"Lone Survivor" Navy SEAL warns Chris Kyle killer
Marcus Luttrell, the Navy SEAL who was the main subject of the film "Lone Survivor," issued a warning to the man just convicted of killing famous SEAL sniper Chris Kyle.
Eddie Ray Routh lost his attempt at pleading insanity in the killing of Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield.
After an emotional two-week trial in which jurors heard testimony about defendant Routh's erratic behavior, including statements about anarchy, the apocalypse and pig-human hybrids, they convicted Routh Tuesday night in the deaths of Kyle and Littlefield at a Texas shooting range two years ago. He will spend life in prison without parole, barring appeals.
Luttrell, a Texan like Kyle, took to social media after the verdict and lashed out at Routh, apparently also not believing the former Marine, who served in Iraq and Haiti cleaning up bodies after the earthquake, was mentally unstable and suffering from severe PTSD, as his defense team claimed.
Routh showed no reaction as a judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole, an automatic sentence since prosecutors didn't seek the death penalty in the capital murder case. As one of his victim's siblings called him an "American disgrace" shortly after, Routh looked back at the man intensely but didn't react otherwise.
Many veterans have attacked Routh's defense of having PTSD because he never saw direct combat as a weapons technician.
Prosecutors painted the 27-year-old as a troubled drug user who knew right from wrong, despite any mental illnesses. Defense attorneys said he suffered from schizophrenia and was suffering a psychotic episode at the time of the shootings. While trial testimony and evidence often included Routh making odd statements and referring to insanity, he also confessed several times, apologized for the crimes and tried to evade police after the crime.
Luttrell is most famous for his role in Operation Red Wings in Afghanistan in June 2005, in what ended up being the largest loss of life in one day for Naval Special Warfare since World War II.
Luttrell's fellow SEALs on his ground team that were sent in to hunt down a militia commander -- Mike Murphy, Danny Dietz and Matt Axelson -- were all killed in intense fighting. Additionally, 16 more Special Operations troops died when their helicopter was downed attempting to rescue Luttrell's team.
A former commander of Marcus Luttrell's, retired Vice Admiral Joe Maguire, told "60 Minutes" that no SEAL will ever forget that terrible day.
"These are just you know unremarkable men who do absolutely remarkable things," Maguire said. "They're warriors. It's a warrior class. It's a warrior spirit."