On Sunday night the Chris Kyle suspect got aggressive with guards in the Erath County Jail when they tried to take away his food tray after dinner. And according to Sheriff Bryant, the guards tasered Eddie Ray Routh because he "was trying to attack them."
Jailers have placed the former Marine on suicide watch, and he is also being restrained in a chair in solitary confinement, which is standard protocol in similar jail situations across the country.
A criminal profile is developing of the suspect which includes police intervention at his home in September due to verbal threats, and in January he pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated in Johnson County per Dallas Daily News.
Threats have been made against the man alleged to have murdered the famous Navy Seal credited with killing hundreds of men on the war battle field according to Sheriff Bryant. And that could prompt law enforcement to move him from the local police facilities secretly.
Profile
For all intents and purposes Eddie Ray Routh appears to be exhibiting some of the symptoms the National Institute of Health describe for sufferers of post traumatic stress disorder, like having an outburst of anger, for example.
Of course an outburst of anger can be a symptom of other things too, such as drug or alcohol abuse or dependency. And just last month it was reported that the suspect in the Chris Kyle slaying had been caught driving while intoxicated weeks ago.
Jails are not known for providing psychiatric medications on a timely basis either, so if there is a mental health condition that isn't being treated while he is under guard--or medicine was delayed for any length of time--that could contribute to any angry outbursts.
The approach of the guards to remove his dinner tray could excite someone suffering from PTSD due to war participation, but if Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield were shot in the back, at close range, as this Examiner.com news report alleges, stating that "eye witness accounts" reveal both victims were shot squarely in the back, then that isn't a threatening position for a PTSD sufferer at all.
National Criminal Profiles Examiner Radell Smith has a degree in behavioral forensics and successful criminal profiling experience with unsolved homicide crimes. Follow her column here by clicking on the subscribe link at the top of the page or like her on Facebook.
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