--- description: A guide to what will be one of the most closely watched trials of the year title: 'American Sniper' Trial Kicks Off in Texas image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta246c375b5b3095e/69877e9a8e0601162c45a38c/american-sniper-trial.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _American Sniper_ Trial Kicks Off in Texas by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 11, 2015 12:39 PM CUT  Eddie Ray Routh, 27, takes his seat with law enforcement officers a pretrial motion hearing in Stephenville, Texas on Feb. 10, 2015. Eddie Ray Routh, 27, takes his seat with law enforcement officers a pretrial motion hearing in Stephenville, Texas on Feb. 10, 2015.LM Otero—Reuters by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 11, 2015 12:39 PM CUT Behind barricades and 24-hour-a-day security, 12 men and women in the small town of Stephenville, Texas, on Wednesday will begin hearing the murder case against the ex-Marine who shot and killed Chris Kyle, the Hollywood-certified hero of the box-office smash _American Sniper_. Eddie Ray Routh, 27, has already admitted that he killed Kyle and a friend, Chad Littlefield, two years and nine days ago at a gun range. But what the jurors will consider is whether he committed capital murder or whether he’s not guilty by reason of insanity. Here’s a guide to what will be one of the most closely watched trials of the year… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/american-sniper-trial-kicks-range-far-beyond-courthouse-n303931?cid=par-time-article%5F20150211 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3704716/american-sniper-trial/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3704716/american-sniper-trial/"},"headline":"American Sniper Trial Kicks Off in Texas","datePublished":"2015-02-11T12:39:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:19:29.636Z","description":"A guide to what will be one of the most closely watched trials of the year","url":"https://time.com/3704716/american-sniper-trial/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta246c375b5b3095e/69877e9a8e0601162c45a38c/american-sniper-trial.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta246c375b5b3095e/69877e9a8e0601162c45a38c/american-sniper-trial.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Eddie Ray Routh arrives in court for a pretrial motion hearing in Stephenville, Texas","caption":"Eddie Ray Routh, 27, takes his seat with law enforcement officers a pretrial motion hearing in Stephenville, Texas Feb. 10, 2015.","creditText":"LM Otero—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3704716/american-sniper-trial/","name":"American Sniper Trial Kicks Off in Texas"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"10 Questions with American Sniper Chris Kyle","description":"Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, who earned two Silver Stars in Iraq, explains the sniper's point of view","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/PpZTJML8/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2012-01-05T23:07:27.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PpZTJML8.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3704716/american-sniper-trial/","duration":"PT6M10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3704716/american-sniper-trial/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```