Tyler Robinson, who Utah prosecutors say assassinated Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, returned to his apartment after the shooting and told his roommate and romantic partner he “wished he hadn’t done it.”
He also left a handwritten note, which prosecutors briefly displayed in court, written before the shooting, in which he said he left his St. George, Utah, apartment early on the morning of Sept. 10 “on a mission,” and that he “had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk” and “took it.”
Mr. Robinson is charged with aggravated murder and faces the death penalty. He has not entered a plea as prosecutors presented part of their case in his preliminary hearing this week.
Judge Tony Graf will determine whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial. Late in Thursday’s hearings, he scheduled final oral arguments on the issue from the two sides for Sept. 1, with his decision to follow.
Prosecutors have presented video, DNA and physical evidence that they say link Mr. Robinson to the shooting of Kirk while he held an outdoor event with students at Utah Valley University.
Lance Twiggs, Mr. Robinson’s boyfriend, offered key witness testimony Thursday.
On the night of Sept. 10, Mr. Robinson returned to the apartment he shared with Mr. Twiggs, who testified in a video interview shown in court that there were tears and pacing back and forth as the two talked about what happened.
Mr. Twiggs, who said he was dating Mr. Robinson at the time, said Mr. Robinson “didn’t go into detail” about the shooting.
“I just asked him in person if what he said was true the night before, and he said it was,” said Mr. Twiggs, referring to Mr. Robinson’s confession to him in a text sent around 11 p.m. on Sept. 10.
“He started crying a little bit and said he wished he hadn’t done it, and then kept going around and just doing stuff — I think to keep himself busy or distracted or something,” Mr. Twiggs testified.
Mr. Robinson then discussed what to do next. He said he would “talk to his parents or turn himself over,” Mr. Twiggs recalled.
Kirk was killed by a single bullet fired at him from a rooftop while he engaged with students under a tent on the campus. Prosecutors this week presented video surveillance footage they say tracks Mr. Robinson walking around the campus and positioned on the roof at the time of the shooting.
Mr. Twiggs’ voice was heard for the first time since he was named as Mr. Robinson’s roommate and boyfriend at the time of the shooting.
In the April 20 video interview with Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride, Mr. Twiggs was dressed in a suit and tie, with his hair past his shoulders. He was asked to spit out chewing gum.
Mr. Twiggs was provided with limited immunity in the case. The videotaped testimony was played a few feet away from where Mr. Robinson was seated in the courtroom next to his defense attorneys.
Brian Davis, an agent with the Utah State Bureau of Investigation, testified about the text message confession, much of which was released to the public months ago.
In the Sept. 10 text shown in the courtroom, Mr. Twiggs asked Mr. Robinson, “you weren’t the one who did it, right????” Mr. Robinson texted back, “I am, I’m sorry.”
Mr. Robinson was texting from near the Utah Valley University campus as he plotted how to retrieve his rifle, which he had discarded in a wooded area after the shooting.
The two discussed via text message why Mr. Robinson left the rifle behind and how he could replace it so his grandfather, who owned it, would not notice it was missing. Mr. Robinson texted about the messages he had engraved a month earlier into the bullets, which he described as “a big Meme.”
Mr. Robinson texted that the rifle did “just fine” shooting at a distance, referencing the gun’s intended use in family deer hunting.
He eventually gave up trying to retrieve the gun because of the police presence in the area. He drove back to the St. George apartment he shared with Mr. Twiggs.
Police found the weapon, and prosecutors showed a photo of the rifle in court, along with bullets engraved with various messages, including “hey fascist catch.”
Prosecutors presented DNA evidence linking Mr. Robinson to the weapon and the ammunition, as well as a Dremel tool used to carve the messages in the bullets.
Mr. Twiggs said Mr. Robinson engraved the bullets about a month before Kirk’s assassination. Mr. Robinson told him at the time he planned to use the bullets on a hunting trip with his family.
Authorities found an additional carved bullet in Mr. Robinson’s apartment with the message, “Test Bullet.”
Mr. Robinson surrendered to authorities on Sept. 11, accompanied by his parents and a family friend.
In a final message to Mr. Twiggs, he texted, “if any police ask you questions ask for a lawyer and stay silent.” He added that he would ask his own attorney to reach out to Mr. Twiggs.
Mr. Twiggs, in the video testimony, said Mr. Robinson liked to talk politics, but he never heard him mention Kirk.
The defense team presented photos of the bullet fragments recovered from the shooting and questioned an analyst with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives about its inconclusive results when trying to match the fragments to the recovered weapon.
“I’m unable to say one way or another,” said ATF bullet analyst Samantha Karner, noting a lack of microscopic marks needed to make the analysis.
Such a finding is typical when a bullet breaks into small pieces, according to experts.
The taped interview with Mr. Twiggs and the text messages were presented after days of legal wrangling among the defense, prosecutors, media attorneys and Erika Kirk, Kirk’s widow.
The defense successfully fought to keep from the public some testimony from Mr. Davis about the text-message confession, much of which had already been released months ago.
Also kept out of the preliminary hearing were some unreleased text messages and certain testimony from Mr. Twiggs, which the defense argued would taint the future jury pool and jeopardize Mr. Robinson’s right to a fair trial.
Mrs. Kirk’s attorney, Jeffrey Neiman, argued that all the evidence in the preliminary hearing should be public.
“This has not been easy, as you can imagine, and I think the family deserves to see the evidence that’s been gathered in this investigation,” Mr. Neiman said. “They deserve to know what happened to Charlie.”
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