marine Corps, deploying to Iraq and an earthquake-ravaged Haiti before being honorably discharged in 2010.
According to court documents, Routh has been using drugs since his early teen years and during his military service – to include the use of PCP-laced marijuana. The state of Texas was granted a motion to photograph Routh’s tattoos, one of which reportedly says “High Life,” which could further indicate a propensity for drug use.
If convicted of the capital murder charges he faces, Routh could see a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors have said they won’t seek the death penalty.
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