Routh's Sister Testifies In His Murder Trial
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STEPHENVILLE (CBSDFW.COM) - Eddie Routh's sister took the witness stand Wednesday morning. Her brother is on trial in Stephenville, accused of shooting and killing Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield, at a gun range in Erath County two years ago.
Wednesday was the first full day that the defense got to make their case in this trial.
Family members who spoke on Wednesday morning acknowledged that Routh was eccentric and distant after he came back from military service. But the man that they saw on the day of the murders, they testified, was not the person who they knew.
Routh's sister, Laura Blevins, was the first family member who the defendant saw after he left the murder scene. Routh drove Kyle's truck to his sister's home in Lancaster. But, Blevins said, it was not her brother she saw that day. "Eddie, I love you, but I hate your demons," Routh's sister told him.
Routh's brother-in-law also took the witness stand on Wednesday morning. He said that Routh walked into their home and said, "Is it just me or is the world freezing over?"
According to both Blevins and her husband, Routh stated that he shot two people, and traded his soul for Kyle's pickup truck.
Medical experts are expected to testify later on Wednesday about Routh's mental health. But prosecutors may state that Routh was kicked out of treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder because of frequent drug abuse.