Widow Of American Sniper Testifies At Killer's Trial
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STEPHENVILLE (CBS 11 NEWS) - An often-composed Taya Kyle told a packed courtroom today her late husband, American sniper Chris Kyle, was a trained marksman, and a loving father, whose death came from his blind side.
"I could tell something was up," she told jurors, recalling the last time she talked to her famous husband on the phone, on Feb. 2, 2013, not long after he'd cheered on his young kids in their field games.
Taya Kyle texted him back, "Are you okay?"
Chris Kyle, credited with pulling the trigger in as many as 160 "confirmed kills" while in the military, did not text back.
He and best friend Chad Littlefield lay dead, both shot multiple times in the back at a gun range by Eddie Routh, a troubled military veteran they were trying to help.
In the first day of Routh's murder trial, his defense lawyer, Warren St. John, did not dispute that his client was the killer.
Instead, the defense is hoping to build an insanity defense, claiming that Routh was dismissed by VA health providers and allowed to go free, despite being emotionally unstable.
"At the time of this tragedy, Eddie Routh was insane," St. John told the jury of 10 women and 2 men.
"He was going to take their souls before they could take his soul," the lawyer said.
Dressed in a black suit, his head shaved and wearing black-framed glasses, Routh remained solemn in the courtroom.
First up on the witness stand was Taya Kyle, who quickly teared up.
She explained: "I'm not nervous. I'm just emotional."
But she quickly gained her composure, stopping her testimony at one point to say, "bless you," when someone in the courtroom sneezed.
At a different time, Routh's lawyer objected to Taya Kyle testifying about her children the day their father died.
She glanced at the lawyer and said, "Guess he didn't like my story," drawing another objection, which the judge sustained.
The second witness was Chad Littlefield's mother, Judy Littlefied, who cried when she told the jury that the opening trial day would have been her son's 38th birthday.
Testimony also revealed that one of the first to walk up to the bloody crime scene was a boy, as young as 10, who was a fan and wanted to meet Kyle.
One of the most tense moments came when prosecutors displayed graphic crime scene pictures at Rough Creek Lodge, near Glen Rose, including those of the fallen victims.
There was a hush in the courtroom, as Taya Kyle slowly shook her head.
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