Sniper Suspect Left Hospital 2 Days Before Shooting

Routh lawyer wants psychiatric exam
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 7, 2013 2:31 AM CST
Sniper Suspect Left Hospital 'Days Before Shooting'
Eddie Ray Routh, who was charged with killing "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield at a shooting range southwest of Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013.   (AP Photo/Erath County Sheriff's Office, File)

Despite family opposition, Eddie Ray Routh was released from the hospital two days before the shootings of American Sniper author Chris Kyle and friend Chad Littlefield, a lawyer for Routh says. Routh's court-appointed legal team wants a psychiatric exam for the suspect to see if he's capable of standing trial, the AP reports. "There are just so many mental health issues associated with this case," says one of the lawyers.

Routh is on medication but wouldn't take it yesterday, a sheriff says. "His mood apparently changes quite a bit." Routh's sister told officials he'd confessed to the killings; he reportedly said he was "going to get their souls before they took his," a search warrant affidavit says. Routh became a Marine in 2006 and a corporal in 2010. He's currently being held on $3 million bond. (More Eddie Ray Routh stories.)

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