CHRIS Kyle became a household name after his autobiography, American Sniper, was adapted into a movie by Clint Eastwood.
Regarded as one of the most lethal snipers in United States military history, Kyle served four tours in Iraq before he was killed in Texas.
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Who was Chris Kyle?
Christopher Scott Kyle was a United States Navy SEAL sniper and the deadliest marksman in U.S. military history.
Kyle wrote a book in 2012 called American Sniper: The Autobiography, telling the story of his four tours in Iraq from 1999-2009.
It depicts Kyle's upbringing in Odessa, Texas, as the eldest of two boys, who grew up caring for up to 150 cattle.
After graduating high school, he became a professional bronco rider and ranch hand, before severely injuring his arm forcing him to stop his career.
He went to a military recruiting office interested in the Marine Corps, and eventually achieved 24-week Basic Underwater Demolition/SEA, Air, Land (SEAL) training in 1999 and graduated in 2001.
Kyle went on to serve in many major battles during the Iraq war, where he became renowned as one of the country's deadliest snipers.
He earned the nickname, "Shaitan Ar-Ramadi", meaning "the devil of Ramadi", from insurgents after his stellar shooting record in Ramadi.
As his reputation grew, so did the bounty on his head - it shot up from $20,000, increasing to $80,000.
With his huge tally of both Pentagon confirmed and unconfirmed kills, he became a popular SEAL known by his infantry as "The Legend" - which could be something to do with him surviving two shootings and six separate IED detonations.
Kyle was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 2009 and moved to Midlothian, Texas, with his wife Taya and two children.
His military memoir went on to sell over 1.2 million copies and was later adapted into a Clint Eastwood film, American Sniper.
Bradley Cooper starred as Kyle in the 2014 film alongside Sienna Miller, which went on to win two Academy Awards.
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How did Chris Kyle die?
Chris Kyle was shot and killed at a shooting range in Erath County, Texas, alongside his friend Chad Littlefield on February 2, 2013.
The former SEAL and Littlefield were visiting the Rough Creek Ranch-Lodge-Resort shooting range with Marine Corps veteran, Eddie Ray Routh.
Kyle had begun working with veterans after leaving the military and Routh's mother had asked him to help her son.
The pair took Routh to the shooting range for a therapeutic session, in a bid to help Routh's post-traumatic stress disorder.
But Routh shot the pair with two pistols that belonged to Kyle, because "nobody would talk to me".
After the killings, Routh said, "I was just riding in the back seat of the truck, and nobody would talk to me.
"They were just taking me to the range, so I shot them. I feel bad about it, but they wouldn't talk to me. I'm sure they've forgiven me."
He went to his sister Laura Blevin's house and explained what he had done, before she dialled 911.
Routh was arrested after a short freeway chase that saw him flee in Kyle's Ford F-350 truck and crash into a police cruiser.
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Who killed Chris Kyle?
Eddie Ray Routh, 25, shot and killed Chris Kyle.
Routh joined the Marine Corps after high school and was deployed to a base near Baghdad in September 2007, acting as a prison guard and repairing weapons.
Routh embarked on a humanitarian mission to Haiti in January 2010, and was honorably discharged the following year.
Just weeks after his release in July 2011, he was diagnosed with PTSD at a Veterans' hospital and put on medication.
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This made him experience hallucinations, paranoia, and suicidal thoughts. He also often drank alongside his medication, before he began refusing to take it.
Routh had been constantly in and out of mental institutions over a two-year period and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, as well as PTSD after his career in the Marine Corps.
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On the way to the range, Kyle texted Littlefield referring to Routh, saying: "This dude is straight-up nuts."
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Routh was found guilty of the murders on February 24, 2015.
He was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole, after his lawyers had tried to argue he had been insane at the time of the murders.
