Stephenville, Texas, Feb 12 (EFE).- After several successful weeks on the big screen, the film 'American Sniper' has moved to a small rural court in Texas with the trial of the alleged murderer of Chris Kyle, the deadliest sniper in the history of the United States military.
Many of the 20,000 inhabitants of Stephenville are real cowboys with hats and boots, and the city is surrounded by miles of ranchland that could well accommodate the scene that the movie missed: that of the murder of Chris Kyle, a former member of the elite U.S. Navy SEALS.
The scenario chosen as the site of the trial that began Wednesday is certainly worthy of the film.
Owing to the success of 'American Sniper' in theaters, the trial has aroused more than usual interest and dozens of journalists had gathered since dawn Wednesday at the doors of the District Court of Erath County to cover the legal proceedings against the former Marine Eddie Routh for the murder of Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield.
Kyle is said to have officially killed at least 160 people in Iraq while serving there with the U.S. military, although he claimed the total was more than 250, making him the deadliest shooter in American history and a hero to many Americans.
Kyle's wife, Taya, told a jury of 10 women and two men how she and Kyle met, talked about their marriage, their two sons and offered details of his death.
"I'm sure you're not going to like my story," she snapped at one of Routh's lawyers, who complained to Judge Jason Cashon without much success over the widow's statements who could not hold back her tears.
Routh's lawyers, Warren St. John and Tim Moore, had asked to postpone the trial, and move it outside Erath County but both requests were rejected.
On his return from his military service, Kyle reached out to troubled veterans and frequently took them to a local shooting range. Routh had accompanied the former sniper and Littlefield to the range when he turned on them and shot them to death.
Routh's defense argued that he was suffering from psychological disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder after his return from Iraq and on the day of the killings was acting "insane".
The prosecution maintained that Routh killed deliberately according to the evidence, despite knowing that it was wrong.
At the end of the first day of trial, judge Cashon addressed the members of the jury and asked them to isolate themselves from the media.