‘American Sniper’
killer given life
A former Marine on Tuesday was sentenced to
life in prison without parole after being convicted of murdering the US Navy
SEAL whose story inspired the blockbuster movie American Sniper.
After deliberating less than three hours,
jurors unanimously rejected claims from Eddie Ray Routh, 27, that he was not
guilty by way of insanity when he killed famed sniper Chris Kyle and his friend
Chad Littlefield at a Texas
The two-week trial in Erath County, about 160km southwest of Dallas, attracted massive
media attention across the US, coinciding with the release of Clint Eastwood’s
movie based on Kyle’s experiences in Iraq.
The jury of two men and 10 women found
Routh guilty with a unanimous vote.
Erath County District Court Judge Jason
Cason sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. It was
a capital case, but prosecutors took the death penalty off the table before the
trial started, the Washington Post reported.
Kyle and Littlefield were killed after
Routh’s mother asked the Navy SEAL veteran to help her son with post-traumatic
stress disorder, the said.
They picked him up in Kyle’s pickup truck
the day of the killings with plans to enjoy the shared hobby of shooting and
offer some ways to help.
Kyle, a father of two, was shot six times
with one of his own .45-caliber pistols, including a wound to the back that
pierced his aorta and another to the jaw that caused a lethal spinal cord
injury, the Post said.
Littlefield, a father of one, was hit seven
times, including four that would have been instantly fatal, according to court
testimony.
Judy Littlefield, Chad
“We have waited two years for God to give
us justice on behalf of our son, and God has proved to be faithful,” she said.
“We are so thrilled that we have the verdict that we have.”
Kyle, officially credited with killing 160
people during four military tours, was lionized in the blockbuster film
starring Bradley Cooper as the soldier.
Routh’s attorneys pleaded insanity and said
their client was gripped by psychosis. Routh said he suffered from
post-traumatic stress disorder.
After the shootings on Feb. 2, 2013, Routh
took Kyle’s truck and was later arrested at the home of his sister.
He allegedly confessed to the killings
after complaining that “people were sucking his soul and that he could smell
the pigs.”
During the trial, jurors heard how Kyle and
Littlefield knew something was badly wrong minutes before Routh opened fire.
“This dude is straight up nuts,” Kyle wrote
to Littlefield in an alarmed text message.
“He’s right behind me, watch my six,”
replied his friend, using military jargon for “watch my back.”
It is not clear how much Kyle and
Littlefield knew about Routh’s mental instability.
Routh, who had been diagnosed with
post-traumatic stress, had been released from psychiatric treatment about a
week before meeting Kyle and Littlefield for the first and last time, the Post
said.
Jurors also heard emotional testimony from
Kyle’s widow, Taya, who sobbed as she recounted their life together.
Lawyers had questioned whether Routh could
receive a fair trial in the small town, given the success of American Sniper
and the widely held view of Kyle as a hero.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2015/02/26/2003612302
Structure of the Lead：
WHO- A former Marine
WHEN- On Tuesday
WHAT-Be sentenced to life in prison
WHY- murdering the US Navy SEAL
WHERE- not given
HOW- nor given
Keywords：
1. parole：假釋
2. deliberate：深思熟慮
3. unanimously ：全體一致地
4. coincide：巧合
5. prosecutor：檢察官
6. veteran：老兵,有經驗的人
7. upgrade：改進更新
8. testimony：證詞
9. verdict ：裁決
10.lionize ： 捧...為名人
