The mother of the accused killer testified she begged VA hospital staff not to release her son a week before the murders.
STEPHENVILLE, Texas (WFAA) -- Lawyers for Eddie Ray Routh have begun trying to build their insanity defense. The state rested its case Tuesday after playing more recordings of Routh — one from the night he admittedly shot to death "American Sniper" Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield; and another from a jail phone interview months later.
In a police video, Routh is seen squirming in the back of a police car. He had just surrendered after a chase.
"I've been so paranoid and schizophrenic today, I don't even know what to think of the world," Routh is heard on the recording. "I don't know if I'm insane."
Nearly four months later, from jail, he told a reporter for The New Yorker magazine about the day of the murders at an Erath County gun range. "There was a smell in the air that morning, you know? ... Like sweet cologne," he was quoted as saying.
He didn't like it. The reporter asked what started the shooting?
"What started it? What started it?" A frustrated Routh replied, his voice rising.
The defendant, a former Marine, said he was upset with Chad Littlefield. "What the [blank] are you doing here, man? ... Are you gonna shoot? This ain't a spectator sport."
Routh said Chris Kyle had just emptied his gun when he shot him. "I had to take care of business. I took care of business. Got in the truck and left," Routh said in the recording.
He said he stopped to buy a Dr Pepper, but got frustrated by the line and walked out.
The state rested Tuesday, and Routh's attorneys brought in five rifles that had been left at the gun range. One was stamped with the words "American Sniper," but a Texas Ranger testified that none of the weapons was loaded.
On Tuesday afternoon, Jodi Routh testified that her son was admitted to the VA psychiatric unit three times, and doctors sent him home with nine prescriptions, which she described as anti-psychotics, sleeping pills, and mood elevators.
She said she begged them not to release Eddie the last time on January 25, 2013. One week later, Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield were dead.
In the jail phone interview, the reporter asked Routh if he had to kill them before they killed him? "That's how I felt that day, you know?" Routh replied. "That's how I was feeling."
Monday's testimony began with prosecutors cleaning up a mess from last week. They had implied through questioning that some small glass vials in evidence could be used for drugs. It turns out, the vials were from a police lab.
The judge quickly denied a defense request for a mistrial.
The day ended with a poignant recollection from Jodi Routh. She had approached Chris Kyle to help her son, and Kyle immediately jumped at the opportunity. She said Kyle told her "he would love to do anything and everything in his power to help her son."
Court adjourned for the day a few minutes later after a revelation that Routh was receiving VA benefit checks, a revenue stream that District Judge Jason Cashon apparently did not know about.
