When Cops Catch the Killer of -American Sniper- Chris Kyle
In today's true crime documentary, we're covering the case of Eddie Ray Routh.
[Video] [Imagery] supplied by Getty Images.
We're a news agency committed to delivering factual information about police procedures and local news events. This video aims to educate the public without bias. Our goal is to empower viewers with a clear understanding of what's happening in their communities.
In today's true crime documentary, we're covering the case of Eddie Ray Routh.
[Video] [Imagery] supplied by Getty Images.
We're a news agency committed to delivering factual information about police procedures and local news events. This video aims to educate the public without bias. Our goal is to empower viewers with a clear understanding of what's happening in their communities.
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FunTranscript
00:00I still got tons of people that are eating on my soul right now.
00:02You're moving somebody, don't!
00:05I knew if I did not take out his soul, he was coming to take my next.
00:18He died.
00:21On the night of February 2nd, 2013,
00:25officers with the Lancaster Police Department respond to a call
00:28informing them that a suspect who committed a horrendous act
00:32was sitting in a stolen truck just outside his residence.
00:36Despite their efforts to coax him out of the truck,
00:38he suddenly takes off, leading police on a dangerous high-speed chase.
00:42Get the guard, get moving somebody, don't move!
00:52As the suspect turns a corner,
00:58he can be seen jumping the curb and driving at dangerous speeds
01:02down a residential sidewalk.
01:04However, this is still only the beginning of the strange turns
01:07and bizarre events this case is going to expose.
01:10I'll call the chase, another unit here from west on Pleasant Run.
01:16Passing in 1,000, 1,000 watts.
01:211,000, 1,000, 1,000.
01:222,000, 1,000.
01:36He's approaching north blue grove, north blue grove.
01:41Staying straight, staying straight.
01:43the events leading up to this moment began hours ago when an emergency call was placed
02:06to somerville county dispatchers 9-1-1 where's your emergency yes ma'am i needed an ambulance
02:11out to rough creek lodge and resort okay rough creek lodge and what's going on um i just had a
02:18report of two unconscious men out at my long-range shooting range deputies arrived to find two
02:26deceased men with multiple gunshot wounds lying near a scattering of shell casings the suspect had
02:32fled the scene in a truck belonging to one of the victims and his identity is unknown the texas
02:38rangers are called to investigate and informed that one of the victims is a widely known public figure
02:44immediately news of his death begins to spread like wildfire the suspect would soon be identified as
02:51his sister would call 9-1-1 to say her brother 25 year old eddie ray routh came to her home and
02:57confessed to the killings before fleeing once again she then called her mother jody who contacted
03:03detective chevra eddie's next door neighbor and friend upon learning eddie was involved he races
03:10to his home to search for him it isn't long before he pulls up to the home in the stolen truck with
03:15no intention of surrendering in a situation that is only going to grow more tense officers don't know
03:37yet that they've barely scratched the surface of this sinister case and it's peculiar suspect
03:48eddie eddie turn it off eddie turn it off eddie turn it off please
04:00eddie it's sergeant logan
04:03eddie come on with your hands open buddy it's not worth it
04:10i'm gonna shoot out the tires
04:13eddie
04:15eddie
04:16eddie don't go nowhere
04:17eddie
04:21eddie
04:23come on guys
04:24eddie
04:24come on out eddie
04:27come talk to us
04:28the officers appear on edge knowing there are firearms inside the truck
04:38given his friendship with the suspect officers quickly call on detective chevra to step in
04:43seemingly hopeful that he may be able to de-escalate this outlandish situation
04:48keep your hands right there man hey let jesse talk to you jesse come here jesse gonna talk to
04:55you eddie all right look guys i know this looks really bad right now but you're all scared here
05:02too okay do me a favor if you can hear any clarity just shut the truck off for a minute
05:09okay turn it off for a minute turn it off for a second turn it off and talk to me okay we're trying
05:14to figure it out right now okay we're trying to figure it out right now so right now the best
05:18thing for everybody is you step out of the truck with your hands open so we can see everybody can
05:23relax okay now i want you to open the door very slowly come out with your hands straight up and
05:28come talk to me okay eddie i don't want to hurt you eddie okay we all grew up together here
05:37listen to me buddy okay this is going to be bad for everybody if you don't do as i asked you
05:42trust me because i don't your parents are going to do what you've heard if we don't get this thing
05:46resolved peaceably okay detective chevra continues pleading with eddie but his paranoid behavior
05:52seemingly has the other officers on high alert so many keys out here is a gesture that you're not
05:57going to run off while i try to get them down here make this trip try to get down here okay
06:03get ready to block him you hear me no get somebody get around that block if he goes take off
06:09okay let me ask you this somebody get the call around here and block it no don't block it yet
06:14just get ready to block okay get ready to block that out together okay okay you have no reason
06:22not to trust me here okay what are you talking about there's no trust in this world anymore uh-huh
06:29well the people i mean i tried to talk to my sister today it was weird talking to them i tried
06:44to talk to my uncle later this afternoon it was weird talking to him after fleeing the crime scene eddie
06:50made multiple stops details of which remain unknown for now during the standoff his seemingly unstable
06:57state of mind becomes increasingly evident is this about like hell walking on earth right now
07:03i'm not sure what you mean by that but hell is walking on earth with us right now telling me to
07:08walk over to the house and talk to him he'll get out with his hands up well what i'm trying to tell
07:13you is that i'll walk over here to your house or your front yard and my hands will be open and your
07:17hands will be open and we can talk about this and we can call your mom and dad on my phone
07:22and you can tell them that you need to see them
07:33while it appears detective chevro remains hopeful he can reason with eddie other officers consider a
07:38riskier approach yes and and i guarantee you that if they roll the window down
07:46and i'll hold the light on him if his knees are right there okay yes you're right but if i get
07:50your parents to the phone agree for me to come down here two or three hours will you come with me
07:56with you till they get there the two victims who were close friends were identified as 35 year old chad
08:02littlefield and 38 year old chris kyle author of the best-selling memoir american sniper chris had
08:10recently gained national attention due to the upcoming film adaptation of his book eddie's
08:15horrifying reasons for turning on them remain to be seen for now the focus shifts to de-escalating
08:20the baffling situation officers have found themselves in with eddie though their presence only
08:25seems to heighten eddie's paranoia i've been watching it on the news for weeks or you know
08:31two three days and i just used to say anarchy has been killing the world
08:36i'm going to call your parents okay but if they they're going to agree to calm down are you listening
08:41to me i don't know what's going on give me a second okay okay i'm gonna but here
08:50okay but here hear me out okay we need to see your hands okay we need to see that you are at peace and
08:59we can relax what could help it we can turn the light off if you'll do this if you drop that window
09:05over and put your hands on the stairwell and then we can drop the light so we can kind of not put it
09:09in your eyes okay how do you how do we win eddie if i drop the window far enough you're going to take
09:17me out of the truck no no eddie eddie no i'm not going to walk up there and yank you out of the
09:23truck and those anybody no it's not as anybody else either okay eddie don't do that let me call
09:30your parents we'll call them and get them on the phone and get them down okay
09:39i'm gonna call okay with the possibility that his parents may be able to calm him down
09:45detective chevra gets eddie's mother jody on the phone eddie i'm going to tell her what we talked
09:51about okay hey jody i don't know what's going on okay eddie doesn't know what's going on we don't
09:59know exactly what's going on either but here's what we're trying to do we're trying to get eddie to
10:03come out of the truck and come with us but here's the deal eddie said he will come out of the truck
10:08if you guarantee you'll come down tonight he wants to see y'all i'm trying to talk to him into coming
10:15with me be safe security you'll get here so you don't have to rush and be worried about him something
10:20happening because you can't tell what's going on here with the phone well i can't help you open the
10:25phone if he will come with you you can help him eddie yes he will help me you know he will i can't trust
10:31that mom do you want to talk to daddy yeah i i want to i don't even know if i trust him or not eddie have
10:41ever given you a reason not to trust me in anything yes when this past couple days it's going to get
10:47to go crazy right here i don't know what to do whatever the situation i'm not going to guide you
10:53wrong okay i'm not going to do that eddie only thing we can do at this point is go forward and go
11:01up with the situation up in a way that's going to be best for you for your parents the chef is moving
11:06me everybody around us it's gone yeah despite the combined efforts of jody and detective chevra
11:15eddie still refuses to leave the truck he's clearly on edge and it won't be long before
11:20his paranoia will reach a breaking point do y'all have any guns do we have guns well we have to
11:27what's our job i do too it's my job okay well that's a good possibility you do but we don't
11:33want to show our guns you don't want to show yours we don't need that no we don't there you go see we
11:38agree on the same thing well if that's not a problem i'm going to crank this truck and move
11:43forward eddie eddie don't do that eddie i can't keep sitting here watching these cats scary by and
11:49they're moving all around me that i don't even know about eddie don't crank that truck up because
11:55i know you probably want to go to your house but i'm worried that before you get to your house you
11:59will make a decision and keep going and we don't want to do that eddie a sudden movement by eddie
12:04sets the surrounding officers on high alert hey eddie eddie what's that you got a phone
12:14tell him you'll walk through the house with him
12:20he's on the phone with somebody he's on the phone looks like he answered
12:23though the officers were unaware at the time the cell phone eddie answered did not belong to him
12:44on the other end of the line was a man named chet attempting to reach one of the victims chad
12:49littlefield in a later interview chet explains the chilling encounter i picked up the phone called
12:55chad uh you know immediately he picked up the phone it was fat i mean first thing and he knows my name
13:03and i don't know if that's why or uh he picked up the phone and i said chet this is chet what is going
13:08on is everything okay and um he answered back what do you know what do you mean what's going on and
13:18and i said i noticed the voice wasn't chad and i said this is not chad i said who is this and he said
13:25this is eddie and i said i'm sorry eddie i'm much other old phone number here and he's hung up
13:32now tell me how you how it is that you know eddie well his sister used to babysit my kids i know his
13:40mom and his dad his mother teaches at my kids school and if i would have only known that was
13:45eddie ralph on the end of the phone that i talked to while chet's connection to eddie is clear the
13:51relationship between eddie and the victims chad and chris remains a mystery how they ended up together
13:57this fateful night and what transpired between them will soon come to light in the meantime eddie
14:03has been in the truck for nearly 30 minutes and the tense situation is moments away from exploding into
14:09chaos have you thought of anything that would maybe work this thing out to where we could kind of
14:15me and you go together and then wait for your mom and mom and dad excuse me i got some gas here
14:19have you thought of anything tell somebody block that car off please turn it okay okay can you can
14:31just make sure that you don't don't do me a favor eddie i'm not trying to treat you like a kid but we
14:35want to relax and we don't want to misinterpret something just kind of yes keep your hands up
14:39the way you've been doing and just so we can so we can see and we can all relax a little bit okay
14:43well no because then we can't we can't hear you if you try to call me because it's so loud this diesel's
14:51so loud eddie five minutes eddie okay without warning eddie steps on the gas and flees the scene
15:13the vehicle's tires are damaged from the stop sticks that the officers had placed
15:25the vehicles come to a complete stop immediately after
15:43oh
15:55We're talking to you in the world right now.
16:11It's going to be all right, Eddie, okay?
16:14I know we don't either, but we're going to work this thing out, okay?
16:19As Eddie is checked for injuries by paramedics, an officer poses an important question.
16:49With Eddie secured in custody, he's brought to the station for an interview.
17:03While he awaits questioning, Eddie begins to speak to an officer sitting off camera, his
17:07bizarre comments hinting that the following interrogation will be anything but ordinary.
17:21Everybody knows me the right thing to do in this show, you know what I mean?
17:26What'd she say?
17:27The right things and the wrong things to do in the world?
17:30Yeah.
17:31There is certain things you've got to start doing.
17:36I just know my mom and dad aren't too late, you know?
17:41I know, sir.
17:42To see it.
17:44They won't be.
17:46Why?
17:47Why is this world...
17:48Why?
17:49Why didn't we see it coming before and before and before and before and before?
17:58Okay.
17:59But you know what?
18:00You're asking questions that are really going to ask many, many, many times.
18:05And the world keeps going.
18:09Ranger Briley soon enters, appearing ready to get to the bottom of today's tragedy.
18:14Can you talk with me a little bit this evening?
18:18I know you've had a rough time.
18:20I have been having a pretty rough time of it for now.
18:23I just want to sit in here and visit with you and talk to you about it and see what I can do.
18:33Is there any way I can keep taking off?
18:35I'll have to talk to these guys about doing that.
18:40Still trying to find out a lot of stuff, but...
18:46Me too.
18:47But, I mean...
18:48I'm trying to find out more about the world that I've been living in, too.
18:53Ranger Briley next reads Eddie his Miranda rights, but his response is only the beginning of the unsettling answers that soon follow.
19:01You understand those rights.
19:05I go around and talk to people a lot.
19:09And I never knew that counseling was more, you know...
19:15Counseling between men and women needed to be more heavy in the world than it did.
19:20But, when you're surrounded on all fronts where you began, you can't just start in one place, you know.
19:26Right.
19:27You understand those rights and you're okay with talking with me, right?
19:32What?
19:33I've been living with somebody with their hand up my ass my whole life.
19:36Yeah.
19:37You know?
19:39Yeah.
19:40I'm not okay with that. That is not right.
19:45Somebody doing that to you?
19:47It's so sad how it had to happen and stuff, you know, and how it did happen.
19:56Yeah.
19:58Yeah, it's a...
20:01I just wish it would stop, you know?
20:03Yeah.
20:04If there are world councils that can speak about this, it...
20:10There has to be.
20:12There has to be, to keep people accountable.
20:15Yeah.
20:16You know?
20:17Right.
20:18Evidently, you know?
20:19You're right.
20:20For stuff like this, there are people that you can walk on the ground with because they never walk on the same ground with you, you know what I mean?
20:30Right.
20:31With Eddie making little sense, Ranger Briley appears to formulate an idea for what could possibly explain his odd behavior.
20:38Was there a time today you used any drugs?
20:42Uh, yeah.
20:43I did use some tobacco today.
20:45Yeah.
20:46I was kind of looking at...
20:47Your eyes were a little bit constricted.
20:49I thought maybe...
20:51Maybe you might have, uh, used some methamphetamine or something today.
20:55I had not.
20:56Oh, you had not?
20:57I did not.
20:58Okay.
20:59That's why I've been having such a hard time sleeping because I haven't been taking drugs.
21:04And I can't sleep at night.
21:06Though Eddie claims that he hasn't consumed substances aside from tobacco, the question was likely posed due to what was uncovered during a search of his residence.
21:16Among the items found in his home were a blue jean jacket with possible blood stains, firearm ammunition, and a small box containing paraphernalia.
21:25Was there a bomb, like a drug bomb, in some of your stuff?
21:29Uh...
21:30Tobacco.
21:31Is that what was in the bomb?
21:32Is that true or not?
21:33Uh, I don't know.
21:34You know you have to be truthful with me.
21:35It wasn't.
21:36Just be truthful.
21:37What was in that bomb?
21:38There's probably some pot in there, too.
21:39You know?
21:40Mm-hmm.
21:41A little bit of pot.
21:42All right.
21:43And what else?
21:44Uh...
21:45You know, I can't trust anything in Texas with weed in it because it's usually laced up, you know, laced up so, tied with different drugs.
21:58How'd you use it today?
21:59Yeah.
22:00And you're being truthful with me.
22:01I don't know.
22:02I don't know.
22:03I don't know.
22:04I don't know.
22:05I don't know.
22:06I don't know.
22:07I don't know.
22:08I don't know.
22:09I don't know.
22:10I don't know.
22:11I don't know.
22:12I don't know.
22:13And you're being truthful with me.
22:15Yes, sir.
22:16I smoked a little bit today.
22:18I've got so many abandonment issues and trust issues here that I don't know what the f*** to think, you know?
22:25I've been having these problems in my town since I was growing up, you know?
22:31Since a boy.
22:33I'm trying to fix this s*** that's wrong in our country right now.
22:37Evidently, the communism party wants to run rampant in America.
22:42The communism times are here to punish, you know?
22:45Mm-hmm.
22:46The reds are already eating up all the Indians.
22:48We know that.
22:49Mm-hmm.
22:50It's a tragedy.
22:51Mm-hmm.
22:52The ones that can't eat the Indians that won't, you know?
22:56Mm-hmm.
22:57They're gonna have to have problems of battle.
22:59Sure.
23:00Eddie would later admit that he thought his neighbors were bloodthirsty savages and cannibals and believed that his excrement would travel to his neighbor's home through the sewers where his neighbor would eat it.
23:12As Ranger Briley continues to navigate Eddie's confusing rhetoric, the focus of the conversation shifts to the crime that brought them here in the first place.
23:21I want to talk about what happened.
23:23And you can start with when you woke up today.
23:26Well, you know, I just...
23:28I keep talking to Chris, you know?
23:30I keep talking to Chris's in my world.
23:33And it seems like every time I talk to another man named Chris, I just get sent to another man named Chris.
23:39I think about talking to the wolf, you know?
23:42To the one in the sky.
23:45The ones in the sky are the ones that fly.
23:47You know what I mean?
23:48The pigs.
23:49Mm-hmm.
23:50In the world.
23:51They can truly say they're pigs.
23:52Mm-hmm.
23:54I've been smelling it this whole time, you know?
23:57I'm just tired of everybody's bullshit.
23:59I can smell bullshit and pig shit, you know?
24:02Mm-hmm.
24:03I can tell the difference between two different kinds of pigs.
24:06I don't know about how you can smell your...
24:09Your...
24:10Mm-hmm.
24:11I mean, I'm not trying to say nobody's stinking, but...
24:14...stinking, you know what I mean?
24:17And what exactly happened today after you woke up?
24:21I'm finally getting rest.
24:24The peace of my mind, you know?
24:27Yeah.
24:28The peace of my mind back that I won't ever get back.
24:31Where are you from, Eddie?
24:33I mean, I don't know you.
24:36Do you understand that?
24:37I don't know where you're from.
24:38I was born right here in this land.
24:40In Lancaster that we're standing in today.
24:43Lancaster, Texas.
24:45Okay.
24:46In an interview with Eddie's parents, his mother Jody begins to elaborate on her son's
24:50history as a United States Marine, and the experiences that would later entwine tragically
24:55with the fate of the two victims.
24:57I believe after 9-11 happened, he really wanted to serve his country.
25:02I say I believe because he never told me that straight forth.
25:06And after it happened, he really became more patriotic and cared more about his country,
25:11and he wanted to serve.
25:14And he looked at the Army, looked at the Marine Corps, and decided he wanted to be a Marine.
25:19He was out of high school for, I think it was only 10 days.
25:23He graduated, and 10 days later, he was on a plane to boot camp.
25:26What did you do in the Marine Corps?
25:28I worked as a prison guard, and I worked on the gun, so...
25:35It's like tit for tat, you know?
25:37Eddie's work as an armorer and prison guard was served overseas in Iraq,
25:41where his father, Raymond, explains he went on several combat missions.
25:45He really didn't really want to talk about it when he got back.
25:49Yeah.
25:50Like most of them do.
25:51The only time I could get anything out of him when he was drinking.
25:54And then I could get some stuff out of him, but it wasn't very much.
26:00Who's saying who's right and who's wrong?
26:02You know, nobody wants to admit that they're right.
26:04Nobody wants to admit that they're wrong.
26:07I'm the only man that can change it.
26:09Yeah.
26:10That's why these are behind my back right now.
26:13Yeah.
26:14It was when Eddie returned from a volunteer mission in Haiti after the earthquake of 2010
26:19that they began noticing significant changes in his mental state.
26:23He was there for, I want to say, almost six months.
26:26Six months.
26:28Do you remember any letters he wrote you telling you what was going on there?
26:33Yeah, he was telling us he's picking up dead bodies with a grappling hook, dragging them out of the water and then throwing them in the front end loader and then loading them up in the dump truck and then putting them in a grave.
26:45They further explained that when Eddie returned, he began having nightmares and flashbacks.
26:50What truly alarmed them, however, was his apparent descent into dangerous delusions.
26:54He asked me, like, to feel of his muscles.
26:57And I felt of his muscles and he said, they're just, they're, they're going away, mom.
27:02My muscles are going away.
27:03They're disappearing.
27:04I said, well, son, you know, your muscles, you're fine.
27:07Your muscles are fine.
27:08And he said, no, I got a tapeworm and it's eaten me alive.
27:13Eddie soon began expressing thoughts about taking his own life.
27:17At the VA hospital, he was diagnosed with PTSD, prescribed medication and released back into the care of his parents.
27:24However, he would soon return to the hospital as Eddie's rampant paranoia would only escalate.
27:30And the next time it wouldn't be his own life.
27:33He would threaten.
27:34Meanwhile, Ranger Briley has yet to uncover how Eddie wound up at the firing range with Chris and Chad, likely prompting his next question.
27:42How did you meet Chris?
27:45He was the one that was protecting the schools.
27:48My mom, she was a teacher, so.
27:50School teacher?
27:51No, I finally met the guy.
27:54I could smell him, you know.
27:55I smelled for what he was worth.
27:57I was like.
27:58What's his last name?
28:00Uh, he was, uh, he was a Kyle.
28:05Kyle?
28:06Yeah, he was Kyle.
28:07All right.
28:08And what's that other guy's name?
28:10I couldn't even remember.
28:13When was the first time you met the other guy?
28:16First time I ever met either one of them was yesterday.
28:19I didn't know who they were or not, you know.
28:22Yeah.
28:23Okay.
28:24I knew who they were, but I didn't know, you know, who they were.
28:27Okay.
28:28It's very evident now who they were, because I'm obviously here on top, on the top side
28:33of the world.
28:34So.
28:35Yeah.
28:36They're not.
28:37The revelation that Eddie knew neither of the victims further deepens the mystery
28:40of how they ended up at the firing range together.
28:43The devastating truth would soon be revealed.
28:46For now, Ranger Briley further questions Eddie, while his answers continue to blur the
28:51lines of reality.
28:52How did you meet them?
28:53How did you meet them?
28:54Did you meet them at your house or did?
28:56They came and got me at my house.
28:58So.
28:59And then where did they take you?
29:01We drove down into the country out there.
29:04And then they went and did some shooting sports, you know.
29:07What kind of shooting sports?
29:09Well, I imagine they're headhunters, you know.
29:14Trying to hunt everybody down.
29:17They did them wrong before, you know.
29:19I don't.
29:20I'm not trying to hunt down anybody that I did wrong.
29:23Are you?
29:24I'm like, you know, I'm.
29:27I try to be as reasonable and normal as I can.
29:30I try to be as normal and as reasonable as I can every day.
29:33And I think about it every day.
29:34And I'm like, I'm pretty damn reasonable.
29:37Yeah.
29:38I'm pretty damn fair.
29:39Right.
29:40What happened out there today on the shooting sports?
29:44What kind of guns?
29:45I was reasonable and fair with them boys, you know.
29:48They looked at me in the eyes and I looked at them in the eyes and then.
29:53And what happened to them today from your perspective?
29:58Well, I can't just keep eating my soul up about this, you know.
30:03You're right.
30:04And you can't just keep letting people eat your soul up for free, you know.
30:07It's not what it's about.
30:08It's about having the soul that you have in you for yourself.
30:13And I still got tons of people that are eating on my soul right now.
30:16I can't even be able to sleep until I've been waiting for them to come back and get my soul.
30:24Despite continued outpatient treatment with the VA hospital, Eddie's paranoid behavior continued to decline, as his father Raymond explains.
30:33He was at the lake and he started talking about a demon coming out in him.
30:39And then he started telling me he was a vampire and then he told me he was a werewolf.
30:44And I looked around one time and he had my pistol.
30:48I had to go get my pistol away from him.
30:50I unloaded it and put it in the trunk.
30:53Went back out there and he had it again.
30:55And I took it back away from him and I took all my bullets and throw it in the lake.
30:59Because he was saying he wanted to blow his brains at them.
31:02And I asked him why.
31:03He was going, Dad, I don't know.
31:04There's something in my head telling me I need to go.
31:07And I said, well, son, you can't do it on my watch.
31:10You know, my dad can't watch his own son die.
31:13Eventually, Eddie's mental state reached a dangerous breaking point.
31:18Jody describes one terrifying incident on January 17th, just two weeks before the shootings,
31:24in which he held both his girlfriend and her roommate, Jen, hostage.
31:28So he was over there with her and he just became very paranoid that somebody was trying to get in and hurt her and her roommate.
31:37And Jen kept saying, nobody's trying to get us, you know, we're fine.
31:42And then he went and got a knife from the kitchen and was guarding the door.
31:45Said he wasn't about to let anybody hurt her.
31:47He'd hurt her first before he let someone else hurt her.
31:51According to the roommate's statement, Eddie made multiple threatening comments
31:55and refused to let either of them leave.
31:57She secretly sent texts to her friend, who contacted the police.
32:01They arrived shortly after, arresting Eddie.
32:04Eddie was actually a former Marine police officer that came.
32:08And she told him that she wasn't as fearful for herself as she was for him.
32:14She was more afraid for his safety.
32:16So he transported him over to Green Oaks Hospital there in Dallas.
32:22And they kept him overnight the next day.
32:24And on Monday, they transferred him over to the VA.
32:28Eddie was discharged from the VA hospital the following Thursday, January 31st.
32:33Just two days before the tragic shootings took place.
32:37As the interview continues, Eddie's confusing explanations continue to muddy the events at the firing range.
32:43What did these guys say to you today when you were with them?
32:47What did they tell you?
32:49They didn't really talk to me about much.
32:51You know, they were just talking about a common man, you know.
32:55Yeah, tell me what they said to you.
32:57Well, you can't walk around as a common man in a world of stakes, you know.
33:01Is that what they told you?
33:03If that's what the world has seen me as.
33:05I want you to tell me about that.
33:07I'm not a mistake.
33:09I'm tired of missing out on my life because of this.
33:13I want you to tell me what these men told you today, these heroes you were with.
33:19Tell me what they told you today.
33:21Well, you know, they're telling me about, you know, stuff they've done, stuff they've experienced and stuff.
33:27Well, I've already seen that stuff on the other side of the pond.
33:30You have?
33:31Yeah.
33:32I came back to this one and it's happening more and more rapid, even more here in Lancaster than anywhere, you know.
33:40And how were they helping you today?
33:46Who's that?
33:48Which men?
33:50The men that you killed, how were they helping you today when they were talking to you?
33:56They talked to me pretty **** about it, you know.
34:00Really ****.
34:02What did they say?
34:04They neither saw it was being nice about it, you know.
34:08Though Eddie's explanations remain unclear, his mother Jody was able to explain the heartbreaking truth of how he came to meet Chris and Chad
34:17and what they may have been doing together at the firing range.
34:20It was the day he ended up getting out of the hospital.
34:23Chris Kyle's children went to the school where I work and he would drop them off every morning where I had duty.
34:30And I knew he helped veterans with PTSD.
34:35So I opened the car door when his kids got out, opened the front door and I said,
34:39Hey, Mr. Kyle, do you still work for, you know, the company that helps veterans with PTSD?
34:46And he said, Yes, ma'am, I do.
34:48I said, Well, my son's very sick and he really needs help and we're just not getting the help we need at the VA.
34:56I explained to him kind of what had been going on with Eddie.
34:59A lot of the things I just told you.
35:02And I said, He just needs help so desperately.
35:05And I don't know what to do anymore.
35:08He said, Ms. Ralph, I'll do everything in my power to help your son.
35:13And I started to cry because I was happy that somebody, some person that I don't really even know if was willing to help my son.
35:23And he said then, he goes, I'm going to get together with Eddie this weekend.
35:28And I said, That'll be good.
35:30That'll be really good.
35:32The next day was the 2nd of February.
35:35And I didn't even know really that Mr. Kyle was coming to get Eddie.
35:41But they had talked and set this up to go, to go out to the gun range.
35:48While on the way to the firing range, Chad and Chris would send text messages to one another.
35:54The haunting details of what they discussed would soon send chills down the investigators' spines.
35:59In the meantime, though, the mystery of how they met Eddie is resolved.
36:03The question of why he shot the two men remains to be seen.
36:07You know, what you did today is wrong, right?
36:12You understand that?
36:14Yes, sir.
36:15What do you think should happen?
36:18Nothing. Keep covering it up forever.
36:21That's the reason you played, right? Because you knew it was wrong?
36:26Well, I knew that there was certain that was wrong about it.
36:29Some of that certain that was killing him, you knew that was wrong?
36:34Right?
36:35Right.
36:36And you knew, driving away, thinking that truck was wrong.
36:43And where did you drive to after that?
36:45Well, if I was so right, I should have just stayed.
36:49Although Eddie will soon reveal his motives, his cryptic explanations will leave investigators struggling to make sense of them.
36:57For now, the puzzling details surrounding the incident finally begin to come together.
37:02How many times did you shoot them today?
37:06A couple of few.
37:07A couple of few?
37:08A couple of few shots were fired.
37:11How close were you to them?
37:14Hell, I was right up close to them.
37:17I didn't mean to be so close, but...
37:19Did they know you were going to shoot them?
37:22They didn't know.
37:25Why do you think that?
37:27Because their training wasn't as good.
37:31My training's been better, you know?
37:34My whole life.
37:36While they may not have known Eddie's intentions, they were wary of his behavior.
37:40At 2.30pm, Chris sent a text to Chad saying,
37:44This dude is straight up nuts.
37:46Chad responded,
37:48Sitting behind me, watch my six.
37:50Which is military slang for watch my back.
37:53Soon after, Eddie opened fire.
37:56Chris and Chad were each shot six times at close range,
37:59with some shots being fired after they'd fallen to the ground.
38:03Eddie then fled the scene, making several stops afterward.
38:07Eddie first went to his Uncle James' house,
38:09where he showed him the firearm used to shoot the men,
38:12with claims he was driving a dead man's truck.
38:15Next, he stopped at his sister's house,
38:17where he confessed to the horrific crimes.
38:20He then went to his house to pick up his dog.
38:22From there, he visited a Taco Bell restaurant,
38:25before finally returning to his house, where the standoff began.
38:28In a haunting confession,
38:30Eddie finally shares his twisted reasons for pulling the trigger.
38:34Who did you shoot first?
38:36The one that I could identify with better.
38:40Clearly identify.
38:41The one that I could clearly identify that was,
38:45I knew if I did not take out his soul, he was coming to take mine next.
38:50Or something, one of his gangsters was coming to take one of my souls next.
38:56One of his kids' gangsters.
38:57As the interview ends, it appears as though a few questions still linger on Ranger Briley's mind.
39:06If you try to run from the police, I heard them talking to you, trying to get you to give up.
39:12What I heard them saying is, you know, just come and get out. Surrender, right?
39:20That's what they're saying.
39:22Why weren't you complying?
39:26Because of what happened?
39:29Okay.
39:30Yep.
39:32What do you want to tell your mom?
39:35I love her.
39:37Why do you tell your sister?
39:39I love her too.
39:41You wish this had never happened?
39:44Seem like you want to cry about it.
39:47I do a little too.
39:48I see the water in your eyes.
39:51Yeah.
39:53If you could take it back, you would?
39:56I do a little too.
40:03As Ranger Briley leaves the room, Eddie once again chats with the officer just off camera,
40:09sure to leave him with a lasting impression.
40:12So is there anybody we can talk to about getting these cups off and letting me get a smoke?
40:16That dude that just left?
40:18I said he was going to be doing all the talking to.
40:21We might have to go outside and smoke some.
40:24You haven't got no cigarettes?
40:27I'll have something for long.
40:30It's only a matter of time.
40:32Where are you going to get cigarettes from?
40:34They're coming.
40:36Can you get some blue dial ice cream coming too?
40:39Yeah.
40:40I haven't eaten all night.
40:42You've got plenty to eat on there.
40:44I haven't got anything to eat on.
40:46I haven't eaten none of my salt today.
40:49Everybody just keeps eating off my salt.
40:51So, to that I said,
40:53**** y'all.
40:54Y'all can eat my own ****.
40:55Y'all can eat my ****.
40:56Nah.
40:57Try to eat my salt.
40:58Eat **** and die.
41:00When the pigs fly.
41:03Eat **** and die.
41:05Charged with two counts of capital murder, Eddie is soon transported to the county jail to await trial.
41:11According to court documents, he was overheard by a deputy saying,
41:15I shot them because they wouldn't talk to me, adding,
41:18I'm sure they've forgiven me.
41:20Eddie entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.
41:24At his trial, experts presented conflicting views,
41:27some supporting and others questioning Eddie's state of mind during the incident.
41:32The jury ultimately found him guilty of two counts of capital murder, and on February 24th, 2015,
41:3925-year-old Eddie Ray Routh was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole,
41:44and ordered to pay $116,250 in restitution.
41:49Though he appealed the conviction in December 2015, the sentence was upheld.
41:54He's currently imprisoned at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Rocheron, Texas.