A Utah courtroom became the stage for gut-wrenching revelations this week as prosecutors laid out what they call overwhelming proof against Tyler Robinson, the man charged with gunning down conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk nearly a year ago.
At the center of the preliminary hearing sat a witness few expected to hear from directly: Lance Twiggs, Robinson’s 23-year-old roommate and romantic partner, whose recorded interview with investigators was finally unsealed for public viewing on Thursday.
Prosecutors built their case around a trail of digital breadcrumbs Twiggs says Robinson left behind in the hours and days following the September 10, 2025, shooting at Utah Valley University, where Kirk was struck in the neck while addressing a crowd of thousands at a Turning Point USA gathering.
Twiggs walked into his deposition wearing a coat and tie, chewing gum casually until a court official instructed him to dispose of it before testimony began. What followed was a methodical account of what he says he witnessed in the immediate aftermath of the killing.
By Twiggs’ telling, a cryptic text arrived just after the shooting instructing him to check beneath a keyboard in their shared apartment.
“drop what you are doing, look under my keyboard,” the message read. Confused, Twiggs fired back “what????????????” and “you’re joking right????” — prompting an alarmed reply: “F*** I TRIED TO DELETE THAT.”
Beneath the keyboard, Twiggs said he found a note addressed to “Luna,” the name Robinson reportedly used for him. The letter contained a chilling admission: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”
Additional text exchanges entered into evidence showed Robinson allegedly fixating on retrieving the bolt-action Mauser rifle he’d left behind while escaping the scene.
“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,” one message stated.
Seeking confirmation, Twiggs asked point-blank, “you werent the one who did it right????” The reply left little room for doubt: “I am, I’m sorry.”
A third and final admission came face-to-face, Twiggs testified, during an in-person conversation on September 11. Utah County prosecutor Ryan McBride pressed him on what exactly Robinson revealed that day.
“Didn’t go into detail… I just asked him in person if what he said was true the night before, and he said it was… started crying a little bit, and said he wishes he hadn’t done it,” Twiggs recalled. He added that Robinson spoke of eventually confiding in his parents or surrendering to police.
Notably absent from Robinson’s mindset, according to Twiggs, was any fixation on LGBTQ+ politics.
Instead, Twiggs said Robinson gravitated toward discussions of President Trump and his agenda, and had never once brought up Charlie Kirk by name before the shooting.
Twiggs also recounted an unusual request Robinson made roughly a month before the assassination: whether the two owned a Dremel tool.
Robinson reportedly claimed he wanted to engrave bullets ahead of a family hunting trip.
Brian Davis, an investigator with the Utah State Bureau of Investigation, told the court that Twiggs’ April 2026 statements aligned closely with an initial interview conducted just two days after the shooting, on September 12, 2025.
Davis confirmed investigators had walked Twiggs through personal texts, Discord logs, and the handwritten note attributed to Robinson.
The push to make this evidence public came largely from Kirk’s own family.
Erika Kirk, the widow of the slain activist, sat through the proceedings and reportedly broke into tears as prosecutors read aloud a text in which Robinson casually remarked that his grandfather’s .30-06 hunting rifle “does just fine.”
Robinson’s legal team fought to keep the video testimony and messages sealed from public broadcast, warning that exposure could taint the jury pool and infringe on his rights.
That effort met firm resistance from both prosecutors and the Kirk family’s attorney, Jeffrey Neiman, who told the judge, “The Kirk family has waited 10 months for this hearing… They have a right to see and feel what’s going on in this courtroom.” He continued, “To be here and not to see the evidence — what’s the point of being here?”
Beyond Twiggs’ testimony, prosecutors unveiled surveillance footage they say documents Robinson’s precise movements around campus on the day of the shooting.
Forensic analysts also testified that DNA evidence recovered from a towel used to conceal the rifle strongly points to Robinson, while genetic material found on a screwdriver near the alleged shooting position reportedly matches both Robinson and Twiggs.
Kirk family representatives have framed the hearing as a chance to permanently silence conspiracy theories that have circulated since the shooting, including claims pushed by commentator Candace Owens.
The hearing is expected to wrap up Friday. Robinson, now 23, remains without an entered plea and could face capital punishment if a jury finds him guilty.
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