"American Sniper" trial jury considers suspect's rambling confession

The prosecution could rest Tuesday in the "American Sniper" trial after a Texas jury saw and heard key evidence Monday: the recorded confession of Eddie Ray Routh in the killing of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield two years ago. What they heard may have a big impact on whether they believe Routh's insanity defense, reports CBS News correspondent Manuel Bojorquez.

Prosecutors used Routh's own words against him as jurors heard Routh admit several times to killing the two men and later apologizing to their families.

Following his arrest, Routh, still in handcuffs, was interviewed by a Texas Ranger in an interrogation room. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield had taken the veteran, allegedly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, to a shooting range earlier in the day. The tape was played for jurors, but the judge is not allowing the audio to be released to the media.

Routh told his interrogator after meeting Kyle and Littlefield, "I imagine they're headhunters, trying to hunt everybody down." He said the man he shot first was Kyle, "the one he could clearly identify."

"If I did not take down his soul, he was going to take down mine," Routh said in the interrogation.

"He believed that he had to pull the trigger, that it was his life or theirs," legal expert Gloria Browne-Marshall said. "He might have been in a state in which he thought, at that point in time, he had to do what he did."

Routh admits to shooting the two men, but has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

On the witness stand Monday, the Ranger who interviewed Routh told jurors, "He stated that he knew it was wrong to kill them, that he wished he hadn't done it, that if he could apologize to the families he would."

Asked if he knows the difference between right and wrong, Routh responded, "Yes, sir."

Asked what he'd say to the families of the men he killed, he said, "I would tell them I'm so sorry for what I've done."

The confession also included rambling statements that were more difficult to decipher, including "the warlords aren't very happy with me" and "I've got tons of people eating on my soul right now."

"The statements that were made were sounding crazy. However, he had also been drinking as well as smoking marijuana," Browne-Marshall said. "Did that confused state of mind rise to the level of insanity? And that's what the jury is wrestling with."

In the interrogation video, Routh asked if his parents had arrived at the station. He said, "I'd like to see them ... at least talk to my mom one last time."