Chris Kyle Death: Eddie Ray Routh, Iraq War veteran accused in murder of former Navy SEAL, won't see lawyer

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Eddie Ray Routh

/ AP Photo/ Erath County Sheriff's Office

(CBS/AP) FORT WORTH, Texas - The Iraq War veteran charged with gunning down a former Navy SEAL sniper and his friend at a gun range has refused to meet with his family or court-appointed attorney, a Texas sheriff said Tuesday.

Pictures: Ex-Navy SEAL fatally shot on Texas gun range

Eddie Ray Routh, 25, remained in his cell Tuesday instead of meeting with his lawyer or relatives, said Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant. Routh had demanded a cigarette in exchange for a meeting, but smoking isn't allowed in the jail, Bryant said.

The sheriff said he doesn't know which relatives came to visit Routh in the jail in Stephenville, about 75 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

Routh is charged with one count of capital murder and two counts of murder in the deaths of ex-SEAL Chris Kyle, author of the best-selling book "American Sniper," and his friend Chad Littlefield at a shooting range Saturday. He's being held on $3 million bail and is on suicide watch.

Routh was taken to a mental hospital twice in recent months and told authorities he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to police records.

Routh, a member of the Marines Corps Reserve, was taken to a mental hospital Sept. 2 after he threatened to kill his family and himself, according to police records in Lancaster, where Routh lives.

Police took Routh to Green Oaks Hospital for psychiatric care. Dallas police records show Routh was taken to the same mental hospital in mid-January after a woman called police and said she feared for Routh's safety.

Green Oaks will not release patient information, citing privacy laws. Most people brought by police to the hospital are required to stay at least 48 hours.

On Saturday, Routh allegedly shot Kyle and Littlefield multiple times at the sprawling Rough Creek Lodge in Glen Rose, where the three men had gone to use a gun range, authorities said.

Routh drove to his sister's house in Midlothian and told her he had killed two people and planned to drive to Oklahoma to evade Texas authorities, according to an affidavit. Routh also told his sister and brother-in-law he had "traded his soul for a new truck," according to the affidavit. His sister called police, and Routh was arrested near his Lancaster home driving Kyle's truck, authorities said.

Kyle and Littlefield apparently had been helping Routh work through post traumatic stress disorder, said Travis Cox, director of FITCO Cares, the nonprofit that Kyle set up to give in-home fitness equipment to physically and emotionally wounded veterans.

Kyle, 38, left the Navy in 2009 after four tours of duty in Iraq, where he earned a reputation as one of the military's most lethal snipers. Littlefield, 35, was Kyle's friend, neighbor and "workout buddy," and also volunteered his time to work with veterans, Cox said.

Routh joined the Marines in 2006 and rose to the rank of corporal in 2010. His military specialty was small-arms technician, commonly known as an armorer. He had been stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and served in Iraq from 2007-08 and in the Haiti disaster relief mission in 2010. At the time of Saturday's shooting he was in the individual ready reserve.

More on Crimesider
February 4, 2013 - Chris Kyle Death: Eddie Ray Routh, Iraq War veteran, arraigned in murders of former Navy SEAL and a friend
February 4, 2013 - Chris Kyle, ex-Navy SEAL and bestselling author, fatally shot in shooting range, authorities say

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Ex-Navy SEAL fatally shot on Texas gun range

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by athena8 February 6, 2013 12:14 PM EST: Another product of Big Pharma. Something in their eyes. Their eyes seem glazed over, like they're sleeping while awake or something. All these attacks, and the shooters have the same look and countenance. The Seal and the other man felt comfortable with this guy near them even with his history seems strange. I'm sure this story willend up being used to further infringe on the Second Amendment and removing guns from society as if that will stop violence and criminality.; Reply to this comment

by mcdanel_1771 February 6, 2013 8:43 AM EST

He was hospitalized in November, and again mid January, and he was still considered Ready Reserve? On the other hand, doesn't it seem a bit risky to take a man with severe PTSD to a range and put gun in his hand? I've known at least 2 Vietnam era veterans who had near-psychotic episodes triggered by the sound of repeated gunfire.

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by STRAWBIRD February 6, 2013 9:38 AM EST: Makes sense to me. Why put a firearm in the hands of someone with mental problems? Sounds like asking for trouble. But, the media will still blame the firearms.


by burbanite February 5, 2013 9:42 PM EST: I respectfully ask that you please take down the picture of this murderer, I don't want to give him the satisfaction of being immortalized.; Reply to this comment

by erasmus111 February 5, 2013 7:53 PM EST

He went into the military when he was 19 years old. He's 25, right now.

Just think. Your brain isn't fully developed or mature until you are in your mid-twenties.

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by mname912 February 6, 2013 2:26 AM EST: And what is you point? I enlisted in the Army at 18...Vietnam Era.

Young men (and now women) are the ones who fight wars. No surprise there.

By your reasoning, are you suggesting that we not let people vote or drive cars until their mid-twenties? Or get married ?


by mname912 February 6, 2013 2:27 AM EST: And what is your point? I enlisted in the Army at 18...Vietnam Era.

Young men (and now women) are the ones who fight wars. No surprise there.

By your reasoning, are you suggesting that we not let people vote or drive cars until their mid-twenties? Or get married ?