Routh's Mother Testifies, Prosecution Rests
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STEPHENVILLE, TX (CBSDFW.COM/AP) - The mother of the former Marine accused of killing "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and another man testified that she didn't know after asking Kyle to help her troubled son that they'd be going to a shooting range.
Before prosecutors rested their case Tuesday afternoon, Jodi Routh, defendant Eddie Ray Routh's mother, said under cross-examination by prosecutors she didn't know Kyle's plan. Asked if she regretted not telling Kyle of threats Routh had made to kill himself and his family, she said she just wanted help for him.
Jodi Routh said her son needed mental help and that she and her son smoked pot together.
At one point after a stay at the VA she says Routh threatened to kill himself and the whole family after drinking at a fish fry.
Earlier jurors saw video of Routh in the back of a police car the night of the murder, telling an officer he's had mental episodes all day. He asks, "am I insane, sane? I don't know." There was also a recording of a phone call between Routh and a reporter where Routh describes turning around to shoot Littlefield before shooting Kyle and then wishing he had a bigger gun.
"He was standing right beside me...I started shooting and he (Kyle) had just finished his magazine...just finished his last shell. I guess I should have picked up the .45. They work better."
Routh, whose attorneys are mounting an insanity defense, has pleaded not guilty. The trial has drawn intense interest, partly because of an Oscar-nominated film based on Kyle's memoir.Kyle and Littlefield were taking Routh on the outing at the request of the troubled veteran's mother.
Routh also said he was annoyed Littlefield wasn't shooting.
"Are you gonna shoot? Are you gonna shoot? It's a shooting sport. You shoot," Routh said in the phone call. "That's what got me all riled up."
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