Jury Reaches Guilty Verdict in 'American Sniper' Trial

#routh #Chriskyle Verdict guilty as charged

— Bullets & Bourbon (@BulletsBourbon) February 25, 2015

The judge has sentenced Eddie Ray Routh to life in prison without parole; Routh can appeal the decision, the Blaze reports:

After over two hours of deliberation, a jury in Stephenville, Texas, found Eddie Ray Routh, 27, guilty of capital murder in the killings of legendary Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield. The jury, made up of 10 women and two men, rejected the Routh’s insanity defense following the nearly two-week murder trial.

The verdict was unanimous. Routh now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Katie Pavlich adds that “the trial revealed Routh’s drug use, not mental illness or PTSD, played a part in the murders.” On Friday, the Dallas Morning News reported, “Expert testifies ‘American Sniper’ killer faked paranoia, schizophrenia to avoid jail time”:

The combination of drug and alcohol use with the mood disorder likely caused Routh to seem erratic.

“His feelings were scattered and moved around and that’s more common with a mood disorder” than a severe mental disorder, Arambula said.

On the day of the slayings, Routh was likely suffering from marijuana-induced psychosis, said Randall Price, a forensic psychologist. And despite that psychotic state, Routh still knew that his actions were illegal.

“He did know what he was doing was wrong, and he did it anyway,” Price said.

Price met with Routh twice at the Erath County Jail. He said he believes Routh was faking symptoms of schizophrenia and often lied about his state of mind in the days leading up to the day he killed Kyle and Littlefield.

Or to put it another way, “Crazy don’t run.”

Former Marine Cpl. Eddie Ray Routh, right, enters the court behind defense attorney J. Warren St. John during Routh’s capital murder trial at the Erath County, Donald R. Jones Justice Center Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015, in Stephenville, Texas. Routh, 27, of Lancaster, is charged with the 2013 deaths of former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield at a shooting range near Glen Rose, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero,Pool)