In light of the commencement of the trial of Eddie Ray Routh, the accused killer of Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield, we are glad to bring the Warfighter Foundation’s in-depth investigation of Routh’s history. Spencer Walker and Daniel Racca, both former Marines, conducted the investigation.

(The Warfighter Foundation is not affiliated with SOFREP.)

In response to the tragic events that occurred on February 2nd, 2013, the Warfighter Foundation has conducted a comprehensive investigation including interviews with U.S. Marines that knew and served with Eddie Ray Routh, the alleged murderer of U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield. Up to this point, there has been very little investigation into Routh’s military service and no inquiry regarding those who served with him. This is the first time Marines who knew and served with Eddie Ray Routh have been interviewed.

In order to understand the true significance of the subject matter, we must first provide an analytical assessment of Eddie Routh’s cognitive dissonance. What, if any, are the key implications that caused this individual to behave in this way? We can begin this assessment by breaking down Routh into several categories. The individual persona, the state/role and behavior within the United States, and finally his role as a Marine in the war in Iraq. This systematic breakdown allows for a precise characterization of his personality and the identification of any “red flags” that might be claimed from Routh himself.

The Beginning

Our analysis begins with SSgt. Justin Webster, a former U.S. Marine who served honorably from 1998 to 2011. Webster was a Marine Corps recruiter who dealt directly with Routh for 11 months before heading off to Marine Corps boot camp. According to Routh’s mother, Jodi, Routh and his sister left home during his junior year and moved in with their aunt and uncle, who lived in a nearby town. She said that they had wanted to get away from their overprotective mother.

Jodi doesn’t dispute this: “They were rebellious, and they wanted to drink and smoke pot and stuff, and that wasn’t gonna be allowed at our house.” The aunt admitted that she kept alcohol and marijuana around. Routh’s sister, Laura, said that friends often passed out on the floor, and described the aunt’s house as “a squatter pad.” Meanwhile, in a house not far away, Routh and Laura’s grandfather was dying of cancer. The aunt was among those who had been entrusted to handle the grandfather’s prescriptions, including morphine. Some of the morphine was stolen, and the aunt’s husband eventually overdosed on it. These initial conditions may have been a contributing factor in Routh’s psychological paranoia leading up to the murder.

“Eddie wanted to be a Marine forever, supposedly. He joined the DEP (Delayed Entry Program) his senior year and participated in the recruiting station’s pool functions (training events to prepare Marine candidates for recruit training) two to three times a week,” Webster said. “He was a dumb country kid. Good, but dumb.” Routh reportedly barely graduated high school and received an incredibly low score on the ASVAB (test that helps predict future academic and occupational success in the military).

Jeff Diener, one of Routh’s classmates, said that he was “kinda hard to get along with.” Another classmate said that Routh was a “standard troublemaker” who “didn’t show a whole lot of respect” for the teachers. KC Bernard, who was a security guard at the school for two of the years that Routh was there, said that Routh was “always ready to fight” and “had a chip on his shoulder.”

Read the rest at Warfighter News.