‘American Sniper’ Said Killer Was ‘Nuts’

During opening statements of the trial for the man accused of killing “American Sniper” Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield, it was revealed that the victims could tell he was mentally unstable. Eddie Routh’s trial began Wednesday with a log of text messages from Kyle to Littlefield, including one saying “This dude is straight up nuts.” Littlefield texted back, “He’s right behind me, watch my six.” That was on Feb. 2, 2013. Both men were killed at a gun range at Rough Creek Lodge within a few hours of those texts. District Attorney Alan Nash stressed to the jurors that Routh’s history of being in and out of mental and veterans hospitals for years did not excuse his behavior. “Mental illness does not deprive people from being good citizens,” Nash said. However, one of Routh’s lawyers took a different approach to his mental illness. “He thought he had to take their lives because, in his psychosis, he thought they were going to take his,” said Tim Moore.