Testimony on Thursday revealed that Tyler Robinson, the 23-year-old charged with murdering far-right pundit Charlie Kirk, told his roommate a day after the fatal shooting that he wished “he hadn’t done it”. The statement came during the fourth day of a hearing to determine whether the case against Robinson has probable cause to proceed to trial.
Roommate's Testimony
The state presented video of a prosecutor interviewing Lance Twiggs, Robinson’s then roommate and romantic partner. Twiggs, who has also gone by the name “Luna”, spoke to authorities on 12 September 2025, two days after Kirk was killed, and again on 20 April 2026. The second conversation was heard in court on Thursday. Twiggs has not been accused of any involvement in the alleged murder and was granted immunity from prosecution in return for his statements.
Twiggs told authorities that on 11 September 2025, the day after Kirk was fatally shot during an appearance at Utah Valley University, he encountered Robinson pacing around their apartment in St George and behaving as if he were trying to distract himself. Twiggs asked Robinson if what he “said the night before” regarding Kirk’s killing was true, and Robinson confirmed it was.
Contention Over Video Evidence
The video testimony has been a source of contention, with an extensive back-and-forth on Wednesday over whether publicly broadcasting the testimony could expose potential jurors to prejudicial information. Defense attorney Richard Novak said he feared prosecutors would attempt to portray Twiggs’s statements as a confession by Robinson, who has not entered a plea, and hurt the defendant’s right to a fair trial. Meanwhile, Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, called for the court to allow the open courtroom display of every exhibit relating to her husband’s killing, saying she fears the proliferation of conspiracy theories. She has been in attendance at the legal proceedings this week, accompanied by Kirk’s parents. Judge Tony Graf allowed the partly redacted interview and messages, citing a need to protect the rights of both the victims and Robinson.
Text Messages and DNA Evidence
The state on Thursday also showed screenshots from Twiggs’s phone of text messages exchanged with Robinson. “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 wrote, according to one photo. “You werent the one who did it right????,” Twiggs replied. “I am, I’m sorry,” Robinson wrote. Twiggs also told a prosecutor he never heard Robinson talk about Kirk. “Usually if he did talk about politics stuff it was relating to Trump or current policies being issued or voted on,” he said.
Throughout the hearing, prosecutors have also presented details about the weapon they say was used to kill Kirk. Jennifer Faumuina, a sergeant with the Utah Department of Public Safety, testified earlier in the week that law enforcement officials recovered a Mauser 98 rifle from a wooded area on the campus of Utah Valley University. Faumuina returned to the stand on Thursday and read from a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) report that concluded it was highly likely that DNA on several parts of the rifle belonged to Robinson. The defense has argued DNA testing has not always yielded reliable results. Three unfired bullets and a casing were also found with the gun, engraved with messages including “if you read this, you are gay”, “hey fascist, catch” and “oh bella ciao, ciao, ciao”.
Previous Evidence
In previous days, the court has also seen evidence including video footage allegedly depicting Robinson entering the campus and climbing on to a roof, and heard from law enforcement officers and university staff describing what they saw and heard.
