January 31, 2015



The night in question was an unremarkable evening on October 6, 2006 at a pub, McP's, in Coronado, California. Jesse Ventura was out with two former SEAL friends on the eve of a SEAL graduation ceremony and their own bicentennial reunion. The younger SEALs were at the same pub after a SEAL's wake. Ventura was not drinking, but the younger SEALs were, some quite heavily. Ventura was unaware until more than six years later that he was the subject of a tall tale, fueled by alcohol, of a fight that never happened, where Chris Kyle said he sucker-punched Ventura for saying that SEALs "deserved to lose a few" in the Iraq war. That tale made it into Kyle's ghost-written memoir, American Sniper, but Ventura isn't mentioned by name (although in early drafts of the book he was). In national interviews after the book hit shelves in January 2012, Kyle identified Ventura as the former "celebrity" Navy SEAL he allegedly punched and knocked to the floor.

Ventura asked Kyle to retract the false story and apologize, but Kyle refused. Ventura then filed a defamation suit against Kyle in February 2012. Kyle was murdered at a Texas gun range in February 2013. The suit continued against his estate, represented by his wife, Taya Kyle.

Ventura's attorneys were able to underscore in court in July 2014 that all of the defense witnesses had been drinking — with some quite drunk — and gave conflicting accounts as to when Ventura allegedly made the remarks and where the fight occurred, in the parking lot, on the patio, or on at least two different sidewalks. One of Ventura's attorneys in closing arguments said: "The witnesses had heard about the fight as rumor, then talked about it among themselves, so eventually a myth became a fact over the eight years since the incident."

Only one of Kyle's witnesses, Jeremiah Dinnell, testified that he actually saw Kyle punch Ventura (click here for video). He says he witnessed Kyle punch Ventura on a sidewalk outside of McP's, a well-known Navy SEAL hangout. He says he also heard Ventura say to Kyle just before the punch that the SEALs "deserve to lose a few" in Iraq. "It's something that sticks with you," he testified in July 2014. However, under cross-examination, an attorney for Ventura played portions of a recorded deposition with Dinnell from 2012 during which he made no mention of Ventura saying that disparaging remark about Navy SEALs. Dinnell testified that he now remembers what Ventura said.

Dinnell's testimony conflicts with testimony from four other Navy SEAL witnesses for the defense, including Guy Budinscak. He was also at McP's the night of the alleged altercation between Ventura and Kyle. He says he saw Ventura getting up from the ground, but didn't see a punch. "Jesse looked disoriented and frazzled, not unlike someone who's been in a fight," Budinscak testified. Budinscak also testified he heard Ventura talking about political views and the Iraq war that made him sound like "he's on a different planet." However, he testified he didn't hear Ventura say Navy SEALs deserve to die.

In all, five Navy SEALs who were at McP's that night testified for the defense. One of them said he saw the punch, while the other four only claim to have seen Ventura getting up from the ground. In conflicting accounts, three of them testified the incident happened on the patio at the bar, while two say it happened on a sidewalk. Kyle himself, in a five-hour deposition videotaped a year before his death, told a variety of versions of the incident.

Ventura's witnesses were very consistent in denying seeing anything like Kyle or his witnesses described.

Jesse Ventura Explains His Conversation with Chris Kyle About Settling Out of Court

The Story Began as a Tall Tale by Chris Kyle That Led to a Defamation Suit Against Him Because He Refused to Recant and Apologize to Jesse Ventura

Chris Kyle, who is billed as having the most confirmed kills by a sniper in U.S. military history [he served in the Navy from 1999 to 2009, including four tours in Iraq, where he was credited with more than 160 kills (he claims he killed 255)], wrote in his book, American Sniper, published in January 2012, that he punched out a celebrity, who he nicknamed "Scruff Face," on October 12, 2006 at a Navy SEAL bar, McP's Irish Pub, in Coronado, California, after "Scruff Face" said the SEALs “deserved to lose a few” in war.

Although the book's published version didn't name Ventura, earlier drafts of it did, according to documents the defendants turned over to Ventura's lawyers. Kyle's attorney told the judge in the pretrial hearing in federal court in Minneapolis in December 2012 that when the publisher wanted to use Ventura's name, Kyle asked them not to. "He said, 'No, I don't want to do that. I don't want to embarrass anybody who's a member of the brotherhood'."

Kyle (a father of two, was 32 at the time of the alleged incident) said in media interviews while promoting his book that “Scruff Face” was Jesse Ventura (he is 23 years Kyle's senior and also a father of two, Tyrel and Jade). 

Ventura — former mayor of Brooklyn Park Minnesota, former governor of Minnesota, former WWF wrestler, actor, producer, trained Navy SEAL, and military veteran who served in the U.S. Navy 1969–1975 — said the whole episode was fabricated.
Ventura, who was known as Jim Janos, completed BUD/S, Basic Underwater Demolition/SEALs training [Ventura graduated from Class #58 of BUD/S training; he followed his older brother, Jan Janos, Class #49, 1969]. From September 11, 1969 to September 10, 1975, during the Vietnam War era, Ventura served in the United States Navy. While on active duty, from January 5, 1970 to December 10, 1973, Ventura was part of Underwater Demolition Team 12 [as was his brother, Jan]. According to the United States Naval Special Warfare Command policy, Ventura is entitled to use the title "SEAL" due to both his service in the UDT and SEAL teams and his successful graduation from UDT-R (now BUD/S) training. The first SEAL teams were created from UDT personnel in the 1960s, with the remaining UDT units redesignated as SEAL Delivery Vehicle Teams in the 1980s. [Source]
Ventura went through and graduated BUD/s training — that's what you had to go through to become a SEAL. At the time Ventura was in the military, when you graduated BUD/s you were assigned to either SEALs or UDT — it was just luck of the draw [in Ventura's case, his brother Jan requested that he be assigned to his team, UDT 12]. If you were assigned to SEALs, you went on and received additional training — some of which UDT members didn't get. But, if you were assigned to UDT, you also received additional training — some of which SEALs didn't get. Just like not all SEALs today get the same training — you get the training you need for the job you're assigned to do. If you are a SEAL today and you're assigned to, say, a sniper element, your going to get sniper training that SEALs who aren't assigned to a sniper element aren't going to get. That doesn't make the non-sniper SEALs not SEALs. The real difference between SEALs and UDT back in those days was just a role assignment. In the early 1980s the Navy decided to form both UDT and SEALs into a single group. When they did, ALL active UDT at that time became SEALs automatically — because they always had been, for all effective purposes, two different factions of the same group. If Ventura hadn't have been retired at the time they amalgamated the two groups, Ventura would have automatically become a SEAL. [Source]
American Sniper, Chris Kyle, Punched Jesse Ventura - Opie Radio on SiriusXM, 01-04-2012


Kyle's book, American Sniper, hit shelves on January 3, 2012. The next day, on The Opie & Anthony Show on SiriusXM radio (video above), Kyle first identified “Scruff Face” as Ventura:
“He told us we were killing innocent people over there, men, women, children, that we were all murderers,” Kyle told the SiriusXM talk show. He added: “Then he said we deserved to lose a few guys. … I punched him in the face. Jesse Ventura, he’s an older guy. … He went down … He fell out of his wheelchair.”
On January 9, 2012, Ventura called into the Alex Jones Show and said that he never made the statements and that the confrontation never happened.

Ventura also posted an explanation on his Facebook page:
“The event this man spoke of never happened. I have been to McP’s many times since leaving the Navy. I was never there alone. I was always accompanied by other people. If this happened 6 years ago, someone would have known of it before now. Certainly in the UDT/SEAL community it would have been known. This has to be news to all of us. I have always opposed the war in Iraq but I have never spoken or wished any ill will towards the soldiers. My heart aches that soldiers have died or been wounded because this war should never have taken place. I am perplexed over the agenda this man has and why a fellow Navy SEAL would tell a lie about an event that never happened. Clearly, between this story and the previous week’s story about supposedly getting pulled over for tailgating in CA, that was also a lie, someone is out to destroy my credibility. I find it very interesting that both these stories are being spread by Fox news and its affiliates. As a Navy veteran you realize you can’t believe every sea story you hear. Let me finish by stating both of the recent two national stories about me are completely untrue lies, neither event ever happened.”
A HarperCollins' editor wrote in an email that the publicity from the story was “priceless.” With encouragement from publicists to keep talking about Ventura, in an additional radio segment and in an interview on The O'Reilly Factor (video below), Kyle continued to identify “Scruff Face” as Ventura. Soon after repeating the claim on The O'Reilly Factor, Kyle's book shot to the top of Amazon’s bestseller list, becoming a smash hit for its publisher, HarperCollins. Kyle's publicist said “the so-called 'incident' has helped the book go crazy,” according to emails excerpts.

Navy SEAL Sniper Chris Kyle Tells O'Reilly: I Decked Jesse Ventura, 02-10-2012


No incident like Kyle described was ever reported by the media at the time. And no police reports were ever filed because law enforcement was not called to the pub on October 6, 2006. However, Kyle told Bill O'Reilly that he "took off running" after he sucker-punched Ventura because "the cops were there."

Kyle's five-hour deposition, videotaped a year before his death, offered a glimpse of how he struggled to rein in the story after the book came out — even as his publishers seemed to relish the attention it brought:
Ventura was first identified when Kyle promoted the book on "The Opie & Anthony Show." A caller asked if the passage referred to Ventura. Kyle seemed surprised, but confirmed it was. It came up again in later radio and television appearances. In an email, his publicist described the interest surrounding the book as "hot hot hot!" Less than a week after the book's release, Kyle got an email from his publicist, according to testimony from the deposition. "I'm going to call you about Jesse V.," she wrote. "Is there a problem?" he asked. "No," she wrote, "but Jesse V. has come out and said it never happened." Kyle said he was growing weary of the story and the controversy it generated. In an email to his publishers, he asked: "When is this going to end?" Jim DeFelice, one of his co-authors, gave Kyle some suggestions on how to handle the issue, according to the deposition. "Give the people that ask enough of what they want to satisfy them," DeFelice wrote in an email. He told Kyle to put the story in perspective with "the usual Chris Kyle smile" and his Texas charm.

In the videotape shown to the jury, Kyle answered media questions that focused on identifying Ventura. "(It) shocked me. It was a question I was not ready for," Kyle said. Kyle said he tried to downplay that part of the book in favor of the heroic exploits of his fellow SEALs and his own dexterity as America's "most lethal" sniper. "I would gloss over it," said Kyle, "then try to get away from it…I did not feel that the general public needed to hear bickering between two SEALs." Kyle also said in the deposition, "I never figured it would come out who he was." However, he stuck to the story. "It is not libel, because it is true," he said.
Ventura filed a lawsuit against Kyle on February 23, 2012 for defamation. Ventura offered to settle out of court if Kyle agreed to admit he lied about the incident and pay Ventura’s attorney fees, but Kyle refused to recant the story and restore Ventura's reputation:
Right after the book’s release, Ventura said he met Kyle “face to face” and asked him to admit he made up the story and apologize. “I told him ... that if he did that, we could shake hands and go our separate ways. But he would not do it... When you’re accused of treason, you’re going to fight it.”
At a pretrial hearing in federal court in Minnesota in December 2012, Ventura was granted a motion to amend the original suit to include punitive damages, claiming that Kyle acted with "reckless disregard" when he wrote about the alleged punch in his book.

Click here to read the trial brief (excerpts below).



On February 2, 2013, a year after the original suit was filed and as the case was making its way through the legal system, Kyle, along with a friend, was fatally shot on a Texas gun range. Former marine Eddie Ray Routh, who had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, psychosis and severe mental illness, confessed to the murders. Routh had been a small arms technician who served in Iraq and was deployed to earthquake-ravaged Haiti before leaving the Marines in 2010.
Eddie Routh's mother, who worked as an aide at the Kyle kids' school, was the person who asked Kyle to take on her son in a program to help rehabilitate wounded and troubled veterans through exercise. The program, sponsored by Fitness Cares Foundation, was established in 2011; however, the company, Fitness Cares, or FITCO, "an elite fitness equipment industry," approached Kyle in 2012 to help promote the foundation by using his name to raise funds. In 2013, the foundation raised $263,067 in private donations: $112,603 (or 43% of funds raised) was used to purchase fitness equipment from the company, FITCO, to then give to veterans; and $96,583 (or 37% of funds raised) was spent on indirect costs/overhead (which included $26,485 for salaries, although none of the seven directors are paid, and a suspicious $11,406 for payroll taxes); leaving $53,881 (or 20% of funds raised) in donations to be invested ($10,014 of the fund balance was used to payoff expenses that exceeded revenue from the previous year).

Kyle agreed to work with Routh a week before the fateful trip to the gun range. Kyle and his neighbor and hunting buddy, Chad Littlefield — a facilities and logistics manager with a lab in DeSoto, Texas, who was not a veteran — decided to take Routh shooting on February 2, 2013. However, no one in Routh's inner circle, including Routh himself, knew that Kyle was planning to pick him up that day: Kyle made multiple calls to Routh's home phone that day, the last call being around noon, before he pulled into Routh's driveway at 1:07 p.m.

For years the Routh family sought help through the Veterans Health Administration but found themselves adrift in a system struggling to meet the demands spurred by a decade of war and the aging veterans of past conflicts. In 2004, the V.A. Inspector General called the Dallas facility the worst in the nation; in 2012, a Dallas TV station interviewed veterans who alleged that the facility was so poor that it put “lives at risk.”

Routh had been in and out of a psychiatric hospital and the Veterans Affairs hospital in Dallas three times in the months leading up to the killings, and area police reports documented Routh’s mental problems.
Six months before a hunting guide found Kyle and Littlefield's bodies, police caught up with a shirtless, shoeless Routh walking the streets of his hometown. He was crying and smelled of alcohol, police said. His mother told police that Routh had just had an argument with his father who said he was going to sell Routh's gun. Routh left the house, threatening to "blow his brains out," she said. The former Marine was suffering from PTSD, though his family didn't understand what he was going through, according to a September 2, 2012, police report. He would be placed in protective custody and sent to Green Oaks Hospital in Dallas for mental evaluation.

On January 19, 2013, Routh and his girlfriend were hanging around her apartment when he fell into a state of paranoia. He began ranting to her and her roommate about government-surveillance activities. He once told a friend that the helicopters overhead were watching him. Outbursts of this nature had become more frequent. He made sure to cover the camera on his computer (“He felt very strongly about that,” his mother said), and confided to family and friends, “They know what we’re doing.” He also worried that he would be forced to return to Iraq. And yet, for all his distress, Routh sometimes contemplated going back into the service. “He had a lot of guilt that he wasn’t still in the Marines, overseas helping people,” his girlfriend said. Inside the apartment, Routh began pacing in front of the door, clutching a knife. He said that he was prepared to defend her from government agents who were out to get them. For hours, she tried, unsuccessfully, to calm him. Finally, her roommate texted the police, who arrested Routh and took him to Green Oaks psychiatric hospital. He was transferred to the Dallas V.A. the next day.

After Routh arrived at the Dallas V.A., his mother and girlfriend visited him in the evenings. A week later, he did not seem much better. He was taking several medications, and his mother felt that he could hardly carry on a conversation. She urged the doctors to keep him hospitalized, at least until he was stable. Ignoring his mother's request, the V.A. discharged Routh the next day. When his mother drove to the V.A. to pick up her son, he was already out, wandering in the parking lot. She brought him home and told him about Chris Kyle. “I said, ‘This guy has a big reputation. He’s a really good man and he really wants to help you.’ And then he’s like, ‘Mom, that is so awesome’,” his mother recalled. “Eddie was happy. He could feel that somebody wanted to help him, somebody that understood better than me.”

Photo Shown by Prosecutors of Routh and His Girlfriend, Who Met on a Dating Website in March 2012


The next few days were difficult. Routh's girlfriend, who is Catholic, said he was fixated on “demons and devils.” He went with her to Mass on Sunday, hoping that it would help him. At home with his mother, Routh fluctuated between being angry and wound up, and being dazed and emotionless. “I could see him having flashbacks,” his mother recalled. “You know when you’re daydreaming? You just kind of get that glaze in your eyes? That was what was happening to Eddie. I knew what he was seeing was not good, ’cause he looked like a scared little child. He didn’t look like a man.” At night, he popped out of bed at the slightest sound, running into his mother’s bedroom to make sure that she was safe. “I thought someone was trying to get you,” he told her. His mother said that during the day “he still wasn’t able to carry on a good conversation. He wasn’t making good sense. He was crying a lot. He would come lay down in our bedroom. We’d bring in the dog and lay in the bed and he’d say, ‘Mom, will you hold my hand? I’m so scared. I don’t feel good. I’m not good’.” As she held him, Routh said, “I just wish you could be in my head for just a second, just so you could know what I’m feeling like.” She told him: “I wish I could. I would take it from you.”

On January 30, 2013, Routh's mother brought him back to the V.A. for a follow-up appointment. As a psychiatrist reviewed his chart, he noted that Routh had been prescribed only half the recommended dosage of risperidone — a powerful antipsychotic that has been widely used in V.A. hospitals to treat PTSD. The psychiatrist adjusted the prescription and ordered the medication to be sent to the Routh house in two days. Routh's mother was livid. When the psychiatrist questioned Routh, he looked to his mom. “He just wasn’t capable of speaking for himself,” she told the reporter. She explained to the psychiatrist that Routh wasn’t sleeping and “couldn’t think straight.” She pleaded with the psychiatrist to readmit him to the hospital, where “he’s not going to be a danger to others or to himself.” But the psychiatrist, according to Routh's mother, shook his head and said that hospitalization wasn’t necessary. Routh's mother then asked the psychiatrist if he could refer Routh to a residential program in Waco, Texas, for people with PTSD. The psychiatrist told her, “He’s not stable enough for that program.” He instructed Routh to come back in two weeks. His mother recalled: “I thought, Two weeks! That’s a long time. I told the doctor, ‘You know, he can’t even answer your questions! He can’t even carry on a conversation. I really think he needs to be in the hospital’.”
On February 2, 2013, Kyle, driving his custom, black Ford-350 truck, and Littlefield, who was in the passenger's seat, picked up Routh at his home and drove him two hours to a shooting range. Routh was looking forward to an excursion with Kyle: “He needed someone to validate what he was feeling, that it was O.K. for other people to go through it,” his girlfriend said. However, when Routh awoke on February 2, 2013, he, along with his girlfriend and his parents (who were out of town), did not know Kyle was coming by to pick him up. Kyle called Routh at him home multiple times that day, the last time at 12:30 p.m., before pulling into his driveway at 1:07 p.m.

While Routh sat in the backseat by himself with a small arsenal of guns and ammo, Kyle and his friend Littlefield, both of whom Routh had never met, sent text messages to each other about him, barely speaking to Routh. Kyle's text to Littlefield read, "This dude is straight up nuts." Littlefield texted back: "He's [sitting] right behind me, watch my 6," a military term for "watch my back." During the drive, Routh, who was under psychiatric care and taking anti-psychotic prescription medications (one being Risperidone, used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, with side effects that include aggressive behavior, agitation and anxiety), became convinced that the two men intended to kill him.



When they arrived at the resort around 3 PM, they turned up a snaking, 3-mile road toward the lodge, where Kyle parked in front of the main lodge and went inside with Littlefield to register, leaving Routh alone in the backseat of the truck. Then then drove another few miles to the remote shooting range. Kyle was given "exclusive access to the range" as was the case whenever "he came out" to the resort. On the day of the fatal shootings, he said he was going to use the range for about 45 minutes, a resort employee testified.

Shortly after arriving at the the shooting range, Kyle and Littlefield were shot at close range multiple times. With one handgun, Kyle was shot six times, including one shot that struck several major arteries and damaged his lungs. One shot went through his cheek and struck his spinal cord. Several of the shots were considered “rapidly fatal.” With another handgun, Littlefield was shot seven times, including four that would have been instantly fatal. One bullet went through the top of his head, indicating it was likely fired while Littlefield was on his knees. Testimony from the person who conducted the autopsies proves that all the shots, except maybe one, went through his front side. One of those shots traveled through his mid-section, causing massive internal bleeding. The shot to the palm of his left hand exited the front of his hand and could have been one of the shots that hit his face, neck and chest. The shot that the coroner said entered through his back seemed more likely to have entered from the front upper chest, exiting through his lower back. For two years prosecutors claimed that Kyle was shot four times in the back and Littlefield was shot five times in the back, but this is false. They continued to propagate this lie before the jury during testimony in Eddie Ray Routh's murder trial in February 2015.

Barnard said the neither Kyle nor Littlefield had a chance of survival.



NOTE: Click here to read the testimony of Dr. Jeffery Barnard, who conducted the autopsies on Kyle and Littlefield, and Howard Ryan, a forensic operation specialist from New Jersey. Both testified for the prosecution.

The bodies were found by a hunting guide around 5 PM. Littlefield's body was found on a shooting platform, while Kyle's body was found a few yards away in the dirt in front of the elevated platform. "Chris was face-down with his nose in the dirt," said a former resort employee who discovered the bodies. "Chad was on the platform on his back." Both men were armed with .45-caliber 1911-style pistols when they were killed, but neither gun had been unholstered or fired, and the safeties were still on. Prosecutors have not elaborated on how Routh initiated the attack or whether he opened fire on the two men at the same time. Kyle was killed with a .45-caliber pistol, while Littlefield was shot with a 9mm Sig Sauer handgun. Both guns belonged to Kyle, and the Sig Sauer was found in Routh’s possession later that night. The only loaded weapons at the crime scene were the two 1911-style handguns that were in Kyle and Littlefield's waistband holsters, with their safeties on.

Courtroom Photo of a Diagram Showing the Position of Littlefield's Body When It Was Found


Shooting Platform at Crime Scene: Kyle and Littlefield's Bodies Cropped from Image




After leaving the scene in Kyle's truck, Routh stopped briefly at his uncle's house and then drove to the home of his sister and brother-in-law, 65 miles away from the gun range. He admitted to the killings and told his sister, "People were sucking his soul." He left their home in Kyle's truck and headed to his parents' small home in Lancaster, where he had been living. He’d gone home to get his dog and planned to drive to Oklahoma. His sister called 911, telling the operator he claimed to have killed two men. "He said that he killed two guys. They went out to a shooting range. Like, he's all crazy. He's f***ing psychotic. I'm sorry for my language." Routh's sister, who drove with her husband to the police station immediately after calling 911, told police that her brother "was out of his mind, saying people were sucking his soul and that he could smell the pigs." Routh's sister told The New Yorker that her brother said “he killed them” — Kyle and Littlefield — “before they could kill him; he said he couldn’t trust anyone anymore.”

Routh's Sister's Terrified 911 Call


In Routh's sister's 911 call (video above), she does not say that her brother told her that "I sold my soul for a truck," which was reported by the mainstream media. The person who said that is Randy Fowler, an investigator with the Erath County Sheriff’s Department in Texas. Fowler wrote in the affidavit: "Routh drove to his sister’s home in Midlothian, about 50 miles from the gun range where the shooting took place, shortly after the incident. Routh was driving what his sister, Laura Blevins, described as a 'big dark or black Ford F-250 pickup that she had never seen before.' It substantiated Routh’s claim that he had murdered Chris Kyle and his friend, and he told the Blevinses that he had killed Kyle and that he had 'traded his soul for a new truck'." Routh's sister told The New Yorker that her brother asked her if the world was freezing over, then announced that he had a new truck. She then asked if he had traded in his car, a Volkswagen Beetle; he said no, but added, “I sold my soul for a truck.” It is this statement that the defense is using as a motivation for the crime, rather than insanity due to Routh's severe mental illnesses. It is important to note that there was no other vehicle at the crime scene when Routh drove off in Kyle's truck, so it was the only vehicle he could take to flee the scene.

Officers were waiting for Routh that evening when he arrived at his parent's home. A police video displayed for the jury at Routh's trial, which began on February 11, 2015, showed police at Routh's home trying to coax him from Kyle's pickup. Officers in the video are seen trying to talk Routh into surrendering as he makes comments such as: "The [expletive deleted] anarchy has been killing the world," "I can feel everybody feeding on my soul," "Is this about hell walking on earth right now?," "Is voodoo all around us?," and "I didn't sleep a wink last night at all." He also expressed concerns about being stalked by cats and at one point announced, "I need to take a nap" and said he wanted his parents to come home (his parent were out of town). "There's no trust anymore," the video showed Routh saying.

Police Dashboard Camera Show Officers Arresting Eddie Ray Routh


One police officer, who happened to be a neighbor of Routh’s, was recorded by his body camera telling him: “I don’t want to hurt you, buddy. We all grew up together here.” Routh reportedly told the police officer: “It happened so fast. I don’t know if I’m going insane.” Kyle refused to leave the vehicle and eventually sped off with police in pursuit. He stopped six minutes later after a police vehicle rammed into the truck. Police video showed Routh opening the driver's-side door, emerging with his hands up, and sinking to the ground. He surrendered peacefully, police said. An officer is seen on the footage giving himself the sign of the cross.

Routh told police: "It wasn't a want to. It was a need to, to get out of that situation out there today or I was going to be the one out there to get my head shot off."

Eddie Ray Routh in Custody


Weapons and Shooting Platform at Crime Scene with Rifle That Kyle Had Shot Just Prior to His Death


Weapons, Shooting Platform and Crime Scene Markers


Kyle's Custom, Black Ford-350 at Crime Lab


"When he took their lives, he was in the grip of a psychosis," Routh's court-appointed defense attorney said, "a psychosis so severe that he did not know what he was doing was wrong." The defense said Routh's psychosis kicked in during the two-hour drive to the gun range as he sat amid "an arsenal" of guns large enough to support "a small army." During the drive, Routh apparently became convinced that the two men intended to kill him. Their texting back and forth to each other about Routh as he watched from the back seat, no doubt, had something to do with it. "He thought he had to take their lives because he was in danger," Routh's attorney said. According to an affidavit, Routh told his brother-in-law he "couldn't trust them, so he killed them before they could kill him."

According to reports on the opening days of his trial, Routh had a "fitful" last night before the killings. He proposed to his girlfriend (who accepted the proposal) but also paced throughout the home, warning her not to speak out loud "because people were listening."

The prosecution is alleging that Routh drank whiskey that fateful morning and may have smoked "wet" marijuana (cannabis laced with formaldehyde) before getting into Kyle's truck. A Texas ranger found Routh's anti-psychotic prescription medications (one being Risperidone, used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, with side effects that include aggressive behavior, agitation and anxiety), a whiskey bottle on the table, a bong, and rolling papers when he searched Routh's home after the arrest. However, on cross examination, the ranger said he saw no evidence that Routh was intoxicated or under drug influence at time of his arrest.

Routh's uncle, James Watson, 45, testifying for the prosecution, said the two of them smoked non-laced marijuana between 30 minutes and an hour and a half before Routh left to go to the gun range, and said that they may have had whiskey that morning. Watson was at Routh's home because Routh's then-girlfriend was concerned for his well-being after the two had argued that morning. The previous evening, Routh had proposed to Jen. “We were in the kitchen,” she recalled. “I was getting him his medicine. I turned around, and he got to one knee and asked me to marry him.” Routh didn’t have a ring — he was broke — but pledged to save up for one. Jen accepted the proposal, and spent the night at Routh's home. They got into an argument the next morning, however, and she left around 10 AM.

Prosecutors, trying to support their contention that Routh's motivation for the crime was to steal Kyle's truck, also had Routh's uncle testify about the truck. After Routh left the crime scene, he first drove to his uncle's home, where he stopped briefly. Watson testified that Rough said: "Check out my truck. I'm driving a dead man’s truck." On the "dead man's truck" comment, Watson testified: "I thought he was talking about himself... he would often make bizarre comments like that."

On deferred adjudication for assault on a paramedic in Johnson County, Texas, Watson denies he made any deal with prosecutors. Watson testified that he grew up with Routh and that he learned about religion and morality from his family. “We’re God-fearing people," he said. When the prosecutor asked, "Does he have a sense of morality?," Watson replied: "Yes, he does." When the prosecutor asked, "Does he know right from wrong?," Watson replied, "Yes, he does."

Routh’s attorney is making the case that his client is not guilty by reason of insanity. In opening statements he said that Routh was suffering from severe mental illness at the time of the crime and could not tell right from wrong. Prosecutors have described Routh as a troubled drug user who used marijuana and whiskey the day of the killings, but say he knew right from wrong despite any history of mental illnesses.

Part of the grand jury indictment of Eddie Ray Routh, handed down on July 24, 2013, was the judge’s gag order, effective immediately: "Due to the 'unusually emotional nature' of the case, its 'unique nature of security issues' and the 'extensive local and national media coverage' that it has already received, the judge directed all relevant law enforcement and judicial bodies, as well as Routh and his family, to refrain from any interaction with the media that might 'interfere with the defendant’s right to a fair trial'." Despite the gag order, Routh’s lawyer was able to say his client will plead not guilty by reason of insanity and that he planned to present evidence Routh was suffering from pyschosis and severe mental illness when he killed Kyle and Littlefield.

The gag order applied only to the Routh family: the Kyle and Littlefield families were free to speak to the media. In an interview with The Los Angeles Times in January 2015, widow Taya Kyle said she believes the PTSD defense is a cop out.





Houston criminal defense attorney George Parnham said Routh — who has been imprisoned since the 2013 murders — is at a disadvantage because of the gag order issued on his family members and attorneys in 2013. At the time, the judge said he was issuing it because of the “unusually emotional nature of the issues involved in the case.” In light of the movie, Parnham said the gag order is now unfair. He explained: “It’s going to be very difficult for him to get a fair trial, not only because of the movie, but because of the media surrounding the movie. Mr. Kyle is a hero in many people’s eyes. Due to the fact that this movie has gained intense public attention, it’s doubtful that a fair jury can be selected anywhere.” Anticipating that finding an unbiased jury would be difficult, Kyle's court-appointed attorney filed a motion in 2013 to change the location of the trial, but it was denied.

Before the gag order, on February 27, 2013, it was reported that Jodi Routh, Eddie Ray Routh's mother, thanked the family of Chris Kyle for trying to help her son: "Jodi Routh hoped Chris Kyle could help her son 25-year-old, who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Eddie Routh is currently on medication and finally agreed to see his family. Today it was his mother Jodi and father Raymond who released an statement, expressing their sorrow their son caused to the Kyles and Littlefields, as well as thanking Kyle for trying to help her son." The family issued the following statement:
"Raymond and I want to express our deepest condolences to the Kyle and Littlefield families. We are incredibly heartbroken for your loss. We wish we could thank Chris Kyle for his genuine interest in helping our son overcome his battle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We want others with PTSD to know their struggle is recognized and we hope this tragedy will somehow help in getting greater care for and assistance to those in need. No words can truly express the sorrow we feel for the Kyles and Littlefields, their extended family and friends. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with you all." – The Routh Family










Click here for more crime scene photos, a timeline, and testimony from his trial.

The Defamation Lawsuit Continued Against Kyle's Estate After His Tragic Death

After Kyle's death, the court allowed Ventura to refile the suit, with Kyle's estate being substituted as the defendant in the case. Kyle's widow, Taya, is executor of his estate. At trial, Kyle would appear in a video deposition and other media clips already entered into evidence.

Ventura appeared on RT.com on January 28, 2015 (video below) to explain his lawsuit against Kyle's estate.

‘To be a hero, you must have honor’ – Jesse Ventura on “American Sniper” and SEAL Chris Kyle


Kyle's story about Ventura is all a lie. Completely fabricated. Totally untrue. But Kyle stood behind his lies and stood back as he witnessed the barrage of negative press and social media attacks on the man he defamed with his lies. 

A "man" stands for the truth. Ventura is defending his honor. He was falsely accused by Kyle.

On his Ora.tv podcast, Off the Grid, which premiered in January 2014, Ventura commented about the lies Kyle told about him (click here for video). 
"Former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura is back with a new talk show, Off the Grid, for Ora.tv, the online network co-owned by talk show host Larry King, Mexico's Carlos Slim and former News Corp. exec Jon Housman. The former wrestler-turned-politician says he's been shunned by the mainstream TV media, so he wanted to go around them by speaking directly to online viewers. 'No one's standing over my head telling me what I can say,' he says. 'I have complete freedom'." [Source]
Ventura pursued his lawsuit even after Kyle was killed, saying it was important to clear his name. From the time he published the bar-fight story in his book and up until his death, Kyle maintained that the story was accurate, even swearing to it under oath in a five-hour videotaped deposition. However, only one key witness, Jeremiah Dinnell, testified that he saw Kyle punch Ventura. Below is a summary of his incredible testimony.



Another defense witness, Laura deShazo, sister to a Navy SEAL who is Kyle's friend, was the first witness to testify. She said she saw Ventura get punched. Suspiciously, it wasn't until seven years after the fact, nearly two years after the book was published, and 10 months after the fact discovery cutoff that deShazo made her declarations about the events at the bar on October 12, 2006. At trial, she testified that she had gone to the the crowded bar to attend the wake of the SEAL and friend of the family who was killed in Iraq. She said that at the bar she met Ventura and had her picture taken (it was shown to the jury). She then said she saw Ventura involved in a "scuffle" with a man she did not recognize, adding: "I saw Mr. Ventura get hit. I believe it was a punch." Asked how confident she was that it was Ventura who was punched, deShazo replied, "Confident."

Ventura moved in limine to preclude deShazo (and her sister) from testifying because they were not timely disclosed. See below for the excerpted trial brief on deShazo's testimony.



Kyle had a habit of telling tall tales, especially when he was drinking, like the night at McP's in 2006, when he twisted what Ventura said and lied about punching him out. Another fairy tale he told when drinking, which was published in the June 2013 issue of The New Yorker, was that in the days after Hurricane Katrina he and another sniper traveled to New Orleans, set up on top of the Superdome, and proceeded to shoot dozens of armed residents who were contributing to the chaos. Click here for an excellent exposé on Kyle's tales, plus see the excerpted trial brief  below, which includes other tall tales by Kyle.
"His stories are so fantastical that only a true believer could ever think them anything other than fairy tales. Kyle's widow, Taya, fought in court to make sure two of the stories were kept out of Ventura's defamation lawsuit because she didn't want her husband to be 'labelled a liar.' The stories were kept out of the lawsuit, and yet, incredibly, Ventura still proved Kyle was lying about the bar room fight (or non-fight, as it turned out)."


Dinnell and DeShazo's testimonies that they saw Ventura get punched are at odds with two former SEALs and friends of Ventura's (Mike Gotchey and Bill DeWitt), who testified that they saw no fight, and the wife of one of the friends (Charlene DeWitt), who said she sat near Ventura the entire night and saw no fight.

Bill Dewitt, who graduated in the same Underwater Demolition Class as Ventura, testified for several hours about the night at the California bar in 2006. He said many younger SEALs approached Ventura, and he testified that he never heard Ventura say anything derogatory about the United States or the war, and he never saw any confrontation or fight (though under cross examination, Dewitt admitted he’s hard of hearing and was never close enough to hear anything Ventura said to them):
Bill DeWitt said he saw Ventura mingling in civil fashion with the younger SEALs. If he or his colleagues had seen any sign of a fight with their classmate, he said, they'd have jumped in.
"You'd have had a whole bunch of 60-year-olds all over you," he said. If he had heard Ventura say SEALs deserved to die, "I'd have been first in line" to confront him about it, DeWitt said. A petition circulated in 2013 seeking to have Ventura removed from the Underwater Demolition Team-SEAL Association, citing the events described in Kyle's book and Ventura's pursuit of the lawsuit after Kyle's death. Dozens of military personnel signed it. When the petition came to DeWitt, he said, he sent it back, saying, "you weren't there."
Bill DeWitt's wife, Charlene, had never met Ventura but said she tried to sit near him because she didn't know many people there and figured he would be interesting:
“I was eavesdropping on Jesse,” Charlene DeWitt said. She heard him criticize the war in Iraq but didn’t hear him badmouth fallen soldiers or argue with younger servicemen. She said she didn’t see him get into a fistfight or sport a black eye or bruised face in the following days. The most memorable thing he said, she recalled, was, "I don't think this war is worth one SEAL dying for." She also spent time around Ventura over the next few days. There were no signs of the bar fight Kyle described in the book, DeWitt said, nor any gossip or buzz it had occurred.  
Ventura's witnesses were very consistent in denying seeing anything like Kyle described.

On the other hand, Kyle's witnesses told a variety of tales, none of which the jury found convincing. They gave such conflicting accounts, one of the jurors pointed out that it was very difficult to accept anything they were saying because their testimonies were "all over the place." 

The following charts were created by Kyle's defense team.




Eight people testified for the defense that they either heard Ventura say the SEALs "deserved to lose a few," saw a discussion between Kyle and Ventura before the punch, saw Kyle punch Ventura, saw Ventura on the ground or get up from the ground, or heard about or discussed the event within 24 hours of the alleged incident. Kyle's witnesses gave different locations for where the fight occurred. Their stories were inconsistent and unbelievable. Ventura was able to prove that he took blood thinners which made him bruise easily and was able to produce photos taken the next day, after the alleged fight, that did not show any evidence of bruising.

Kyle himself told a variety of versions of the incident. Kyle had an opportunity to defend himself in a deposition videotaped a year before his death; however, in it  tripped up on details showed some memory lapses because it's hard to keep your lies straight:
In the deposition, while calmly stating that the fight had indeed occurred and that he had punched Ventura in the face, Kyle also conceded that Ventura may not have used a vulgarity in describing former President George W. Bush, which Kyle wrote in the book was one of the reasons he struck him. Kyle acknowledged he had no direct knowledge of some of details in his story. For example, in his book, he wrote “rumor has it” he gave Ventura a black eye. According to the documents, Kyle told ghostwriter DeFelice that he punched Ventura in the eye, Ventura fell and hit his head, and Ventura appeared on television several days later with a black eye. Kyle said he could not remember who told him that Ventura had hit his head when he fell to the sidewalk, could not recall how he learned that Ventura had a black eye, and conceded that tables did not go “flying” during the 2006 confrontation in a bar near San Diego, which he described in his book “American Sniper.”

Ventura's attorneys pointed out elements in the drafts of the book and in tapes and transcripts of phone conversations between Kyle and ghostwriter DeFelice which indicated Kyle had given different versions of what happened on the night of October 12, 2006. Ventura testified that he hasn’t drank alcohol since he began taking a blood thinner in 2002 that causes him to bruise and bleed easily. Pictures of Ventura taken in the days after the supposed fight show no visible injuries. At the time, Ventura was sporting a long, black beard which he wore in a braid. When his attorney asked if there was anyone else at the bar who looked like Ventura, he replied: “Not to my recollection. I think I had the market cornered on that,” prompting some laughter in the courtroom. In addition, Ventura testified, no one at the SEAL events in the following few days ever mentioned a confrontation.
The following is an excerpt from the denial for defendant's motion for summary judgment, filed on March 19, 2014, before the trial, which began on July 8, 2014. It summarizes the depositions of key witnesses.



Ventura Won the Defamation Case and was Awarded $1.845 Million ($500,000 in 'Defamation Damages' to be Paid by HarperCollins' Insurer and $1.345 Million for 'Unjust Enrichment' to be Paid by Kyle's Estate)

Legal experts had anticipated that it would be a tough case for Ventura to win. It's extremely difficult to win a defamation case in U.S. courts because of the First Amendment. Not only is it diffcult, but public personalities have an even higher bar to pass to win these kinds of suits. Besides having to prove that Kyle's story was untrue, Ventura had to prove that Kyle acted deliberately with malice — that is, with knowledge that statements were false or with “reckless disregard” for their falsity. Very few defamation plaintiffs can make it over the high bar of actual malice.

That said, apparently the evidence presented to the jury showed that Kyle and his witnesses lied; therefore, despite the very high burden of proof, Ventura won. Jurors did not believe Ventura mouthed off and insulted SEALs in a SEAL's bar after a SEAL's wake on the day before a SEAL's graduation ceremony and his own class reunion.
"At his inauguration, Ventura described SEAL training as the toughest experience of his life. 'It's worse than anything you can imagine,' he said, 'You have to want it bad, very bad.' Ventura always mentioned how much he respected his SEAL instructor Master Chief Petty Officer Terry 'Mother' Moy. He asked Moy to stand by his side when he was sworn in as governor of Minnesota. He ended his inaugural address with the SEAL war cry 'HOOYAH!' He is considered one of the SEALs' most famous alumni [other than Marcus Luttrel and Chris Kyle]." [Source]
The jury found in Ventura's favor 8-2. Under the usual rules, a federal trial in Minnesota must be retried if a jury fails to reach a unanimous decision. But when the Ventura jurors failed to reach a verdict after several days of deliberations, defense and plaintiffs attorneys agreed to accept a split verdict, and jurors found 8-2 against the defense.

On July 29, 2014, the jury awarded a judgment of $1.845 million to Ventura: $500,000 in defamation damages to be paid by HarperCollins' insurer and $1.345 million for “unjust enrichment” to be paid by Kyle's estate. Ventura has said the case isn't about money: "It's about clearing my name. It's a lie." He also said publicity that Kyle got from interviews about the alleged incident helped Kyle's book sales and led to the film option.

When asked in the November 2012 deposition how Kyle's book had damaged him, Ventura said his job offers dried up after the book was published, and he was worried about being seen as a traitor to the military: 
"I never had to really go out seeking anything until very recently," he said about job offers. "Usually, it came to me. But within the last year, they ain't been coming."

In reference to his worrying about being seen as a traitor to the military, Ventura said, "It's affected me emotionally; it's affected me how — how I feel now, how I'll be perceived by the rest of the military, how I could be perceived by them, that I'm some sort of traitor to the Teams."
During the trial, Ventura testified he made about $11 million between 2002 and 2012, but his tax forms showed his income declining from a high of $3.8 million in 2003 to $190,378 in 2012. Ventura has long said his lawsuit wasn't about money anyway: it was about trying to restore his reputation. Ventura testified that since American Sniper was published in 2012, he no longer feels welcome at Navy SEAL reunions. Ventura's attorney said that the testimony of 11 SEAL community members called by the defense was hard for Ventura to hear: "Because he did have to listen to these young SEALs say all of these terrible things about him, and there's probably a lot more people like them out there in the SEAL community."

After the verdict, Ventura expressed a mixture of satisfaction and remorse in an interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
“I am overjoyed that my reputation was restored, but the emotion is [about] what’s been taken from me. I can’t go to SEAL reunions anymore. That was the place I always felt safe. Who will be next to throw me under the bus? I’d have to spend my time looking over my shoulder.”


When the verdict was announced, Ventura’s attorney told reporters that they would ask American Sniper publisher HarperCollins to remove the subchapter, which was called “Punching Out Scruff Face.” He said the publisher would be acting at its own risk if it left the passage in. In an interview after the verdict with “CBS This Morning,” Ventura said:
“I plan to visit HarperCollins. They published the book and did no due diligence to find out if the story was true.” Shortly after the verdict, HarperCollins announced that the offending passage would be removed from the book.
Full Interview, CBS Minnesota: Jesse Ventura Talks After Trial


On December 14, 2014, Ventura filed a lawsuit against American Sniper publisher HarperCollins, alleging the publicity generated by the book with a "false and defamatory" segment "substantially increased sales of the book, thereby generating millions of dollars in revenues and profits for HarperCollins." Two HarperCollins employees — the book's editor and publicist — testified during the defamation case against Kyle's estate. They said the Ventura story was a minor element of the book that had little to do with its success. But email exchanges showed the story, and the attention it attracted, caught the publishing company's eye. At one point, an editor sent a link to a news article about the Ventura story, calling it "priceless." Other emails discussed a possible online marketing campaign that would include keywords tied to the Ventura story. One message from the publicist said the incident "has helped the book go crazy.

American Liar: Why Jesse Ventura is Likely to Collect Millions from the Publisher of Chris Kyle’s American Sniper

American Sniper Chris Kyle was proved a liar by Jesse Ventura, and HarperCollins may owe the former governor millions

By Mark Joseph Stern, Slate
January 20, 2015

Chris Kyle, author of the runaway bestseller American Sniper, was a military hero who killed 160 people during his four tours of duty in Iraq and is now the subject of an Oscar-nominated blockbuster.

He was also a fabulist.

Before his tragic murder in 2013, Kyle told a number of extremely dubious stories. In one tale, Kyle claimed he killed two carjackers at a gas station southwest of Dallas, and that his driver’s license directed local police officers who questioned him to contact the Department of Defense. Kyle also claimed he traveled to post-Katrina New Orleans with a sniper friend, set up his gun atop the Superdome, and picked off dozens of armed looters.

The 160 kills are confirmed by the Pentagon [allegedly]. But there are absolutely no records of, or witnesses to, the latter stories. They are, perhaps intentionally, unverifiable. But it wasn’t these fantastical tales of vigilante justice that got Kyle into legal trouble. It was another, much less exciting story — one that wasn’t just unverifiable, but verifiably false. That tale, conveyed in a mere three pages of American Sniper, has put Kyle’s widow on the hook for US$1.345 million in damages. And it may soon make Kyle’s publishers wish they approached the veteran’s claims with a great deal of skepticism.



Kyle’s legal difficulties emerged from a subchapter of American Sniper titled “Punching Out Scruff Face.” In it, Kyle describes beating up a former Navy SEAL (“Scruff Face”) after the SEAL claims American soldiers deserved to die in Iraq. Early drafts of the book identified the SEAL as Jesse Ventura, former governor of Minnesota and famed professional wrestler “The Body,” but Kyle’s publishers removed the name for fear of a lawsuit.

Nonetheless, in a radio interview following the book’s release, Kyle admitted that “Scruff Face” was Ventura, and he repeated the claim soon after on The O'Reilly Factor. American Sniper shot to the top of Amazon’s bestseller list, becoming a smash hit for its publisher, HarperCollins, selling more than 1.5 million copies by July 2014.

There was, however, a problem: The Ventura story wasn’t true, and Ventura meant to prove it. So he took Kyle to trial, suing him — and, after he died, his estate — for defamation and unjust enrichment. In the United States, defamation cases are extremely difficult to win, thanks to the First Amendment. When allegedly defamatory statements pertain to a public figure, the plaintiff mustn’t just prove those statements were false. He has to prove the defendant made those statements with “actual malice” — that is, knowledge that they were false — or with “reckless disregard” for their falsity. Very few defamation plaintiffs can make it over the high bar of actual malice.

Ventura made it. On July 29, 2014, a U.S. federal jury returned from six days of deliberations to award Ventura US$1.845-million in damages — specifically, US$500,000 for defamation and about US$1.345-million for unjust enrichment. (In order words, Kyle unjustly profited from defaming Ventura, and so his estate must give Ventura some of that money.) Kyle’s widow, Taya Kyle, promptly filed for “judgment as a matter of law,” asking the trial judge to reverse the jury’s verdict because the jury clearly got it wrong. Failing that, she asked for an entirely new trial. The judge denied both requests, defending the jury’s verdict as legally and factually justifiable. Kyle’s widow is currently appealing the decision; her odds of winning appear quite low.

For the Kyle family, then, the legal tribulations surrounding American Sniper are probably wrapping up, and Taya Kyle will likely pay some damages but walk away from the affair with many millions of dollars left to her name. ​(HarperCollins’ libel insurance, in fact, will cover her defamation damages.)  

But for Kyle’s publisher, HarperCollins, the nightmare is just beginning. Several months after the verdict against the Kyle estate, Ventura brought another lawsuit for unjust enrichment, this time against HarperCollins. The lawsuit explains that while Kyle is the one who defamed Ventura, HarperCollins played up those defamatory statements in order to boost its sales — and with reckless disregard to the truth of Kyle’s claims.

This suit is the second of Ventura’s one-two punch, and from here, it looks like a knockout. During the first trial, Ventura’s attorneys uncovered records of HarperCollins’ negligence in fact-checking Kyle’s book, as well as evidence that HarperCollins specifically touted the Ventura story to drum up publicity.

Kyle’s ghostwriters spoke with only one person who claimed to have witnessed the fight, a friend of Kyle’s who told a different version of the story that lacked Ventura’s offensive remarks. No one from HarperCollins contacted Ventura or his representatives to verify the story. And though Kyle claimed Ventura appeared at a SEAL graduation afterward with a black eye — where “everybody was laughing” and asking “Who beat the shit out of him?” — HarperCollins never asked a member of the graduating class whether they saw Ventura’s injury. (A photograph from the event shows a clear image of Ventura — with no black eye.)

It gets worse for HarperCollins. Despite the tenuous source of the Ventura story, HarperCollins quickly saw it as a publicity gold mine. After Kyle identified “Scruff Face” as Ventura in a radio interview on The Opie & Anthony Show, HarperCollins editor Peter Hubbard wrote in an email that the publicity from the story was “priceless.”

HarperCollins publicist Sharon Rosenblum described the Ventura kerfuffle as “hot hot hot,” immediately arranging for Kyle to retell the tale on The O’Reilly Factor. Sales of American Sniper — which, up to that point, were fairly modest — spiked dramatically, apparently in conjunction with interest in the Ventura story.

After the O’Reilly appearance, Ventura publicly denied Kyle’s accusations. Yet Rosenblum arranged for Kyle to tell the story again on The Opie & Anthony Show, and HarperCollins printed several new editions of the book that still featured the “Scruff Face” section. (It was finally removed after Ventura won his suit.)

All of this presents a very big problem for HarperCollins. Ventura’s lawyers believe they can prove that American Sniper’s massive success was spurred, at least initially, by interest in the Ventura story. Under normal circumstances, HarperCollins might fight back by arguing that the story is true. But therein lies the brilliance of Ventura’s maneuvering: A jury has already determined that the Ventura tale is false and defamatory, meaning HarperCollins is legally barred from rearguing its veracity. As a result, HarperCollins must instead argue that it did not act with “reckless disregard” for the truth of Kyle’s claims, and that no part of the company’s profits arose from interest in the Ventura story. Those questions, of course, must be left for a jury to decide. But it does not look very good for HarperCollins.

Don’t pity the publishers too much, though. In the midst of this legal drama, the movie adaption of American Sniper has shattered box office records and brought in well over US$100-million. HarperCollins is sure to make a killing off royalties from the film, and off sales from the new movie tie-in edition of American Sniper. Even if Ventura wins millions in his second lawsuit, the publishing house may well walk away from this debacle with a healthy profit remaining, just as Kyle’s widow will do.

The moral of Kyle’s story, then: It pays to lie.



Chris Kyle Gave 2% of His Proceeds from American Sniper to Charity, Not 100% Like He Claimed, and Taya Kyle is a Multimillionaire Even If Kyle's Estate Pays Ventura the $1.345 Million Judgment for "Unjust Enrichment"

Kyle had said he was giving all of his proceeds from American Sniper to widows and orphans of fellow SEALs. However, only $52,000 went to any families, and $26,000 went to Debbie Lee, one of Kyle's witnesses who offered her own version of the events, which didn't jive with the versions offered by Kyle or other witnesses. During testimony, Lee said the Kyles had personally given her $26,000. Taya Kyle testified that the money is part of an effort to disperse income from her late husband’s book to veterans’ causes.

In addition to the multimillion in profits from the book, there were the paid appearances and the movie deal based on the book. Kyle's estate has profited to the tune of $6 million dollars, based on a percentage of $40 million in book sales.

During the defamation lawsuit against Kyle's estate, an attorney for Ventura presented detailed documents and copies of checks showing that royalties for the book and associated payments to Chris Kyle, Taya Kyle and his estate from the movie came to several million dollars. The attorney elicited from Taya Kyle that much of that money went to her agent, attorneys and others connected with the book.

Taya also testified that she and her husband had agreed to donate proceeds from the book to veterans’ causes and had made contributions to two families so far totaling $52,000, but that she was deterred from making more gifts by tax laws. Taya, testified that the couple never intended to profit from the book. In often tearful testimony, she said the couple wanted to donate money to other veterans but were limited by gift tax laws that prevented them from donating more than $13,000 each to two families last year. Taya said her husband didn’t even want to write the book but did so because he didn’t want others to do it instead. She called him “one of the most humble people I ever knew” and said he wanted not to glorify himself but “to throw his flaws on the table.”

During the defamation lawsuit against Kyle's estate, an attorney for Ventura presented detailed documents and copies of checks showing that royalties for the book and associated payments to Chris Kyle, Taya Kyle, and his estate from the movie came to several million dollars (as of June 30, 2013). The attorney elicited from Taya that much of that money went to her agent, attorneys and others connected with the book. She also testified that she and her husband had agreed to donate proceeds from the book to veterans’ causes and had made contributions to two families so far totaling $52,000, but that she was deterred from making more gifts by tax laws. Kyle's attorney argued that she is under constraints because if she gives away too much money now, she might not be able to pay Ventura if she loses the court case. Ventura's attorney suggested in additional questioning of Taya that she could have created a nonprofit and given away much more money than she has. Taya said she had not had the time to set up such a nonprofit [this is a lie: several nonprofits had been setup in Kyle's name at the time of her testimony]. During the trial, court documents showed Kyle's book had earned royalties of more than $3 million (as of June 30, 2013), and the judge ruled that proceeds from an upcoming movie also could be subject to damage. 


A lie that has been told ad nauseam is that Chris Kyle and his family donated all the proceeds from the sale of the book American Sniper to families of veterans. The Kyles say that 100% has gone to charities that support other vet families. This is an out and out lie, and a really despicable one that is repeated constantly by the corporate media. The truth is…the family has only given 2% of the profits to charity.

The profits from the book belong to the Kyle family, and they should do with them what they please, but what they shouldn't do is tell people they are giving the money away in order to look good, while they, in fact, keep the money.

The Kyle family has made over $6 million from the book, and that number will increase with further book sales and from the movie starring Bradley Cooper and directed by Clint Eastwood.

So why isn't the corporate media up in arms over Kyle and his wife lying repeatedly about the profits and proceeds from the book? Instead of asking Jesse Ventura why he doesn't give the money he is owed back to the Kyle family, why not ask the Kyle family why they keep lying about giving money to vets when they don't?

To further inform yourself, click here for a really thoughtful and smart article at The New Republic that give the facts of the case and dispels the myths that the media is selling. [Source]
Chris Kyle profited quite handsomely from the tales he spun. His widow, Taya Kyle, is not in financial distress, even though she has implied that she must work a regular, 40-hour-per-week job to support her family. In a court document filed on August 5, 2013 by Taya Kyle's new attorney, it states:
"Taya's responsibilities as executor of Chris Kyle's estate include a collection of diverse, complicated issues, ranging from publication and promotion of his posthumously published book "American Guns," to the production of a screen adaptation of American Sniper. To put it starkly, in one fatal moment, Taya went from a stay-at-home mom, who had not worked outside the home in eight years, to a single parent who must work more than 40 hours per week so that she can support her family, as well as advance the charitable causes her husband held dear.” 
It should be noted that Taya Kyle has setup a foundation in her deceased husband's name from which she will benefit financially. As far as benefiting from the profits of Craft International, the tactical-training company co-founded in 2009 by her husband, of which Taya claimed 85 percent ownership, in a legal filing Craft said the agreement they made with her husband specifically excludes his wife: "Chris Kyle insisted that such a provision be inserted due to the discord in his marriage and his belief that divorce was a very real possibility." In the event of divorce or his death, Chris did not want Taya to have any involvement in Craft aside from being cashed out at fair market value.” In late 2014, Taya reached a deal with Craft: the partners agreed to stop using Kyle's name and image, which now belong to Taya.

Kyle's estate is worth an estimated $5 - $15 million from his book deals and the movie, life insurance (double indemnity clause pays twice the face value for accidental death), and sales of merchandise promoted by charities established in Kyle's name (Forged® has the exclusive contract with Warner Bros. and the foundation Taya runs to market Chris' image). Additionally, Taya receives payment for speaking engagements and a salary for running the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation (eight cities hosted special screenings of "American Sniper" in January 2015 and all tickets sales and donations benefited the CKFF; prices ranged from $25 to $250).
Chris Kyle talked with a reporter from the Texan News Service, a student run paper at Tarleton State University, on January 28, 2013, five days before he was murdered. Click the link and go to the 7-minute mark to hear Kyle evading the question about how many books he's sold and repeating his claim that all the money he's gotten from the book has been given to the families of veterans. Kent Studebaker, Taya Kyle's father, confirmed Kyle had received a $100,000 advance for “American Sniper” (written in 2011-2012) and an additional $700,000 sometime after that, but wouldn't elaborate on the total paid out to him in royalties before his death.

Just days before Kyle was killed on February 2, 2013, he donated about $56,000 to the families of slain SEALs, Ryan Job and Marc Lee, as well as to a charity supporting veterans. At a memorial service for Kyle in Dallas, footage of which is shown at the end of "American Sniper," Lee's mother and president of the nonprofit America’s Mighty Warriors — whom Kyle describes in the book as “almost a surrogate mother to the other members of our platoon”— recalled the moment she learned of Kyle’s largesse. “I was speechless, overwhelmed and in tears,” Lee told the audience of 7,000 mourners. “Chris didn’t publish that book for an income or to be famous. He hated the spotlight. Chris did that for his teammates.” 

Jesse Ventura won his lawsuit against the Kyle estate in July 2014 for $1.845 million after the former Minnesota governor successfully argued he was defamed by a passage in "American Sniper." Taya Kyle has said that she will struggle to pay the $1.345 million of that verdict for which Kyle's estate is responsible. Forged.com, a clothing company that sells officially licensed "American Sniper" merchandise, raised more than $1 million in donations in a week to cover part of what the Kyle estate owes Ventura. Forged.com is continuing to give a portion of sales on the site to the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation, which Taya oversees. She also has received other donations intended to help her pay the part of the Ventura judgment that HarperCollins’ insurance does not cover. Shortly after Kyle’s funeral in February 2013, hedge fund manager J. Kyle Bass, who helped Kyle co-found Craft International, visited Taya and promised to give her ownership of the home bought by Bass, through his company, that the family had been living in rent-free; and Chris' partners at Craft raised $300,000 for the Kyle family after his death. [Source]

In 2010, it was Bass, along with other investors, who provided Chris Kyle funds to live on, and Bass eventually raised a total of about $2.6 million to help Chris form what became Craft International. Shortly after Chris' death, Taya filed a lawsuit against Chris' co-founders at Craft, accusing them of mishandling company funds. In her legal filings, she detailed the promise Bass made of giving her the home and noted that he did not follow through. But other sources claim Bass conditioned his gift of the home on Taya giving proceeds from the book and movie to the families of two friends and fallen SEAL members, Job and Lee. The suit was settled out of court in late 2014, and Bass agreed to let her continue to live in the home until October 30, after which she can buy the house for $314,612 or pay rent to remain. [Source]

So whatever happened to the repeated claim that the proceeds from "American Sniper" would go/had gone to charity, benefiting the families of his fallen friends?

Consider what Kyle’s publisher wrote after his tragic passing: "He dedicated his life in recent years to supporting veterans and donated the proceeds of  "American Sniper" to the families of his fallen friends."

An article in the Blaze definitively proclaimed: "A perfect reflection of his character, Kyle gave all proceeds from his best-selling book "American Sniper" to the families of soldiers killed in combat."

Or this line from a Human Events article: "For "American Sniper," Kyle donated the profits from that book to charity."

An article in D magazine quoted Kyle as saying he decided not to take a dime from  "American Sniper": "As it became a best-seller, he gave two-thirds [of the proceeds] to the families of fallen teammates and the rest to a charity that helped wounded veterans. It was something he and Taya discussed a lot."

In The New Yorker, it was reported that "Kyle split the earnings with DeFelice and McEwen [his ghost writers] and donated his profits to the families of fallen soldiers."

Kyle perpetuated this idea, telling the same proceeds-went-to-charity tale to the Texas News Service and even adding that he regularly received tearful calls and letters of thanks.

And now for the kicker: It isn’t true. Out of the staggering $3 million that "American Sniper" collected in royalties for Kyle (as of June 30, 2013), only $52,000 actually went to the families of fallen servicemen. (Rather than 100 percent of the proceeds, as the public was led to believe, try 2 percent!) While Kyle’s widow claimed, in her testimony, that they never intended to profit from the book, and "wanted" to donate the money to other veterans, she said they were weren’t able to because of — get this! — "gift-tax laws that prevented them from donating more than $13,000 each to two families last year."

When Ventura’s attorney asked why they did not simply create a nonprofit (standard practice) to be able to give away the money without gift-tax concerns, Kyle said she had not had the time to set up such a nonprofit. Separately, she noted: "We are trying to find the right places and not just throw it away."

It’s true that giving money away effectively is more challenging than many people realize. But it’s hard to believe neither of the Kyles was able to sort this problem out: Surely it is quite easy to locate the struggling families of fallen servicemen. And the challenges of setting up a nonprofit don’t excuse the Kyles’ and the publisher’s strongly implying, and allowing others to claim unambiguously, that they were giving all the money away when this was clearly not true.

Why is there no concern for those families of other veterans — many of whom, unlike Kyle’s supposedly destitute widow, probably are struggling financially? Do those families, who were supposed to receive help, not matter? [Source]
Was Kyle's statement about proceeds going to charity just a ruse to sell more books, just like the fight with Ventura was made up? Ventura has the right to clear his name and to do it in court. What is the alternative, a duel? Kyle's lies ruined Ventura's reputation and ability to generate income. If Ventura had dropped this case because of Kyle's death, it could be seen as an admission that the lies Kyle told about Ventura were true. Kyle made up the story, and he should be held accountable. The fact that he wore the uniform of our country does not give him a free pass to attack (falsely) the reputation of another man. Ventura is a man of integrity. In fact, for being honest, the media jumps at the chance to slander him. Ventura is a Patriot watchdog. Soldiers need to understand that without people like Jesse, American political corruption runs roughshod over our civil liberties.

Maybe minus the alcohol on the part of the younger Navy SEALs, this would have never happened (witnesses for Kyle testified that Ventura was not drinking on the night of the alleged incident, unlike Kyle and his friends).





The Powers That Be Want to Disgrace, Discredit and Silence Jesse Ventura


Jesse Ventura Talks 2016 Election, Howard Stern and Government Lies

Related Stories:
Dr. Phil's Interview of Eddie Ray Routh's Parents and Sister After the Verdict | March 16, 2015




Multiple scenes in the movie, "American Sniper," portray Kyle as haunted by his service. One of the film’s earliest reviews praised it for showing the “emotional torment of so many military men and women.” But that torment is completely absent from the book on which the film is based. In the book, Kyle writes, “The enemy are savages and despicably evil.” He adds, “I only wish I had killed more.” He also writes: “I loved what I did. I still do. If circumstances were different — if my family didn’t need me — I’d be back in a heartbeat. I’m not lying or exaggerating to say it was fun. I had the time of my life being a SEAL.” In his book, Kyle writes about being competitive with other snipers, and how when one in particular began to threaten his "legendary" number, Kyle "all of the sudden" seemed to have "every stinkin' bad guy in the city running across my scope." As in, wink wink, my luck suddenly changed when the sniper-race got close, get it? He also boasts that the unofficial Rules Of Engagement were pretty simple: “If you see anyone from about 16 to 65 and they’re male, shoot ‘em. Kill every male you see.” During an appearance on Conan O’Brien’s show he laughs about accidentally shooting an Iraqi insurgent. He once told a military investigator that he doesn’t “shoot people with Korans. I’d like to, but I don’t.”

Logo: Craft's emblem, which Chris Kyle designed himself, states that violence can be a solution  
Logo: Craft's emblem, which Chris Kyle designed himself, states that violence can be a solution

Chris Kyle Told His Business Partners That There was Discord in His Marriage and He Believed Divorce was a Very Real Possibility [Image Below is an Excerpt from the Answer to Kyle v. Craft, Filed on January 17, 2014]:






Jesse Ventura Explains the Offers Made by the Kyle Camp (Around the 17 Minute Mark)


88 comments:

  1. The stories and lies Chris Kyle told were the juicy, delicious red meat of which they dream. Chris Kyle became a hero to them not only because he killed lots of Iraqis, but also because he had slain all sorts of uncomfortable factual dragons as well.

    In other words, Chris Kyle told people what they wanted to hear, and those people loved him for it.

    How many people heard Kyle tell the story of punching Ventura and thought, "Yes, finally somebody shut that loud mouth up!". He proved to these folks that, "Yes! Anti-war people DO hate the troops, just like I thought all along". And "Yes, there WERE WMDs in Iraq…SEE…BUSH WAS RIGHT!!! I WAS RIGHT!!" Except, of course, they weren't, and we know that now. But Chris Kyle let these people live in a world of fantasy and call it reality. He was very good at doing that sort of thing, especially with himself.

    What has been interesting in the aftermath of the verdict against Chris Kyle is that the media has gone into hyper-drive in attacking Jesse Ventura, and not Chris Kyle. Kyle is a proven liar, yet no one talks about that. They all talk about how could Jesse Ventura sue a poor widow. I find this baffling. What is even more baffling, and frankly appalling, is how they so thoroughly misrepresent the facts of the case and misinform the populace.

    The question becomes…why isn't the media up in arms over Chris bullshitting them?

    Every media outlet, all the cable channels and every other talking head, is saying how disgusting Ventura is, and not saying a word about Chris Kyle except to call him a hero.

    The question from everyone is, "Jesse…why won't you give the money back to this widow?" As opposed to being, why did Chris Kyle lie about this incident to enrich himself and what other lies has he told? Everyone is up in arms that Ventura would "sue a widow". The facts of the case are, he sued Chris Kyle, and then Kyle died in the lead up to the trial. All along Ventura said he'd drop the suit if Kyle just retracted the statement. Kyle wouldn't do that. He decided to stick to the lie, then tragically, Kyle was killed.

    Why is that Ventura's problem? Ventura didn't lie, Kyle did.

    The other thing talking heads and writers have been saying of Jesse Ventura is that he should have "dropped the lawsuit when Chris Kyle died, then he could have saved his reputation!" Or "Ventura sued to save his reputation but has damaged it by winning the lawsuit against a widow!". This sort of logic is a shortcut to thinking. If Ventura had dropped the lawsuit people wouldn't say "Oh, what a great guy", instead they wouldn't say anything at all and would still despise Ventura for his 'conspiracy theories'. Then they would recall how Chris Kyle punched him out for bad-mouthing America, and when Ventura would say that wasn't true, these same talking heads would say, "Well, if it weren't true you should have sued for defamation!!" This is how the game works. Heads they win, tails you lose. As my grandmother used to say, "damned if you do, damned if you don't." The same thing would have happened if Ventura dropped the suit when Chris Kyle was killed. The media likes to play the game of hindsight with everyone except themselves.

    http://mpmacting.com/blog/2014/7/19/truth-justice-and-the-curious-case-of-chris-kyle

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  2. The news transformed Ventura into one of the most hated men in America and persona non grata in the military and veteran communities. TV-show deals for Ventura, who had developed a career as a television host with a penchant for exploring conspiracy theories, reportedly dried up as a result.

    But then a curious thing happened: Ventura immediately came forth, not issuing the standard press release with a banal denial but rather resolutely and categorically denying he ever made such statements, and affirming that he was never knocked in that California bar or was never in any altercation with Kyle.

    Someone here was clearly lying — but who?

    For those of us paying attention, Kyle’s story seemed fishy from the get-go. Why would Ventura make such remarks in the company of friends and fellow SEALs, especially those who were at a bar as part of a wake for a fallen warrior? Only a hair-raisingly evil person would say they “deserve to lose a few,” much less to men who have just buried a fellow soldier. While Ventura has been quite publicly critical of both Bush and much U.S. policy (and, for the record, I am not excusing his views), hatred of individual servicemen is a whole other ballgame.

    But, this was Chris Kyle, a war hero (!), and thus all blindly believed him.

    Ventura asked for a retraction and an apology. He received none. So he proceeded with a defamation lawsuit.

    Legal experts claimed Ventura had no shot. A widow crying on the stand? Too sympathetic. A decorated war hero who was tragically killed (in an unrelated accident after Ventura filed suit)? Too sympathetic. Ventura was facing an almost insurmountable uphill battle in an already tricky area of the law.

    Once the trial actually began, however, the truth began to emerge. For instance, Kyle, who sat for a lengthy video deposition prior to his death, was inconsistent in his story, described by one local reporter with the following headline: “In video deposition, author trips up on fight details in Ventura libel suit.” The Minneapolis Star-Tribune describes the testimony:

    Afternoon testimony may have shifted some sympathy to Ventura’s side. In the deposition, videotaped a year before his death, Chris Kyle said he could not remember who told him that Ventura had hit his head when he fell to the sidewalk, could not recall how he learned that Ventura had a black eye, and conceded that tables did not go “flying” during the 2006 confrontation in a bar near San Diego, which he described in his book “American Sniper.”

    After a thorough trial, in which the jury listened to multiple witnesses from both sides, the jury found in favor of Ventura, finding Kyle had indeed defamed the former wrestler. The court awarded Ventura more than $1.8 million (far lower than the amount Ventura sought), consisting of $500,000 for defamation damages and an additional $1.3 million for “unjust enrichment” (meaning that Kyle and his estate wrongly profited from said defamation). The book publisher’s libel insurance will cover the $500,000.

    Social media, even journalists, became downright hysterical, insulting Ventura and making knee-jerk defenses of Kyle — so hysterical, in fact, that facts and logic were outright nonexistent.

    Consider a few of the frantic claims, along with the facts:

    http://www.nationalreview.com/article/384176/justice-jesse-ventura-was-right-his-lawsuit-j-delgado

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  3. In his deposition, Kyle stood by the account, as does his estate, now represented by his widow Taya Kyle. But the video played in court Thursday offered a glimpse of how he struggled to rein in the story after the book came out -- even as his publishers seemed to relish the attention it brought.

    Ventura was identified when Kyle promoted the book on radio's "The Opie & Anthony Show" in January 2012. A caller asked if the passage referred to Ventura. Kyle seemed surprised, but confirmed it was.

    It came up again in later radio and television appearances. In an email, his publicist described the interest surrounding the book as "hot hot hot!"

    Less than a week after the book's release, Kyle got an email from his publicist, according to testimony from the deposition.

    "I'm going to call you about Jesse V.," she wrote.

    "Is there a problem?" he asked.

    "No," she wrote, "but Jesse V. has come out and said it never happened."

    Kyle said he was growing weary of the story and the controversy it generated. In an email to his publishers, he asked: "When is this going to end?"

    Jim DeFelice, one of his co-authors, gave Kyle some suggestions on how to handle the issue, according to the deposition.

    "Give the people that ask enough of what they want to satisfy them," DeFelice wrote in an email. He told Kyle to put the story in perspective with "the usual Chris Kyle smile" and his Texas charm.

    But other exchanges raised by Ventura's attorneys suggested the publishers were in no hurry to move beyond the controversy.

    One email read at the deposition said publishers were discussing an online marketing campaign that included "Jesse Ventura" as a keyword -- a plan Kyle said he wasn't told about.

    In another email, an executive said a planned talk show rebuttal of Ventura's denial would be "a nice little bonus hit for us." A publicist said "the so-called 'incident' has helped the book go crazy," according to emails excerpts read in the deposition.

    http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_26124728/jesse-ventura-trial-bar-fight-story-sold-books

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  4. Kyle was a serial liar, always with lies that served to inflate his reputation and ego. Ventura lost out on future jobs because of Kyle's lie about him, and Kyle profited from this lie.

    signalfire1 • January 26, 2015

    Read the trial transcript. Kyle's 'friends' were all extremely drunk at the time and none of them could place the alleged altercation in the same location - some said next to the bar, some out on the patio, others out on the sidewalk... and Kyle himself retracted a lot of it on deposition. Kyle willingly allowed the 'scruff face' material to be included in the book like the good ol' boy galoot that he was, then on questioning during a stupid radio show confirmed it was Ventura he was writing about, doubled down and said it again on the O'Reilly show. Ventura gave him an out, that all he had to do was issue a retraction and take the material out of the book, or admit to 'assault and battery' and then running from the cops; Kyle was too egotistical at that point to have the least bit of shame at his arrogant lies. According to these same friends, he said he shot at looters from the roof of the dome after Katrina, and shot two carjackers in Texas, something for which there is utterly no evidence. Ventura's lawyers more than made their case for him, and the jury agreed.

    ChrieLittle • January 22, 2015

    Chris Kyle lied about....

    1) Killing 30 looters from the top of the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina
    2) Killing 2 carjackers that tried to steal his truck
    3) Punching Jesse Ventura
    4) His confirmed kills.

    The military does not confirm or keep track of confirm kills and has not done so since Vietnam. There are SEALS that served with him that do not talk about what they did in Iraq. I know one personally that says the "confirmed" kills were made up by him.

    Everyone, please do your research on Kyle.

    P.S. I served in Iraq in 2003 and 2005. USMC. Thank you.

    RickfrMar • January 21, 2015

    The blind hero worship and the" military can do no wrong" attitude will be the death of our liberty. I wonder how many of these "Patriots" in the military now or who have ever served (and I did) would have confiscated firearms in New Orleans in 2005? One of the most cherished liberties by so many americans (2nd amendment) was trambled by those sworn to uphold it. Wake up, things will come full circle.

    Amazing how so many "conservatives" who love to point out that liberals always use "kill the messenger" tactics seem to be using them with the Ventura/Kyle verdict.

    http://www.nationalreview.com/article/384176/justice-jesse-ventura-was-right-his-lawsuit-j-delgado/page/0/2

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  5. Andylit • January 23, 2015

    One needs only to watch Ventura's numerous instances of irrational comments to understand that Kyle's description was both plausible and totally in line with Ventura's demonstrated penchant for being a flaming jerk.

    In addition, one needs only to review the numerous instances caught on video in which Ventura loses his temper at the drop of a hat and engages in overtly aggressive confrontations with people who disagree with him.

    In any other state this case would have been DOA. Only in Minnesota, perhaps the last place in America where anyone has a shred of affection or respect for the former Governor, could this outcome occur. A liberal jury took the word of a brain damaged, steroid addled 9/11 truther and his paid posse over the word of some of the finest, bravest men on the face of the earth.

    The outcome is an appalling injustice. If pursued, it WILL be overturned. Understand this. With the exception of a handful of fools, America despises who and what Ventura has become over the decades. A mental case who happens to be a media magnet. A steroid bloated parody of Alec Baldwin's mouth joined with the twisted brain of an OWS fanatic.

    Oscar Cavail replying to Andylit • January 23, 2015

    The problem with your entire premise is that the story as it was originally printed was not substantiated to the standards required by book publishers to avoid a defamation suit. Our views of Kyle and Ventura respectively are almost irrelevant. The rules of evidence in federal court are clear. Lawyers for either side are not allowed to put on spectacles or enter evidence that is shaky. What not very compelling evidence is entered into the record will be ripped to shreds by any lawyers worthy of admission to a federal court. So this popular misconception that it's all on the jury is frankly absurd. The publisher's insurance paid for excellent legal representation. If Ventura's case was baseless, a motion for summary judgment would have tossed the case before it even got to the jury you malign. And lawyers aside, in the years since the incident and after Kyle's tragic passing, how many first-hand witnesses have come forward to call Ventura a liar? Not one.

    You seem to be fixated on the politics and personalities, but proving that an incident did not occur as stated in a for-profit publication is simply a matter of law. Unless you are privy to undisclosed information and are aware of some revealing evidence that did not make it to the jury, an appellate court is going to need something pretty spectacular to reverse this decision.

    Tyrone replying to Andylit • January 23, 2015

    I have watched pretty much every interview he has done that has posted on YouTube. I don't see someone who is nuts, I see someone who is questioning the government. For example, 9/11. He thinks something else happen rather than what the government told us and he uses things he or others present to him as reasons why potentially something else happened. His reaction to people trying to rebut his statements are pretty normal of any other actor or politician reactions.

    They defend it, some more over the top than others. Doesn't mean he is a nut. When he was on Pier Morgans show, I thought that was a great interview showing his thoughts and his reactions. It wasn't over the top, definitely didn't look nuts to me. I guess having his hair like Doc Brown and rocking from time to time doesn't help, but I really don't see where he goes nuts as you put it. He got up and left a interview on a radio show a few years back, but the host was just being an ass and Ventura had to go to another event.

    When did questioning your government make you a nut?

    http://www.nationalreview.com/article/384176/justice-jesse-ventura-was-right-his-lawsuit-j-delgado/page/0/2

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  6. Tark Jones replying to Andylit • January 23, 2015

    I'm not defending Jesse Ventura. The guy comes across as a egotistical moron. I'm simply pointing out that your comments don't make you sound much more rational than him. You say "A liberal jury took the word of a brain damaged, steroid addled 9/11 truther and his paid posse over the word of some of the finest, bravest men on the face of the earth." Yet you know nothing of the evidence or testimony, you don't know that it was a "liberal" jury, you have no direct knowledge of anything that happened in that case yet you present your opinion as fact. The fact that Chris Kyle was a member of the armed forces does not make him perfect, infallible or incapable of doing wrong. And the fact that a jury heard testimony from Kyle, Ventura, and witnesses and still found Kyle guilty of defamation (a notoriously hard claim to prove) would indicate the preponderance of evidence was clearly against Kyle.

    You say Ventura is not right in the head, while you argue that everyone involved in the case was wrong and you are right, based solely on the fact you don't like Ventura and Kyle served in the military. Yeah, THAT's rational...

    Tyrone replying to Andylit • January 23, 2015

    Just asking, not trying to insinuate here. Are you a psychologist? I do not know how old you are, but within that time frame of 20-30 years he was a mayor and governor. I would assume he was at least mentally stable enough to perform his duties at that time, otherwise they would of gotten him out of there a lot sooner. As governor he served from 1999 to 2003. Perhaps you have a video that shows this behavior you are referring to?

    Loream replying to Andylit • January 23, 2015

    You either don't seem to understand the issue or don't care. Ventura's personality, behavior, his conspiracy theories were not on trial. The issue, plain and simple, was that Chris Kyle lied about what happened on that particular evening in that particular bar in San Diego. Those lies, by his own publisher's accounts, help propel the sales of the book and are considered defamation of character. Kyle lied, Ventura won the suit. I know that there are are many people who cannot accept that Chris Kyle, a SEAL who served his country ver well, a man who most certainly saved the lives of other Americans, wasn't perfect; that he had issues in his real live and he told several lies. But those are the facts. Take the good with the not so good.

    signalfire1 replying to Andylit • January 23, 2015

    Give it up, Andy. ALL of Kyle's 'supporters' were very drunk at the time. Read the transcript - 10 beers, 13 beers in, during a wake! None of them could even place the fake event in the same location in the bar. The so-called 'liberal' jury (you would know this HOW?) realized that Kyle was a pathological liar (even his wife admits to that, that he fabricated stuff all the time); when the SHTF and he went from the idiotic 'scruff face' writings, to saying it was Ventura on the Opie and Anthony show, and from there doubled down on the O'Reilly show and lied yet AGAIN, Ventura offered him, very honorably, the chance to retract his statements and admit that he hadn't committed assault and battery, a serious offense, not a giveaway like shooting people from afar in a war zone and then claiming they were getting ready to throw grenades. Kyle wasn't man enough to admit that he was a liar, plain and simple, and the publisher wasn't smart enough to immediately take those few pages out of the book.

    You are obviously letting your lack of information about the details of 9-11 and your obvious hatred of Ventura to cloud what passes for your thinking.

    http://www.nationalreview.com/article/384176/justice-jesse-ventura-was-right-his-lawsuit-j-delgado/page/0/2

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  7. Day three of the defamation lawsuit by former Governor Jesse Ventura against Chris Kyle, who died in February of 2013, saw more testimony from the late Navy SEAL. It was a videotaped deposition recorded in November of 2012, four months before Kyle was killed in an incident at a Texas gun range.

    The lawsuit alleges that Ventura was damaged financially and by reputation by a reference in Kyle's autobiography "American Sniper."

    In a brief chapter, Kyle refers to punching out a "celebrity" he calls "Scruff Face."

    Kyle later identified "Scruff Face" as Ventura in interviews.

    In the videotape shown to the jury on Thursday, Kyle answered media questions focusing on identifying Ventura. "(It) shocked me. It was a question, I was not ready for," Kyle said.

    Kyle said he tried to downplay that part of the book in favor of the heroic exploits of his fellow seals and his own dexterity as America's "most lethal" sniper.

    "I would gloss over it," said Kyle, "then try to get away from it…I did not feel that the general public needed to hear bickering between two SEALS."

    Ventura served in the Navy's Underwater Demolition Teams during the Vietnam War, which were later merged into the Navy's SEAL teams. Ventura was at McP's Irish Pub in Coronado, California for a SEAL team graduation in 2006, when another, younger, group of SEALS was at the bar for a memorial.

    In "American Sniper", Kyle contends that "Scruff Face" was loudly insulting President Bush and the United States. When Kyle confronted him and asked him to quiet down, Kyle contended that Ventura said the SEALS should "lose a few."

    At that point, Kyle said he hit Ventura in the face, knocking him down.

    "I never figured it would come out who he was," Kyle said in the deposition. However, he stuck to the story. "It is not libel, because it is true."

    As for Ventura's denial that the incident ever happened, Kyle said "I was not concerned by what he would say, as long as I am telling the truth."

    Ventura's attorneys followed up the videotape of Kyle with testimony from Bill DeWitt of Georgia, a former SEAL and Army Ranger who graduated in the same UDT/SEAL Class with Ventura, whom he knew as Jim Janos.

    Ventura changed his name when he became a professional wrestler.

    DeWitt told the jury in Saint Paul Federal Court that he was at the bar in Coronado that night and never heard Ventura say anything derogatory about the United States or SEALS. He also said he never saw Ventura get into a confrontation with anyone that night.

    DeWitt's wife, Charlene, took the stand to back up her husband's story.She was also at the bar that night.

    Ventura's attorneys showed the jury a petition signed by numerous SEALS calling on Ventura to be expelled from the UDT/SEAL Association. They contended it was proof of the damage Kyle's book had done to Ventura's reputation among the SEAL community.

    Kyle's attorneys, however, read part of the petition to the jury in which the July 2013 petition said Ventura's "pursuit of the lawsuit is a great dishonor," since Kyle had died in February of that year. Ventura has continued the lawsuit against Kyle's estate, meaning his widow.

    The petition blamed "dishonorable action set forth in the lawsuit, perpetrated by Janos (Ventura) against Taya Kyle."

    http://www.kare11.com/story/news/local/2014/07/10/ventura-kyle-seal-lawsuit-american-sniper/12501137/

    ReplyDelete
  8. KYLE was USED and SNOOZED ----certainly complicit, probably double-crossed.

    VENTURA goes half way.

    KYLE is DEAD.

    Meanwhile, teflon franchise slum 'EYE--CON' EASTWOOD
    has been pitching time release POST AMERICA demoralization ops
    for DECADES now.

    Korea era draftee EASTWOOD also obediently ---STEPPED ON---
    some 5 decades of milestone anniversaries for the now 21st century DEFINING
    -----------------------------------------KOREAN WAR--------------------------------------.

    And be aware, that was during the very HEYDAY of GLOBALIST--RED CHINA HANDOVER
    ---------------------------------------------TREASON----------------------------------------

    TAKE HEED

    ReplyDelete
  9. Jesse Ventura Won't See 'American Sniper'; Says Chris Kyle Is No Hero

    Associated Press
    January 28, 2015

    American Sniper is tops at the box office but don’t expect to see former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura lining up at a theater for it.

    Ventura, a former Navy SEAL, won $1.8 million in a defamation lawsuit last year against the estate of the late Chris Kyle, the SEAL protagonist of the movie, which has sparked debate over whether snipers should be considered heroes. Ventura said Wednesday he won’t see the film partly because Kyle is no hero to him.

    "A hero must be honorable, must have honor. And you can’t have honor if you’re a liar. There is no honor in lying," Ventura told The Associated Press from his winter home in Baja California, Mexico. He also noted that the movie isn’t playing there.

    Ventura also dismissed the movie as propaganda because it conveys the false idea that Iraq had something to do with the 9/11 attacks. “It’s as authentic as Dirty Harry,” he said, referring to fictional movie series starring Clint Eastwood, the director of American Sniper.

    Ventura testified Kyle fabricated a subchapter in his American Sniper book in which Kyle claimed he punched out a man, whom he later identified as Ventura, at a California bar in 2006 for allegedly saying the SEALs “deserve to lose a few” in Iraq. Ventura said it never happened.

    The jury gave Ventura the legal vindication he craved. Publisher HarperCollins removed the passage from the best-seller, and it gets no mention in the movie. Kyle’s estate has appealed. Ventura’s separate lawsuit against HarperCollins remains pending.

    The former wrestler is now working on the second season of his online-only political talk show Off the Grid at Ora.tv, which he records in Mexico, where he lives in a solar-powered home with a satellite Internet connection.

    Ed Huddleston, a lawyer for Kyle’s widow, Taya Kyle, said they won’t comment on Ventura’s remarks because the lawsuit is on appeal.

    Kyle was killed in 2013 on a shooting range. The former Marine charged in his death goes on trial in Texas next month.

    The American Sniper film has been a sensation at the box office and has earned more than $200 million domestically since it was released last month on Christmas day.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Bill named after Navy SEAL Chris Kyle to be signed into law
    Fox4News
    Aug 28, 2013

    A bill named after Navy SEAL Chris Kyle is set to be signed into Texas law Wednesday. It would fast-track police jobs for veterans.

    Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield, were killed in early February at a gun range, allegedly by a veteran they were trying to help.

    Before his death he was working to become a police officer in Dalworthington Gardens. But even though he was considered one of the top snipers in the country, he had to go through the same training as everyone else.

    The bill will allow military veterans to prove their skills and skip out on certain parts of the police academy, streamlining access to employment.

    "We have this pool of skilled people that we need to take advantage of," said Rep. Dan Flynn of Van Zandt County, who sponsored the bill.

    He called it a "jobs bill."

    Dalworthington Gardens Police Chief Bill Waybourn said a range officer who Kyle once coached in baseball was going to have to supervise him for 60 hours of gun range training.

    "Seemed a little silly," he said.

    The bill also allows military spouses expedited state licensing for some careers.

    http://www.fox4news.com/story/23277622/bill-named-after-navy-seal-chris-kyle-to-be-signed-into-law


    Collaboration between The Chris Kyle Foundation & Dalworthington Gardens PD
    NBCDFW.COM
    Apr 6, 2013

    Chief Waybourn was collaborating with Chris Kyle to instruct teachers in self-defense through a partnership between the department and the Chris Kyle Foundation. That plan was tragically put on hold when Kyle was killed in February. Saturday would have been Kyle's first class. During Saturday's class, Chris Kyle's widow, Taya, and his brother, Jeff, spoke to the class in honor of the fallen Army sniper.

    http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Educators-Participate-in-Concealed-Handgun-license-class-201771421.html

    Concealed handgun licensing class draws hundreds of Texas educators
    Dallas Morning News
    Published: April 6, 2013

    Waybourn hoped to start a business teaching a licensing class for concealed weapons with slain Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle. A regular course costs $500, Waybourn said. Waybourn said Kyle came on board in mid-January following the Connecticut school shooting. Kyle, known as the military’s most lethal sniper, was killed in February at a gun range by a troubled fellow veteran. “It went from 20 to 30 teachers to the more than 700 we have here today,” Waybourn said. “It just exploded with Chris’ involvement.” Before lunch, volunteers sold-out of T-shirts with Kyle’s photo and philosophy etched across the front: “It is our duty to serve those who serve us.” Kyle’s autobiography American Sniper was also sold Saturday. Proceeds from T-shirt and book sales went to the Chris Kyle Memorial Fund. Tarrant County Constable Clint Burgess said the class’ intention is not to set any concealed handgun or weapon policy for school districts or the state, but to educate educators.

    http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/category/news/chris-kyle/

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  11. THE DESHAZO SISTERS ARE LIARS

    Star Tribune
    December 19, 2013

    Ex-governor says he was never punched, nor did he disparage a deceased Navy SEAL, but the women testify to a different story.

    Two sisters attending the 2006 wake of a Navy SEAL offered sworn statements filed Wednesday that could undermine former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura’s claim that he was defamed in a popular book by another former Navy SEAL.

    The sisters allege that one of them saw an unidentified man in a San Diego bar punch Ventura, and one sister said Ventura stated that the Navy SEAL “probably” deserved to die.

    The documents contradict the core of Ventura’s suit, alleging he was neither punched nor made derogatory statements.

    The sisters’ affidavits are among documents filed in response to a suit brought last year by Ventura, who claimed he was defamed in a book, “American Sniper.” It describes how a man, later identified as Ventura, was punched by the book’s author, Chris Kyle, after the man said the SEALs “deserve to lose a few.”

    Kyle was killed seven years after the bar incident, in 2013.

    John Borger and Leita Walker, attorneys for Taya Kyle, widow of Chris Kyle, offered the sisters’ statements as part of a memorandum asking U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle, who is no relation, to dismiss Ventura’s suit.

    Also filed is a photo of Ventura with the two sisters and an unnamed friend, a photo that the sisters say was taken at the bar earlier the evening of the incident.

    Ventura, a former professional wrestler who has spoken often about his years with the Navy SEALs, was governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003 and has more recently raised the possibility of running for president in 2016.

    The sisters said that they had not met Ventura before the night at the bar.

    Ventura’s attorneys will have an opportunity to submit a written rebuttal to the sisters’ claims and participate in oral arguments on Jan. 29 against Taya Kyle’s motion to dismiss Ventura’s claims before trial.

    In her affidavit, Laura deShazo of Salt Lake City said she and her sister went to the memorial service for Michael Monsoor, a Navy SEAL who was a good friend of their family. After the memorial service, a small group adjourned to McP’s bar for the wake.

    She said she recognized Ventura at the bar and she and her sister, Rosemary deShazo, had their photo taken with him.

    “Later in the evening, hours after the picture was taken, I observed an altercation between Jesse Ventura and other persons at McP’s,” she wrote. “I did not hear how the altercation started. It did not last long. … During the altercation I saw Ventura punched by a white male, around 6 feet tall, with light brownish hair.”

    She said she did not know Kyle and “cannot say for certain that Chris Kyle was the person who punched Ventura, but I definitely saw Ventura being punched …” Before his death Kyle gave a deposition, describing himself as 6 foot 2 inches. His hair color is not mentioned.

    In a separate statement, Rosemary deShazo said that she became aware Ventura was at the bar, and she and her sister and a friend had their picture taken with him.

    “During the short time that we were with him, Ventura asked why we were at McP’s,” Rosemary deShazo said in her statement. “We told him that we were at a wake for a fallen SEAL. Ventura then said, ‘He probably deserved it. They die all the time.’ ”

    Rosemary deShazo added, “This statement offended me.” She made no mention of a punch being thrown.

    Monsoor, who was being honored at the wake, was killed in Iraq on Sept. 29, 2006, when an insurgent threw a grenade at him and several other SEALs and Iraqi soldiers. Monsoor smothered the grenade with his body and he died, saving those who were with him. In 2008, then-President George W. Bush posthumously awarded him the Medal of Honor.

    http://www.startribune.com/local/236480171.html

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  12. Chris Kyle, the Lying Sociopath
    On the Rim of Insanity
    February 8, 2012

    [...]

    But what is most chilling of all is not his exploits in wartime nor his lack of guilt or shame in the deeds he did in the name of his “duty”, but the fact that he is currently training our police. A man with an attitude that the enemy is evil or a bunch of savages will almost certainly translate this philosophy unto the people he is instructing.

    Kyle represents everything that is wrong with our military and police force. He believes in the virtues of the State, never questions the moral or ethical issues of what he does, nor does he appear to care either. As long as he gets to kill people in the name of the almighty State, he is content to not question the reasons. He is, in essence, the perfect soldier for the oligarchs who presume to be our gods.

    Unfortunately, I fully expect more people like Chris Kyle to come out of the woodwork and start promoting the virtues of murdering for the almighty State. I have nothing but pity for these men who are so screwed up in the head that they cannot make any moral decisions on their own. This is how the police state grows: through the tireless work of sociopaths like Chris Kyle.

    http://swiftfoxmark2.blogspot.com/2012/02/chris-kyle-lying-sociopath.html

    ReplyDelete
  13. On December 23, 2013, Taya Kyle filed a lawsuit against Chris' business partners in Craft International. Chris and the other two founding members cut out their spouses from Craft when they established the business. Therefore, if Chris were to divorce his wife or die, Taya would not be made a member or partner. Instead, as stipulated by the agreement, within 130 days of his death, the other two partners had the right to buy Chris' share of the company. In other words, Chris specifically put into the agreement that his wife would be excluded from anything to do with the business other than being cashed out at fair market in the event of a divorce or his death.

    Taya filed a suit in Dallas County, Texas, that alleges that Steven Young, the CEO of Craft International, and Bo French, the company’s COO, have conspired to ‘steal’ the company. The suit claims that the pair stole Craft’s ‘assets, client lists, contacts, contracts, trademarks, training and operating manuals… and caused confusion in advertising services’. It also alleges that they have been ‘manipulating Craft’s stock, mishandling funds, diverting assets and mismanaging and usurping Craft’s contracts’. The suit says that Taya is the 85 percent interest holder of Craft and as such has the right to inspect the company’s financial records. However, it is alleged that Young and French have refused this request. The suit alleges that they diverted Craft’s profits to a new company called Craft International Risk Management (CIRM). What it looks like from the outside is they pushed the debt to Craft and the income to CIRM.

    Taya's attorney, Larry Friedman, says Chris never paid much attention to the company, and that Taya is filing the suit because she only recently discovered the books weren’t in order. “Chris was busy being Chris,” says Friedman. “He was busy being the American Sniper and not paying attention to the business affairs. When he passed away, she was forced to stop being just a mother and start being a businesswoman and take care of the business affairs of the family. And lo and behold, the books weren’t in order, and money wasn’t accounted for, and she couldn’t get any answers.”

    On December 26, 2013, Craft International responded on Facebook to the filing of the lawsuit:

    Craft and its friends proudly raised several hundred thousand dollars to support Taya Kyle and her children, as well as the Littlefield family. Craft has made every effort to be supportive of Ms. Kyle and her children following the loss of our friend and partner. It is unfortunate for everyone that we now find ourselves in a lawsuit, especially one filled with Ms. Kyle’s personal attacks.

    Craft International is governed by an LLC Agreement entered into by its Members, all of whom completely understood what they were signing at the time, including Chris Kyle. None of the Members wanted their spouses to become Members in case of death or divorce. Taya Kyle did not become a Member of Craft upon Chris’s death, but she does have certain rights. One of those is the right to have her interest bought by Craft at Fair Market Value.

    Taya Kyle indicated her desire to divest herself of all interest in Craft. Craft agrees it is time for the parties to separate in a business sense, and it moved forward in the manner provided by the Agreement.

    Craft initiated an appraisal process, engaging an independent third party appraiser, to determine that value with notice to Ms. Kyle and her lawyer. In all respects, Craft has acted in accordance with the LLC Agreement.

    Ms. Kyle’s allegations in the suit are completely groundless. Craft will continue business as usual while defending itself in this.

    http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2013/12/chris-kyles-former-business-partners-say-his-widows-lawsuit-is-completely-groundless.html/

    Chris must never have disclosed deliberately to Taya that all the partners locked out their spouses. If Craft’s response is true, then it sounds like Taya assumed she was entitled to something that, by law, she is not.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Chris had a habit of telling tall tales, especially when he was drinking, like the night at McP's in 2006, when he twisted what Ventura said and lied about punching him out. The following is another fairy tale he told when drinking, which was published in the June 2013 issue of The New Yorker..

    Kyle was contacted by Brandon Webb, a veteran who had served with him on SEAL Team Three. Webb, now the editor of SOFREP, a Web site covering special-operations forces, invited Kyle and another former SEAL to participate in a taped discussion about life as a special operator. Webb asked Pat Kilbane, an actor, to moderate the discussion. Kyle met them at a bar in San Diego to tape the program.

    The session went well. Kilbane told me that he was struck by Kyle’s “aura,” noting that whenever “he walked in the room the dynamic would change, the energy in the room would shift.” Afterward, a larger group went out for dinner, closed the hotel bar, and hung out in Kyle’s suite, drinking until late. The SEALs began telling stories, and Kyle offered a shocking one. In the days after Hurricane Katrina, he said, the law-and-order situation was dire. He and another sniper travelled to New Orleans, set up on top of the Superdome, and proceeded to shoot dozens of armed residents who were contributing to the chaos. Three people shared with me varied recollections of that evening: the first said that Kyle claimed to have shot thirty men on his own; according to the second, the story was that Kyle and the other sniper had shot thirty men between them; the third said that she couldn’t recall specific details.

    Had Kyle gone to New Orleans with a gun? Rumors of snipers—both police officers and criminal gunmen—circulated in the weeks after the storm. Since then, they have been largely discredited. A spokesman for U.S. Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, told me, “To the best of anyone’s knowledge at SOCOM, there were no West Coast SEALs deployed to Katrina.” When I related this account to one of Kyle’s officers, he replied, sardonically, “I never heard that story.” The SEAL with extensive experience in special-mission units wondered how dozens of people could be shot by high-velocity rifles and just disappear; Kyle’s version of events, he said, “defies the imagination.” (In April, Webb published an article on SOFREP about the incident, but took it down after concluding that Kyle’s account was dubious.)

    http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/06/03/in-the-crosshairs

    ReplyDelete
  15. Trial Comes for Marine Accused of Killing 'American Sniper' [Excerpt]
    The Associated Press
    February 7, 2015

    Eddie Ray Routh, a 27-year-old Iraq War veteran, is scheduled to stand trial Wednesday, charged with capital murder in the slayings of Chad Littlefield and former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. The two men had taken the ex-Marine to a shooting range in an attempt to help him battle post-traumatic stress disorder and other personal demons besetting him.

    It appears that Kyle and Routh hadn't met before that fatal day in February 2013.

    Routh's attorneys are planning to argue that he was insane. Many expect PTSD from his Iraq tour and a relief mission to earthquake-stricken Haiti to be another narrative thread in that defense.

    Not long after graduation [from high school], Routh was off to boot camp in California. By September 2007, he was in the Middle East. But family and friends say Routh was more disturbed by what he saw during a later deployment — in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

    In January 2010, Routh was attached to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit as part of Operation Unified Response, sent to the island nation. They found a country in ruins, with about a quarter million dead — many of them stacked in rotting piles along the muddy roads. Routh talked of being forbidden by an officer to give his rations to a starving boy — and of things much worse.

    "He wasn't prepared for what he was doing out there," his father told London's Daily Mail for an article published last month. "Fishing hundreds of bodies — men, women, children — out of the ocean, piling them up and throwing them into mass graves."

    Routh left the Marines as a corporal that summer and floated around — a brief stint with a military contractor, doing odd jobs for a real estate agent, cabinet-making, building storage units. He was diagnosed with PTSD the following summer, according to medical records viewed by Men's Health. His drinking, which had begun in his teens, got worse.

    In September 2012, Routh was transported to Green Oaks Hospital for psychiatric care after his mother told police he'd threatened to kill himself and family. Police had found him wandering — barefoot, shirtless and reeking of alcohol.

    "Eddie stated he was hurting and that his family does not understand what he has been through," the police report said.

    His parents and sister have told reporters that Eddie claimed to be a vampire or werewolf, and complained that a tapeworm was eating out his insides. Routh would go back to Green Oaks at least one more time.

    On Jan. 30, 2013, his mother took him to the Veteran's Administration hospital. Despite her pleas that he be admitted, doctors sent him home.

    continued...

    ReplyDelete
  16. In search of another mission after leaving the SEALs, Kyle helped create a program to help rehabilitate wounded and troubled veterans through exercise. Jodi Routh worked as an aide at the Kyle kids' school, and she asked if he would take her son on.

    Kyle and Littlefield — a neighbor and hunting buddy who also volunteered his time with veterans — decided to take Routh shooting. It was Feb. 2, 2013.

    In Kyle's black pickup, they drove to Rough Creek Lodge and Resort, which sits on 11,000 acres of rolling hills scattered with scraggly trees and prairie grasses. In addition to luxury accommodations, it has hunting areas and a 1,000-yard shooting range.

    Around 5 p.m., a resort employee discovered the bodies. Kyle and Littlefield lay on the ground amid scattered weapons; each had been shot several times.

    About 45 minutes later, Routh pulled up at his sister's Midlothian home in Kyle's truck.

    Laura Blevins told police that Eddie "was out of his mind saying people were sucking his soul and that he could smell the pigs." He told her he'd "traded his soul" for the pickup.

    He'd killed Kyle and Littlefield, Routh allegedly admitted to his sister and her husband, and later to Texas Rangers. Echoing the advice his parents had given him before he left for Iraq, Gaines Blevins says his brother-in-law told him he'd "killed them before they could kill him."

    After leading police on a brief chase, Routh was arrested on Interstate 35 near Lancaster. In an interview with the Texas Rangers, Routh said he understood what he'd done and wanted to apologize to the men's families.

    "It wasn't a want to," he said in a recording played in court. "It was a need to, to get out of that situation out there today or I was going to be the one out there to get my head shot off."

    "You know what you did today is wrong, right?" the ranger asked.

    "Yes, sir," Routh replied.

    That evening, police blocked off the street and told Routh's neighbor Danny Elizondo to stay in his house.

    The Eddie he knew was a normal guy who came to neighborhood barbecues and asked if Elizondo, who painted cars, would redo his VW "bug" in camouflage. Routh had complained of flashbacks, but Elizondo had never known him to be violent or delusional.

    "Eddie would come to my house and sit out there and talk to me and tell me stuff," he says. "The bombing and stuff, the bodies on the side ... kids, out when they were going through patrols. Kids out there kind of hungry and stuff."

    He figures something out at Rough Creek made him snap.

    "I just have a feeling that Eddie went to that rifle range ... and he heard the shelling again, and something triggered him off," says Elizondo.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Dave said:

    Routh was/is sick before joining the service. It's not actual PTSD since the family said he suffered issues before joining. He got worse after hurricane disaster relief in Haiti. That said, he wasn't stupid, he was paranoid.

    This is a likely scenario in opinion:

    If Kyle was texting his friend, both in the front seats of the truck, Routh very well might have thought they were plotting against him. Both victims were texting each other right in front of him. Routh no doubt noticed it and being highly paranoid was super sensitive to insults and perceived threats. I am not saying its the victims fault, but once Kyle knew the guy was "straight up nuts", and his buddy texted back "have my six", they suspected he may be a danger to them, yet continued on.

    At that point, it was time to say, "let's go fishing" or "I feel sick, let's do this another day", instead Kyle proceeds, parks, unloading guns and ammo. His wife said he sounded tense at the range when she phoned him, so perhaps heated words were said even after he knew this guy was not right in the head.

    Combine Kyle's tense feelings, the previous texting back and forth, a non friendly environment, and Mr. paranoid lunatic picked up on it, picked up a weapon close by, and ended what he perceived as threat or a hater. Short story: Diseased brain, handle with care, is the moral to this tragedy.

    I doubt Kyle was even thinking about helping Routh's illness by the time they got to the range. He sounded perturbed and wanted to get the promised outing over with. He probably thought it was well under control, both him and his friend had .45's on them, Kyle had faced Jihadist.

    I doubt Kyle thought anything other than disgust and that this nut's a waste of my time. Unfortunately, if you read about Routh he was sick but picked up on feelings very very well. Being Schizo enhanced that. If Kyle was tense and feeling put out, I have little doubt Routh picked up on it.

    Spec War said:

    Dave - I agree with you on the plausibility of your evaluation. I also agree on what you said about aborting the shooting plan, and, quite frankly, was even shocked that Chris decided to take a PTSD patient to a shooting range in the first place, what with his own experience with firearms, etc. I personally will not go shooting with anyone I don't trust implicitly [nor do anything else where I need to depend upon another person's skills in life threatening conditions/environments].

    I haven't had time to research the evidence yet, but I agree that texting negativity right next to the guy would've been a very serious security risk, as well as in very bad taste.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dave said:

    Kyle was helpful, but he also had a temper and could turn emotionally on a dime, I think he went cold and short with Routh. If I was Routh, and had delusions of being hunted by the CIA or whatever like he did, and saw two armed men I don't know texting each other about me, they are taking me somewhere I don't know, maybe Routh notices Kyle give a quick nod to his friend, and the paranoia starts to build. He gets out, Kyle starts setting up targets, and Routh's sick brain starts making up a scenario that these guys are government agents or whatever, taking him there to kill him.

    Now that could be all wrong, it's speculation. However, the fact is Kyle and his friend were no doubt tense and probably not buddy-buddy with Routh upon parking. Routh may have thought them a real threat at that point. At the same time they perceived him to be a real nut. No doubt that is how his defense will play out.

    Poo said:

    @Dave....I think you nailed it! Those were my thoughts exactly....that he could tell they were texting each other. If they were both in the front seat, he may have even read it out of the corner of his eye. Even sane folks know when they are getting the "stink-eye".

    Demonic said:

    Immersion therapy and flooding are behavioral therapy techniques that are used by trained professionals to combat certain phobias. To use it you have to be certified, which neither Kyle or Littlefield had that certification. There are procedures that should have been followed before they just jumped in feet first (from what was reported, the day of the shooting is the first time the men had talked), and after a conversation with the shooter, Kyle heard enough to text Littlefield, "This dude is straight up nuts," to which Littlefield replied," I know, he's behind me, "Watch my six" (military lingo for "watch my back"). That brief exchange should have been a heads up not to give Routh a gun.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Videos capture Eddie Ray Routh rambling before his arrest
    February 13, 2015

    The police officers just wanted Eddie Ray Routh to get out of the truck, but he had other things on his mind.

    Voodoo. Anarchy. People feeding on his soul. Hell on earth.

    And his own sanity.

    “I don’t know if I’m going insane,” he confided to a Lancaster police detective in a rambling exchange that was captured by a police body camera a few hours after Chris Kyle and another man were gunned down at an Erath County shooting range.

    The exchange between Routh and then-Lt. Jesse Chevera was one of several police videos played Thursday for jurors who must decide if Routh was sane and aware that he’d done something wrong when he shot the two men on Feb. 2, 2013.

    Routh, 27, of Lancaster, a former Marine corporal who specialized in small arms repair, is charged with capital murder in the deaths of Kyle, 38, and his friend, Chad Littlefield, 35, both of Midlothian. The men had taken Routh to a shooting range that Kyle had designed at the upscale Rough Creek Lodge and Resort near Glen Rose, southwest of Fort Worth, to try to help Routh work through his post-traumatic stress disorder.

    Kyle was an acclaimed Navy SEAL and is reported to be the deadliest sniper in American military history. The blockbuster movie, American Sniper, was based on his book by the same name about his four tours in Iraq.

    Routh’s court-appointed attorneys have indicated he will be pursuing an insanity defense. He has a history of PTSD and other mental health problems inluding schizophrenia, psychosis and personality disorders.

    If convicted of capital murder, he would be sentenced to life in prison without parole as District Attorney Alan Nash has said he will not seek the death penalty. If Routh is found not guilty by reason of insanity, he could face life in a state mental hospital.

    Prosecutors played the videos Thursday for jurors, showing Routh resisting the urgings of police negotiators to surrender peacefully. Instead, he led officers on a high-speed chase that ended when the truck began having mechanical problems.

    Nash, who is being joined in the case by Assistant State Attorney General Jane Starnes, has argued that Routh knew that what he’d done was wrong because he fled in Kyle’s black Ford pickup. He later told his brother-in-law that he’d “sold his soul for a truck,” prosecutors said.

    But defense attorneys J. Warren St. John and Tim Moore of Fort Worth and R. Shay Isham of Stephenville have argued that Routh suffered from severe mental illness and believed he had to kill Kyle and Littlefield because they were going to try to kill him.

    Continued...

    ReplyDelete
  20. The negotiations between Routh and Chevera unfolded four or five hours after the killings as Routh sat in Kyle’s truck outside his parents’ home in Lancaster, where he’d been living. He’d gone home to get his dog and planned to drive to Oklahoma before police officers surrounded him.

    He refused to get out of the truck, however, and let loose a stream of concerns that prosecutors conceded were “odd.”

    “The [expletive deleted] anarchy has been killing the world,” he said at one point. “I can feel everybody feeding on my soul.”

    “Is this like hell walking on Earth?”

    “Is voodoo all around us?”

    He also expressed concerns about being stalked by cats, and at one point announced, “I need to take a nap.”

    Kyle and Littlefield were gunned down at the shooting range, and their bodies were discovered about 5 p.m. that day. They had been shot with two handguns, and were found about 20 feet apart.

    Their wounds were so severe they couldn’t have survived, even if they had been found sooner, Dallas County chief medical examiner Jeffrey Barnard testified Thursday.

    Kyle’s wife, Taya, watched the testimony about her late husband’s autopsy, at times closing her eyes and fighting back tears. Littlefield’s mother, who has been watching from the courtroom, left before the testimony began.

    Kyle was shot six times, including one shot that struck several major arteries and damaged his lungs. Another went through his jaw and struck his spinal cord. Several of the shots were considered “rapidly fatal,” Barnard said.

    Littlefield was shot seven times. One bullet went through the top of his head, suggesting he was kneeling or sitting down. Another went through his mid-section and caused massive internal bleeding, Barnard said.

    Several of the shots would have left the men incapable of responding with the loaded handguns they had in waistband holsters, he said.

    Testimony is set to continue Friday before state District Judge Jason Cashon. The trial started Wednesday and is expected to last about two weeks.

    http://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/headlines/20150212-videos-capture-eddie-ray-routh-rambling-before-his-arrest.ece

    ReplyDelete
  21. Deputy heard Routh say he killed ‘American Sniper’ Chris Kyle, friend because ‘they wouldn’t talk to me’
    February 13, 2015

    A former sheriff’s deputy testified Friday afternoon that he heard Eddie Ray Routh confess why he fatally shot former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and Kyle’s friend.

    “I heard Mr. Routh say, ‘I shot them because they wouldn’t talk to me,’” testified Gene Cole, the former deputy. “I was just riding in the back seat of the truck and nobody would talk to me.

    “They were just taking me to the range, so I shot them. I feel bad about it but they wouldn’t talk to me. I’m sure they’ve forgiven me.”

    Cole said Routh made that statement as an inmate at the Erath County Jail on June 22, 2013, about four months after the slayings. Cole, who is now a Belton police officer, documented the quote in a report at the time.

    After the bombshell from the former deputy, Judge Jason Cashon ended proceedings for the day. Testimony will resume Monday morning.

    Earlier in the day, jurors heard from Routh’s uncle, who shed light on Routh’s behavior during two critical time periods: shortly before and right after the killings. Because Routh has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, jurors must consider whether he intentionally committed murder and knew it was wrong.

    Routh stopped by his uncle’s Alvarado house on Feb. 2, 2013, after prosecutors say he fatally shot Kyle and Kyle’s friend, Chad Littlefield, at an Erath County gun range. Routh led his uncle outside to the driveway where a black Ford pickup sat. It was Kyle’s.

    “Check out my truck,” the uncle, James Watson, quoted Routh as saying. “I’m driving a dead man’s truck.”

    The comment didn’t strike Watson as unusual, Watson testified Friday afternoon.

    Routh tended to make “bizarre comments like that,” Watson said, particularly since he had returned from Iraq and Haiti as a Marine. He’d grown depressed after having trouble getting a job and moving out of his parents’ house. “I thought he was talking about himself,” Watson said of the “dead man” reference.

    “He felt like somebody was out to get him,” Watson continued. “He’d said that before, that the government was after him.”

    Continued...

    ReplyDelete
  22. Staff writer Naomi Martin reports:

    Texas Rangers found marijuana, anti-psychotic medication and ammunition inside Eddie Ray Routh’s home in the hours after his arrest in the killing of former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and Kyle’s friend, according to court testimony Friday morning.

    Routh, 27, is accused of killing Kyle, 38, and Kyle’s friend, 35-year-old Chad Littlefield, while they were trying to help him in February 2013 at an Erath County gun range. Routh, who left the Marines in 2010, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. He confessed to the killings but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

    Routh faces an automatic life sentence if he’s found guilty. Prosecutors have opted not to seek the death penalty.

    Texas Ranger David Armstrong described Routh’s parents’ house as “clean and orderly,” though it smelled of marijuana smoke. Jurors saw photos of the rooms inside the home. Collared shirts and camouflage fatigues hung in his closet. A box of 50 rounds of bullets sat on the floor.

    In the kitchen, investigators found a mostly empty bottle of Texas Crown Whisky and a note with Kyle’s name and phone number.

    Armstrong showed jurors the items taken from the house: a hookah-style bong, marijuana grinder, several pipes – both ceramic and glass – and rolling papers.

    But police didn’t seize Routh’s prescribed medications, including a bottle of Risperidone, which is commonly used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Routh’s defense team raised questions about why police didn’t collect the pills as evidence and why they didn’t mention the odor of marijuana smoke in their reports.

    Defense attorney Tim Moore suggested those facts were important to note to help describe Routh’s mental state at the time, a key issue in the trial.

    Prosecutors have been tight-lipped about whom they expect to call to the witness stand while presenting their case, but they said during opening statements that they will present experts to show that Routh knew that killing Kyle and Littlefield was wrong. Defense attorneys have said that Routh was in a state of psychosis when he fatally shot the men Feb. 2, 2013, at Rough Creek Lodge.

    The evidence seized from Routh’s home was presented Friday morning, the third day of testimony. Testimony Thursday centered around Routh’s actions after the slayings. Authorities said Routh fled in Kyle’s black Ford pickup and stopped at a Taco Bell drive-thru in Red Oak to buy two burritos. Prosecutors played dash-cam video recounting a high-speed chase through residential neighborhoods.

    Lancaster police Detective Jesse Chevara, who was also Routh’s neighbor, tried to coax Routh out of Kyle’s truck, but Routh took off.

    Routh rambled about hell and voodoo and said he wasn’t sure if he was insane. His court-appointed defense attorneys have said that Routh was in a state of psychosis at the time of the slayings.

    The trial started Wednesday, and Judge Jason Cashon has said he expects it to take about two weeks.

    http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2015/02/third-day-of-testimony-begins-friday-in-american-sniper-trial.html/

    ReplyDelete
  23. Family: Sniper’s accused killer acted bizarrely
    February 13, 2015
    CNN

    Jodi Routh was desperate.

    After her son was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in July 2011, he had been in and out of Veterans Affairs clinics, she said. He showed no progress in two years, and his erratic behavior continued to spiral out of control.

    Jodi Routh was an aide at the same Midlothian, Texas, elementary school that Chris Kyle’s children attended. Kyle, of course, wrote “American Sniper,” the basis for the blockbuster Clint Eastwood film, and she had heard that The New York Times best-selling author worked with fellow veterans having a hard time adjusting to life back home.

    “She approached Chris Kyle as he was dropping off his children and asked him if he would help her son. At that point, she had been trying to get (her son) care at the VA, and he was only getting worse,” according to Laura Beil, author of the ebook “The Enemy Within: The Inside Story of Eddie Routh, the Man Accused of Killing Legendary ‘American Sniper’ Chris Kyle.”

    After the deaths of Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield, Beil, who also is a contributing editor for Men’s Health magazine, spent almost four months with Eddie Routh’s family detailing the Marine’s struggles after serving in Iraq and Haiti.
    Murdered "American Sniper" remembered Murdered "American Sniper" remembered

    “At the end of the conversation, (Kyle) said, ‘I’m going to do everything I can to help your son.’ She actually cried at that point because it was the first time in over a year that anyone had said that,” Beil told CNN.

    Eddie Ray Routh, 27, grew up in the Dallas suburb of Lancaster, about 20 miles east of Midlothian, Kyle’s hometown. He faces murder charges in the February 2, 2013, deaths of Kyle, 38, and Littlefield, 35.

    The two men had picked Routh up that fateful day and, as a form of therapy, took him to a remote 11,000-acre resort with a gun range in Glen Rose, Texas.

    Shortly after his apprehension, Routh confessed to authorities and family members that he killed both men, police said. After becoming aggressive with guards and refusing to give up a spork and dinner tray, he was placed on suicide watch under 24-hour surveillance in the Erath County Jail.

    According to court documents, prosecutors say that on the day of the killings Routh threatened his girlfriend, Jennifer Weed, with a knife and told her, “Get the f*** out of my house.” Routh was smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol that morning, a prosecution document says.

    Since July 24, 2013, when District Court Judge Jason Cashon filed a gag order in the case, nobody associated with Routh’s trial has been permitted to speak to the media.

    His family members and those close to him declined interview requests from CNN. Thus, little is known about Routh, except that attorney J. Warren St. John will attempt to make the case that his client is not guilty by reason of insanity.

    Sane or Insane?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Court documents say that Eddie Routh “has a long history of drug and alcohol use. From high school, while in the Marines and after his discharge from the Marines, the defendant has smoked marijuana, drank alcohol excessively, smoked ‘K2′ or ‘spice’ (synthetic marijuana) and potentially marijuana laced with PCP or formaldehyde.”

    Routh wasn’t too dependable, Xeriland said, and often showed up at Xeriland’s house “dressed in full camouflage” and driving a “really bizarre-looking VW bug that had a wind-up thing on the back to make it look like a toy car.”

    Laura Blevins, too, had encountered strange behavior from her brother long before he was accused of killing anyone, said Beil, the author.

    Routh had been working a summer job in Houston and came down with heatstroke. Blevins drove to Houston to bring her brother home, and on the way back, she couldn’t make sense of the things he was saying.

    “He starts talking really weird stuff, like there was a tapeworm inside of him, and his insides were being eaten. And he kept making her stop to eat, plate after plate of food, saying that something was eating his insides,” Beil told CNN.

    According to another prosecution document, in January 2013, Routh held his girlfriend and her roommate hostage in their apartment. He “threatened to kill them, take them to another location, use them as human tampons, and otherwise harm them,” it says.

    Police transported Routh to Green Oaks Hospital, where after a brief stay he was transferred to a VA hospital, where he remained until late that January.

    Routh served in the Marines from June 2006 to June 2010. His time in the military included a 2007 tour of duty in Iraq and a humanitarian mission to help the victims of the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

    A corporal, he specialized as a small-arms technician and repairman. He received a number of medals during his service, including the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and a Humanitarian Service Medal.

    In the 2013 New Yorker profile “In The Crosshairs,” Routh’s father told author Nicholas Schmidle that his son spent much of his time guarding prisoners, and he felt some of rules that applied to prisoners were too strict and inhumane.

    Early one morning, Routh called and asked, “How would you feel if I killed a kid?”

    ” ‘You gotta do what you gotta do to survive and come home,’ ” his dad replied, according to the profile. “That’s a dad talking to his son. I told him, you know, ‘It’s you or them. Come home.’ “

    According to Beil, Routh’s family members frequently bring up his trip to Haiti as one of the tipping points in his behavior.

    “The level of poverty and death and devastation that he saw there was something that he was not prepared for, and he was having to see things he wasn’t prepared for, was having to do things he wasn’t prepared for, cleaning up bodies,” Beil said.

    ReplyDelete
  25. In early 2012, Routh was arrested and convicted in Lancaster for driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor. Like his family, his girlfriend at the time had grown concerned with his increasingly erratic behavior, and his hard drinking and prescription drug combinations.

    According to The New Yorker article, Routh’s father said his son was prescribed eight medications, which, according to Raymond, were placed in “one of those gallon baggies.”

    Among the drugs were lithium, which treats mania; prazosin, which can help decrease nightmares; and Zoloft, an antidepressant commonly used for PTSD, the article said.

    The cocktail of pharmaceuticals “made Eddie worse,” his father told the magazine. “I ain’t no doctor. I ain’t no rocket scientist or nothing, but I could tell a difference in him.”

    Before the gag order, Beil said, Routh’s family and girlfriend were apprehensive about sharing details of his life. His mother didn’t want to come across as disrespectful of the Kyle and Littlefield families, or appear to be making any excuses for her son.

    “I guess for them it was kind of like watching a car crash in slow motion. You can see things getting worse and worse, but you feel powerless to help. And that’s how she felt and then it ended in this tragic way, so she was pretty devastated. The whole family is,” Beil said.

    So, does anyone have insight into what could have driven Routh to commit the crimes of which he’s accused?

    Capt. Jason Upshaw of the Erath County Sheriff’s Office told reporters a day after the shootings that only Routh knows the answer to that question.

    “I don’t know that we’ll ever know,” he said.

    The Kyle and Littlefield families will be hoping for a better answer as Routh’s trial gets underway this week. But two years after Kyle’s and Littlefield’s deaths, it’s unclear if they will learn any more of the haunting details that led to the killings at Rough Creek Lodge.

    http://www.livingwithdiabetestype2.com/cnn/family-snipers-accused-killer-acted-bizarrely-49/

    ReplyDelete
  26. THE COURT PUT A GAG ORDER ON THE ROUTH FAMILY IN JULY 2013

    "Judge Jason Cashon also issued a gag order in the case because of the media coverage."

    Routh Family Releases Statement on Kyle-Littlefield Shooting
    Feb 26, 2013

    The family of the man accused in the shooting deaths of former Navy SEAL and best-selling author Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield at a gun range in Glen Rose on Feb. 2 released a statement Tuesday.

    Eddie Ray Routh, of Lancaster, is still in the Erath County Jail, he's being held on a single count of capital murder and two separate murder complaints. Police say the Marine reservist, who served in Iraq, shot and killed Kyle and Littlefield.

    His mother, Jodi, released a new picture of her son (above) and a statement through Routh's lawyer:

    Raymond and I want to express our deepest condolences to the Kyle and Littlefield families. We are incredibly heartbroken for your loss.

    We wish we could thank Chris Kyle for his genuine interest in helping our son overcome his battle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

    We want others with PTSD to know their struggle is recognized and we hope his tragedy will somehow help in getting greater care for and assistance to those in need

    No words can truly express the sorrow we feel for the Kyles and Littlefields, their extended family and friends. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with you all.

    -The Routh Family

    Routh's attorney says that just days before the fatal shootings, Routh was discharged from the Dallas VA Hospital despite the objections of his family. He was reportedly in the hospital receiving care for mental health issues.

    The U.S. military confirmed that Routh was a corporal in the Marines from June 2006 to January 2010. He was deployed to Iraq in 2007 and Haiti in 2010. His current duty status is listed as reserve.

    Routh is being held on $3 million bond and is on suicide watch.

    http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Routh-Family-Releases-Statement-on-Kyle-Littlefield-Shooting-193393811.html

    ReplyDelete
  27. “To try and even find an excuse is disgusting. I know people with PTSD, and it’s very real and very hard. But it doesn’t change your core character,” Taya Kyle said. “I have a feeling the trial is going to be a beat-down. And yet there’s no place I’d rather be. Everywhere I can be supporting Chris and standing up for him. I will always be there.”

    LaLa84

    I have to say, Kyle's wife is absolutely wrong that PTSD doesn't change your core character. Clearly she doesn't know as much about the disorder as she thinks.

    BcAtl

    My cousin has it and it changed him completely! He accidentally shot a child while in Iraq and hasn't been him self since. It does change people, even the very base of their personality! It's sad to see too.

    LaLa84

    You're right, it's very sad. What's even more tragic is that the VA's and our country just brush war ptsd sufferers to the side and don't provide them the proper care they need.

    mommyof2

    I agree. My ex was in Iraq when we were still together. He accidentally shot a woman while on a mission. He was never the same. I'm not sure how he is today, we stopped keeping in touch after we broke up. But the 2 years we were together after he came back he was a changed man.

    Marinewife

    I think it is so sad that good soldiers dealing with the horrors of war are labeled as "abnormal" by some. I believe that is so sickening! Human beings should not take joy in killing others, even in war. The men who come home and have to deal with combat kills, much less a mistaken civilian kill, and are forever changed need to know they are not crazy in their countries eyes! It's our responsibility to give these soldiers EVERY tool they could possibly need to get better. I will forever believe that. However, I do not believe a savage who brags over every kill like a trophy is an American hero either.

    aggiemom

    Interesting that a veterans' group, The Warfighter Foundation, says that Eddie Routh never saw combat. He was stationed at a very large base in Iraq and was assigned to guarding prisoners, who were Muslim, which he expressed sympathy for to his family.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Routh served in the Marines from June 2006 to June 2010. His time in the military included a 2007 tour of duty in Iraq and a humanitarian mission to help the victims of the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

    A corporal, he specialized as a small-arms technician and repairman. He received a number of medals during his service, including the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and a Humanitarian Service Medal.

    In the 2013 New Yorker profile "In The Crosshairs," Routh's father told author Nicholas Schmidle that his son spent much of his time guarding prisoners, and he felt some of rules that applied to prisoners were too strict and inhumane.

    Early one morning, Routh called and asked, "How would you feel if I killed a kid?"

    " 'You gotta do what you gotta do to survive and come home,' " his dad replied, according to the profile. "That's a dad talking to his son. I told him, you know, 'It's you or them. Come home.' "

    According to Beil, Routh's family members frequently bring up his trip to Haiti as one of the tipping points in his behavior.

    "The level of poverty and death and devastation that he saw there was something that he was not prepared for, and he was having to see things he wasn't prepared for, was having to do things he wasn't prepared for, cleaning up bodies," Beil said.

    http://www.ksl.com/?sid=33436360&nid=157&title=accused-killer-of-american-sniper-chris-kyle-acted-bizarrely-for-years-family-says&s_cid=queue-23

    ReplyDelete
  29. Jodi Routh was desperate. After her son was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in July 2011, he had been in and out of Veterans Affairs clinics, she said. He showed no progress in two years, and his erratic behavior continued to spiral out of control.

    Jodi Routh was an aide at the same Midlothian, Texas, elementary school that Chris Kyle's children attended. Kyle, of course, wrote "American Sniper," the basis for the blockbuster Clint Eastwood film, and she had heard that The New York Times best-selling author worked with fellow veterans having a hard time adjusting to life back home.

    "She approached Chris Kyle as he was dropping off his children and asked him if he would help her son. At that point, she had been trying to get (her son) care at the VA, and he was only getting worse," according to Laura Beil, author of the ebook "The Enemy Within: The Inside Story of Eddie Routh, the Man Accused of Killing Legendary 'American Sniper' Chris Kyle."

    Six months before a hunting guide found Kyle and Littlefield's bodies in Glen Rose, police caught up with a shirtless, shoeless Routh walking the streets of his hometown. He was crying and smelled of alcohol, police said. His mother told police that Routh had just had an argument with his father who said he was going to sell Routh's gun. Routh left the house, threatening to "blow his brains out," she said.

    The former Marine was suffering from PTSD, though his family didn't understand what he was going through, according to a September 2, 2012, police report.

    He would be placed in protective custody and sent to Green Oaks Hospital in Dallas for mental evaluation.

    After the deaths of Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield, Beil, who also is a contributing editor for Men's Health magazine, spent almost four months with Eddie Routh's family detailing the Marine's struggles after serving in Iraq and Haiti.

    "At the end of the conversation, (Kyle) said, 'I'm going to do everything I can to help your son.' She actually cried at that point because it was the first time in over a year that anyone had said that," Beil told CNN.

    http://www.ksl.com/?sid=33436360&nid=157&title=accused-killer-of-american-sniper-chris-kyle-acted-bizarrely-for-years-family-says&s_cid=queue-23

    ReplyDelete
  30. Q: What is Routh’s defense strategy?

    A: Since Routh admitted the slayings to his sister and brother-in-law, and in an interview with the Texas Rangers, the trial will revolve around his state of mind at the time. Routh’s attorneys have filed a notice of intent to pursue an insanity defense. Prosecutors have chosen not to seek the death penalty if Routh is convicted, but will ask that he be given life without the possibility of parole. Defense attorneys have expressed concern about whether Routh can receive a fair trial, since the proceeding, set to begin Feb. 11, will come as the Oscar-nominated movie “American Sniper,” based on Kyle’s memoir, is filling theaters nationwide and even in Erath County, Texas, where the trial will be held.

    Q: What is PTSD?

    A: According to the American Psychiatric Association, PTSD is characterized by “clinically significant distress or impairment in the individual’s social interactions, capacity to work or other important areas of functioning.” Paula Schnurr, acting executive director of the National Center for PTSD, says the individual need not have experienced the trauma himself. “PTSD can also occur when people have witnessed a horrific event occurring to others or learning about some types of horrific events that may happen to a loved one, such as losing a loved one to murder or suicide,” said Schnurr, whose agency is part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Symptoms include recurrent dreams or flashbacks, changes in mood, avoidance and hypervigilance. Anger and irritability are also in the profile, though not all people experience those symptoms, says Schnurr. “We know from research that individuals with PTSD have an increased likelihood of engaging in aggressive or violent behavior,” she said. “There is a statistical association between PTSD and violence, both domestic violence and violence against others. But when I say violence I mean aggression or violence and that may include threats and not acts, so it’s a broad category.” An estimated 15 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have PTSD.

    Q: How has the PTSD defense fared in the criminal courts?

    A: The record has been decidedly mixed. The authors of a 2012 article in The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law concluded that success hinges largely on how well the expert testimony links the symptoms and crime. “Appellate courts have found criminal defenses based on PTSD to be viable and compelling when a clear and direct connection between the defendant’s PTSD symptoms and the criminal incident was found by the expert,” wrote the authors of “PTSD as a Criminal Defense: A Review of Case Law.” “The PTSD phenomena that appellate courts have found to be most relevant to criminal defenses include dissociations, hyperarousal symptoms, hypervigilance symptoms, and the overestimation of danger.” Some jurisdictions have recognized PTSD “as a valid basis for insanity, unconsciousness, and self-defense,” the authors found. However, Georgia recently executed Vietnam veteran Andrew Brannan in the 1998 murder of a deputy sheriff, despite arguments from his attorneys that he had PTSD and was 100 percent mentally disabled.

    http://www.chieftain.com/mobile/mhome/3314964-123/ptsd-routh-kyle-littlefield

    ReplyDelete
  31. The Daily Mail is running a smear campaign on Eddie Ray Routh. Two of their most recent articles had comments from friends of Eddie, defending him:

    Brian J. Klingenberg · Survey Technician at Premier Factory Safety

    Routh is a friend of mine, deployed with him and was in the same units as he was. Something must have spooked him, it's very unlike his personality to be violent....

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2949393/Chris-Kyle-s-widow-prepares-stand-trial-American-Sniper-killer-begins.html#comments

    Corey Smalley, Waynesburg, United States

    This is all wrong. I'm in the picture with Eddie I live and slept next time him while in Iraq when he was not on prison duty. I was there when the poster was made and I know what happened. Although Eddie was like my brother what he did is wrong and he needs to pay for it. If the people writing this crap want the truth look me up on Facebook ( Corey Smalley) I will be glad to help u understand.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2947838/Marine-killed-American-Sniper-Chris-Kyle-lash-like-wild-animal-beat-comrade-death-long-turned-gun-SEAL-hero-veterans-group-claims-double-murder-trial.html

    ReplyDelete
  32. Who Killed Chris Kyle? [Excerpt]
    Men's Health
    December 20, 2013

    When he was bound for Iraq, he reassured his worried mother that he was eager to do what he'd been trained for. The only reservation he ever voiced was during a conversation with his father, Raymond, just before deployment. "He said, 'Dad, how are you going to feel about me if I have to kill somebody?'" Jodi recalls. "Our response was, of course, 'Eddie, this is a war. You kill them before they can kill you.'" Months later he called his dad from Iraq, revisiting that conversation. He said he'd been out with a patrol when a boy charged from around a corner and opened fire. "How would you feel if I shot a kid?"

    Eddie did his duty but had a hard time adapting to the moral playbook of war. Assigned to be a prison guard, he told his dad he allowed inmates three squares of toilet paper a day, fed them something that "looked like dog food," and stripped male inmates in view of female guards. The humiliation bothered him, Raymond says.

    But it was his service in Haiti that tormented Eddie, his family and friends say. Marines were sent to assist with security and cleanup after that nation's catastrophic earthquake in January 2010. He told a friend that one of the first things that startled him when he stepped ashore was the stench. Haiti was a brew of filth, rot, and human wreckage. His mother says that one day a raggedy, skin-and-bones boy came up and asked Eddie for his lunch. It was his entire ration until he returned to his ship, so under instructions from his commanding officer, he did not share. He never stopped regretting that. "I was strong," he told Jodi. "I could have done without it, but I kept it."

    The Marines had prepared him for the kind of death that comes in bloody bursts of gunfire. In Haiti, he told his father, he dropped a grappling hook into the putrid waters and fished out the floating body of a baby. Some images, once seen, cannot be unseen.

    Jodi believes that if it weren't for Haiti, Eddie would have stayed on active duty. Instead he returned home for good in June 2010.

    http://www.menshealth.com/best-life/who-killed-chris-kyle?fullpage=true

    ReplyDelete
  33. In the summer of 2011, after he'd been home for about a year, Eddie and a cousin went to Houston to help build storage units. Eddie fell ill after a few days, so his sister Laura drove down to fetch him. On the four-hour trip back to Lancaster, Eddie began to chatter nervously about a tapeworm eating his insides. He made Laura pull over at a dingy roadside eatery, where he ordered plate after plate of food. "He was so convinced that this thing was eating him alive, he was buying protein drinks," Jodi says. "He was eating every hour, as much as he could eat."

    Finally she took him to the VA hospital. And sometime later, when he started saying he was a werewolf and a vampire, Raymond took him back.

    Eddie's medical record states that he was initially diagnosed with PTSD on July 23, 2011. Jodi continued to believe the VA would save Eddie, even after he started to dread each visit. "They're not doing shit for me," he once snapped, as she urged him to go. He had a point, in fact. Laura recalls sitting with her brother on one appointment during which the doctor stayed deskbound, eyes fixed on a checklist. "I felt like she asked the same list of questions to everyone," Laura says. "Then she said, 'Okay, well, we'll see you next time.' She couldn't have cared less what his answers were."

    The Dallas VA would not speak about Eddie, citing patient privacy.

    Eddie Routh was offered eight different prescriptions and repeatedly put into group therapy sessions. He rarely had individual counseling and didn't benefit from the groups, according to his mom. He lapsed into self-medicating, complaining that the drugs made him feel worse.

    In in April 2012, Eddie met a girl online. (She has asked to be identified only as Jen.) He made her laugh; he was attentive and had a refreshing lack of pretense. He was romantic, but unconventionally so. Jen tells of the time Eddie spent a weekend helping at a friend's farm north of Dallas. He'd been working a field for a couple of hours on a sweltering afternoon when Jen walked out of the house to bring him water. Seeing her making her way toward him, he powered down the tractor, hopped off, and scampered around picking her a bouquet of wildflowers.

    Also about this time, Eddie adopted a puppy, a black Lab mix he named Girley. He doted on her "like she was his own little girl," Jodi says. He basked in the kind of unconditional love only a dog can give, and he was reluctant to ever be without her. The night Eddie was arrested for homicide, Girley rode shotgun during the police chase.

    For a time in 2012, he seemed to reach equilibrium. With the abiding presence of Jen and Girley, "he felt like he had something to give again," Jodi says. One day he sat down with a yellow legal pad and wrote "life goals for next 5 years." First up: education. He applied for VA college benefits and was accepted into Lincoln Tech, a trade school.

    But as autumn approached, Eddie's mind again started to unspool. He had developed an obsession with waste, not wanting to throw away even the slightest bit of trash or morsel of food.

    On September 2, 2012, the Rouths hosted a fish fry in their backyard. At some point, the conversation turned to Eddie's tuition. His education money was stuck in the VA bureaucracy. About the only thing of value the family possessed was a collection of firearms, many of them heirlooms that had long been in the family. His father offered to sell them to pay for Eddie's school. Eddie, who'd spent the afternoon drinking, would have none of it. Father and son began fighting. "I'll blow my brains out," Eddie shouted at one point. "You don't need me around here anyway," he said. Jodi hustled the guns out the front door in the arms of some friends. Barefoot and shirtless, a tearful Eddie stormed through the back door, called for Girley, and set out on foot.

    http://www.menshealth.com/best-life/who-killed-chris-kyle?fullpage=true

    ReplyDelete
  34. By the time Christmas had come and gone, Eddie was becoming trapped in spells during which he would gaze blankly at nothing, unresponsive to the touch or voices of people around him. His eyes "wouldn't look like there's someone alive in there," says one friend. One day in January, his uncle Jamie called Jen, saying he'd just gotten off the phone with Eddie and was worried. Jen drove to Eddie's house and found him sitting on the sofa in an unblinking trance. "He didn't even acknowledge that I walked in," she says. "After about five hours, I finally got him to say a few words and eat some food."

    Another day around this time, Eddie woke up in the morning and told his mother he felt too distressed to go to work. That evening, he wandered into Jodi's bedroom, looking more frightened boy than Marine, sat beside the bed, and asked his mother if she would hold his hand.

    "A big strong Marine doesn't need his mama, you know what I mean?" Jodi says. "I was trying to get him to tell me, 'What's bothering you? What's wrong today?'" She put a hand on his cheek and turned his face toward hers. "Whatever he was seeing was really bad because he had such a scared look on his face. His eyes weren't looking at me. He just wasn't there. I just kept saying, 'Look at me. I'm your mom. Look at your mom.'"

    The final spiral into tragedy began the weekend of January 19, 2013, at Jen's apartment. That Friday night, he started accusing Jen of trying to steal his soul—much of his paranoia was founded in either religion or government—and saying he was going to die that night. Finally, around 2 a.m., she calmed him enough that he could sleep. For a time the next morning he seemed better, but then he started pacing in front of Jen's door brandishing a knife. "He decided that the government was going to hurt us if we left the apartment," she says. Eventually Jen's roommate summoned the police. Eddie was taken to a private hospital and later transferred to a VA facility. Again, after a brief time, he was released.

    In the weeks leading up to his final hospitalization, Eddie had been trying to cut back on alcohol, honoring a promise to Jen. But now he was back to drinking hard. Jodi took Eddie back to the VA on January 30. His mind was so unfocused that Jodi had to answer the doctor's questions for him, she says. He was sent home.

    By then, the stress of caring for Eddie had left Jodi spent. She needed to see her husband, who had begun a job out of town. She and Raymond agreed to meet in Abilene that weekend. She drove out straight from work on the afternoon of Friday, February 1. Sometime after she left, Chris Kyle made good on his promise to try to help Eddie, not by providing gym equipment, but by giving his fellow veteran a ride to a gun range with him and his friend Chad Littlefield.

    http://www.menshealth.com/best-life/who-killed-chris-kyle?fullpage=true

    ReplyDelete
  35. He pleaded not guilty, appearing silently in pretrial court proceedings, his face pasty and fringed with a bushy, unclipped beard. During his time in jail he has been an unpredictable inmate, the sheriff says. Shortly after his incarceration, guards had to Taser him. He has no television because one day in June he smashed it to the floor, stopped up his commode, and flooded his cell. But mostly he is quiet, spending his time reading and sleeping. Some days he will accept visitors; some days he won't.

    His family wonders how much he understands about why he is there. In a recent phone call with Jamie, he told his uncle he couldn't wait to get out. He sent his mom a letter, asking why she had not come to take him home. No one who loves Eddie appears to have abandoned him, even as horrified as they are by what they agree he has done, and believe he should atone for.

    "I know it wasn't my Eddie that did this," Jen says. "If he ever realizes what happened and what he did, I don't know if he'll be able to recover."

    Jodi has already vowed that if a jury decides her son should die, she will be there with him, a mother from beginning to end. Her prayer now, she says, is that he will be committed to a mental hospital "where he can actually get the care he needs." There is little chance her son will ever be free, except, she still hopes, from the prison of his own mind.

    For an expanded version of this story containing additional reporting, download our e-book single The Enemy Within, available at http://rodaledigitalbooks.com/book/9781623364151

    http://www.menshealth.com/best-life/who-killed-chris-kyle?fullpage=true

    ReplyDelete
  36. In the Crosshairs
    Chris Kyle, a decorated sniper, tried to help a troubled veteran. The result was tragic.
    The New Yorker
    June 3, 2013 Issue

    One Saturday in January 2013, Routh and Jen were hanging around her apartment when he fell into a state of paranoia. He began ranting to Jen and her roommate about government-surveillance activities. He once told a friend that the helicopters overhead were watching him. Outbursts of this nature had become more frequent. He made sure to cover the camera on his computer (“He felt very strongly about that,” Jodi said), and confided to family and friends, “They know what we’re doing.” He also worried that he would be forced to return to Iraq. And yet, for all his distress, Routh sometimes contemplated going back into the service. “He had a lot of guilt that he wasn’t still in the Marines, overseas helping people,” Jen told me.

    Inside the apartment, Routh began pacing in front of Jen’s door, clutching a knife. He said that he was prepared to defend her from government agents who were out to get them. For hours, she tried, unsuccessfully, to calm him. Finally, Jen’s roommate texted the police, who arrested Routh and took him to Green Oaks. He was transferred to the Dallas V.A. the next day.

    The quality of care varies from one V.A. facility to the next. In 2004, the V.A. Inspector General called the Dallas facility the worst in the nation; last year, a Dallas TV station interviewed veterans who alleged that the facility was so poor that it put “lives at risk.” The V.A. tends to be slow, taking an average of nine months to determine if it will cover a veteran’s health claim. And getting a claim approved can be even more difficult if symptoms are not observed at a veteran’s exit physical. Yet P.T.S.D.’s symptoms may not emerge for a while, and they are often accompanied by a cascade of other health problems. Chiarelli, the former vice-chief of the Army, told me that doctors should be “given more latitude” in assessing combat veterans, adding, “But there’s where you get into cost issues.” The V.A. is a sclerotic and overwhelmed bureaucracy; it barely has the resources to maintain its current level of health coverage, let alone expand it. (A spokesman acknowledged that veterans wait “too long for earned benefits,” and said, “We have an aggressive plan in place to end the backlog in 2015.”)

    After Routh arrived at the Dallas V.A., Jodi and Jen visited him in the evenings. A week later, he did not seem much better. He was taking several medications, and Jodi felt that he could hardly carry on a conversation. She urged the doctors to keep him hospitalized, at least until he was stable.

    Ignoring Jodi’s request, the V.A. discharged Routh the next day; according to Jodi, the doctors shared this news over the phone, saying that Routh was an adult and wanted to leave. When she drove to the V.A. to pick up her son, he was already out, sitting in the lobby. She brought him home and told him about Chris Kyle, whom she had just met. “I said, ‘This guy has a big reputation. He’s a really good man and he really wants to help you.’ And then he’s like, ‘Mom, that is so awesome,’ ” Jodi recalled. “Eddie was happy. He could feel that somebody wanted to help him, somebody that understood better than me.”

    Continued...

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  37. The next few days were difficult. Jen, who is Catholic, said that Routh was fixated on “demons and devils.” He went with her to Mass on Sunday, hoping that it would help him. At home with Jodi, he fluctuated between being angry and wound up, and being dazed and emotionless. “I could see him having flashbacks,” Jodi recalled. “You know when you’re daydreaming? You just kind of get that glaze in your eyes? That was what was happening to Eddie. I knew what he was seeing was not good, ’cause he looked like a scared little child. He didn’t look like a man.” At night, he popped out of bed at the slightest sound, running into Jodi’s bedroom to make sure that she was safe. “I thought someone was trying to get you,” he told her.

    During the day, Jodi said, “he still wasn’t able to carry on a good conversation. He wasn’t making good sense. He was crying a lot. He would come lay down in our bedroom. We’d bring in the dog and lay in the bed and he’d say, ‘Mom, will you hold my hand? I’m so scared. I don’t feel good. I’m not good.’ ”

    As Jodi held him, Routh said, “I just wish you could be in my head for just a second, just so you could know what I’m feeling like.”

    “I wish I could,” Jodi told him. “I would take it from you.”

    On the morning of Wednesday, January 30th, Jodi brought Routh back to the V.A., for a follow-up appointment. As a psychiatrist reviewed his chart, he noted that Routh had been prescribed only half the recommended dosage of risperidone—a powerful antipsychotic that has been widely used in V.A. hospitals to treat P.T.S.D. The psychiatrist adjusted the prescription and ordered the medication to be sent to the Routh house in two days. Jodi was livid. When the psychiatrist questioned Routh, he looked to his mom. “He just wasn’t capable of speaking for himself,” she told me. She explained to the psychiatrist that Routh wasn’t sleeping and “couldn’t think straight.” She pleaded with the psychiatrist to readmit him to the hospital, where “he’s not going to be a danger to others or to himself.” But the psychiatrist, according to Jodi, shook his head and said that hospitalization wasn’t necessary. (The psychiatrist, citing patient confidentiality, declined to discuss Routh’s case, but said that any patient who posed an “imminent threat to himself or others” would be hospitalized.)

    Jodi then asked the psychiatrist if he could refer Routh to a residential program for people with P.T.S.D., in Waco, Texas. According to the program’s Web site, residents there “attend therapeutic groups and rehabilitative activities. Some parts of the program help vets to deal with traumatic experiences, while other parts of the program help the vet to acquire healthy behaviors and coping skills.” The Web site notes that the program is intended only for veterans who “are not a danger to themselves or others.”

    The psychiatrist told Jodi, “He’s not stable enough for that program.” He instructed Routh to come back in two weeks. Jodi recalled, “I thought, Two weeks! That’s a long time. I told the doctor, ‘You know, he can’t even answer your questions! He can’t even carry on a conversation. I really think he needs to be in the hospital.’ ”

    Continued...

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  38. Routh was sent home. Jodi thought again of Chris Kyle. A few hours after she had introduced herself to him in the school parking lot, she was called down to the principal’s office and found Kyle there, waiting. He could sense her desperation and had come back to the school to hear more. They found an empty classroom and sat at a horseshoe-shaped table. Jodi explained some of what Routh was going through. Kyle confessed that he, too, struggled with P.T.S.D. Fortunately, he did not have to rely on the V.A., because he had private health coverage. (According to one of Kyle’s medical records, he had sought counsel from a physician for “combat stress” after his 2008 deployment, though at his exit physical he declared that he had “no unresolved issues.”)

    Kyle said that he could take Routh fishing or hunting or, perhaps, to the rifle range. He couldn’t do it this weekend, though, because his brother’s wife was about to have a baby, and he was heading out of town. One of Kyle’s former SEAL teammates, Mike Ritland, told me that firing guns was a “common ground we all have, whether you’re Marines or Army or Navy. It’s a way of blowing off steam—a stress release for both guys.” Jonathan Shay, the psychiatrist, is less confident that “going to the gun range and busting some caps” makes sense as “a healing experience.” P.T.S.D. veterans, he said, carry “wounds of the mind and spirit, and one of the ways in which these wounds manifest themselves is through explosiveness.”

    Kyle promised Jodi, “I’m going to do everything I can to help your son.” They hugged—“a really good hug,” Jodi recalled. She began to cry. “I was so happy that somebody was listening and that somebody was willing to help,” she told me. “I knew he meant it. He wanted to help Eddie. And he didn’t know Eddie. He had never laid eyes on Eddie. But he knew from what I told him that my kid was suffering, that he was hurting so bad. And he knew it was hurting me. That was the first time in a long time that I had felt a little sense of relief. I felt some hope for Eddie, that it wasn’t just going to be bad for him, and that maybe something good was gonna happen.” Jodi went home and stuck Kyle’s number on the refrigerator.

    The next week, they waved at each other when she saw him dropping off his kids at school. One day, around the time of Routh’s follow-up appointment, Kyle told Jodi that he planned to call Routh, so that they could get together the coming weekend. She recalled, “The next day, I saw him again, and he pulled up close to where I was, and I stopped the truck and opened the door. And I said, ‘Hey, I forgot to ask you, but what’d you get? A niece or a nephew?’ He goes, ‘I got a niece.’ He was so happy. He had such a big smile and he was just so proud of this little baby. And that was actually the last time I talked to Chris.”

    http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/06/03/in-the-crosshairs

    ReplyDelete
  39. In early May, I flew to northern Texas to see Raymond and Jodi Routh. They had just bought a house in a town, an hour outside Amarillo, where Raymond continues working with cattle-feed equipment. I got there in the late morning; Raymond had already put in a few hours’ work. Inside the house, the walls were bare, except for protruding nails from the previous owner. Jodi had been planning to move from Lancaster to join Raymond at the end of the academic year, but, after the killings, she couldn’t bear the idea of facing Kyle’s kids and has not returned to the school since. “I just didn’t want them to have to see me,” she said. “I didn’t think it was fair to the children.”

    We spent much of the day on their back patio. There was a tree house in one corner and a brick barbecue pit in another. Jodi and Raymond smoked Marlboro Lights while Girley, Routh’s dog, lay at my feet. Raymond went inside whenever Jodi needed a Kleenex to dry her tears. They know that their son faces one of three possibilities: execution, life without parole, or life in a psychiatric ward. “Is Eddie guilty of what happened?” Jodi asked. “He is. He did it.”

    Raymond said, “Are we ever going to get our son back? No. We know this.”

    “But we gotta keep them from giving him the death penalty,” Jodi said.

    Raymond brought up the telephone conversation in which Routh had hinted that he might have shot a child in Iraq. He said, “It’s just like I told him, ‘I need you back.’ And then when he gets back I ain’t got my son no more. I got a body that looks like my son. But that ain’t my son. And that’s what the people don’t understand from the V.A. And that’s what I told them down there, too. ‘I don’t want this. I want my son back.’ ‘Well, make him take these pills and bring him back in two weeks.’ That’s too goddam long.”

    Jodi looked out and said, “All I can think about in my mind is that, if they would have left him in the hospital, then those two men wouldn’t be dead today. And, you know, it’s not like I want to beat on the V.A., that’s not at all what my intention is. My intention is that they step up and give these men—”

    “The help they need,” Raymond interrupted.

    “The treatment they deserve,” Jodi continued. She said that a forensic psychologist had recently assessed Routh’s capacity to stand trial, though he had not received mental-health assistance from the V.A. since January. She said of veterans, “It’s not just that they deserve it. They’ve already earned it. They’ve already served their time. They’ve already done what they were asked to do.” Jodi wiped her tears. The Marines had trained her son for war, she said, but they never “untrained” him for normal life. Shaking her head, she added, “And we’re some of the lucky ones. Because we had our kid back, you know? He didn’t come home in a body bag.”

    http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/06/03/in-the-crosshairs

    This excerpt above is from the June 2013 issue of The New Yorker. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty. They have charged Eddie with first degree murder and are seeking life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    ReplyDelete
  40. EDDIE RAY ROUTH TIMELINE:

    Military service: Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps; served from June 19, 2006, to June 18, 2010, with service in Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2007 to 2008 and in Haiti in early 2010; also served with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the USS Bataan in 2009.

    June 2006 - Joined the Marines one week after graduating high school, stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

    September 2007 - March 2008 - Served in Iraq; stationed at Balad Air Base.

    2009 - Served with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the USS Bataan.

    January 19, 2010 - April 2010 - Haitian Relief Mission after devasting earthquake on January 12, 2010.

    An earthquake on January 12, 2010 killed 230,000 people, injured about 300,000 and destroyed or severely damaged a quarter-million homes in Haiti, an incomprehensible tragedy in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. North Carolina-based 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit deployed from Camp Lejeune, N.C., to the Caribbean nation aboard several amphibious ships that were ordered to prepare for deployment January 13, 2010. "I don't know yet the scope of the tragedy, but it's very severe," Commandant Gen. James Conway said. "The 22nd MEU is going over, which recently returned from theater and is not yet disbanded. It'll be going along with three to four [amphibious] ships. The timeline is to be determined, but there is a sense of urgency throughout the [U.S.] government that says sooner is better than later because we're still in the rescue mode." Scores of bodies were found in a mass graves. Mass graves are being used out of necessity, in order to get the bodies off the streets and to prevent the spread of disease.

    June 18, 2010 - Routh honorably discharged from active duty; placed on reserve duty status.

    ReplyDelete
  41. EDDIE RAY ROUTH TIMELINE:

    July 23, 2011 - Routh voluntarily admitted himself to VA hospital for the first time.

    July 30, 2011 - Routh thought he had a tapeworm; sister took him to the VA hospital against his will.

    March 2012 - Routh met his girlfriend, Jennifer Weed, in March 2012 on dating website; they started dating casually. In May 2012, Weed and Routh became exclusive.

    Weed was working as a victim's advocate for the Dallas County District Attorney's office at the time they met online. She was hired on October 14, 2010 and left the job sometime in 2012, before the murders of Kyle and Littlefield. Routh's two hospitalizations for psychotic episodes began six months after they met online. The murders on February 2, 2013 of Kyle and Littlefield occurred 10 months after Routh and Weed met online.

    September 2, 2012 - Routh hospitalized at mental hospital then the VA hospital after threatening to kill himself and his family during an argument with his father at a backyard fish fry. Weed had been present that day but left before the argument transpired.

    September 2012 - Routh lived with Jennifer Weed for a little less than a month. She testified that there were no outbursts during this time; however; they decided it was too soon to live together, so Routh returned to his parents' home, 20 miles away.

    January 19, 2013 - Routh hospitalized at mental hospital then the VA hospital after refusing to allow his girlfriend and her roommate to leave their apartment.

    That morning, Routh was shaking sweating profusely. Jennifer wanted to leave, but Routh grabbed ninja sword and said, "No, you can’t leave." Routh said “They’re coming to get us, don’t let them in.” Routh then got a knife from kitchen. The roommate was in her own room at the time. Jennifer texted roommate, saying to stay in there and warned her Routh was in a mood. He put down weapons whenever Weed walked toward him. She testified that he didn’t threaten her with the weapons. Routh said he would protect them all. Routh kept saying they couldn't leave the apartment because people were out to get them. Weed's roomate had second job and needed to leave. Roommate texted a police officer and he came. [This went on for two hours before roommate texted police, and afterward he wasn't allowed back to her apartment.] Routh was taken to Green Oaks mental hospital then sent to the VA hospital. Weed visited him at the VA hospital. He was apologetic but had no recollection of what happened.

    Routh was hospitalized for a week and released in January 2013. The next few days were difficult. Weed, who is Catholic, said that Routh was fixated on “demons and devils.” He went with her to Mass on Sunday, hoping that it would help him. At home with his mother, he fluctuated between being angry and wound up, and being dazed and emotionless. “I could see him having flashbacks,” his mother recalled. “You know when you’re daydreaming? You just kind of get that glaze in your eyes? That was what was happening to Eddie. I knew what he was seeing was not good, ’cause he looked like a scared little child. He didn’t look like a man.” At night, he popped out of bed at the slightest sound, running into his mother’s bedroom to make sure that she was safe. “I thought someone was trying to get you,” he told her. During the day, his mother said, “he still wasn’t able to carry on a good conversation. He wasn’t making good sense. He was crying a lot. He would come lay down in our bedroom. We’d bring in the dog and lay in the bed and he’d say, ‘Mom, will you hold my hand? I’m so scared. I don’t feel good. I’m not good.’ ” As his mother held him, Routh said, “I just wish you could be in my head for just a second, just so you could know what I’m feeling like.” “I wish I could,” his mother told him. “I would take it from you.”

    ReplyDelete
  42. January 30, 2013 - Routh went for a follow up visit with his mother to the VA hospital. She begged them to admit him. He just wasn’t capable of speaking for himself,” she told a reporter from the New Yorker. She explained to the psychiatrist that Routh wasn’t sleeping and “couldn’t think straight.” She pleaded with the psychiatrist to readmit him to the hospital, where “he’s not going to be a danger to others or to himself.” But the psychiatrist, according to Routh's mother, shook his head and said that hospitalization wasn’t necessary. Routh's mother then asked the psychiatrist if he could refer Routh to a residential program for people with PTSD, in Waco, Texas. The psychiatrist told her, “He’s not stable enough for that program.”

    February 1, 2013 - Weed spends the night with Routh at his parents' home; they are out of town. Routh proposes marriage and Weed accepts. Routh has psychotic episode and gets little sleep that night. Early the next morning, Routh argues with Weed and tells her he want to break up. He also tells her to leave the home. She leaves after calling Routh's uncle to come over because she is concerned about leaving him alone.

    February 2, 2013 - Routh at age 25, confessed to shooting and killing Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield.

    EDDIE RAY ROUTH TRIAL TIMELINE:

    December 25, 2014 - 'American Sniper' movie released in select theaters

    January 16, 2015 - 'American Sniper' movie goes to wide release, more than 3,500 theaters [and almost 3,900 theaters by weekend of February 6, 2015]

    January 30, 2015 - Texas governor declares every February 2nd "Chris Kyle Day"

    February 2, 2015 - Two-year anniversay of murders

    February 5, 2015 - Jury selection for Eddie Ray Routh trial begins.

    February 9, 2015 - CNN premieres special, Real-Life ‘American Sniper,’ a "special will look at Kyle’s life"

    February 11, 2015 - Trial begins (jury consists of 10 women and 2 men)

    January 15, 2015 - Academy Award nominations announced: 'American Sniper' nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Adapted Screenplay.

    Movie did not receive any nominatons from the awards leading up to the Oscars; i.e. Golden Globes or Screen Actors Guild, which is unprecedented.

    February 20, 2015 - History Channel premieres The Real American Sniper. It "tells his powerful story in this poignant one-hour World Premiere special"

    February 22, 2015 - Academy Awards ceremony. Last week, the judge in Routh's trial reminded jurors to avoid any media coverage but did not ban them from watching the Oscars.

    February 23, 2015 - Trial cancelled so Taya Kyle could rest from her trip back from the Oscars the night before in Los Angeles.

    February 24, 2015 - Trial closing arguments.

    February 24, 2015 - After about three hours of closing arguments from both sides, State District Judge Jason Cashon turned the case over to jury around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at 6:36 PM CST.

    Deliberations began at 6:36 PM CST and the jury ordered dinner in.

    Jury has verdict 90 minutes later at 8:04 PM, even including time to eat dinner.

    They find Eddie Ray Routh found guilty of capital murder for killing Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield. He is sentenced to life in prison.

    http://eddierayrouth.blogspot.com/2015/02/eddie-ray-routh-timeline-military.html

    ReplyDelete
  43. TESTIMONY FROM EDDIE RAY ROUTH TRIAL FOR MURDERS OF CHRIS KYLE AND CHAD LITTLEFIELD

    February 16, 2015

    Erath County Sgt. Kenny Phillips on witness stand. Works at the jail. Booked in Routh in Feb. 2013 after slayings

    Philips: Routh wanted a cigarette on drive from Lancaster to Erath County jail. Was acting irritated

    Philips: Routh seemed under the influence when he was first booked into Erath Co. jail. 'He was in a detox situation for awhile.'

    Texas Ranger Ronald Pettigrew now on the stand. Investigated the shootings of Chad Littlefield and Chris Kyle.

    Pettigrew was rerouted to Midlothian to talk to Routh's sister. Then he was sent to Routh's Lancaster home. Took Kyle's truck to evidence

    Pettigrew: Found firearms, cell phone inside Chris Kyle's stolen truck. Took cell phone to Secret Service to check call, text history

    Pettigrew: Took #ChrisKyle's cellphone to Secret Service too. Phone was found at the gun range where Kyle, Chad Littlefield were shot.

    Pettigrew describing what makes 'wet' marijuana, dipped in formaldehyde or PCP. Routh is suspected of smoking wet weed before the shootings

    Routh to Kyle in 1st voicemail: “Just giving you a call Chris and seeing how you’re doing today.” Asked Kyle to call him back.

    Routh to Kyle in 2nd voicemail: “Hey brother, give me a shout man. Talk to you later, bye.”

    Routh in 3rd: “Kind of a sad day when it rains. It’s good but it’s sad. Rains will come and rains will leave. I guess that’s what they do.”

    Routh to Kyle in 4th voicemail: “Hi, uh, this is Eddie if you can give me a call back.” All calls made bet. 1/26-2/2/13

    Shaffer detailing calls bet. Routh and Kyle. Spoke several times. Calls range from 2 minutes to 15 minutes in length.

    Prosecutors showing the texts bet Chris Kyle & Chad Littlefield on way to gun range the day they were shot.

    Texts about Routh: CK: "This dude is straight up nuts" CL: "Sitting behind me, watch my 6" CK: "Got it"

    Routh's girlfriend called Chris Kyle's phone twice 2/2/13. Taya Kyle also called 3 times that day. Chris Kyle missed 2 after 5 p.m.

    Briley responded to the Rough Creek Lodge where Chris Kyle & Chad Littlefield were found. Heard there was a 3rd man in Kyle's truck

    Briley on trying to find out which shell casings were connected: “It’s very complicated to work a scene at a gun range.”

    Briley: "This was a brutal killing. There was no question that I was dealing with someone very violent."

    Briley says he could see the number of bullet holes on bodies, a lot of blood showed how gruesome the killings of Kyle, Littlefield were

    Briley: "You can't accidentally shoot someone that many times."

    Briley was told before he got to the scene that Chris Kyle had been killed. Briley recognized the famous military sniper.

    Briley learned about Routh so that he could interview him after the shootings.

    Routh went to Red Oak Taco Bell at 6:50 p.m. Texas Rangers were already at Rough Creek lodge crime scene.

    Continued...

    ReplyDelete
  44. Briley on need to interview Routh quickly: "The sooner you can interview them, the more and better information you can obtain from them."

    When interviewing, Briley says officers should "Deal with the person very straightforward, asking simple questions."

    Briley, who got Routh's confession, said: "Murder, it's not easy to get confessions on that because it's a very large, serious crime."

    Briley to Routh: "I know you had a tough day. I'd like to talk to you."

    Briley: Discussed Routh's drug usage that day. Who was shot first. "very basic questions." Routh responded in "very philosophical manner."

    Briley: "Some of the stuff, I had no clue what we were talking about."

    Briley: “I wanted to know, did you know what you were doing was wrong? ... Clearly, he knew what he was doing was wrong.”

    “He stated that he knew it was wrong to kill them, that he wished he hadn’t done it, that if he could apologize to the families he would.”

    Routh can be seen yawning in the taped interview. It's about 11:30 the night of the killings.

    Routh interview begins. He asked to take off his handcuffs. Mentions looking at computer screens in Iraq. Rambling a bit.

    Briley reads Routh his rights. Explains why he's there. "I know what you went through today has been very difficult for you."

    Routh: "I keep talking to Chris." mentions several Chrises. like "talking to the wolf." "I can smell bull%#$%."

    Briley: “What was his last name?” Routh:“It was Kyle.” B: “And what’s that other guy’s name?” R: “I couldn’t even remember.”

    Routh: "I try to be as normal and as reasonable as I can... I'm pretty damn reasonable." "I was reasonable and fair with them boys."

    Routh: Met Kyle and Littlefield that day. “I imagine they’re headhunters, trying to hunt everybody down.”

    Routh: “I’ve got tons of people eating on my soul right now.” Says the world is a "soulless place."

    Routh: "The warlords aren't very happy with me. I know that. Everyone knows that in town."

    Routh told his sister: "I told her I had to kill a man today." "I had to to get out of that situation today."

    Briley: How many did you have to kill today? Routh: Two

    Routh: "Their training wasn't as good. My training's better." on whether Kyle and Littlefield could tell he was going to shoot them.

    Routh said he shot "the one he could clearly identify" first. "If I did not take down his soul, he was going to take down mine."

    Routh mumbles a bit, so he's hard to understand at times.

    Routh says he was running on adrenaline, had trouble sleeping.

    Continued...

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  45. Briley: After you killed them, what did you do next? Routh: Fled. I didn't know what else to do. My adrenaline was going.

    Briley asks Routh if he knew it was wrong to kill the men. Routh resonds, "Right." Routh asks Briley if he should've stayed. He says yes.

    Routh is saying weed in Texas is usually laced with other drugs. Briley asks what he thinks his weed was laced with. Routh: "Something wet."

    Routh: "I've got so many abandonment issues and trust issues." Says he's had the problems since he was a boy.

    Briley: was the other guy named Chad? Routh: yeah.

    Routh is asking to see his parents. Asking if they've arrived yet. "I'd like to see them. At least talk to my mom one last time."

    Routh: "I'm just sorry for what I've done."

    Routh said the shootings occurred around 3 p.m. Then he drove to his sister's house.

    "I would tell them I'm so sorry for what I've done," Routh says after Briley asks what he would say to the families.

    Briley asks Routh if he knows the difference between wrong and right. Routh responds: "Yes sir."

    Briley: What're you going to tell your mom? Routh: That I love her. Briley: What about your sister? Routh: That I love her too.

    Briley: Did you notice blood on your boots? Routh leans forward to look at his boots and says, "Uhhh... a little bit."

    Routh asking for a cigarette. "Does anybody smoke anymore?"

    "Eat shit and die," Routh is saying during videotaped confession. Continuing to say no one can eat his soul.

    Videotaped confession just ended. Judge asking for a 20 minute afternoon break.

    Court testimony has resumed. Briley still on witness stand. Discussing Routh's videotaped confession.

    Briley: Intoxication is not a defense in a capital murder case. Officers did not do a blood draw to determine Routh's drug, alcohol use.

    Briley now being cross-examined by defense. Going over timeline of Feb. 2, 2013. Routh, Kyle left Routh's house after 1 p.m.

    Around 3:15 p.m. Kyle drives them into Rough Creek Lodge. They head to the firing range. Around 5 p.m., Kyle, Littlefield bodies found.

    Routh goes to his uncle's house at 5 p.m. Around 5:45 p.m., Routh goes to his sister's house. She calls 911, which leads Rangers to Routh

    Routh buys burritos at Taco Bell at 6:50 p.m. At 7:53 p.m., Routh is sitting in front of his house in Kyle's truck. Lancaster PD is there.

    Defense atty asking Briley if he knew that Routh's sister had said he was psychotic on 911 call. Continuing to question what info Briley had.

    Briley says he didn't know about Routh's ramblings about voodoo and "hell on earth" that he made to Lancaster PD.

    "The information I had was that he had anti-government views and a possible drug problem," Briley said of what he knew before interview

    Briley: there was a lot of initial misinformation about Routh. That he was a combat vet and a sharpshooter.

    Def. atty asking if Briley knew about Routh's mental illness history, prescribed anti-psychotic meds before interviewing him about murders

    Briley: My purpose was to expose the truth. Tim Moore: Your purpose was to interrogate Eddie Routh? Briley: I went there to interview him.

    Continued...

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  46. Tim Moore asks Briley if he knows arrestees must understand Miranda rights before talking to police. Briley says that Routh knew his rights

    Briley says he talks to suspects to make sure "we understand each other."

    Briley on Routh: He says things, that to him, mean something.

    Moore reading back Routh's quotes to Briley "There's towns and there's squares. But there's no real square towns."

    Briley responds: "It was philosophical talk and he was still avoiding what we were there to talk about at that point."

    Briley: "Things aren't good in his life. ... He's having a rough time, or at least that's what he's conveying to me."

    Moore is continuing to read quotes from taped confession. Seems to be trying to poke holes in confession.

    Moore asks if Briley knew Kyle before he was killed. Briley said he knew of Kyle but didn't know him personally.

    Texas Ranger Danny Briley has been on the witness stand for almost 5 hours. Def. atty Tim Moore still questioning confession.

    Briley to Tim Moore on re-read quotes from confession: "You skipped a large portion, but yeah. That's accurate."

    Briley: "There were some unusual statements. Statements that don't surprise me from someone who may have use drugs or alcohol."

    But, Briley says, he didn't smell alcohol on Routh's breath. No blood sample taken from Routh to test for drugs, alcohol.

    Moore: "You're entitled to use deadly force if you, in your mind, think that that other person is going to use deadly force against you."

    Prosecutors asking to meet before judge about Moore's line of questioning.

    Prosecutor questioning Briley in redirect. Briley says Routh accurately described murder weapon. Routh said he was close when he shot them.

    Briley: "There were some unusual statements. Statements that don't surprise me from someone who may have use drugs or alcohol."

    Prosecutor rehashing confession with Briley. Pointing out times Routh said he knew actions were wrong

    Alan Nash: "Is it your opinion that Chad Littlefield was down on the ground when he was shot in the head?" Briley: "He was."

    Nash: "Is intoxication a defense to capital murder?" Briley: "It is not."

    When Briley asked Routh about how Kyle, Littlefield were helping him, he said, they "talked to me pretty shitty."

    Routh thought he was target: "If I did not take down his soul he was going to take mine."

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  47. Prosecutors suggested drug and alcohol abuse were to blame for Routh’s bizarre behavior. In cross-examination at the end of Monday’s court session, Briley conceded no blood-alcohol test was ordered at the time of Routh’s arrest to verify the cause of his behavior. Routh’s defense lawyers recapped the taped interview with Maj. Briley line-by-line and questioned why Briley did not probe deeper into the bizarre remarks Routh made. Briley said much of what Routh said were just “philosophical” remarks that did not pertain to the crime.

    The first witness Monday was Erath County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Kenny Phillips who transported Routh from the Lancaster Jail to the Erath County Jail. Phillips said Routh appeared to be “under the influence” at the time and said Routh spent a while after that in “a detox situation.” Phillips said Routh now receives daily medication at the jail. Other law enforcement witnesses Monday spoke about telephone and text message records and other physical evidence that link the victim to the crime.

    Routh’s lawyers claim a history of mental illness left him unable to determine right from wrong at the time of the crime. Defense evidence will be presented after the state rests. As the first week of the trial wound to a close Friday, Routh's uncle, James Watson, said he smoked marijuana with his nephew the morning of the killings and quoted the 27-year-old defendant as saying later that day, "I'm driving a dead man's truck," when referencing Kyle's pickup.

    A former Erath Sheriff's Deputy told jurors about a jailhouse confession he overheard months later from Routh. Former Deputy Gene Cole, now a Belton police officer, said he heard Routh speaking in the Erath County Jail in June 2013 about the Feb. 2, 2013 murders. "I shot them because they wouldn't talk to me," Cole quoted Routh as saying. "I was just riding in the back seat of the truck and nobody would talk to me. They were just taking me to the range, so I shot them. I feel bad about it, but they wouldn't talk to me. I am sure they have forgiven me."

    Defense attorney Tim Moore said in opening statements Wednesday that Routh was suffering from severe mental illness at the time of the crime and could not tell right from wrong. Moore said Routh was repeatedly treated by the Veteran's Administration and released with antipsychotic drugs. Armstrong said that antipsychotic medications were found in the search of Routh's home.

    http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/American-Sniper-Trial-Resumes-Monday-292060891.html

    ReplyDelete
  48. Before resting, prosecutors played a recorded phone call between Routh and a reporter from the New Yorker magazine on May 31, 2013.

    During the interview, Routh describes the events surrounding the slayings of Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield, at an Erath County gun range in February 2013.

    “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 recorded phone call.

    Routh complained about the smell of cologne in the truck with Kyle and Littlefield while the men drove to Rough Creek Lodge on Feb. 2, 2013. Routh also said that he was annoyed at the gun range because Littlefield wasn’t shooting.

    “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.”

    Earlier in the day, Judge Jason Cashon denied a request for a mistrial after prosecutors said they mistakenly said glass vials presented during previous testimony belonged to Routh. The vials were stored in evidence boxes containing drug paraphernalia seized from Routh’s house.

    Prosecutor Alan Nash said “inartful” questioning probably made jurors believe those vials belonged to Routh. Crime lab workers put the vials in the evidence boxes to preserve drug evidence, according to court testimony.

    Defense attorneys for Routh asked for a mistrial after Nash told Cashon about the vials. Cashon said that the error could be corrected during testimony before the jury. Cashon instructed the jury to disregard the vials.

    In a rambling taped confession played for jurors, Routh admitted killing Kyle and Littlefield on Feb. 2, 2013, at the Rough Creek Lodge shooting range. He said he had smoked marijuana before the men picked him up.

    “If I didn’t take out his soul, he was going to take my soul next,” Routh said in the videotaped confession.

    Routh went on to say that he’d like to apologize to the victims’ families.

    “I’d tell them I’m sorry for what I’ve done,” he said. “If I could have done it differently, I would have done it differently.”

    Prosecutors played a video that was recorded inside a Lancaster police cruiser after Routh was arrested. Officers can be heard telling Routh several times to “relax” and “take a breath.”

    During the video, Lancaster police officer Flavio Salazar said, “Hey Marine, you alright back there?”

    Routh responded: “I’ve been so paranoid and schizophrenic all day. … I don’t even know what to make of the world right now. I don’t know if I’m insane.”

    A forensic scientist with the Texas Department of Public Safety testified that a loose, leafy substance seized with drug paraphernalia at Routh’s home after the slayings tested positive as marijuana.

    Another forensic scientist said that blood found on one of Routh’s boots was a DNA match to Littlefield. Guns connected to the slayings also had Kyle’s and Routh’s blood on them. [All Routh's clothing was collected for evidence but only his boots had blood on them?]

    Prosecutors say Routh understood that killing Kyle and Littlefield was wrong, but defense attorneys argue that he wasn’t in his right mind when he shot the two men.

    If convicted, Routh would automatically face life in prison without parole. If found not guilty by reason of insanity, he would face up to life in a state mental hospital.

    http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2015/02/prosecutors-expected-to-rest-case-today-in-american-sniper-murder-trial.html/

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  49. TESTIMONY FROM EDDIE RAY ROUTH TRIAL FOR MURDERS OF CHRIS KYLE AND CHAD LITTLEFIELD

    FEBRUARY 17, 2015

    Prosecutor Alan Nash said vials presented in court Friday as drug paraphernalia found in Routh's house were actually put in by crime lab.

    Defense atty is saying that the Texas Ranger testifying Friday committed perjury by saying the vials were Routh's

    Nash: "This witness committed no perjury at all. He responded to inartful questions by counsel." Says jury shd be asked to disregard vials

    Judge Jason Cashon says he believes the erroneous admission of the vials is curable by telling jurors to disregard vials.

    Judge says Texas Ranger did not commit perjury during testimony. He says the Ranger merely described what was being pulled from evidence bag

    Jurors in courtroom. Prosecutor Nash is explaining that the vials were not among the items seized from Routh's home.

    Judge is instructing the jury to disregard the glass vial shown in evidence. Forensic scientist now going over drug items found at Routh's.

    Forensic scientist with Texas DPS crime lab on the witness stand.

    Forensic scientist explains why DPS crime lab leaves vial in evidence. It's to preserve evidence for future testing, shld def ask for it.

    Forensic scientist is explaining the process to test for marijuana/THC.

    Forensic scientist: analyzed plant substance found in Routh's home. Was marijuana. Didn't find any meth.

    Forensic scientist showing pipe found at Routh's home. Looks like cigarette but is used to smoke weed

    Lancaster police officer Flavio Salazar recalled to witness stand.

    Salazar: whenever a crowd was close to Routh while he was in police cruiser, he was agitated. When alone, he was calm inside car.

    About to play video of Routh inside police cruiser after arrest.

    Officer to Routh: "It's OK. We're here to help you out. ... Just relax and take a deep breath."

    Police cruiser video of Routh often inaudible. It's hard to clearly hear what he's saying to officers.

    "I don't even know what to make of the world right now. I don't know if I'm insane," Routh says after officer asks if he's alright.

    Routh silent on car ride to jail. Sit slumped in backseat of police cruiser.

    Video of Routh in car over. Salazar said they took him back to the Lancaster police station.

    Salazar is a former Marine. He emphasized this to Routh while he was in back in police cruiser. Prosecutor asking aboutt his military history.

    Routh has access to watch TV and make phone calls from his cell in Erath County jail.

    Recorded telephone call between Routh and reporter Nicholas Schmidle from The New Yorker.

    Routh talking about the morning of going to the gun range. Said they stopped at Whataburger. "I didn't tell them I was hungry."

    "It was the smell in the air that morning, you know. It smelled like shit," Routh says on phone call.

    On phone call, Routh says Littlefield wasn't shooting at the gun range, which annoyed him. He's saying that he shot Littlefield first.

    Routh said in car ride: "it smelled like sweet cologne." Judy Littlefield testified on first day that Chad always wore nice cologne.

    Phone call over. Took place May 31, 2013

    Continued...

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  50. Upshaw: since jailed, Routh has been calmer, less erratic. Stays consistently medicated. Appearance has changed greatly.

    State rested its case. 11:40 AM - 17 Feb 2015

    Defense calls Erath County evidence custodian. Brought in boxes of guns that were on shooting deck at Rough Creek Lodge day of killings

    Adcock showing Kyle's rifle. Has American Sniper inscribed on it.

    All those guns may support defense claim Routh felt threatened.

    Defense calls Jodi Routh, Eddie Ray's mother, to the witness stand.

    Jodi Routh on her son: "He was a good kid." Played little league sports. Made "fair grades." Graduated from Midlothian HS in 2006.

    Jodi Routh explaining her son's initial time in Marines. Grew up with firearms. "His dad took him hunting." Repaired firearms in Marines.

    Jodi Routh said her son was deployed to war zone in Iraq. Also went to Haiti for 3 months after 2010 earthquake. "He helped clean up bodies."

    Mom says he cleaned up bodies on beach of Haiti after earthquake. Was there 3 months.

    Jodi Routh says her son was "rather thin" in high school. He's 6-foot-2.

    Jodi on son after service: "He wasn't his happy-go-lucky self like he'd always been, a lot more serious. Very concerned for his family."

    Routh's mom says after military Eddie acted paranoid and was very serious.

    “He would really watch what was going on around him, what was going on behind him, just very cautious about people,” Jodi says of Routh.

    Routh's mother tells 'American Sniper' jury her son wasn't the same after military service: "He was very suicidal."

    Jodi Routh says Eddie had no mental health issues before serving in the Marines.

    Routh went to VA hospital willingly first time. He was readmitted against his will the second time.

    After 3-week stay at VA hospital, Routh was given nine different medications. Mood elevators, anti-psychotic meds and sleep aids.

    Routh had no driver’s license due to DUI. He slept on air mattress because dog ate his regular mattress.

    "I knew he had written a book, because he did a speech at the school," Jodi Routh says of knowing who Kyle was. Asked him to help son

    "He said he would love to do anything and everything in his power to help my son," Jodi says. Kyle said he also had PTSD like Routh.

    Jodi Routh said she wanted her son to stay at the VA hospital, but they released him anyway. Routh went home to his parents'

    Jodi Routh was out of town when Kyle came to the house to pick up her son from their Lancaster house. She learned what happened later

    "I had Chris' number in my phone. And I dialed that number praying to God that he would answer," Jodi Routh says of events that day.

    Jodi Routh said she talked to her son on the phone while he was in Kyle's truck outside their Lancaster home.

    Jodi Routh said she has smoked marijuana with her son before. "He did smoke, but I didn't consider it abuse."

    Jodi Routh said marijuana had a calming effect on her son.

    Continued...

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  51. Prosecutors cross-examining Jodi Routh.

    She says Routh learned how to work on guns at a young age. Was good at handling weapons.

    Jodi Routh says her son was a prison guard during his time in Iraq, in addition to working on firearms. Doesn't know in what cities.

    Jodi Routh describes her son as "free-spirited" and very funny. Said the family has very open conversations with each other.

    Starnes asking Jodi Routh about a family fish fry. Eddie got into an argument with his dad about firearms. Eddie threatend to kill self, family

    Jodi Routh says she was scared after the incident, so she removed all weapons from the house. Jodi says there were about 8 guns taken out

    Police found Eddie walking down the street shirtless, upset after incident. Was taken to Green Oaks hospital, then VA. Tested positive for pot.

    Starnes asking about the time Eddie Ray Routh threatened his girlfriend, her roommate with a knife, ninja sword. Held the women in the apartment.

    After Routh left first job after Marines, he had trouble finding a job. Was frustrated that as a vet, he couldn't get a job.

    Jodi says her son didn't like the doctors at the VA hospital. He said they didn't listen to him. He didn't want to give up alcohol, pot.

    Jane Starnes showing Jodi Routh the note Jodi wrote to Kyle asking for his help.

    "Chris assured me that he knew what Eddie was going through," Jodi says. She says Kyle said he understood Eddie's drinking, need for help.

    While Chris was in car line, she told him about hospitalizations in 2011 but not big fight about guns

    Jodi Routh says she didn't know that Kyle actually made plans for him and Eddie to go out to the gun range.

    Chris gave Jodi a hug and said he would do anything in his power to help Eddie.

    After the phone call from her daughter, Jodi had a good idea of who Eddie had killed, this is why she tried to call Chris' cell phone.

    Pros - did you know Eddie filed for disability and listed every body part including erectile dysfunction? Jodi Routh - No.

    After killings, Routh gets disability from government.

    Prosecutor asking about disability benefits Routh received after killing Kyle, Littlefield. He didn't receive benefits before the slayings.

    Prosecutor asks where does the money go? Jodi Routh - in a fund for Eddie.

    Prosecutor says Eddie’s sister used some of that moneyfor down payment on her house.

    Jodi Routh testimony has ended. Defense attorneys have no new witnesses to call today. Trial will resume 9 a.m. Wednesday.

    With jurors out of the room, judge, prosecutors going over government benefits Routh has received. About $30,000.

    Routh has received around $30k in benefits since the murder.

    Receives about $2,800 every month. Will receive that until the time he may be convicted. Judge concerned with court costs

    ReplyDelete
  52. TESTIMONY FROM EDDIE RAY ROUTH TRIAL FOR MURDERS OF CHRIS KYLE AND CHAD LITTLEFIELD

    FEBRUARY 18, 2015

    Defense calls first witness Wednesday morning.

    Donna Taylor says she's a lifelong friend of Jodi Routh, Eddie Ray Routh's mother.

    She has known Jodi Routh for 27 years.

    Taylor of Routh after Marines: “He just seemed distant. He seemed disturbed, not like the fun-loving Eddie. He just seemed bothered.”

    Routh worked for Taylor. He worked at her cabinet shop Feb. 1, 2013, the day before Chris Kyle, Chad Littlefield were killed.

    Taylor asked Routh what was bothering him. He never engaged her in conversation about it.

    Taylor: She would occasionally see Routh in almost like a "catatonic state." "He just wasn't the same with whatever he experienced."

    Taylor: Routh worked about bet. 40-50 hours a week at her cabinet shop. He never came to work drunk. She would've fired him.

    Prosecutor asking if Routh smoked pot every day before work. Taylor wouldn’t be shocked if he did smoke weed before work.

    Pros. asks if maybe Eddie’s catatonic state could be from pot use.

    Taylor says she didn't see Routh in a catatonic state Feb. 1, the day before the killings. He was going to hang out with girlfriend that weekend.

    Taylor: In Jan. 2013, Routh family asked her to take guns from the home after Eddie threatened the family, himself.

    Taylor took the guns because Eddie was homicidal and suicidal.

    Prosecutor asking Taylor if she ever took marijuana to VA hospital for Eddie Ray Routh to smoke. She says she didn't do that.

    Taylor was unaware Routh refused help at VA for drug use.

    Eddie didn’t smoke pot like cigarettes (indicating bong/pipe use).

    Gaines Blevins, Routh's bro-in-law, testifying about day of the killings. Routh went to Blevins' home.

    Routh's bro-in-law now on witness stand. He can be heard on 911 call the day of the slayings.

    Gaines Blevins is married to Eddie’s sister. On 2/2 Eddie seemed to be out of it.

    Eddie walked into Blevins' home and said: “Is it just me or is the world freezing over?”

    Said he “took two souls before they could take his."

    Gaines Blevins said he had a very sick feeling after hearing this.

    When probed further by his sister, Routh admitted he killed 2 men.

    Gaines Blevins: "He seemed confused like he didn't know what was going on. He actually said he didn't know what he should do."

    Blevins says Routh was acting very confused and didn’t know what to do.

    Eddie didn’t want to call police and said he should just leave.

    Before Routh left, he said he had guns in his truck and could show them.

    Routh was asked to leave the property.

    Continued...

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  53. Blevins testified that Eddie was incoherent at times and babbled aimlessly.

    Blevins said that Eddie’s demeanor made the hair on his neck stand up.

    Gaines Blevins: "I didn't really know what to say. The hair on the back of my neck stood up a little bit."

    Routh then told his sis, bro-in-law that he didn't want to call the police. He thought he should "just go."

    After Routh left, the Blevins locked up the house and headed to the police station. They called 911. They stayed on phone till at station.

    Blevins went hunting with Eddie a month before the murders happened.

    Blevins is going over the timeline of the day after shooting. Wife gave statement which was written/filmed by police.

    Prosecutor asking Blevins to go over timeline of day after shootings. Blevins, wife gave written, filmed statement to at MidlothianPD.

    Routh called his sister before he came over that day stating he “had something to tell her."

    Eddie called at around 4:45 PM and showed up at 5:45 to visit after the murders.

    Blevins said Routh said he was going to go to Oklahoma before Texas could get him. Blevins, wife were alarmed, scared of Routh.

    Prosecutors asking Blevins about the family's pot smoking habits. Blevins said he didn't smoke with Eddie.

    Routh's sister, Laura Blevins, called to the witness stand.

    Laura Blevins said she saw Eddie regularly after he was out of Marines.

    Laura Blevins talking about when Eddie Ray Routh first joined the Marines.

    Eddie enlisted 10 days after high school graduation.

    Laura Blevins: Saw her brother regularly after he returned from the military until he was in and out of mental hospitals.

    She and Eddie had arguments over Eddie’s girlfriend.

    "I had just about had my limit with that. I couldn't do that anymore," Blevins said of time after Routh wouldn't llet his girlfriend leave her apartment because he said the government was after them.

    Blevins: "I didn't know if he would have an outburst or go on a tangent like he would with my child around."

    Blevins answered the phone on Feb. 2, 2013, because Routh was calling from uncle's phone.

    Gaines said Routh could come over. "I was pissed."

    Routh called from his uncle’s phone to say he was coming over. She was upset he was coming.

    Laura Blevins: "If he comes over and he's talking nonsense, I'm calling police and having him committed back to Green Oaks or VA."

    Her 4-year-old daughter was not home when Routh came over after killings.

    She knew he was coming so she didn’t want her daughter subjected to his outbursts.

    Laura could tell Eddie was not himself.

    Continued...

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  54. Of Routh after he came to house the day of killings, Laura Blevins said: "He was talking about pigs sucking his soul."

    Laura Blevins said she didn't believe her bro at first after he said he killed two people. "Because he said crazy stuff before."

    Blevins: "He said he took their souls before they could take his. I asked him what he meant by that, and he said they were out to get him."

    Blevins: "The man who was my brother was not at my house. The person who came to my house was not the person I know as my brother."

    Saw the pickup outside, "It kind of took me back. I thought I was going to throw up." Blevins said she didn't want to believe her bro.

    Blevins told Routh: "I love you, but I hate your demons." For a moment, she saw her baby bro again, but then he switched back.

    Blevins explains: "When I was looking at him, he kind of looked like he was out of it, almost in a daze or something..."

    Blevins cont'd: "and when I told him that I loved him, there was something in him that understood that."

    As Routh was walking out with them, he showed sister and bro in law the guns.

    Routh told sister he killed two guys at gun range because they were out to get him.

    Sis told him to turn himself in.

    She thought he traded his “lady bug” car for the truck until Routh said he killed them for truck.

    When asked who he killed, Eddie said he didn’t know.

    Prosecutor Jane Starnes asking Laura Blevins about the family fish fry where where Routh threatened his dad.

    She says that Eddie and her dad got in a fight at a family fish fry.

    Eddie threatened to kill himself and entire family. Laura left with her daughter.

    Routh had been drinking that night. Her young daughter also witnessed Routh’s outburst.

    Pros - did you hear that Eddie held girlfriend and friend with knife? Laura - yes that was the last straw.

    Verifies that family friend took guns out of home. She didn’t initially believe him about killings.

    The more they talked, the more concerned she became.

    Laura Blevins: Knew Routh couldn't afford a truck like Kyle's. He had a VW Beetle that was painted like a ladybug.

    Prosecutor rehashing Routh's visit with his sister the day he shot Kyle, Littlefield.

    Blevins: Smoked pot, drank alcohol in high school. Started drinking more once he became a Marine. Went back to smoking pot after Marines.

    "I smoked pot one time with Eddie after I had my child...after that, me and my husband had an agreement: no drugs."

    Prosecutor continuing to ask more questions about Eddie Ray Routh's marijuana smoking habits.

    Sister said Eddie seemed relaxed when he smoked marijuana.

    The day of murders, Eddie stayed at her house around 15 minutes.

    Jennifer Weed, Routh's girlfriend, now testifying. She says she has a degree in psychology.

    They met in March 2012 on dating website.

    Started dating casually and then became exclusive in May 2012.

    "He was very outgoing, very charismatic," Weed said of Routh. Described him as "goofy" and funny.

    Routh liked being outdoors.

    Continued...

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  55. Weed said Routh seemed more calm, relaxed after he smoked marijuana.

    She said he smoked a lot "in my opinion." She said she doesn't smoke.

    Jennifer was at family fish fry but left before the big fight on September 2, 2012.

    Weed said she visited Routh when he was in the VA after he was admitted following family fish fry fight. He asked to move in with Weed.

    Routh lived with Weed for a little less than a month in September 2012. Weed said there were no outbursts during that time.

    Eddie moved back home and they took a break form each other.

    "I think we moved in too quickly," Weed said of Routh living with her. Then he would stay for the weekends after that.

    They lived 20 miles apart.

    In January 2013 they were beginning to spend every weekend together.

    Weed was aware Eddie was on medications.

    She recalls when he was admitted to mental hospital. Visited one time.

    Mid January 2013 she went to see Routh and his mom.

    Got call from Routh and he was upset. She went to be with him. He sat on couch and stared at wall.

    During this time, he was erratic and not going to work.

    On January 19, 2013 Routh was at her apartment.

    Next day she returned from work, went out to dinner with her folks, went home. Routh began calling her names.

    He said he needed to leave to see his mom because he was going to lose his soul.

    Routh called her a “crack whore”. First time she’d seen him that way.

    Weed describing incident in which Routh got upset with her. Started calling her names. Said she was trying to steal his soul.

    "He had never spoken to me that way before...It was very out of character," Weed said.

    Routh tried to get Weed to take a shot with vodka with him. She wouldn't. She'd asked him a week earlier to get clean.

    He eventually calmed down.

    Next morning Routh was shaking sweating profusely.

    Weed wanted to leave, Routh grabbed sword and said no, you can’t leave.

    Routh said “They’re coming to get us, don’t let them in.”

    Routh then gets knife from kitchen.

    The roommate was in her own room at the time.

    Jennifer texted roommate, saying to stay in there and warned her Routh was in a mood.

    Routh had ninja sword, kitchen knife. Put down weapons whenever Weed walked toward him.

    She says he didn’t threaten her with weapons.

    Roomate had second job and needed to leave. Routh said he would protect them all.

    [This went on for two hours before roommate texted police, and afterward he wasn't allowed back to her apartment.]

    Routh kept saying they couldn't leave the apartment because people were out to get them.

    Roommate texted a police officer and he came to the apartment.

    Continued...

    ReplyDelete
  56. Eddie taken to Green Oaks mental hospital, then sent to VA hospital.

    She visited him. He was apologetic but had no recollection of what happened.

    When she went to the VA hospital to visit him after the incident, he was tearful. He didn't seem to remember what happened.

    Asked if he could go with her to her apartment and she said, no, because of no trespass order at complex issued after knife incident.

    When released, he went back to Lancaster to parents' house. She went to spend the weekend with him.

    Went to visit Routh at his Lancaster home after he was released from VA hospital in January 2013.

    He seemed fine when he was on his meds.

    He was on meds and more like himself. At night, when meds wore off, he got worse.

    Next week, Routh’s mom called Weed, saying Routh threatened to gouge his eyes out.

    Jennifer went with her dad out to see Routh.

    Weed went to visit Routh again on Febuary 1, 2013, to spend time with him, because he wasn't allowed to visit her apartment.

    He was smoking weed with a friend. She was mad and didn’t talk to him but sat outside with him.

    "It had become an issue with us, him smoking," Weed says. She was mad at him Feb. 1 because he was smoking.

    Pot had become a tension point with them. They agreed he would stop smoking/drinking.

    Friend left. Routh stared into corner.

    Weed: "I asked him if he was seeing things, and he said yes." Routh then said that someone was listening to them.

    Routh believed the government was listening to him.

    "He definitely had paranoia about the government out to get him," Weed said.

    He got out a legal pad and wrote what they were. “Them” meant government usually.

    Routh said government was out to get them.

    Weed spent the night with Routh. No sleep.

    Woke up in the morning of Febuary 2, 2013, the day of the murders.

    Got up at 6 AM, cooked breakfast, and helped Routh shower. He wouldn't shower by himself.

    Eddie would go weeks without shower.

    Routh was filling out forms for VA in Waco. She didn’t help him because she was angry with him about his pot smoking.

    Routh proposed to Weed the night before the slayings. She said yes.

    Weed said: "He'd asked a few times before, but it was in the VA hospital, and I told him no, not until he was allowed to have shoelaces."

    Routh and Jennifer had fight morning of murders about his pot smoking.

    Eddie asked her to leave but Jennifer wouldn’t until uncle came over.

    Prosecutor rehashing fights Weed had with Routh over his marijuana smoking. They had a fight the morning of slayings over Routh's smoking.

    Weed says the morning of slayings, during an argument, Routh told her: "F*** you, go eat a peanut and die." Weed says she's allergic.

    Weed says she texted Routh's uncle to come over and watch Routh, because she was angry but didn't want Routh to be left alone.

    On February 2 she left him with his uncle.

    She went to lunch with her mom at 2:00. Uncle called her to ask if she knew where Routh was.

    Weed called Chris Kyle to see if Eddie was with him. Kyle texted back and said Routh was with him. Weed sent him one more message.

    Weed and Routh met, Routh didn't have cell phone, no Facebook page, called her from landline, drove VW painted like a ladybug.

    Weed said Routh made a joke referring to his "combat" saying he had killed before and he'd do it again.

    Continued...

    ReplyDelete
  57. Jennifer Weed, Routh's former girlfriend, is back on stand.

    Prosecutors questioning Weed. She says she used to work with Dallas County DA as a domestic violence victim's advocate.

    On Eddie being Eddie, Weed says he wanted to buy goats to mow lawns. Also wanted to open a bunny farm.

    Weed on Routh's personality: "He could talk paint off a wall." He would often talk to fill the silence in conversation.

    Weed: Routh seldom dressed up. Would wear overalls on date night. Once wore her running shorts, pink argyle socks to go for a run.

    Weed said Routh exaggerated about his time in Iraq. "I've killed before, and I'd do it again."

    Routh had an extreme temper. One time dropped his beer, so he threw his shoe across the room, Weed says.

    Prosecutor asking Weed to go back over the details of incident when Routh held her, roommate at their apartment. Weed didn't feel threatened.

    Jennifer describing when he held them in apartment - he said tampons made good deer bait for hunting.

    Didn't like Jennifer's degree and said it was a bullshit degree.

    Routh also hated the VA hospital.

    Jennifer says Routh exaggerated his duty in Iraq.

    Jennifer would make sure he took his meds on time.

    Weed says she was always very protective of Routh. She said she took down his FB page after slayings. She visited him twice in jail.

    Weed says she and Routh are no longer together. Says she isn't ashamed of Routh but didn't like what he did.

    Weed finished testifying. She was the last witness of the day. Judge says next two days will be long with testimony.

    Attorneys haven't released witness lists, but, they did say that mental health experts would testify.

    ReplyDelete
  58. TESTIMONY FROM EDDIE RAY ROUTH TRIAL FOR MURDERS OF CHRIS KYLE AND CHAD LITTLEFIELD

    FEBRUARY 19, 2015

    Yesterday Routh's interview with journalist played and Routh confirmed shot Chad first, then Chris, then "finished off" Chad.

    Sounds like Chad wasn't dead after Chris shot but unable to defend. The shot to the head is theoried to be last on Chad.

    Defense attorneys have called Charles Overstreet, a professor of psychology at Tarrant County College. Was in Army med service.

    Overstreet was a major in U.S. Army. Deployed to Iraq several times as head of combat stress control unit. Mental health provider there.

    Overstreet visited Eddie Ray Routh in jail twice to assess his mental state. Also went through Routh's VA medical records.

    Overstreet says Routh was regularly diagnosed with psychiatric disorders.Was on anti-psychotics, anti-depressants, mood stabilizers anti-hallucinogens.

    Overstreet says Routh displays symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia, PTSD. Paranoid schizophrenia typical first onset at age 25.

    Overstreet on Routh: "He was suffering from a mental disorder... and he did not know the consequence of his actions at the time."

    Prosecutor Alan Nash asking Overstreet about experience. He's not a licensed physician. Has master's degree in psychology.

    Overstreet says PTSD is not a diagnosis you would use in an insanity defense.

    Overstreet says that he believes Routh didn't understand at the time of the slayings that what he did was wrong/illegal.

    Overstreet says Routh is paranoid schizophrenic and PTSD. Didn't know actions wrong.

    Defense ask judge to not allow state to use the word wrong. Judge denied that request.

    Prosecutor Nash questioning Overstreet what Routh perceived as threatening behavior from Kyle and Chad Littlefield.

    Overstreet says: "There doesn't have to be an overt threat... because it's the state of the mind of the defendant that is the problem."

    Nash asking Overstreet how Routh described shooting Kyle and Littlefield.

    Overstreet says Routh first believed Kyle and Littlefield planned to kill him when they were riding in the truck to the gun range.

    Attorneys and judge still determining whether Overstreet can testify on his assessment of Routh before the jury. Working to define insanity.

    After hearing with judge, Overstreet will NOT be testifying in front of the jury.

    Heated cross exam of witness with jury not present.

    Overstreet - PTSD from being in hostile environment and exposed to gunfire.

    Overstreet - Routh was suffering from paranoid delusions in car to gun range and at the range.

    Overstreet explains that his delusions made him think Chad would shoot him.

    Overstreet - once he killed the "threat" Littlefield, he killed Kyle because he was threat.

    Overstreet has never been appointed by the court to argue insanity.

    Council has been arguing for an hour and a half about the admissibility of testimony.

    The jury has not been present for any of this.

    The judge agrees with prosecution this witness is not admissible.

    After hearing with judge, Overstreet will NOT be testifying in front of the jury.

    Prosecutors questioned whether he had enough experience, knowledge to testify as expert witness. Judge ruled that he didn't.

    Continued...

    ReplyDelete
  59. New doctor called for the defense.

    Prosecutors questioning next potential expert witness, Mitchell H. Dunn. Dunn works at Terrell State Hospital.

    Dr Dunn giving his credentials.

    Dr Dunn was explaining schizophrenia.

    Going through hospitalizations. Diagnosed with psychosis, drug abuse, PTSD, major depressive disorder.

    Dr Mitchell Dunn on stand for defense.

    Dunn qualifies as an expert witness. Will testify before jury. Jury about to enter courtroom.

    Jodi Routh back on witness stand. Defense asking her about when she asked Kyle to help her son.

    Routh’s mom was called back. Asked why she didn’t warn Chris of Routh’s mental state.

    She said it didn’t occur to her to tell Chris.

    Prosecutors showing this photo of Eddie Ray Routh and his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Weed. Shown after photo of Routh in uniform with mom.

    Dr. Mitchell H. Dunn, psychiatrist at Terrell State Hospital, now on the stand. Expert witness for defense.

    Dunn works with about 30 patients at Terrell State, often working to help them become competent to go to trial.

    Routh had four hospitalizations before murder.

    On 4/15/14 Dunn interviewed Routh. Psychosis not a side affect of drugs - a stand alone diagnosis.

    Dunn says most of his assignments come from a judge, not from defense attorneys.

    Dunn says that an insanity defense would require the person to have been experiencing psychosis, a total break with reality. Usually delusions, etc.

    Dunn reviewed offense reports, medical records, videotaped interview with Routh, crime scene photos, audio from other witness interviews.

    Dunn interviewed Routh for 6 hrs 15 min in April 2014. Longer than he usually spends with someone. Had a lot of information to cover.

    Dunn: "Also I knew this was kind of a big deal, so I spent a lot of time with him."

    Dunn going over the times Routh was admitted to mental hospital.

    First time was 7/23/11. He voluntarily went.

    Second time was 7/30/11. Routh thought he had a tapeworm. Admitted against his will.

    On Routh, Dunn: “It was clear that he was psychotic. There was no question about that. They weren’t sure of the cause of the psychosis.”

    After first hospitalization, Routh was given: anti-depressant, mood stabilizer, medication for PTSD, anti-psychotic, Ambien for sleep, anti-anxiety.

    Hospitalized again Sept. 2012.

    Routh had major depressive disorder, with major psychotic features. Alcohol dependence. Cannabis abuse. Bipolar disorder.

    Hospitalized again in Jan. 2013.

    Doctors did not believe Routh's psychosis was connected to his intoxication, drug use, Dunn says.

    Dunn says Routh was having significant symptoms of psychosis in the weeks before he killed Kyle and Littlefield. He was having delusions.

    Routh also believed his neighbor, a cop, was actually part of the Mexican mafia. "He was having a lot of delusional thinking," Dunn says.

    Routh was paranoid about his neighbor, a police officer. Thought he was member of Mexican mafia.

    After Routh was released from hospital in January 2013, he believed that two men he worked with him were cannibals. Thought they were going to harm him.

    "People with mental illness in large part look like you or I," Dunn says of why Routh's friends/family might not have realized extent of illness.

    Dunn says some people get better on medication. But others still suffer from symptoms even while on medication.

    Routh had significant psychosis symptoms leading up to sword incident.

    Dunn said he didn’t believe that Routh faked the tests given to him. Gave Routh a test on faking psychosis.

    Delusions of someone hurting his girlfriend and her roommate.

    Continued...

    ReplyDelete
  60. At cabinet shop he thought his co-workers were cannibals. Their food looked odd and thought it was flesh. Didn’t want to turn back on co-workers as they ate - afraid they would hurt him.

    Dunn still testifying. He said Routh believed his coworkers were half pig - half men.

    Not indicative of schizophrenia, but more of delusional.

    Dunn: By the Friday night before the killings, Routh "believed pigs were taking over the earth."

    Dunn: When Routh's girlfriend visited him Friday night before the slayings, he believed Jennifer Weed was also a hybrid pig-human.

    Dunn: Routh said he didn't like seeing Weed eat bacon: “He was thinking she was a pig hybrid. Why would you eat the flesh of your people?”

    Routh told Dunn: "When I first got here to jail, I thought I was going to be cooked for people to eat."

    Dunn: Routh also believed that Kyle and Littlefield could also be pigs. He was nervous when the men didn't talk to him.

    Routh fired at Littlefield. Saw Kyle turning and he shot at him 2-3 times. And when Littlefield was twitching, he shot him in the head.

    Routh said it was odd that Littlefield wasn't shooting at the range. "He felt like he was in danger, like something was going to happen."

    Routh also told Dunn that he thought he neutralized the threat, then shot Kyle to keep from being shot.

    Dunn asked Routh why Kyle and Littlefield didn't kill him immediately at the gun range, and Routh believed that they were waiting for the right time.

    Routh told Dunn: "As soon as I did it, I realized I made a mistake." Routh said he knew it wouldn't look good that he killed.

    "He figured if he was going to get arrested, he might as well get something to eat," Routh told Dunn about getting Taco Bell.

    Routh told Dunn that he realized it would've been better if he had called police from the gun range after killing Kyle and Littlefield.

    Dunn says he believes Routh was suffering from schizophrenia, didn't know his conduct was wrong at time of killings.

    Routh was displaying disorganized thinking, delusions when he killed Kyle and Littlefield, Dunn says.

    Dunn says Routh was exhibiting signs of schizophrenia two years before the slayings. The signs became more pronounced later.

    "There was something really wrong with Eddie Ray Routh on the day of the offense, and that something wrong was a mental disease," Dunn says.

    Dunn reads passages from Routh's taped confession. Routh rambles about the "wolf in the sky" and pigs. Dunn says it's signs of illness.

    Dunn says: "If you're going to be killed, then you have the right to defend yourself. He defended himself..."

    Dunn says: "I'm not saying that's logical. It's logical in his sense."

    Dunn reiterates that he believes Routh's psychosis was not substance abuse.

    Dunn says that even in April 2014, Routh still believed Kyle and Littlefield planned to kill him.

    Continued...

    ReplyDelete
  61. Prosecutor Jane Starnes cross examining Dunn about his assessment of Routh.

    Starnes asking Dunn how drugs can alter behaviors, personality. Docs don't make diagnoses until someone is sober, Dunn says.

    Starnes asking Dunn if Routh might've lied to him during their interview, if that could've skewed Dunn's diagnosis.

    Starnes going back over Dunn's testimony with him. She's saying Routh's diagnosis with schizophrenia isn't enough for insanity defense.

    Starnes says the key point is whether Routh understood what was right and wrong. Dunn says that Routh knew in a gen sense that killing is wrong.

    Routh told Dunn: "It's a pretty shitty thing killing someone." Dunn says Routh knew police were going to arrest him.

    Dunn says he doesn't believe Routh has PTSD, because he didn't have significant trauma. But, Dunn says, Routh does have schizophrenia.

    Dunn has finished testifying. Jury out of room. Defense attorneys are about to rest their case. Routh will not testify.

    Defense attorneys officially rest their case. Prosecution will call rebuttal witnesses.

    Prosecution plans to call two rebuttal expert witnesses. Jury has left the court for the day. Attorneys are interviewing witness on background.

    First expert witness for the prosecution called said Routh likely suffered from psychosis caused by marijuana use.

    Second expert witness from prosecution interviewed Routh for 3 1/2 hours, reviewed his medical records, history of drug use.

    Routh thought the world was being taken over by pigs.

    Eddie thought his girlfriend was a hybrid pig the night she came over before the murders.

    Routh thought neighbor was a cannibal. and since their sewer lines were connected, he thought neighbor ate Routh's waste.

    Routh said girlfriend ears looked like pig ears.

    Routh told Jennifer he wanted to break up and she didn't want to. Dunn says Routh convinced she didn't want to becuse she was a pig.

    Not showering for long periods of time is norml for someone with mental problems.

    Dr: Eddie found it odd that Chris did not shake his hand or introduce himself when picking him up.

    Eddie asked Chris if he was tired of eating other peoples shit. Said he smelled same smell frm neighbors.

    Routh got mad when Chris received a text from Jen. And he thought it was a one-way trip to lodge. On the way to the lodge they passed two white cars. Eddie thought the cars had hybrid pigs in them to kill him.

    He was irritated Chris and Chad did not ask for help when unloading the guns at the shooting range.

    Eddie shot the Sig Sauer 9 millimeter at the practice target and noticed Chad wasn't shooting. It seemed odd to him. [When they got to the resort, Kyle and Littlefield left Routh in the truck when they went into the lodge to register, and they probably discussed that one would always be watching Routh while the other was shooting, which would explain why Littlefield wasn't shooting at the targets while Kyle and Routh were.]

    He felt threatened and shot Chad.

    Saw Chris turn and shot Chris.

    Chad kept twitching so he shot Chad to kill him.

    Eddie said he was sorry, and said that assassins pick their times, so why did they give him a loaded gun?

    Felt relieved standing over bodies.

    Continued...

    ReplyDelete
  62. "He saw Kyle turning," Dunn said, "and shot him two to three times in the back and the upper torso. He saw Mr. Littlefield twitching, so he shot him in the head, and that stopped the twitching." And "He said he felt relieved," Dunn added. "He'd done what he had to do." [Forensics say that Kyle was shot six times with a .45 handgun and Littlefield was shot seven times with a 9mm handgun. The only loaded weapon that Routh had was the 9mm he was using for target practice.]

    He said he did what he had to do even though arrest was likely.

    Thought Chris and Chad were assassins who needed their fix to kill and it would be him.

    Knowing arrest was likely he thought he should eat.

    Says he should've called police from the scene.

    He thought officers in jail were the pig people.

    Dunn - Routh was insane at time of killing. He was all over the place when talking to TX ranger.

    Used Chris' text to Chad as a way to say even Chris noticed he was off and he'd seen a lot with mental issues.

    Dunn says that the psychosis was not induced by substance abuse.

    The prosecution will cross Dunn.

    Pros - someone can be mentally ill and kill because of greed or jealousy. Dunn - yes.

    Pros bringing up Routh saying he knew he’d be arrested and he made a mistake.

    Pros - being mentally ill doesn’t mean you are legally insane? Dunn - correct.

    Lots of hypotheticals being hashed right now.

    Pros. asking about medications Routh was given in 2011 with his diagnosis.

    Dunn says it is hard to diagnose if person is an addict. Pros - people lie to docs? Dunn - yes they do.

    Routh lied to Dunn about smoking marijuana on the morning of the murders.

    Dunn - we wait to make a diagnosis when the person is sober.

    Pros - you know he told people that he cleaned up bodies in Haiti and he did not. Dunn - yes.

    Pros - Called his neighbors Pygmies because they’re short? Dunn - not sure.

    Schizophrenia could cause someone not to go to work but Routh worked? Dunn - yes.

    Pros - Does marijuana heighten sense of smell? Dunn - don’t know.

    Pros - When Chris texted Chad it was just an observation. Chris had no degree in psychology.

    Prosecution - the jail is directly next to a BBQ joint - could be why all Routh’s references to pig.

    Continued...

    ReplyDelete
  63. NOTE: The prosecutors and their expert witnesses accused Eddie of making up the story about pigs AFTER the murders to feign pyschosis, but this is refuted by the fact that in his sister's taped interrogation at the police station immediately after Eddie left her home on the day of the murders, she told police that her brother "was out of his mind, saying people were sucking his soul and that he could smell the pigs." Also, in a taped interrogation by police on the day of the murders, Routh rambles about the "wolf in the sky" and pigs.

    Routh said he shot Chad in head to “neutralize threat” - he thought it was self-defense.

    Pros - Routh can’t claim self defense. Dunn - correct. Pros - he said I shot two guys and that's terrible.

    Pros - doesn’t that mean he knew right from wrong? He said the Bible said killing people is wrong.

    Pros - if you flee crime scene, you know you have to get somewhere else? Dunn he knew police would come.

    Pros - he knew what he did was illegal? Dunn - he knew he’d have to explain to police what he did.

    Pros brings in recent story of ISIS beheading 20 on beach.

    Pros- Some see it morally right to behead 20 on a beach. Dunn - right.

    Pros - People don’t decide what’s lawful, the law does. Dunn - true.

    If you shoot someone seven times, you want them dead, right? Dunn - Yes.

    Pros - When Routh was in standoff at his home in Chris’ car, he knew he was in trouble with cops Dunn - yes.

    Pros - He fled from there. Dunn - Yes. Pros - He knew he put people in danger with chase Dunn - yes.

    When he got out of truck after chase, he had his hands up. He knew what to do. Dunn - yes.

    Pros - Chris and Chad never did anything to make Routh think he was in danger. They gave him a gun.

    Pros - Routh said he had better training than Chris Kyle. Could that be seen as narcissist? Dunn - maybe.

    Pros - Eddie waited until Chris’ gun empty before shooting Chad.

    Pros - Could he have been jealous Chris was famous? Dunn - Yes. Pros - Jealous because Chris better trained.

    Dunn - Yes.

    Pros - Could a breakup affect you very deeply? Dunn - yes.

    Pros - Eddie was resentful people didn’t welcome him with respect after discharge. Dunn - yes.

    Pros - Could he be mad at at the world? Dunn - Yes.

    Pros - Didn’t like the VA? Dunn - Some doctors, no.

    Pros - You don’t think him being intoxicated had impaired knowledge of whats right and wrong? Dunn - no.

    Pros - Routh told TX Ranger he knew what he did was wrong. Dunn - yes.

    Routh said he knew difference from right and wrong and he even said he’d tell the family he was sorry.

    Routh himself called the New Yorker to offer a story only four months after murders.

    Routh will not testify.

    Defense to rest case.

    Routh standing before judge to say he will not testify.

    Defense has rested and court in recess until tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  64. TESTIMONY FROM EDDIE RAY ROUTH TRIAL FOR MURDERS OF CHRIS KYLE AND CHAD LITTLEFIELD

    When Eddie Ray Routh was arrested the days of the murders officers did not do a blood draw to determine Routh's drug or alcohol use, even though in Routh's sister's 911 call, she was asked if he was on drugs, and she said she didn't know but he's been known to use them. Sgt. Phillips testified that Routh was "under the influence" when transported to jail and was then "in a detox situation" for about a month, yet officers did not draw blood to confirm their opinion.


    FEBRUARY 20, 2015

    Routh insists he used one gun, a 9mm Sig Sauer handgun, to shot Kyle and Littlefield and that he shot Littlefield first.

    Prosecution to call rebuttal expert witnesses.Jason Upshaw, from the Erath County jail, on the witness stand discussing phone call between Routh and New Yorker reporter, four months after the murders.

    Routh saying he needs to get to New York. "I need to get out of this cell so I can talk to a staff writer, so I can tell my story."

    “I’m trying to get out of here so I can do some writing…There’s a lot of writing I need to do, about 10 yrs worth.”

    Routh asks if he can come to NY to visit him.

    Routh tells reporter jail isn't too bad, food is OK, but he still wants to leave so he can meet the reporter and tell his story.

    Upshaw said Eddie had said he wanted to do some writing. Witness says Routh had TV in jail.


    Next witness is Dr. Randall Price.

    Price has been a forensic psychologist for 30 years and has taught at Richland College in Dallas for 40 years.

    Prosector - are you familiar with state’s definition of insanity. Price - yes. It requires investigation.

    Has to look at entire history to evaluate defendant's mental condition up to murders. Then in person.

    He was brought on the case in March 2013. Has had access to hundreds of pages of records on Routh.

    Those included the VA & Green Oaks hosp. files.

    Has seen all police files, autopsy, TX Rangers reports, jail reports, crime scene photos.

    Reviewed school files, military records too.

    Price says that Texas has no temporary insanity considerations.

    Talked to Routh personally in December 2014.

    Price interviewed Routh for 4 hours. Said Routh had problem paying attention.

    After 4 hours, Routh said he was finished. The interview ended.

    Price returned January 16, 2015. Interviewed 5.5-6 hours. Price studies behavior during this time.

    Like a physical exam but for the brain. Memory, attention span, emotional reactions.

    Asked Routh his impression of murders. What was going on in his life and his version of events.

    Price says that Routh is inconsistent which may result in many different diagnoses.

    Price - this is a difficult case from a psychological prospective. Hard to narrow down what was wrong.

    Routh told each doctor something different.

    Price - Routh is NOT insane.

    Price believes Routh’s problems stemmed from drug/alcohol abuse.

    Price disagrees of the psychosis diagnosis from Dr Dunn.

    He knew what he did was wrong and he did it anyways.

    Routh doesn’t meet definition of insanity by Texas standards. Psychosis caused by drugs.

    Voluntary intoxication cannot be a defense to a crime. Not insanity.

    Even with symptoms of psychosis, they were drug induced.

    Price doesn’t think Routh is Schizophrenic.

    Price thinks the “Pig People” comes from Routh watching ‘Seinfeld.’ There was episode about it.

    Pig Hybrid/people was the subject of an episode of the show.

    Routh has TV in jail call. He watches Seinfeld.

    Another show he likes is ‘Boss Hog.’ Shows pig trapping/slaughtering. Mentioned this show in calls.

    In one episode of ‘Boss Hog’ someone is referred to as “Pigman”.

    Continued...

    ReplyDelete
  65. NOTE: The prosecutors and their expert witnesses accused Eddie of making up the story about pigs AFTER the murders to feign pyschosis, but this is refuted by the fact that in his sister's taped interrogation at the police station immediately after Eddie left her home on the day of the murders, she told police that her brother "was out of his mind, saying people were sucking his soul and that he could smell the pigs." Also, in a taped interrogation by police on the day of the murders, Routh rambles about the "wolf in the sky" and pigs.

    Dr Price says being in jail has been good for him. It’s a structured environment.

    In the 2 year since jail he’s had no drugs/alcohol and taken meds.
    1. Personality Disorder
    2. Adjustment Disorder
    3. Drug induced psychosis
    4. Marijuana abuse
    5. Alcohol abuse.

    These were issues at time time of the crime.

    Personailty disorder.
    Thinks someone is using them, harm, or destroy them.
    Distrust people close to them. Hold grudges, think significant other is cheating, easily angered.
    These things are what Routh had at time of killings.
    Price thinks Routh faked symptoms of schizophrenia.
    A personality disorder is not a mental disorder.
    Drugs and alcohol enhances the paranoia.

    Adjustment disorder.
    Anxious, worried, depressed, no stable job, living conditions (he hated living with folks).
    Adjustment disorder started at end of duty with Marines - not getting to do what he wanted to in service.
    Marijuana abuse - dependent and heavy user.
    Cannabis disorder is what Price is describing. Not safe for heavy use.
    Marijuana made Eddie predisposed to psychotic side effects.
    Potency higher in US now.
    Routh was disappointed by lack of accomplishments in USMC - a lifelong dream of his.

    Cannabis induced disorder - increases paranoia. High 4-4 hours. Pleasant and not pleasant is common.
    Cannabis induced psychosis is very rare.
    Psychosis induced by intoxication can last a lot longer Smells enhanced for days, months.

    Price - don’t think he had schizophrenia or psychosis.

    Had alcohol abuse issues for years prior to murder.

    Routh denied hearing voices to tell him to commit crime.

    Marijuana induced psychotic symptoms - bright lights, smells enhanced.

    MOTIVE didn’t include mental issues or substance issues.

    Curses a lot for shock value - makes people laugh and he keeps doing it.

    Routh talks in metaphors. Routh said your “soul” is who you are, your life."

    When Price met with Routh he was not in a psychotic symptoms but still talked that way.

    Routh messed up the metaphors.

    Price - “soul sucking” is someone taking advantage of him.

    Once you learn his pattern of talking you understand ramblings with police before car chase.

    When on phone with reporter, psychotic symptoms are gone from time of murder.

    Talking about testing. He was normal on one test and intelligence was average. On earlier test he quit.

    Routh has average OR lower then average intelligence. Scored average/below average on most test except 1.

    One test indicated he was not trying. Another test he didn’t show psychotic symptoms. Another he faked by exaggerating his answers.

    Continued...

    ReplyDelete
  66. Face to face no exaggeration. But on paper he does. Never talked about pigs.

    Routh checked all possible ailments on one test of what could be wrong with his body.

    He had paranoid and narcissistic tendencies. Comes from people who think they’re special.

    Routh thought he should be treated special. Said people were jealous of him because he was a tall/handsome marine.

    One test inconsistent with answers but didn’t lie/exaggerate. Showed problems with. anxiety and depression.

    Price - Eddie did NOT have PTSD.

    He checked 100% of potential problems to try and get benefits from VA.

    Said he smoked pot as teen but not in Marines because he would be discharged.

    Routh denied drug/alcohol problems 6 months prior to murders.

    Price - no proof he had combat experience. No trauma.

    Mad Marines not using him how he wanted them to.

    In Haiti he was mostly on ship. Said he left a few times to get his paycheck.

    One time he thought he saw a body in the water.

    He didn’t pick up bodies off beaches.

    Routh wanted to fight the prisoners in Iraq, not guard them.

    Routh went to trade school and tried to obtain VA benefits. Too expensive so he left.

    Didn’t want drug treatment. Argued with. girlfriend about his drug use.

    Routh’s uncle came over and drank and smoked marijuana.


    Eddie was surprised Chris brought Chad along when he came to get him.

    Routh didn’t know they were going to shooting range. Routh was agitated and suspicious.

    Routh saw all the guns.

    Stopped to eat Routh wasn’t hungry but Chris bought him food anyways.

    Chris was speeding by 20 mph. Felt it was dangerous. They wouldn’t talk to him.

    Routh shot Chad first then Chris both with. 9mm handgun. He said he thought “Jesus, what have I done."

    Chad convulsing so he walked over and shot him in the head.

    Said he didn’t plan it methodically but tactically he shot the one facing him (Chad) then Chris.

    Price said autopsy said .45 and 9mm were used to Routh and Routh said they were wrong.

    Routh was “immediately remorseful” when describing killings.

    Routh never opened up about how many times he shot Chris and Chad.

    He knew what he did was wrong.

    Was gonna kill them in truck but didn’t want to get hurt in wreck.

    Chose the time to kill them. Knew Chris had emptied his gun. Routh had just loaded and was bragging he was a sharp shooter with a pistol.

    Continued...

    ReplyDelete
  67. Price - Fleeing indicates you know what you did was wrong.

    Knew he broke the law and police would come for him.

    Got into truck and fled scene. Went to uncle's home and then to sister’s home.

    Got mad about how they treated him so he went home to get dog.

    Said he was going to Oklahoma because he was “in too deep” - knew he did wrong.

    Admitted to police what he did was wrong.

    Price - very clear he knew it was wrong by all accounts. Looked scared to Price in police car.

    During standoff in truck, he takes off. In squad car, his behavior was not manic or psychotic.

    During previous arrest, he got out of car and said, “I’m a Marine with PTSD."

    In police car after murders, saying he was psychotic and schizophrenic was just to mislead cops.

    Break for lunch the testimony resumes.

    New doctor called for prosecution, Dr. Michael Arambula.

    Eddie’s thoughts weren’t those of someone who was delusional or having psychotic episodes.

    Eddie’s thoughts had no substance where someone who was psychotic did.

    Dr. A - Delusions do not disappear with schizophrenia. The delusions do not change either.

    Dr. A’s opinion is that, instead of schizophrenia, Eddie has a mood disorder.

    Eddie did not display symptoms associated with Schizophrenia.

    Eddie’s behavior was entirely different when Dr A evaluated him compared to the night of the murders.

    Eddie would tell officers of his “PTSD" when he was arrested other times. Dr. A - this is to avoid jail.

    Dr. A - to be sent to mental hospital instead.

    When Routh said to officers at time of arrest that he was psychotic, it was to mislead them.

    Eddie lied about many things to Dr A including fights with girlfriend, smoking pot with uncle.

    Dr A’s opinion of the prescribed meds from the VA is that the doses were conservative and not effective.

    In the interview with Dr A, Eddie slipped up and indicated he did know they were going to shoot guns.

    Eddie said that he had walked down gun range, which meant he had his back to boys.

    Dr A - this indicates he was NOT afraid/threatened.

    If he were truly paranoid, he wouldn’t have done this.

    Eddie says, feeling in slow-mo, he shot Chad. Didn’t want to shoot Chris but had to so he wouldn’t shoot him back.

    Chad bugged him.

    Eddie said he didn’t have any problems with Chris but had to shoot him because he knew he’d shoot back.

    Continued...

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  68. Cross Examination.

    Def - does smoking pot make you immediately high?

    Def - Did Eddie have any form of psychosis? Dr A - Eddie was so intoxicated that they could not tell.

    Dr. A can say that Eddie has a mood disorder.

    Pot enhances a mood disorder and can amplify it.

    Defense questions whether Eddie could have driven the truck if high. Dr A said a tolerance had been set.

    Def - did the labs show that the marijuana was laced? Dr A said he did not.

    Dr A doesn’t think that based on the interviews and research that Eddie had Schizophrenia.

    Dr A Eddie’s fear of “Pig People” is not consistent. His not liking Chad is indication of mood disorder.

    Dr A - If Eddie was really afraid of Chad, he would have never had his back to him at gun range.

    ReplyDelete
  69. Day 8 of the trial (same testimony as above but from different source observing from trial)

    State calls Dr. Randall Price, a forensic psychologist. He teaches legal and psychology classes. [He is not a medical doctor or a practicing psychologist] Legal definition of insanity in Texas.

    Price reviewed Routh's school files, military files, jail records, autopsy reports, crime scene photos.

    Price interviewed Routh on December 15, 2014, at Erath County jail. Did testing on Routh too. "Routh has a bit of an attention problem."

    Interview lasted for almost 4 hours. Price went back to visit Routh on Januaary 16, 2015. Spent 5 1/2-6 hours with him that day.

    Price says assessment is like physical exam but for the person's brain. Look at memory, attention, emotional reactions.

    Price says of Routh's inconsistency: "I predict you're going to hear a lot of different diagnoses."

    Price: This is certainly a complicated case from a psychological and psychiatric perspective to try to figure out what was going on with him.

    Price says Routh doesn't meet defense of insanity in TX. He was experiencing mental disease caused by alcohol, drug use.

    Price says: "He did know what he was doing was wrong, and he did it anyway."

    Price says he doesn't believe Routh suffers from schizophrenia. Was in state of psychosis caused by drug use when he shot Kyle, Littlefield.

    Price says he believes Routh was saying that he saw 'pig people' because he watches Seinfeld. Episode of Seinfeld about pig people.

    Price says he suspects Routh is faking symptoms that could be attributed to schizophrenia.

    Price says Routh has a personality disorder, which is different from mental disorders. He was also dependent on weed, alcohol.

    Price: when someone with a paranoid personality disorder are intoxicated on marijuana, they can become more paranoid.

    Price says cannabis - induced psychosis is rare.

    Price says psychosis caused by marijuana use can last even after the high has ended.

    Price says Routh often talks in odd metaphors, which are not attributed to a psychotic state of mind.

    Price says Routh does not have PTSD. Is a narcissist who believes people envy him because he's a tall, handsome Marine.

    Routh didn't want disability benefits; did want benefits for school. Price says Routh gave up, which was common for him.

    Routh told Price that he was surprised that Kyle, Littlefield was taking him to a gun range. Was agitated about the number of guns in truck.

    Routh also said he was offended that Kyle didn't shake his hand. "They just weren't treating him right," Price says.

    Routh consistently says he didn't like that Littlefield wasn't shooting at the range. "I better shoot Chad before he shoots me."

    "When I shot them, I thought, 'Jesus Christ, what have I done?'" Routh told Price.

    "I didn't plan it methodically but in some kind of tactical scheme I shot the target facing me first, that was Chad," Routh says .

    Routh went on to say that he shot the target facing away from him second, which was Kyle. Routh insists, though, that he shot with one gun.

    Routh shot Littlefield in the back. Littlefield wasn't facing him. Ballistics show that Littlefield, Kyle shot with different guns.

    When Price told Routh this information, Routh said the investigators were wrong, they made a mistake.

    Kyle shot with one gun, 6 times. Littlefield shot with another, seven times. Investigators thought Kyle was shot first. Routh says otherwise.

    Routh told Price that he first thought of shooting Kyle and Littlefield on the way to gun range, but didn't want to get into a car crash.

    Price said Routh waited for Kyle to empty his weapon before Routh shot him.

    Price says this shows Routh knew he was wrong.

    "It wasn't a very good plan for fleeing to go to your house," Price says of Routh's actions after the shootings.

    Court back in session after lunch break.

    Randall Price still on witness stand in.

    Continued...

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  70. Cross examination.

    Price, under cross-exam, said he changed his opinion of Routh between 1st and 2nd meeting with him.

    Said he might have a different conclusion with more information [Dec 2014 vs. Jan 2015]

    Defense atty going over Routh's hospitalization history with Price. History of psychosis diagnoses.

    Price says he first started studying cannabis-induced psychosis last year for another case.

    Price says Routh is of average or slightly-below average intelligence.

    Price says every time Routh was hospitalized, medical records show he had used marijuana and/or alcohol. Says psychosis caused by weed use.

    Defense attorney questioning how common drug-induced psychosis is from marijuana. Price says it's more common with meth, PCP.


    Second expert rebuttal witness called by prosecution.

    Dr. Michael Arambula now on witness stand.

    His testimony is identical to that of prosecution expert, Dr. Randall Price, a forensic psychologist, who teaches legal and psychology classes.

    Arambula is also a forensic psychiatrist and a former pharmacist. [Like Price, he is not a medical doctor or a practicing psychologist.]

    Arambula says Routh was not insane at the time of the offense.

    Arambula says Routh not insane because he was intoxicated at the time. [There was no blood test given to Routh by police or later to determine drugs or alcohol in his system on days of murders].

    Dr. Arambula says he does not believe Routh has a serious mental disease or defect. Does not think Routh has schizophrenia.

    Dr. Arambula reviewed Routh's records. He also interviewed Routh for about 3 1/2 hours.

    Dr. Arambula says Routh was upset when they first met because Arambula didn't shake Routh's hand.

    Arambula says Routh likely has a mood disorder, not schizophrenia.

    Arambula says Routh was saying he had PTSD, paranoia to go to mental hospitals instead of jail during times he was arrested.

    "He was showing his hand already. In other words, he was trying to get out of what he had done," Arambula says of Routh during arrest.

    Arambula says Routh let slip he knew they were going to a shooting range. Didn't know that Littlefield was going.

    Arambula says Routh turned his back to an armed Kyle, a move inconsistent with paranoia.

    Routh told Arambula that Chad Littlefield bothered him. He had no problems with Kyle. But Routh didn't want Kyle to shoot back.

    ReplyDelete
  71. TESTIMONY FROM EDDIE RAY ROUTH TRIAL FOR MURDERS OF CHRIS KYLE AND CHAD LITTLEFIELD

    FEBRUARY 23, 2015

    The judge cancelled the trial on Monday, February 23, 2015, perhaps so Taya could rest from her trip back from attending the Academy Awards in Los Angeles, and the after parties, the night before.

    FEBRUARY 24, 2015

    Expert on gunshot wounds, called by prosecution, says Routh was standing between Kyle and Littlefield when he shot them, so that he "could engage both targets." Prosecution expert says Routh did not shoot the two victims from the same angle. Prosecution expert says that when they were shot, they fell immediately.

    Routh told a prosecution expert that he believed they were taking him to the gun range to kill him. He came to this conclusion during the two-hour drive in the truck to the gun range. Routh said he was surprised that Kyle brought Littlefield along. Routh also said he was offended that Kyle didn't shake his hand. Routh saw all the guns in the truck. Routh was agitated and suspicious. The two of them were texting and not speaking to Routh, plus Kyle texted Routh's girlfiend, Weed. He was nervous when the men didn't talk to him. Routh told the prosecution expert that he first thought of shooting Kyle and Littlefield on the way to gun range, but didn't want to get into a car crash.

    Routh consistently said he didn't like that Littlefield wasn't shooting at the range. "I better shoot Chad before he shoots me. When I shot them, I thought, 'Jesus Christ, what have I done?'," Routh told one of the prosecutor's experts. "I didn't plan it methodically. But in some kind of tactical scheme, I shot the target facing me first. That was Chad." Routh said he didn’t have any problems with Chris but had to shoot him because he knew he’d shoot back. He said Chris wasn't facing him when he shot him. Ballistics show that Littlefield and Kyle were shot with different guns, but Routh insists that he shot with one gun. When an expert witness told him that the autopsies showed a .45-caliber handgun and 9mm Sig Sauer handgun were used, Routh said they were wrong. Routh insisted that he only used one gun, a 9mm Sig Sauer, which Kyle had just given him to shot at the practice targets. He said that he waited for Kyle to empty his gun at the practice target, and he then shot Littlefield. He shot Kyle as he turned toward him so that Kyle wouldn't shot at him. Routh told a reporter from The New Yorker about four months after the murders that he should have used the .45 to kill them because the .45 works better.

    According to the prosecution expert, Routh waited for Kyle to empty his weapon before Routh began shooting. He said Routh told him that he fired at Littlefield and saw Kyle turning and he shot at him two to three times with the same handgun, a 9mm Sig Sauer, but evidence shows Kyle was shot six times with a .45 handgun. And when he saw that Littlefield was twitching, he shot him in the head with the same gun. Routh says he shot Chad because he needed to neutralize the threat. Investigators say Routh shot Kyle first and investigators say Routh used two guns. Routh insists he used one gun. According to prosecution experts, Routh never opened up about how many times he shot Kyle and Littlefield; however, from his comments to the same experts, he said he shot Littlefield, then Kyle two or three times, and then shot Littlefield in the head. Investigators say that Routh shot Kyle six times: five times in the back and side and once in the side of the head, using a .45-caliber pistol; and that he shot Littlefield seven times with a 9 mm pistol: four times in the back, once in the hand, once in the face and once in the head.

    Continued...

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  72. Routh also told the defense's expert that he found it odd that Kyle did not shake his hand or introduce himself when picking him up. In the drive to the gun range, Routh asked Kyle if he was tired of eating other peoples' shit and said he smelled the same smell [in the truck] from neighbors [Routh also told a reporter from The New Yorker four months after the murders: "It was the smell in the air that morning, you know. It smelled like shit"]. According to the defense's expert, Routh got mad when Kyle received a text from Routh's girlfriend, Jen. And Routh told him he thought it was a one-way trip to lodge, noting that on the way they passed two white cars, which Routh thought had hybrid pigs in them to kill him.

    Routh told the defense's expert that it was odd that Littlefield wasn't shooting at the range: "He felt like he was in danger, like something was going to happen." Routh also told the defense expert that he was irritated Kyle and Littlefield did not ask for help when unloading the guns at the shooting range. At the range, Routh said he shot the 9 millimeter handgun given to him by Kyle for target practice, and he noticed Littlefield wasn't shooting, which seemed odd to him. He felt threatened and shot Littlefield. When he saw Kyle turn, he shot Kyle. Littlefield kept twitching so he shot him to kill him.

    Routh also told the defense expert that he thought he neutralized the threat, then shot Kyle to keep from being shot. When the defense expert asked Routh why Kyle and Littlefield didn't kill him immediately at the gun range, Routh said he believed that they were waiting for the right time.

    Routh told the defense expert he was sorry, and he commented that assassins pick their times so why did they give him a loaded gun? After he shot them, he said he felt relieved standing over the bodies. He said he knew arrest was likely, but he did what he had to do. He thought Kyle and Littlefield were assassins who needed their fix to kill and it would be him. Routh told the defense expert: "As soon as I did it, I realized I made a mistake." Routh said he knew it wouldn't look good that he killed them.

    Expert estimates that Littlefield was shot two times in the back first, hitting his spinal cord, which would’ve caused him to drop immediately, possibly to his knees. Littlefield fell forward, then backward, says the expert. Littlefield wounds were all over his body, which indicates that Routh moved around his body. Due to the location of the wounds, Littlefield likely turned towards Routh to have been shot in his face, but the expert also says Littlefield was either shot in the face while on his knees or on his back. In one scenario, the expert says that Littlefield was shot in the face while looking up at Routh. The expert demonstrated how Routh could've been standing when he shot Littlefield twice in the head, and says Littlefield was likely on his back. "Mr. Littlefield is either already deceased or he's distressed, but either way he's defenseless," expert testified. Littlefield was found on his back on the shooting platform.

    Continued...

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  73. Prosecutors say Littlefield was shot seven times with a 9 mm pistol: four times in the back, once in the hand, once in the face and once in the head.

    Kyle was shot on the right side of his body in the same area, indicating he did not move after the first shot. Expert says that Kyles’ experience shows he was caught off guard or he would have put up defense. "He absolutely never saw this coming." Expert testified about two scenarios on Kyle: either he was shot rapid fire at once, or he was shot twice and then shot again after he fell to ground. He was found face-down in the dirt just off the shooting platform. Two wounds on Kyle would've been fatal. Expert says Routh was fairly close when he shot both of them and that Kyles' body had gunshot reside, indicating it was at close range. Expert says Kyle was definitely not facing the shooter when he was shot; however, one shot went through his cheek into his spinal cord, which somewhat contradicts the expert's testimony.

    Judge conducting hearing outside presence of jury on prosecution's next expert witness in.

    The first witness is Howard Ryan, a forensic crime scene and blood spatter expert.

    Expert witness is Howard Ryan, a crime scene expert from New Jersey. Teaches law enforcement classes.

    Hart investigated the murders and where the victims/shooter was. Spatter places where everyone was.

    Ryan reviewed crime scene photos, autopsy photos of Kyle and Chad Littlefield to determine what happened the day they were killed.

    The wounds to Chris were close together.

    Ryan says Kyle was shot on his right side and gunshot wounds were confined to a small space, meaning Kyle didn't move much when shot.

    Ryan says Chad Littlefield had wounds all over his body, meaning Routh moved around Littlefield's body.

    Howard Ryan can testify in front of the jury. Jury heading into courtroom in.

    Ryan detailing blood stain analysis, shooting incident reconstruction.

    Routh was standing between Chad and Chris. They were shot and fell immediately. they were not shot from same angle.

    Ryan: "I don't think it's coincidental that the position of the shooter was in an area where he could engage two target."

    Ryan: Two scenarios on Kyle. Either he was shot rapid fire at once, or he was shot twice and then shot again after he fell to ground.

    [No expert witness has addressed how Routh had access to two loaded handguns, when all other guns except for those in the waist holsters of the victims, were loaded. Routh told all four experts who interviewed him that he used one gun, a 9mm to shot, and this gun was given to him by Kyle to shot at the practice targets.]

    Ryan describes the space as small. "They weren't far away at all." Not long-distance, difficult shots.

    Ryan on Kyle gunshot wounds. "He absolutely never saw this coming." Kyle was shot in small area on right side of his body.

    Chris was shot on the right side of his body and that indicates Chris did not move much.

    Kyle’s body had gunshot reside indicating it was close range and NOT facing shooter.

    Two wounds on Kyle would've been fatal. One went through his cheek into his spinal cord.

    Continued...

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  74. Kyle was definitely was not facing Routh when he was shot. [How do you explain how one shot entered through Kyle's cheek if he was not facing the shooter?]

    Estimates that Chad Littlefied was shot twice in back, hitting spinal cord. Would’ve cause him to drop immediately.
    Ryan says Chad Littlefield was shot twice in the back first. Those two shots would've caused Littlefield to fall down, possibly to his knees.

    Ryan uses diagram held by prosecutor Alan Nash to show where Chad Littlefield was shot and how.

    Ryan showing how Chad Littlefield was down after first two shots when he was shot again, including in the head.

    Ryan demonstrates how Chad was knocked down after two shots. Head shot came after he was on ground.

    Routh was likely standing between Littlefield and Kyle on platform at gun range [it was not presented at the trial how Routh shot from two different guns in rapid succession]. Ryan pointing to spot on crime scene photo.

    Witness believes that Routh was moving around as he shot them.

    Ryan can say that the path of the blood flow from Chris and Chad showed their positions when shot.

    Ryan pointing to blood stain on crime scene photo of Littlefield that shows handprint indicating Littlefield fell forward, then backward.

    In one scenario, Ryan says, Littlefield was shot in the face while looking up at Routh.

    Nash showing Ryan's drawing of how Chad Littlefield was shot in the head, twice.

    Diagram of the trajectory of bullets into Chad’s head.

    Due to wound location, Chad likely turned towards Routh to have been shot in his face.

    Ryan says Littlefield was either shot in the face while other on his knees or on his back. Littlefield was found on his back.

    Due to wound location, Chad likely turned towards Routh to have been shot in his face.

    Witness says that Chris’ experience shows he was caught off guard or he would have put up defense.

    Nash showing Ryan's drawing of how Littlefield was found, where gunshot wounds were.

    Ryan positioning mannequin to show gun shot trajectory.

    Ryan showing how Routh could've been standing when he shot Littlefield twice in the head. Littlefield was likely on his back.

    "Mr. Littlefield is either already deceased or he's distressed, but either way he's defenseless," Ryan says.

    Defense asked Howard Ryan whether he could tell Routh's mental state at the time of shooting. He said not from the evidence.

    Ryan is finished testifying.

    Continued...

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  75. Jason Upshaw back on stand to talk more about the phone calls Eddie made from jail.

    Prosecutor about to play recorded phone calls made by Routh in jail.

    Convo with Eddie and his mom from April 2014 being played. Talks about a show with pigs he’s watching while in jail.

    NOTE: The prosecutors and their expert witnesses accused Eddie of making up the story about pigs AFTER the murders to feign pyschosis, but this is refuted by the fact that he said this in a taped interrogation on the day of the murders. Also, in his sister's taped interrogation at the police station immediately after Eddie left her home on the day of the murders, she told police that her brother "was out of his mind, saying people were sucking his soul and that he could smell the pigs."

    Routh can be heard on an April 11, 2014, talking about "some kind of pig show" he has been watching on TV.

    Routh conversation with New Yorker journalist. Says he’s excited to read story.

    Routh on another call with New Yorker reporter after article published. Routh saying it tore his heart out to kill Littlefield and Kyle.

    Routh on call: "I don't know why I did it, but I did it. I feel so shitty about it. I guess you live and you learn, you know."

    Reporter asks if Jennifer Weed called Chris’ phone. Eddie says she got number off refrigerator.

    Eddie says he got high that morning and ate at 4 AM; when Chris and Chad got him food at Whataburger, he didn’t want it.

    Eddie tells reporter that at the range Chris gave him a gun and got himself one.

    Routh said it could be a duel.

    Routh says he asked Littlefield what the fuck was he doing (not shooting that day) and admits he shot Kyle second.

    Reporter asking if Routh shot Kyle and Littlefield because he thought they were going to kill him. Routh: "Well yeah. That's how I felt that day."

    Eddie says he should have used the .45 to kill them because the .45 works better.

    Routh describing the smell of cologne in the truck he was riding in with Kyle and Littlefield.

    Prosecutors have rested their rebuttal case.

    Defense recalling Mitchell Dunn in rebuttal.

    Dunn previously testified saying he believes Routh has paranoid schizophrenia. He's a forensic psychiatrist.

    Dunn heard last week’s testimony by other doctors and says he does not agree with their diagnosis.

    Dunn says he does not believe Routh has a mood disorder, as prosecution experts said. Still saying Routh suffers from schizophrenia.

    Describing how he interprets mood disorders as defined by other doctors who testified.

    Continued...

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  76. Dunn talking about delusions, meds given to Eddie.

    Dunn says he deals with schizophrenic patients all the time at state hospital. Many have several delusions at once, like Routh.

    Dunn says: "Just because somebody is intoxicated doesn't mean the fame is over if the mental illness is not secondary to that intoxication."

    Dunn says he also doesn't believe Routh was intoxicated at the time he killed Kyle and Littlefield. Rambling speech due to mental illness.

    Dunn says: "I couldn't have done what Eddie Routh did if I were trying to fake mental illness."

    Dunn on Routh: "I don't think he's smart enough to know the character of mental illness is disorganized thinking."

    Dunn saying that Routh could have killed, run from police, etc. and be psychotic.

    Dunn doesn’t think that Eddie was faking symptoms for defense after arrest.

    Dunn says what Eddie said to Officer Briley was indicative of schizophrenia.

    Defense attorneys asking if Dunn treats anyone in state hospital with drug-induced psychosis. He said none.

    Dunn says that he doesn’t treat anyone with drug-related psychosis in the hospital.

    What Dunn is saying is that he doesn’t see drug-induced psychosis in patients.

    Dunn says Routh does not have cannabis-induced psychosis but instead has schizophrenia. Dunn reads definition of drug-induced psychosis.

    Dunn says that during other times Routh exhibited strange behavior, he hadn't smoked marijuana.

    Dunn’s official opinion is Routh was paranoid and schizophrenic at time of murders.

    Dunn doesn’t think he saw anything to indicate jealousy as a motive for killings.

    Dunn’s opinion of Routh is the same as when he testified - that he didn’t know killing was wrong.

    Dunn explaining that Routh had delusions, not drug-induced psychosis.

    Routh's periods of calm show it’s not drug induced.

    Those with drug-induced psychosis exhibit extremely anxious behavior. Dunn says video of Routh in car after arrest and at jail showed him calm.

    Dunn says that even after a week without smoking pot, Routh was still showing disorganized thinking caused by schizophrenia in mental hospital.

    Continued...

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  77. Cross examination of Dunn.

    A positive drug test from VA is given to him. Dunn says records he saw incorrect.

    Prosecutors asking whether Routh had smoked marijuana each time he had been admitted to a mental hospital.

    Prosecution - Calling your girlfriend a crack whore is just an insult and not a delusion.

    Being on pot doesn’t necessarily hinder your ability to shoot accurately. Dunn agrees.

    Prosecutor asking Dunn about times Routh has lied when speaking to officers, psychiatrists. "Not an accurate historian."

    Prosecution rehashing Routh's medical records with Dunn.

    Drug psychosis is rare and schizophrenia is more commonly seen.

    Dunn admits Routh doesn’t always tell the truth.

    Going back over Routh’s medical records.

    Testimony has concluded. Taking a recess to finish charge and instruction to the jury. Closing arguments today.


    Closing arguments beginning.

    "The need to be Eddie Routh's friend that day caused them to override" their suspicion of him, says prosecutor Jane Starnes.

    Starnes: "We're here to blame and hold accountable the man that put 12 or 13 bullets in those two men...We're not here to fix the VA system."

    "This is not a whodunit case," Starnes says. Routh shot each man 6-7 times. "That was deliberate. That was calculated. That was cold."

    "We know that Chad's death was not quick," Starnes says. "We know that Chad was on his hands and knees bleeding."

    As Chad Littlefield lay dying, Routh shot him in the face "not to prevent him from getting up, but to finish him off."

    Starnes says Routh took Kyle 's Navy gun as a trophy.

    Starnes says prosecution doesn't have to prove Routh was sane at the time of the slaying. Defense has to prove he was insane.

    Starnes says defense hasn't proven that Routh was legally insane when he shot and killed Chad Littlefield and Chris Kyle.

    Starnes says cannabis-induced psychosis isn't "reefer madness." Routh was a heavy, regular pot smoker with mood disorder.

    Starnes: "You reasonable people of Erath County know that that story of hybrid pigmen and pig assassins is a load of hogwash."

    Starnes says Routh admitted to experiencing paranoia when he smoked marijuana.

    Routh is obviously a little odd, Starnes says. "He's a weird weird guy," she said, but he still knew what he did was wrong.

    Starnes reiterates that Routh waited for Kyle to empty his revolver before shooting him. Then he finished off Littlefield out of anger.

    Starnes says Routh buying Taco Bell burritos after killing Kyle and Littlefield shows he had the "munchies," wasn't delusional.

    Starnes reminding jurors about Routh leading police on a high-speed chase after killing Kyle and Littlefield. "He knew what he did was wrong."

    Starnes says "Crazy don't run."

    Starnes pointing out the times Routh lied about his actions and behaviors. Lied about drug use.

    "That is not insanity. That is just cold, calculate capital murder," Starnes says. "He was not, by any means, insane."

    Continued...

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  78. Defense attorney Tim Moore now arguing in closing arguments.

    Moore going over the charge with the jury.

    Moore asks the jurors to go with their consciences and not vote based on peer pressure.

    Moore: "We can't tell you by law the result if you find him not guilty by reason of insanity." Faces auto life sent if guilty.

    Moore says Routh was likely no longer high by the time he got to gun range with Kyle and Littlefield. Psychosis not caused by drugs, he says.

    Moore says investigators collected every shell casing from scene but didn't get blood sample from Routh to determine intoxication.

    Defense attorney R. Shay Isham has now jumped into closing arguments after Moore.

    Isham reminding jurors to go back and re-read what the witnesses testified instead of just listening to what the attorneys said.

    Isham: "He wasn't fleeing; he was going home." Routh's actions indicate he was confused, had unorganized thoughts.

    Isham says Routh was starting to show signs of schizophrenia as early as July 2011, when he was first admitted to VA hospital.

    Isham: "Everybody that knew Eddie said that marijuana calmed Eddie down and helped him relax," didn't make him lash out.

    Isham reiterates that cannabis-induced psychosis is rare. Also says investigators didn't do blood draw on Routh to determine intoxication.

    Isham on day of slayings: "[Routh] hadn't showered for weeks. Take that for what it's worth."

    Defense attorney Isham says there was no evidence that Routh smoked "wet" marijuana the day he killed Kyle and Littlefield.

    Isham said prosecutors mischaracterized Routh's drug use.

    J. Warren St. John now finishing closing arguments for defense.

    St. John: Common sense wonders how Routh was intoxicated the afternoon of the slayings, many hours after he smoked pot.

    St. John: "He didn't kill those men because of who he wanted to be. He killed those men because he had a delusion."

    St. John says state pointing to any motive for the killings (jealousy, feeling rejected) because they know Routh is mentally ill.

    Defense: "They're so worried that you'll believe the testimony of Dr. Dunn that [Routh] was psychotic."

    St. John: “The Eddie you saw on February 2, 2013, is not the same Eddie you see over there, because why? Because he’s taking his medicine.”

    Defense attorneys have finished their closing arguments.

    Continued...

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  79. Prosecutor Alan Nash now finishing closing for state.

    CLOSINGS have begun. DA - says it’s not right to call this the “American Sniper” trial.

    State - Two were killed. Chad was Chris’ best friend. He didn’t have a movie made about him.

    Prosecutor reminds jurors to follow their oath they took.

    Pros - We know who killed them. They were alive less than an hour before being found dead.

    Eddie waited for right time to kill. When Chris’ gun was empty

    Shot Chris in his arm he used for shooting. Shot Chad in face to keep him from getting up

    Routh leaves and confesses to uncle and sister, to get his dog and flee. Confessed to officers.

    It was a gruesome crime but that doesn’t make Eddie insane.

    Defense job is to prove insanity. They’ve called family, employer, girlfriend, and two doctors. [The jury wouldn't have know about the first doctor, because the jury wasn't present when he testified and the judge ruled that his testimony was not admissable.]

    State’s witness has been a professional for years, Dr Price. (He accused Eddie of faking it.)

    State’s doctors says personality disorder fueled by pot and alcohol. Doesn’t qualify as insane.

    Routh lies to get himself out of trouble.

    There are signs he was intoxicated - he told Officer Briley that the pot in the bong was laced. [If this were true, the police would have taken a blood sample to determine level of intoxication, but they didn't.]

    When it’s laced you don’t know what’s in it. [Testimony from uncle and expert said it wasn't laced.]

    He has a history of smoking pot from back in high school

    Eddie lied to doctors and said that he didn’t smoke pot on day of murders. Uncle testified they did. [But he testified that it wasn't laced].

    Told girlfriend they needed to make pot cupcakes. Killings between 3-4 and he smoked/drank all morning. [This claim by prosecutors is not backed up by testimony.]

    Breaking down insanity defense - turned backs on Chris and Chad yet afraid of them.

    In reality - he waited until they were most vulnerable, then left, ate, visited relatives

    Does this sound like an insane person to you?

    Admits he killed because they wouldn’t talk to him. Feels bad about it. They’ll forgive me

    Tells sister he has to run away because of what he’s done. This shows he knew right from wrong

    Insane people don’t run. He did. Acknowledges he was going to jail for long time.

    Routh said he would tell family sorry for killing Chris and Chad - he knew what he did was wrong.

    Routh said the Bible says you shouldn’t kill. Routh said it’s a shitty thing to do.

    Eddie acknowledged he would get arrested for murders. “This doesn’t look good.”

    Motives discussed - Stopping for food, mad they didn’t shake his hand or talk to him on ride

    Says he shot Chad to keep him from getting up. Chad wouldn’t have gotten up anyways.

    Possible motive - Chad shouldn’t have been there with them that day.

    He knew if he only shot Chad, Chris would kill him. That’s been thought about. That’s not insanity.

    Continued...

    ReplyDelete
  80. Defense up.

    Why would he kill two men he never met? Pot? Or severe mental illness and not knowing what he was doing?

    Jury has to consider two things:
    1. Don’t consider outside sources
    2. Don’t believe innuendos

    Defense - If you want to see any evidence, ask to see it from deliberations room.

    Your decision is guilty of capitol murder or insane.

    Defense tells jury they all 12 have to agree unanimously. it’s ok if you can’t.

    Defense- Don’t let making someone happy be at the expense of your conscious.

    You get to decide what is wrong in your opinion - judge can’t do that.

    If you think he didn’t know right from wrong at the time of the murders, he’s guilty by insanity.

    Evidence was collected from all over and you can go on that too to determine his guilt.

    Officers didn’t test his blood to see if he was under the influence. They made a choice to not give that evidence.

    No sample but yet they’ve said all during trial he was intoxicated and not insane.

    Remember that when you’re considering credible evidence.

    Routh’s mom said he was fine before Marines but came home different.

    He was put on medication.

    Defense - our doctor sees patients every day. State’s doctors do not.

    Defense switches for different attorney to take over closings.

    You can believe state when they say all the reasons he was sane.

    If he wanted to flee, he wouldn’t have stopped for food or visited relatives.

    Disorganized thoughts are a marker for schizophrenia.

    People typically develop schizophrenia in their 20’s.

    Defense points out he’s delusional and has been from 2011 on.

    Told girlfriend weeks before murders that he was gonna die. Supports his thought Chad or Chris would kill him

    His girlfriend has nothing she would gain for testifying, no need to lie.

    Explaining all the ways he qualifies as someone with schizophrenia.

    Defense almost over. Pointing out the ways Eddie is insane and not just intoxicated. It’s delusion.

    Defense says state will use any excuse to avoid the fact Routh was mentally ill at time of murders.

    Why was he taking all these meds and still taking them if he’s not psychotic?

    Defense has rested.

    Continued...

    ReplyDelete
  81. Prosecution says Routh tested positive for pot each time he went to VA.

    Routh’s excuses need to stop.

    Pros - Let’s talk about the kid who drove up with his dad and found the bodies. [The resort hunting guide who found the bodies had a hunting party with him, including a child, but what does that have to do with anything?]

    Pros - Routh stands over Chad as he is dying.

    Prosecution closing by pointing out all the ways he knew right from wrong on day of murders.

    Nash says defense brought up excuse after excuse after excuse for Eddie Ray Routh's behavior when he killed Kyle and LIttlefield

    "It is time for his deep well of excuses for violent criminal behavior to come to an end," Nash says.

    Nash: One of the biggest fights Routh and his ex-girlfriend got into was when he got out of VA and immediately started smoking pot again.

    Nash point 1: "Some of us heart disease, some of us have cancer...and we are good citizens and we are good neighbors..."

    Nash point 2: "And I'm tired of the proposition that if you have a mental illness, you can't be held responsible for what you do." [Prosecution inadvertently confirming that Routh is mentally ill.]

    Nash refers to call bet Routh, reporter in which "his true colors came out then." Wasn't pretending to be insane on call.

    Nash: "[Routh] stands over Chad Littlefield as he's bleeding and dying" and reloaded his gun before fleeing.

    Prosecutor closes his arguments with: "This defendant gunned down two men in cold blood, in the back, in our county. Find him guilty."


    Defense attorney R. Shay Isham mentioned that prosecutors repeatedly asked Routh's mother why she didn't tell Kyle about the extent of Routh's mental illness. At that point, Kyle's widow, Taya Kyle, stormed out of the courtroom.

    Taya was upset that Defense alleged Eddie’s mom did not warn Chris and Chad Routh had mental problems.

    After about three hours of closing arguments from both sides.


    Jury deliberations begin in capital murder trial of Eddie Ray Routh.

    Jury will be sequestered if they don't reach a verdict tonight.

    State District Judge Jason Cashon turned the case over to the North Texas jury around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 24, 2015, at 6:36 PM CST.

    Deliberations began at 6:36 PM CST and the jury ordered dinner in.

    Jury has verdict 90 minutes later at 8:04 PM, even including time to eat dinner.

    Eddie Ray Routh is found guilty of capital murder. He is sentenced to life in prison.

    Guilty by reason of insanity verdicts rare. Jurors must believe defendant didn't know right from wrong.

    Victim impact: “You took the lives of two heroes, men that tried to be a friend to you, and you became an American disgrace."

    Don Littlefield: “Chad had a quiet nature and was a good listener. He cared about people and he gave you his time because he felt like you needed it.”

    Don Littlefield: “Now you will have the rest of your wasted life to remember his name. Let me remind you his name was Chad Littlefield.”

    Judy Littlefield spoke after verdict. "We waited for two years for God to get justice for us on behalf of our son."

    The prosecution never presented a logical motive for the murders.

    ReplyDelete

  82. Major media and scholars side with Taya Kyle against Jesse Ventura
    Star Tribune
    March 10, 2015

    Jesse Ventura was awarded $1.8 million, including $500,000 for defamation and $1.3 million for Kyle’s unjust enrichment. Taya Kyle, who oversees her husband’s estate, has appealed the decision to the 8th Circuit.

    The brief by 30 media organizations, filed Tuesday, is signed by Floyd Abrams, a well-known First Amendment attorney who represented the New York Times in the Pentagon Papers case.

    They said they are concerned about the negative impact on media organizations of “unjustified and potentially crippling awards” such as this one.

    The other brief, written on behalf of eight scholars and filed Monday, includes Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the School of Law at the University of California Irvine.

    Joseph Daly, emeritus professor of law at Hamline University, who has followed the Ventura case, said that the amicus signers are “extremely impressive and without a doubt the Eighth Circuit judges will read these amicus briefs very, very carefully.”

    Among the news organizations that signed the media brief are the New York Times, the Washington Post, the American Society of News Editors, National Public Radio, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Minnesota Newspaper Association.

    In challenging the $1.3 million unjust enrichment award, Abrams contends it is unprecedented in a libel case for jurors to award a portion of the book profits to Ventura.

    “An award of profits has nothing to do with the harm suffered by the plaintiff; it is punishment, plain and simple,” he wrote.

    The media brief questions the assumptions in the verdict but does not challenge the $500,000 defamation award.

    However, the scholars in their amicus brief, written by attorney Leonard Niehoff, urge the 8th Circuit to reverse the entire jury decision, contending that the threshold of defamation is very high and that Judge Kyle gave the jury improper instructions.

    Niehoff wrote that to prove defamation, Ventura had to prove that Chris Kyle knew his account was false or had serious doubts about it, but recklessly wrote it anyway.

    Niehoff said Judge Kyle did not adequately explain the issue, and when jurors submitted follow-up questions he did not properly answer them.

    Court Anderson, one of Ventura’s lawyers, said he had not yet read the amicus briefs. But he added, “We’re confident the jury verdict will be upheld by the 8th Circuit. This case has never been a case of the media publishing an inaccurate statement. Instead this case is about a first-person account from Mr. [Chris] Kyle that the jury found to be a complete fabrication.”

    Randy Furst • 612-673-4224, Twitter: @randyfurst

    http://www.startribune.com/local/295840501.html

    ReplyDelete
  83. A person should not bear false witness against another person. Jesse Ventura met with Chris Kyle, face-to-face, to discuss the allegations and set the record straight. He told Chris that he would drop the lawsuit if Chris publicly would admit to the lie and clear Jesse's name. Chris refused to do it. Why? Because book sales and a movie deal and his credibility were on the line. If he admitted he lied about Jesse, then people would question the other stories he told in his book. He was more than likely pressured by the publisher and the producers of the movie to stand by his story. He chose money over honor and integrity. Taya continues that legacy. Supporters raised the funds for her to pay the judgment she owes Jesse, but she wants to keep the money for herself. Jesse Ventura was defamed. Only Chris could truly clear his name. He died keeping that secret. Kyle's estate was unjustly enriched by the lies Chris told and the lies Taya continues to promulgate. The Kyles should not be rewarded for that. The only resolution Jesse had was to continue with the lawsuit and put the facts into the public record. Unfortunately, even after the judgment, people still believe Kyle's derogatory story about him. Jesse deserves to be compensated.

    Taya Kyle has every right to keep the profits from the book and movie. But she needs to set the record straight and stop with the lies about where the profits went. Stop making excuses about why they kept the money. Stop perpetuating the lie that all the profits went to the families of fallen SEALs. The Kyles probably never imagined that the book would be so successful. The little they expected to make from it wouldn't have been much to part with, but the millions they earned, and continue to earn, is a different story. Book sales took off after Chris lied about sucker-punching Ventura for badmouthing the U.S. military, which was another lie he told about Ventura. The Military Industrial Complex singled out Chris. They needed a hero and then a martyr for the public to worship. Chris Kyle's memory is a cottage industry. Both Taya and Warner Bros. are marketing his image for the right-wing and the war industry to hold up as a symbol of America's military power. The only way the U.S. can defeat guerrilla warfare is to train service members to kill civilians, including women and children and entire villages: films like "American Sniper" are being produced to condition American citizens into accepting this tactic when the USA invades sovereign nations.

    ReplyDelete
  84. Experts say free speech at stake in 'American Sniper' appeal
    Associated Press By STEVE KARNOWSKI
    October 20, 2015

    MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Legal experts say important free speech issues will be at stake when an appeals court considers whether former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is entitled to the $1.8 million judgment he won against the estate of "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle.

    Kyle's widow, Taya Kyle, appealed after a jury and judge sided with Ventura in the defamation case last year. The Kyle estate is asking the appeals court to throw out the verdict or at least order a new trial on First Amendment and other grounds. Leading First Amendment scholars and media organizations have filed briefs backing the Kyle estate. Ventura says the judge and jury got it right.

    The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in the case Tuesday.

    THE DISPUTE AND THE TRIAL

    "American Sniper" was Chris Kyle's best-selling book, later made into a hit movie, about his life as the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history, with 160 confirmed kills. In a subchapter called "Punching Out Scruff Face," the Navy SEAL claimed to have decked a man, whom he later identified as Ventura, during a fallen SEAL's wake at a California bar in 2006. He wrote that "Scruff Face" had made offensive comments about the elite force, including a remark that the SEALs "deserve to lose a few" in Iraq.

    Ventura, a former SEAL and ex-pro wrestler, testified that Kyle's story ruined his reputation in the SEAL community. Ventura said he never made the statements and that the altercation never happened. Kyle insisted in sworn testimony videotaped before his death in 2013 that his account was accurate. His estate's lawyers presented several witnesses who backed up at least parts of his story. The jury believed Ventura and awarded him $500,000 for defamation and $1.3 million from the book's profits for unjust enrichment.

    CONTINUED...

    ReplyDelete
  85. THE 'ACTUAL MALICE' STANDARD

    A key issue is whether Kyle acted with "actual malice," a demanding legal standard for defamation lawsuits laid down by the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark Times v. Sullivan case in 1964. It means a plaintiff who's a public figure must prove that a defendant knew that the statement in question was false or made it with reckless disregard for whether it was false.

    The 12 First Amendment scholars wrote in their friend-of-the-court brief that U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle, who is no relation to Chris Kyle, gave the jury bad instructions. Courts have acknowledged that the "actual malice" standard can be hard for juries to grasp because it doesn't mean malice in the conventional sense. The scholars said "well-intentioned courts" often recast it into simpler language, but getting it right is essential to preserving First Amendment protections.

    In this case, they wrote, the judge did not make clear that Ventura had to prove that Kyle actually believed his statements were false or that Kyle actually had serious doubts about their truth when he made them.

    "In this case, the trial court got very wrong two instructions that it needed to get exactly right," they wrote.

    Ventura's lawyers counter that the instructions accurately stated the law and that the evidence established that Kyle "knowingly lied about an incident that simply did not occur." And if it didn't happen, they say, the "only conclusion" is that Kyle's statements were knowingly fabricated and that Kyle acted with actual malice.

    UNJUST ENRICHMENT

    A separate issue before the appeals court is the $1.3 million award for unjust enrichment. Ventura's attorneys argued that "American Sniper" shot to the top of the best-seller lists only because Kyle's statements about Ventura thrust him into the national spotlight.

    Thirty-three media companies and groups filed a brief by prominent First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams challenging the unjust enrichment award as unprecedented and dangerous. They said libel law so far has limited damages to compensation for the injuries suffered by a plaintiff, not a share of a defendant's profits. They said this case appears to be the first in American history to cross that line.

    THE INSURANCE ISSUE

    The Kyle estate also wants a retrial because the judge let the jury hear that publisher HarperCollins had an insurance policy to cover a defamation award and attorney fees. The estate says the statements were highly prejudicial, in violation of court rules. Ventura says they were properly allowed

    http://news.yahoo.com/experts-free-speech-stake-american-sniper-appeal-070044401.html

    NOTE: Supporters raised the funds for Taya to pay the judgment Chris Kyle's estate owes Jesse Ventura, but she wants to keep the money for herself.

    ReplyDelete
  86. Comment at Yahoo!

    It was proven that Ventura was not in the state where/when the incident took place.
    Wether you like Ventura or not...SEAL, pro Wrestler, former Governor/politician
    Wether you believe Kyle or not...former Special Forces sniper killed by a deranged soldier
    A judge and jury heard the evidence and acted accordingly.
    Kyle made, and put into print, inflammatory comments regarding Ventura.

    So many people have inferred that Ventura is 'taking money from a poor war widow' when it actually has nothing to do with her. In fact, though one would assume that she would give it all back to have her husband with her, she is quite well off financially and is set for life.
    This is against his estate. Period.

    This is against Kyle the man, his honor and integrity.
    Would this of ended another way if he were still alive and could be questioned? If he wasn't being judged, remembered and honored as a war hero and thus, untouchable?

    Others have come forward and presented serious doubt regarding numerous events stated and depicted by Kyle both verbally and in print. Proof has been laid to support these claims yet none have made such an impact as Ventura's.
    Because Ventura chose to defend HIS name, HIS military service, HIS honor and demand compensation, he is vilified in and by the press.

    In the military family for 30+ years and I have seen the brotherhood, the respect and the committment that these elite soldiers, sailors and marines have for each other. This is not a 'do your tour and you're out' mentality that they are talking about. This is bone deep for the rest of their lives. This is being able to call someone at a moments notice knowing that they will be there. No questions asked. Period.
    To mess with that brotherhood maliciously, with intention or by accident is unacceptable and unimaginable.

    I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the subject matter.
    I do wonder though, of all the negative comments, the cursing and the defamatory remarks made above...how many are made by actual men and women that are currently in, or have served, in the military?
    Those that have actually walked the walk and talked the talk. Thak KNOW...

    ReplyDelete
  87. Comment from Yahoo!:

    Well lets review the facts from the trial transcripts. Chris Kyle claimed he sucker punched a 54-year old man (at the time) cause he was talking smack about the SEALs. Chris Kyle and his witnesses that testified at the trial all gave different locations where the incident happened. One said it happened inside the bar, another said it was outside and one of them claimed it was on the patio. Only thing close in their testimony was all of them claimed it happened between 3pm - 6pm. When asked why they could not agree on a location, their excuse was they were drunk.

    Owner of the bar said Ventura showed up after 7:30pm. was at the bar for an hour. he talked to some friends, drank no alcohol and signed a few autographs.

    Ventura showed proof he was on an airplane between 3pm - 6pm. Waited for a car rental until 7pm and did not arrive at the bar until after 7:30pm. Ventura's friends he met at the bar all said there was no disturbance there when they were there! Chris Kyle claimed he sucker punched scruff face and knocked him down. that tables and chairs went flying and then he ran... At a SEAL graduation event the next day, pictures and video of Ventura there showed NO injury to his face....

    Other SEALs who had served with Kyle said he was known for telling "Tall Tales."

    1. Kyle claiming him and another SEAL went to New Orleans after Katrina and were sniping looters. The idea that US Navy members were shooting American civilians after a natural disaster in violation of the US Constitution caused an investigation. It was determined SEAL's assisted the coast guard in rescue operation and no SEALs were in the new Orleans area. Kyle's story was B/S!

    2. Kyle claimed a navy ship had several sailors involved in "gang" activity. The ships captain, officers and NCO's had lost control of these men. So the ships captain asked the SEALs to go in and clean house. So Kyle and other SEALs went aboard the ship and found these sailors in a gym on ship. They locked the door and cleaned house by beating the snot out of these sailors. When confronted that there was no record of such an incident. Kyle claimed it was off the record cause the captain of the ship did not want it known he had lost control of these men.... yea, what ever Chris.

    3. Kyle claimed two men tried to car jack him at a gas station. He shot and killed them and when local police showed up. They called DoD and verfified he was an ex-SEAL and all around bad ass. So the cops cleared him and let him go all in a matter of a couple hours. Kyle claimed it was a small town in Texas and the local police kept it quit cause they did not want the media swamping them cause Kyle was famous. News reporters have checked with every county in Texas and no police department has a record of such a incident. A check of each county coroners office proved kyle was lying. No bodies were processed in the entire state of texas from a car jacking like Chris Kyle was claiming....

    No doubt Chris Kyle was a great SEAL. All of his friends and family say what a great guy he was. But that does not change the fact Chris Kyle liked to tell tall tales and this one ended up messing with Ventura's life. In court he showed how when this became public, he lost several money making jobs. Ventura also showed sales of Kyle's book skyrocketed after Kyle started telling how he sucker punched Ventura. This is why the jury and the court ruled in Ventura's favor!

    ReplyDelete
  88. Navy lowers medal count for SEAL Chris Kyle
    USA TODAY
    July 8, 2016


    WASHINGTON — Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the late famed “American Sniper,” overstated the number of medals he was awarded for heroism, according to a Navy investigation released Friday.

    The Navy personnel form that Kyle signed and initialed when he left the Navy in 2009 credited him with two Silver Star and six Bronze Star medals with “V” device for valor, according to the document. Kyle, whose best-selling book American Sniper was later made into a Hollywood blockbuster, wrote that he had been awarded two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars. He was killed in 2013 by a veteran he had mentored.

    However, the Navy’s investigation of Kyle’s record, which began in 2012, determined that Kyle had commendations for one Silver Star and four Bronze Star medals with “V” devices. The service issued a revised form, known as the DD 214, on June 14. The Silver Star is the military’s third-highest award; the Medal of Honor and Service Cross are the first and second.

    Kyle had made other, unverifiable claims, including his account of shooting dozens of rioters in New Orleans in the chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina. He also wrote that he had punched a man later identified as Jesse Ventura, the former Minnesota governor. A jury awarded Ventura $1.8 million in a defamation lawsuit against Kyle’s estate.

    “After thoroughly reviewing all available records, the Navy determined an error was made in the issuance of Chief Petty Officer Chris Kyle’s form DD214,” Ensign Marc Rockwellpate, a Navy spokesman, said in a statement. “Specifically, the DD 214 did not accurately reflect the decorations and awards to which Kyle was officially entitled. After notifying his family of the error, the Navy issued a corrected copy of the DD 214, which accurately reflects Kyle’s years of honorable and extraordinary Navy service.”

    It is unclear who made the original error, and it appears to be a clerical mistake that was not corrected by Kyle or other Navy officials. The Navy is automating its personnel record system to prevent such errors.

    Errors in the DD 214 form, the official certificate of a sailor’s service, are commonplace, one of the officials said. In 2015, the Navy made more than 3,800 corrections to sailors’ forms.

    Kyle’s original form had other errors, including the omission of his Navy expert rifle medal. Indeed, the re-issued form from the Navy Personnel Command misspells rifle. The Navy is stressing to sailors the need to scrutinize the form before signing it. The DD 214, among other things, provides documentation of preference for veterans in hiring.

    "This whole issue is very troubling and inexplicable, particularly because Kyle seemingly had no need to falsify his military records," said Dwight Mears, an Army veteran and former professor at West Point who has researched the military awards process. "It isn’t clear that he stood to benefit any more from the misrepresentations, as his service was impressive and almost equally as noteworthy without the addition of any unearned awards."

    “THIS IS AN IMPORTANT FORM,” the header on Kyle's DD 214 reads. “SAFEGUARD IT.” Kyle’s revised form shows that he belonged to SEAL Team Three, based at North Island, Calif. His primary specialty: SEAL, and small arms marksmanship instructor. Box 24, near the bottom of the form, reads Character of Service. It's filled with one word: HONORABLE.

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/07/08/navy-lowers-medal-count-seal-chris-kyle/86468402/

    ReplyDelete

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