Monday, February 23, 2015

What was motive to kill the 'American Sniper'? : Vivie Behrens (Period 6, Week 1)

     As Chris Kyle's high profile trial continues, (now with an attentive national audience because of the recent release of the film, "American Sniper"), the motives of alleged murderer, Eddie Ray Routh, have begun to be questioned. On the day of his murder, Chris Kyle drove Routh and a friend, Chad Littlefield, to a nearby shooting range in an attempt to help Routh cope with his severe post-traumatic stress disorder and reacclimatize to life off of the front lines. As the men began to shoot on the range, Routh says that he interpreted the act as a threat which invoked his murderous rampage. Additionally, Routh claims he was under the influence of marijuana which caused a "substance-induced psychotic disorder"; however, Dr. Mitchell Dunn, a medical professional on the case, claimed that this was not the case.
     This case in particular demonstrates how one's involvement in war affects one's mental state and further, one's actions. Similar episodes were displayed after both World War I and World War II and many men and women who were present on the front lines never were never able to recover from the horrific images they saw during wartime.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/23/us/eddie-ray-routh-american-sniper-motive/index.html

1 comment:

  1. This man obviously has a mental illness. It is clear that whether he was under the influence of marijuana or not, his disease was what caused him to kill Kyle.

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