The prosecution earlier this week rested its case against Eddie Ray Routh, the man accused of shooting and killing “American Sniper” subject Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield at a gun range in Texas. If bits of the prosecution’s case made Routh sound insane, that’s nothing compared to what the defense team brought to the courtroom today with expert witness Dr. Mitchell H. Dunn, psychiatrist at Terrell State Hospital.
Again, Dallas Morning News reporter Tasha Tsiaperas live-tweeted the proceedings from the courtroom.
Dunn interviewed Routh for 6 hrs 15 min in April 2014. Longer than he usually spends with someone. Had a lot of info to cover. #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Dunn going over the times Routh was admitted to mental hospital. 1st was 7/23/11. Routh thought he had a tapeworm. 2nd entry was 7/30/11
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
On Routh, Dunn: “It was clear that he was psychotic. There was no question about that. They weren’t sure of the cause of the psychosis.”
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
After 1st hospitalization, Routh was given: Anti-depressant, mood stabilizer, med for PTSD, anti-psychotic, Ambien for sleep, anti-anxiety
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Hospitalized again Sept. 2012. Had maj depressive disorder, w/ maj psychotic features. Alcohol dependence. Cannabis abuse. Bipolar disorder
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Hospitalized again in Jan. 2013. Docs did not believe Routh's psychosis was connected to his intoxication, drug use, Dunn says. #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Dunn says Routh was having sig symptoms of psychosis in the weeks before he killed Kyle, Littlefield. Was having delusions. #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Routh also believed his neighbor, a cop, was actually part of the Mexican mafia. "He was having a lot of delusional thinking," Dunn says.
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
After Routh was released from hospital in Jan, he believed that 2 men he worked w/ were cannibals. Thought they were going to harm him.
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Dunn says some people get better on medication. But others still suffer from symptoms even while on medication. #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
#snipertrial back from lunch break. Dunn still testifying. He said Routh believed his coworkers were half pig – half men.
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Dunn: By the Friday night before the killings, Routh "believed pigs were taking over the earth." #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Dunn: When Routh's gf visited him Friday night before the slayings, he believed Jennifer Weed was also a hybrid pig-human. #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Dunn: Routh said he didn't like seeing Weed eat bacon: “He was thinking she was a pig hybrid. Why would you eat the flesh of your people?”
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Routh told Dunn: "When I first got here to jail, I thought I was going to be cooked for people to eat." #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Dunn: Routh also believed that #ChrisKyle, Chad Littlefield could also be pigs. He was nervous when the men didn't talk to him. #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Routh fired at Littlefield. Saw Kyle turning and he shot at him 2-3 times. And when Littlefield was twitching, he shot him in the head.
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Routh said it was odd that Littlefield wasn't shooting at the range. "He felt like he was in danger, like something was going to happen."
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Routh also told Dunn that he thought he neutralized the threat, then shot Kyle to keep from being shot. #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Dunn asked Routh why Kyle, Littlefield didn't kill him immed at the gun range, and Routh believed that they were waiting for the right time
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Routh told Dunn: "As soon as I did it, I realized I made a mistake." Routh said he knew it wouldn't look good that he killed. #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
"He figured if he was going to get arrested, he might as well get something to eat," Routh told Dunn about getting Taco Bell. #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Routh told Dunn that he realized it would've been better if he had called police from the gun range after killing Kyle, Littlefield.
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Dunn says he believes Routh was suffering from schizophrenia, didn't know his conduct was wrong at time of killings. #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Routh was displaying disorganized thinking, delusions when he killed Kyle, Littlefield, Dunn says. #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Dunn says Routh was exhibiting signs of schizophrenia two years before the slayings. The signs became more pronounced later. #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
"There was something really wrong with Eddie Ray Routh on the day of the offense, and that something wrong was a mental disease," Dunn says
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Dunn reads passages from Routh's taped confession. Routh rambles about the "wolf in the sky" and pigs. Dunn says it's signs of illness.
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Dunn says: "If you're going to be killed, then you have the right to defend yourself. He defended himself…" #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Dunn says: "I'm not saying that's logical. It's logical in his sense." #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Dunn reiterates that he believes Routh's psychosis was not substance abuse. #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Dunn says that even in April 2014, Routh still believed Kyle, Littlefield planned to kill him. #snipertrial
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
Dunn says he doesn't believe Routh has PTSD, because he didn't have significant trauma. But, Dunn says, Routh does have schizophrenia.
— Tasha Tsiaperas (@ttsiaperas) February 19, 2015
A cross-examination of Dunn by prosecutor Jane Starnes led Dunn to testify that Routh knew “in a general sense” that killing is wrong. A diagnosis of schizophrenia, therefore, wouldn’t on its own be enough for an insanity defense, Starnes claimed.
The trial resumes this afternoon.
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