The day after conservative youth leader Charlie Kirk was fatally shot in the neck before a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University, his accused killer paced frantically around a St. George apartment, broke into tears, and confessed to his romantic partner that he deeply regretted the act, according to newly released evidence.
“I just asked him in person if what he said was true the night before, and he said it was,” Lance Twiggs, the former roommate and romantic partner of defendant Tyler Robinson, said in a recorded interview with law enforcement played in a Utah County courtroom. “He started crying a little bit and said he wishes he hadn’t done it.”
The dramatic video disclosure came during the fourth day of a preliminary hearing before Fourth District Judge Tony Graf Jr. to determine whether the state has sufficient probable cause to advance the capital case against Robinson to trial. Robinson, a 23-year-old college student and electrician, is charged with aggravated murder and several other offences in connection with the September 10, 2025, assassination of Kirk, a prominent ally of President Donald Trump who was widely credited with mobilising young conservative voters ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Robinson has not yet entered a formal plea.
A Trail of Digital Confessions
The evidentiary timeline presented by the Utah County Prosecutor’s Office painted a picture of calculated planning disrupted by immediate post-crime panic. According to court records and digital forensics introduced by prosecutors, Robinson left a physical note under a computer keyboard for Twiggs that read, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I’m going to take it.”
In subsequent text transmissions sent while fleeing the campus in Orem, Utah, more than 200 miles away from their shared townhouse, Robinson explicitly stated he targeted the Turning Point USA co-founder because he “had enough of his hatred.”
“Shouldn’t be long until I can come home, but I gotta grab my rifle still. To be honest, I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age. I am sorry to involve you,” Robinson texted Twiggs hours after the shooting, according to screenshots displayed by the state. When a shocked Twiggs replied, “You weren’t the one who did it right????”, Robinson answered bluntly: “I am, I’m sorry.”
The prosecution also presented evidence from the instant messaging platform Discord, where Robinson allegedly posted “it was me at UVU yesterday” in a public chat room roughly an hour before turning himself in to law enforcement on September 12.
Engraved Bullets and Forensic Ties
Beyond the admissions, the hearing brought to light chilling details regarding the logistics of the attack. Investigators testified that the weapon used—a bolt-action rifle wrapped in a towel—was recovered from a wooded area near the university campus. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) forensic analysts testified that DNA matching both Robinson and Twiggs was present on the towel. State prosecutors clarified that Twiggs’s DNA was utilised strictly as an elimination sample, and he was granted limited state and federal immunity in exchange for his cooperation.
Furthermore, an ATF report read aloud in court confirmed that the rifle was found alongside three unfired bullets and a spent casing. The ammunition bore custom, hand-carved political insults, including “Hey Fascist! CATCH!” and “Oh bella ciao, ciao, ciao.” Twiggs told investigators that about a month prior to the shooting, Robinson had requested to use a Dremel power tool under the guise of preparing for a family hunting trip.
Defence attorney Richard Novak pushed back aggressively against the forensic assertions, grilling the FBI analyst on the variability and baseline reliability of the specialised DNA testing used to place Robinson at the scene. Robinson’s legal team also fought to suppress the public broadcast of Twiggs’s statements, arguing that prosecutors were attempting to substitute unproven statements for a formal confession, thereby compromising the defendant’s constitutional right to an impartial jury pool.
A Battle Over Courtroom Transparency
The proceedings have drawn intense public scrutiny, amplifying anxieties regarding political violence in the United States. Sitting in the front rows of the gallery throughout the week were Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, and his parents, accompanied at points by high-ranking political figures including US Senator Mike Lee.
The family’s legal counsel, Jeffrey Neiman, petitioned the court to lift redactions and allow all evidence to be broadcast openly in real-time to mitigate the spread of online conspiracy theories. “To not be transparent, to not be open and let the world see what happened will create doubt and distrust in the judicial system,” Neiman argued.
Judge Graf ultimately denied the motion for complete openness, maintaining a redacted presentation of the video testimony. The jurist emphasised the court’s strict institutional mandate to balance the public’s right to information with the foundational civil liberties of the accused. If convicted of aggravated murder under Utah law, Robinson faces the death penalty, a sentence that requires a unanimous decision from a 12-person trial jury.
