Eddie Ray Routh, the Marine veteran accused of murdering legendary Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in cold blood, will soon stand trial for murder. Meanwhile, a veterans group is claiming to have uncovered a significant detail that — if true — could have an impact on the case. Spencer Walker, board president of the Warfighter Foundation and Marine combat veteran, told TheBlaze in a phone interview on Thursday that they have interviewed several U.S. Marine sources, some who knew and served with Routh, who have confirmed that the accused killer never saw any combat or experienced any traumatic situations while serving overseas. It has been alleged that Routh was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder when he shot and killed Kyle and Navy SEAL Chad Littlefield at a remote shooting range in Texas. TheBlaze has reached out to several PTSD specialists in an effort to determine whether it’s common for military veterans who have not served in combat to suffer from some form of PTSD. FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Erath County Sheriff s Office shows Eddie Ray Routh, who was charged with killing former Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield at a shooting range southwest of Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant says Routh, 25, was shocked with a stun gun and restrained in his jail cell Sunday night after becoming aggressive. Eddie Ray Routh, who was charged with killing former Navy SEAL and “American Sniper” author Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield at a shooting range southwest of Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant says Routh, 25, was shocked with a stun gun and restrained in his jail cell Sunday night after becoming aggressive. “Basically, we are trying to conclude what led up over the course of [Routh's] military service that led to Feb. 2, 2013. None of us believe it was PTSD,” Walker told TheBlaze. Daniel Racca, a former Marine and COO of the Warfighter Foundation, started by speaking to Sgt. Justin Webster, a former Marine Corps recruiter who “dealt directly with Routh for 11 months” before he went to boot camp. “Eddie wanted to be a Marine forever, supposedly,” Webster reportedly told the Warfighter Foundation. “He joined DEP (Delayed Entry Program) his senior year and participated in the Recruiting Station’s pool functions (training events to prepare Marine candidates for Recruit Training) two to three times a week. He was a dumb country kid. Good, but dumb.” The group also reported that Routh barely graduated high school and scored an “incredibly low score on the ASVAB, a “test that helps predict future academic and occupational success in the military.” Chris Kyle (Image source: Associated Press) In a previous Facebook post, the veterans group laid out some of the details they have uncovered: Eddie Routh served one tour in Iraq in 2007, at Balad Air Base (the 2nd largest U.S. installation in Iraq), with no significant events. No combat experience. Let me say that again, he NEVER SAW COMBAT or any aspect of traumatic events associated with a combat deployment (i.e. incoming mortar or rocket fire). He never left the base, EVER. He held a non-combat arms occupation of 2111 (Small Arms Repairer/ Technician or more commonly referred to as an Armorer). Balad Air Base had a Pizza Hut, 24 hour Buger King, Subway, Popeye’s, Baskin Robbins, movie theater, and even a miniature golf course. It even had a strictly enforced 10-mile per hour speed limit! What a dangerous place… His tour was comparable to being on a base in southern California, only with MANY more luxuries that were catered to the morale and welfare of the troops who occupied it. He was known to be a drug user and a below average performer while in the Marine Corps. This has NOTHING to do with PTSD. He was an individual with psychological problems that were not associated with his service. So don’t give me that bleeding heart bulls**t that he was a veteran suffering from PTSD. The Warfighter Foundation ended with this line: “He was a piece of s**t, end of story.” Walker also said the Warfighter Foundation is looking into claims that Routh may have been a radical Islamist sympathizer, an idea that seems to have originated from a phone call Routh made to his father from Iraq in which he reportedly lamented the prisoners’ living conditions. But Walker said the claim is nothing more than an unproven theory at this point. Walker and the Warfighter Foundation are also investigating a number of other angles, including whether selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or other anti-depressant medications could have played any role in the killings. The Warfighter Foundation, a nonprofit with the stated goal of empowering “combat veterans and their families through physical, mental, and emotional rehabilitation,” plans to talk to additional sources to obtain more information on Routh and his military service. Routh’s murder trial is expected to start next week in Stephenville, Texas.
I always wonder when they talk about somebody that is taking meds for depression or anxiety or other mental health issues and if those meds play a roll in their destructive behavior, I speculate that it is not the meds that caused the behavior but rather a person who suddenly went off their meds and that lead to the meltdown. Either way you have to wonder what motivated the killing?
One of the things that is not really touched on in the article is he guarded or was often in close proximity to several Islamic prisoners, not saying he turned but he may have sympathized with them.. I would hate to think he did,all factors need to be weighed..
I'd hate to think he was a sympathizer too, but it's possible. Without proof it'd be too hard to assume it one way or another and it doesn't change the fact that he did it, nor will it bring Kyle back. Most of these murders either do it because they have no direction and want their name in the history books or they have no concrete principals and are easily swayed by someone else.
Although I've done 0 research and have no say in this... I've always wondered what drives someone with PTSD to kill other people or act out so violently? They went through combat... Become depressed upon arriving home... And then they want to kill people because of that? Just doesn't make sense to me.
Nor does it represent a logical mindset. That's like asking why schizophrenic people act the way they do.
Even if he had PTSD it would not be a legitimate defense for murder. I'm not an expert in psychiatry or anything but I have more than a few friends who have been diagnosed and treated for PTSD, none of them are murderous dirtbags. Most likely this is a case of an habitual nobody wanting attention with no regards to how negative that attention may be.
