American Sniper trial: The bizarre final voicemails
An accused killer in the now infamous 'American Sniper' trial exchanged a bizarre series of voice mail messages before he allegedly shot and killed Chris Kyle and a friend at a Texas gun range.
A jury heard four voice mails left by former US Marine Eddie Ray Routh for his alleged victim in the lead up to the shooting in February 2013.
"Kind of a sad day when it rains. It's a good sad. Rain will come and rains will leave. I guess that's what they do," Routh was heard saying on one of the tapes.
Lawyers for the 27-year-old accused killer have argued that Routh was temporarily insane when he gunned down Chris Kyle, the Navy SEAL whose autobiography was turned into the hit movie 'American Sniper', and his friend and neighbour, Chad Littlefield at a shooting range.
The tapes, played out in court on the fourth day of the double murder trial, were supposed to give an insight into Routh's state of mind before the killings.
Jeff Shaffer, a former secret service agent who now specialises in cyber security and computer forensics, told the court Kyle and Routh spoke several times, with calls lasting between two and 15 minutes each.
The phone records also showed Kyle had missed calls from people close to Routh, including his girlfriend and mother, on the day of his slaying.
Kyle and Littlefield took Routh, a troubled Iraq War veteran, to the shooting range to help him through psychological problems, which Routh's family said were brought on by post-traumatic stress disorder.
Routh is accused of stealing Kyle's truck after the killings and driving it to the home of Routh's sister, who said he confessed to the crimes. Routh was arrested that day and has been jailed in Erath County on $3 million bond.
Routh's defence team will argue he was insane at the time of the shooting, and therefore not guilty of murder.
If Routh is convicted, prosecutors said they will seek a life sentence.
Morning news break – February 17
