'American Sniper': Latest Images of Chris Kyle's Alleged Killer Released

Eddie Ray Routh is charged with killing Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield.

ByABC News
February 9, 2015, 4:25 PM

— -- The former Marine accused of killing "American Sniper" Chris Kyle has been photographed in court for the first time in months as preparations for his trial wrap up.

Eddie Ray Routh was pictured clean-shaven with a buzz cut -- a marked difference from the scruffy beard he had when he was arrested in February 2013.

Rather than appearing in the striped prison jumpsuit that he was seen in last year or the orange jumpsuit he was wearing when his mugshot was taken on the day of his arrest, Routh was wearing an olive-colored collared shirt, a grey blazer and glasses.

Routh was also noticeably larger than he was at the time of his arrest.

PHOTO: Eddie Ray Routh is pictured in this undated file photo provided by the Erath County Sheriff's Office.
Eddie Ray Routh is pictured in this undated file photo provided by the Erath County Sheriff's Office.

Today marks the start of an important day for the 25-year-old as opening statements in his murder case are scheduled to begin on Wednesday.

The defense and prosecution have until Tuesday to come to decisions about the jury pool, which initially involved hundreds of residents of rural Erath County, Texas.

Up until now, little has been known about Routh.

He was arrested on February 2, 2013 after his sister called police to report that her brother had allegedly admitted to killing two people at a gun range.

PHOTO: This combination of photos from the Routh family and the Erath County Sheriff'??s Office shows Eddie Ray Routh.
This combination of photos from the Routh family and the Erath County Sheriff'??s Office shows Eddie Ray Routh.

He has since been charged with the deaths of Chris Kyle and Kyle's friend Chad Littlefield, who had gone with Routh to a local gun range as part of work Kyle did with veterans.

"He was recently diagnosed with PTSD. ... He just got out of a mental hospital last week," Routh's brother-in-law Gaines Blevins said later on the call.

According to The Associated Press, Routh's attorneys are expected to mount an insanity defense, using Routh's tour in Iraq and his participation in a relief mission to Haiti after the earthquake as contributing factors in his diagnosis. The prosecution has already made it clear that they do not plan to seek the death penalty in this case.

The film "American Sniper," which details Kyle's four tours in Iraq, has broken box office records and has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture.