A judge is expected to hold a pretrial proceeding ahead of opening statements in the trial of the man charged with killing the former Navy SEAL depicted in the Oscar-nominated movie “American Sniper.”
The procedural matters were scheduled for Tuesday with openings expected Wednesday in the trial of Eddie Ray Routh, a former Marine charged with capital murder in the deaths of Chris Kyle and Kyle’s friend, Chad Littlefield. They were fatally shot at a gun range in 2013.
A jury of 10 women and two men was seated Monday.
Routh’s attorneys plan to pursue an insanity defense. Prosecutors aren’t seeking the death penalty. Routh faces life in prison without parole if convicted.
Ten women and two men will serve as jurors for Routh’s trial.
The movie based on Kyle’s memoir as a celebrated sniper who served four tours in Iraq has grossed nearly $300 million. In response to the attention paid to the Kyle case, officials called in more than four times as many potential jurors as they would for a regular trial. Yet it took just one day to seat the panel, after a screening process last week narrowed the jury pool.
Simply reading Kyle’s book or seeing the movie—which ends with a depiction of Kyle meeting Routh, followed by footage from Kyle’s funeral—weren’t grounds for dismissal. Instead, potential jurors were asked if they could set aside what they had already heard.
“It’s hard not to have knowledge of this case,” Erath County District Attorney Alan Nash said. “It’s pervasive.”
Judge Jason Cashon denied defense motions to delay the trial or move it to a different county and noted how few potential jurors were dismissed because of pretrial publicity.
Prosecutors won’t seek the death penalty. Routh faces life in prison without parole if convicted.
Family members have said Routh, 27, struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder after leaving the Marines in 2010. The small arms technician served in Iraq and was deployed to earthquake-ravaged Haiti. Kyle took Routh to the shooting range after Routh’s mother asked if he could help her son.
Kyle made more than 300 kills as a sniper for SEAL Team 3, according to his own count and earned two Silver Stars for valor. After leaving the military, Kyle volunteered with veterans facing mental health problems, often taking them shooting.
About two hours after Kyle, Littlefield and Routh arrived at Rough Creek Lodge and Resort on Feb. 2, 2013, an employee discovered the bodies of Kyle and Littlefield at the remote range.
Authorities say Routh drove to his sister’s house in Kyle’s truck, telling her and her husband that he had killed Kyle and Littlefield.
His sister told police that Routh “was out of his mind, saying people were sucking his soul and that he could smell the pigs.”
Associated Press
