Marine charged in Navy SEAL's slaying says he "traded his soul" for victim's truck

[The Straight Story]

Marine charged in Navy SEAL's slaying says he "traded his soul" for victim's truck

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The Iraq War veteran charged with killing a former Navy SEAL sniper and his friend on a Texas shooting range told a relative that he "traded his soul for a new truck," according to police documents.

Eddie Ray Routh, 25, is charged with one count of capital murder and two counts of murder in the shooting deaths of ex-Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, author of the best-selling book "American Sniper," and his friend Chad Littlefield at a shooting range Saturday.

Authorities say the three men arrived at the sprawling Rough Creek Lodge in Glen Rose on Saturday afternoon, and a hunting guide discovered the bodies of Kyle and Littlefield about two hours later and called 911. They were shot multiple times, and numerous guns were at the scene, according to an Erath County arrest warrant affidavit obtained by WFAA-TV.

Routh then drove Kyle's pickup to his sister's house in Midlothian and told her that he killed two people, and she called police, the affidavit says. Routh also said he wanted to drive to Oklahoma to avoid Texas authorities, the affidavit says. Routh was arrested after a short police pursuit in Lancaster, where he lives.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ex-navy-seal-died-pursuing-his-passion

[JI7]

1. Chris Kyle wouldn't want us to judge him, it could be a case of Us failing Routh

that's what Kyle said about some guy who shot a bunch of afghan civilians. he asked if we know what he had gone through and saw .and whether it was a case of us failing him.

that should apply here.

[Kalidurga]

2. Two hours later?

I guess sprawling is right. That would make it about what 10 miles from a phone. That paints a totally different picture than I had, that they were in a more or less controlled shooting range firing at paper targets.

[Schema Thing]

4. eh? "10 miles from a phone"?

[Kalidurga]

7. They said it took 2 hours to call 911

The only reason I can think of that it would take that long is if they were out of cell phone range and the nearest phone was around 10 miles away.

[Schema Thing]

8. there is another much simpler explanation

Dead people don't make phone calls. No one saw it happen, and the bodies weren't discovered for two hours.

[Kalidurga]

9. OIC skipped a word there kind of made a big difference in how it read.

either way this story is bizarre to me.

[FarCenter]

12. Rough Creek Lodge

http://maps.google.com/maps?rlz=1T4ACGW_enUS373US373&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=rough+creek+lodge&fb=1&gl=us&hq=rough+creek+lodge&cid=0,0,16625965522939383707&sa=X&ei=r4QQUabVJIen0AG2nIHYBA&ved=0CJ8BEPwSMAA

It is large and not particularly near anything. It's not clear from Google Maps where the 1000 yard range is.

http://www.roughcreek.com/shooting-sports/

[malaise]

3. Sometimes I wonder if people these days don't think about consequences

Why does anyone believe you can kill two people for a truck and drive off into the sunset?

Good effin' grief!

Let me add that clearly this young man was in bad shape

[frylock]

5. this story serves to underscore the cult of the gun fetishist..

Routh threatened to blow his father's brains out when told the family was going to sell his guns, being concerned with his behavior stemming from PTSD. why in fuck would Chris Kyle think that taking this guy out shooting was a good idea?

[Tom Ripley]

11. Agree with you. It does appear to be a mindset where normalization = guns = normalization...

"So and So is having a hard time of it and we should help him get back into the swing of things...go have some drinks...introduce him to that cute girl at work...play some hoops or poker...catch the game...go shoot some guns...y'know, just everyday stuff.

[Schema Thing]

6. I wondered yesterday if it could be something this banal. Or at least just something

personal between the men.

Chris Kyle was living large, and Eddie Routh had no job and his parents where selling the modest house he lived in. Throw some PTSD and a side of stupidity into the mix, stir well with guns, and voila, murder.

[alcibiades_mystery]

10. Life is cheap, here and in the war zones

A truck, misunderstood instructions to a driver, a few bucks in a cash register, whatever.

Bang bang. And you're dead.