“American Sniper” Chris Kyle, Chad Littlefield Were Armed When Shot, Killed: Ranger

Thursday afternoon, jurors heard police testimony and saw video of police chasing Eddie Ray Routh the night famed Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield were killed at the Rough Creek Lodge and Resort in 2013.

Lancaster police officers Flavio Salazar described the attempt to speak to Routh outside his home after Kyle and Littlefield's deaths. Salazar told jurors Routh took off in Kyle's pickup truck and led officers on a chase that reached high speeds at times. The chase ended near Interstate 35E and Interstate 20.

Jurors saw a video of Kyle's pickup at Routh's house and the nine minute chase recorded on Salazar's police cruiser's dashcam. The video ends with Routh taken in custody after the chase.

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Lancaster police Lt. Michael Smith testified an officer with a body camera tried to speak with Routh in the truck before the chase.

Jurors also saw video from the shirt cam that recorded Smith trying to talk Routh out of the truck and police negotiating with Routh inside the stolen pickup.

A recording played in court included Routh telling the officer "Hell's walking on Earth with us right now." Routh was heard saying, "I can feel people feeding on my soul, and that's not good." Routh also asked officers, "Isn't it voodoo that's upon us, is the apocalypse upon us right now?"

A Texas Ranger testified Thursday that Kyle and Littlefield were armed when they were shot multiple times.

Texas Ranger Michael Adcock said it didn't appear the weapons carried by Kyle and Chad Littlefield were ever removed from their holsters. Their wounds included multiple gunshots to the back.

Adcock testified he also recovered a receipt from Kyle’s stolen pick up truck after the chase. Adcock said it showed that Routh had stopped for burritos at Taco Bell in Red Oak after the murders.

At the conclusion of the opening remarks, Judge Jason Cashon ordered all devices that could record or stream audio, or be used to report proceedings live, removed from the courtroom during the trial. Follow along with the trial as NBC 5's Ken Kalthoff, NBC's Jacob Rascon and The Dallas Morning News' Dianna Hunt and Tasha Tsiaperas tweet the latest updates from the overflow room outside of the courtroom. Their Twitter feeds can be seen below.
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The case has drawn intense interest, largely because of Kyle's memoir about being a sniper who served four tours in Iraq. The Oscar-nominated film based on the book has grossed nearly $300 million.

Defense attorneys for Eddie Ray Routh, 27, have said he was insane when Kyle and Littlefield took him to a shooting range in February 2013 to provide support and camaraderie. Routh faces life in prison without parole if convicted of capital murder.

Routh's mother had asked Kyle, whose wartime exploits were depicted in his memoir, to help her son overcome personal troubles.

Kyle's widow, Taya Kyle, had testified a day earlier, clutching military dog tags as she told jurors about her final moments with her husband, just hours before he and Littlefield were slain at the range.

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Erath County District Attorney Alan Nash described Routh as "a troubled young man" who on the morning of the killings numbed himself with marijuana and whiskey. He said a history of mental illness should not absolve Routh in the deaths.

During opening statements, a defense attorney had revealed a text message exchange between Chris Kyle and Littlefield as they drove to the lodge with Routh, whom Kyle had picked up at his house.

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Kyle texted Littlefield: "This dude is straight-up nuts."

"He's (sitting) right behind me, watch my six," Littlefield texted back, using a military term for watching one's back.

Tim Moore, an attorney for Routh, said Kyle and Littlefield's text exchange shows how Routh was spiraling out of control. He told jurors that Routh was suffering from severe mental strain that day and thought he needed to kill the two or they would turn on him.

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Routh was a small arms technician who served in Iraq and was deployed to earthquake-ravaged Haiti before leaving the Marines in 2010. Authorities say that after the shootings, Routh drove to his sister's house in Kyle's truck, admitted to the killings and told his sister "people were sucking his soul."