‘American Sniper’ Trial: Eddie Routh Shot Chris Kyle Because He Wouldn’t Talk To Him

The American Sniper trial is underway, and the truth as to the reason why Eddie Ray Routh shot Navy Seal Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield has finally surfaced.

According to the Washington Post, Gene Cole, who was an officer at the Erath County Sheriff’s Department at the time, testified that he heard Routh discussing the murders on June 22, nearly four months after he shot and killed Kyle and Littlefield.

“I heard Mr. Routh say, ‘I shot them because they wouldn’t talk to me. 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.'”

Cole’s testimony may throw a kink in the defense’s plan to use an insanity strategy. Routh’s statement while in prison shows that he intentionally murdered the men, and seemingly knew what he was doing at the time.

However, that is not to say that Routh hasn’t showed many signs of erratic behavior. On the night before the murders took place, Routh had visited a woman, proposed marriage, and then told her he was “seeing things, he was hearing things… telling her not to talk out loud, to write things down on paper because people were listening.”

On Friday, February 13, Texas Ranger David Armstrong testified that investigators discovered drug paraphernalia, marijuana, an empty bottle of whiskey, and anti-psychotic medication in Routh’s home, according to NBC News.

After shooting Kyle five times in the back and side and once in the side of the head, and then Littlefield four times in the back, once in the hand, and once in the head, Routh took off in Kyle’s Ford F-350 pickup truck with his pistol. Routh proceeded to drive to his sister’s house, where he confessed to the murders and told his uncle, James Watson, he was “driving a dead man’s truck.”

Watson testified against Routh and explained that he frequently made “bizarre comments like that.” He also explained that he was called to Routh’s house on the morning of the shootings to calm him down after a fight with his girlfriend. He confessed to smoking marijuana with Routh, and then said Routh abruptly left the home.

If Routh is convicted of capital murder, he is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Do you think Routh’s insanity defense will hold up in court? Leave your comments below.

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