25 February,2015 08:46 PM IST | | PTI
Former Marine Eddie Ray Routh has been found guilty of murdering real life 'American Sniper' Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield in 2013 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole
Los Angeles: Former US Marine Corps, Eddie Ray Routh, has been sentenced to life for murdering Navy SEAL Chris Kayle, whose memoir inspired the Bradley Cooper starrer blockbuster movie 'American Sniper'.
Routh was found guilty of capital murder and received life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, reported People magazine.
He shot Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield at a Texas gun range on February 2, 2013.
Littlefield's stepbrother Jerry Richardson read a statement to Routh in court, after the verdict was announced.
"Because of you and your irresponsible choices, we lost a great son, brother, father and uncle on Feb. 2, 2013," he said.
"And that will never change. Those are traits you'll never experience, because you took the lives of two heroes -- men who tried to be a friend to you. And you became an American disgrace," the statement read.
During closing arguments, Kyle's widow, Taya, could be seen with her eyes closed as she listened.
As the defence team argued its case, at one point Taya sat with her feet up on the chair and her head in her hands. She then suddenly stood and walked out of the courtroom, slapping the door with her hand as she left.
