Suspect in killing of famous sniper seemed 'out of his mind,' sister says

By Angela K. Brown

The Associated Press

The sister of the Iraq war veteran accused of gunning down a former Navy SEAL sniper and his friend at a shooting range on Saturday told investigators that her brother said he intended to "get their souls before they took his."

A 911 recording and affidavits released Tuesday revealed more about the possible state of mind of Eddie Ray Routh, 25, after the shootings at a Glen Rose resort on Saturday.

Routh told his sister and brother-in-law that he, Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield "were out shooting target practice and he couldn't trust them so he killed them before they could kill him," according to a search warrant affidavit released by Lancaster police.

Routh's sister told investigators that he seemed "out of his mind saying people were sucking his soul and that he could smell the pigs. He said he was going to get their souls before they took his," according to the affidavit, which was first obtained by WFAA/Channel 8.

Shortly after the shootings, Routh's sister told a 911 operator that her brother had come to her house and confessed to killing two people and was "psychotic," according to a recording of the frantic call to Midlothian police.

Here's a recording of the 911 call obtained by NBCDFW.com:

Routh faces a capital murder charge in the deaths of Kyle, author of the best-selling book American Sniper, and his friend Littlefield, whose bodies were found Saturday evening on a gun range at Rough Creek Lodge in Glen Rose.

Routh, of Lancaster, was in the Erath County Jail in Stephenville on Tuesday with bail set $3 million.

Routh has remained in his cell, declining to meet with his court-appointed attorneys or relatives, Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant said in a phone interview. Routh had demanded a cigarette in exchange for a meeting, but smoking isn't allowed in the jail, Bryant said.

The sheriff said he didn't know which relatives came to visit Routh in the jail in Stephenville, about 75 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

One of the lawyers, Warren St. John of Fort Worth, confirmed that he traveled to Stephenville on Tuesday to see Routh, but his client said he wasn't feeling well and did not want to see visitors.

'Acting a little weird'

In a 911 call, Routh's brother-in-law, Gaines Blevins of Midlothian, told the operator that Routh was released from a mental hospital about a week earlier and had been "acting a little weird." He also told the operator that Routh was recently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Routh was taken to a mental hospital twice since last fall and told authorities he suffers from PTSD, according to police records.

Routh, a member of the Marines Corps Reserve, threatened to kill his family and himself on Sept. 2, according to police records in Lancaster.

In a 911 call obtained by The Dallas Morning News, Routh's mother, Jodi Routh, told an operator in September that her son "probably needs to go to the VA to the emergency room and they need to admit him to the mental ward."

Later, she said one of her son's Marine Corps buddies had taken weapons from the house for safekeeping.

Lancaster police took Routh to Green Oaks Hospital for psychiatric care. Dallas police records show Routh was taken to the same mental hospital in mid-January after a woman called police and said she feared for Routh's safety.

Green Oaks officials would not release patient information, citing privacy laws.

St. John said that his client had been prescribed medications, but did not know what they were.

Attempting to help

Kyle and Littlefield apparently hoped they could help Routh work through whatever mental problems he was having, said Travis Cox, director of FITCO Cares, the nonprofit that Kyle set up to give in-home fitness equipment to physically and emotionally wounded veterans.

Kyle, 38, left the Navy in 2009 after four tours of duty in Iraq. The publisher of American Sniper, HarperCollins, said Kyle had more than 150 confirmed kills during his service in Iraq, although the Pentagon has not corroborated that total.

In the book, Kyle wrote about going on shooting retreats with wounded veterans.

"We go hunting a couple of times a day, shoot a few rounds on the range, then at night trade stories and beers," wrote Kyle, who also organized a nonprofit to give in-home fitness equipment to wounded veterans.

"It's not so much the war stories as the funny stories that you remember. Those are the ones that affect you. They underline the resilience of these guys -- they were warriors in the war, and they take that same warrior attitude into dealing with their disabilities."

Randy Hampton, a director at Midlothian Funeral Home, said Kyle's funeral will be Monday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. The service will be open to the public. Further details were not complete Tuesday.

Littlefield, 35, was Kyle's friend, neighbor and "workout buddy," and also volunteered his time to work with veterans, Cox said.

His funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday at First Baptist Church of Midlothian, 1651 S. Midlothian Parkway.

Routh joined the Marines in 2006 and rose to the rank of corporal in 2010. His military specialty was small-arms technician, commonly known as an armorer.

He had been stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and served in Iraq from 2007-08 and in the Haiti disaster relief mission in 2010.

Staff writer Bill Miller contributed to this report.

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