Guilty Verdict in American Sniper Trial

February 24, 2015

Guilty Verdict in American Sniper Trial

by Deanna Fisher in Headlines 3 Comments

It took less than three hours for jurors to deliver a verdict in the murder trial of Eddie Ray Routh.

Eddie Ray Routh at the close of his trial (photo: Reuters/press pool)

Jury has found Eddie Ray Routh guilty of murdering Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield, finding that he was not legally insane as he had claimed

— Manny Fernandez (@mannyNYT) February 25, 2015

Routh was found guilty of capital murder in the deaths of Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield. The jury rejected his claims of PTSD and insanity.

Since prosecutors didn’t seek the death penalty in the capital murder case, the 27-year-old receives an automatic life sentence without parole in the deaths of Kyle and Kyle’s friend, Chad Littlefield.

The prosecution painted Routh as a troubled drug user who knew right from wrong, despite any mental illnesses. 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.

Criminal law experts said the verdict hinged on whether the defense could prove Routh was insane and did not know the killings were wrong at the time they were committed. Jurors had three options: find Routh guilty of capital murder, find him not guilty, or find him not guilty by reason of insanity. If found not guilty by reason of insanity, the court could have initiated proceedings to have him committed to a state mental hospital.

His sentence is already a foregone conclusion, since the death penalty was not under consideration.

#EddieRayRouth sentenced to life without parole for the killings of #ChrisKyle, #ChadLittlefield. #AmericanSniper http://t.co/Km4rFpUQfR

— CNN (@CNN) February 25, 2015