In the hours after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot on the campus of Utah Valley University, the man suspected of killing him exchanged messages with his roommate and romantic partner.
The lengthy text exchange between Tyler Robinson and Lance Twiggs was read aloud in the courtroom by State Bureau of Investigation agent Brian Davis.
“And then Lance replies, ‘You weren't the one who did it, right?’” Davis said. “And Tyler says, “I am. I'm sorry.’”
Robinson has yet to enter a plea to the charges against him, which include aggravated murder and six other counts. Several days of hearings have focused on state witnesses, campus surveillance video, DNA evidence and testimony about the hours after Robinson turned himself in. Day four of the preliminary hearing to establish probable cause for a murder trial largely focused on messages with Robinson’s roommate and others between Robinson and his friends.
It was the most damning evidence yet that implicates Robinson in Kirk’s death. In addition to the texts, an edited interview with Twiggs was also played. The footage of Twiggs detailed Robinson’s demeanor the morning after the shooting.
“I just asked him in person if what he said was true the night before, and he said it was,” Twiggs said in the video. “He started crying a little bit, and said he wishes he hadn't done it, and then kept going around and just doing stuff, I think, to keep himself busy or distracted or something.”
Prosecutors, in seeking a victim enhancement to the charges, allege Robinson targeted Kirk for his political beliefs. Twiggs’s recorded testimony said that he had never heard Robinson talk about Kirk, but would occasionally talk about politics when it came to “stuff he heard on the radio on his drive to work.”
“Usually, if he did talk about politics stuff, it was relating to Trump or current, like, policies being, like, issued or voted on, I think,” Twiggs said.
However, pieces of evidence shown in court indicated that Robinson had given some thought to Kirk before the shooting. In the text messages, Robinson said that he had been planning the attack for “a bit over a week.” Twiggs also asked Robinson directly why he would kill Kirk. And the reply, as Davis read it to the court, was “Tyler says, “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out.’”
Robinson also left a handwritten note for Twiggs the morning of the shooting, which was read in full to the court for the first time but not broadcast on the court’s livestream.
Prosecutors allege Robinson confessed in that note, saying “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”
In addition to the messages, the state also introduced ballistic evidence.
Prosecutors showed reports filed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives detailing testing that compared bullet fragments recovered from Kirk’s autopsy to those fired by the rifle prosecutors allege is the murder weapon.
The ATF report found the results “inconclusive” due to the amount of damage to the fragments
Defense attorney Michael Burt attempted to challenge the reliability of ballistics tests. ATF firearm examiner Samantha Karner, however, maintained that there were elements of similarity between the fragments and a clean bullet fired from the same gun.
Inconclusive report findings, she said, simply mean there was not enough evidence to prove — or disprove — that the rifle found at the scene fired that particular bullet.
“Saying anything but inconclusive was inappropriate,” she said.
This week’s proceedings are set to end Friday, but a decision won’t be made then on whether the case heads to trial.
On Thursday, Fourth District Judge Tony Graf granted the defense’s request to file a briefing on this hearing after it ends, and the prosecution will also have that opportunity. Another hearing for oral arguments has been scheduled for Sept. 1, pushing Graf’s decision off until then.
