--- description: Eddie Ray Routh, 27, has pleaded not guilty on grounds of insanity title: 'American Sniper' Murder Trial Begins image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6372cde08967899/69877ed2cd68484464099a85/wordpress1.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Know Right Now](/tag/know-right-now/) ## Know Right Now Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Know Right Now: _American Sniper_ Murder Trial Begins in Texas  by [Arpita Aneja](/author/arpita-aneja/)  ## Arpita Aneja Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 11, 2015 10:50 PM CUT   by [Arpita Aneja](/author/arpita-aneja/)  ## Arpita Aneja Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 11, 2015 10:50 PM CUT The murder trial of the man accused of killing Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle [began Wednesday in Texas](http://time.com/3704716/american-sniper-trial/ "undefined"). Eddie Ray Routh, 27, has been charged with fatally shooting Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield at a gun range in Texas in 2013\. Kyle’s autobiography inspired the Oscar-nominated movie _American Sniper_, in which Bradley Cooper played the expert marksman. Watch #KnowRightNow to catch up on all the latest developments in the trial, and [read more here](http://time.com/3704716/american-sniper-trial/ "undefined"). American Sniper Trial Begins ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3705997/american-sniper-trial-begins/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3705997/american-sniper-trial-begins/"},"headline":"Know Right Now: American Sniper Murder Trial Begins in Texas","datePublished":"2015-02-11T22:50:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:20:59.837Z","description":"Eddie Ray Routh, 27, has pleaded not guilty on grounds of insanity","url":"https://time.com/3705997/american-sniper-trial-begins/","keywords":["Know Right Now","Texas","American Sniper"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6372cde08967899/69877ed2cd68484464099a85/wordpress1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Arpita Aneja","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/arpita-aneja/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6372cde08967899/69877ed2cd68484464099a85/wordpress1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"wordpress1.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"","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":"/tag/know-right-now/","name":"Know Right Now"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3705997/american-sniper-trial-begins/","name":"Know Right Now: American Sniper Murder Trial Begins 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/3705997/american-sniper-trial-begins/","duration":"PT6M10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3705997/american-sniper-trial-begins/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```