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.”
A day after the Sept. 10 killing, there were tears and pacing around the St. George apartment that Mr. Robinson shared with Lance Twiggs, who testified about his ex-boyfriend Thursday on day 4 of the state’s preliminary hearing.
Mr. Twiggs 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,” Mr. Twiggs said, referring to a text message confession that Mr. Robinson sent to Mr. Twiggs 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 talked about what to do next. He said he would “talk to his parents or turn himself over,” Mr. Twiggs recalled.
Mr. Robinson is charged with aggravated murder and faces the death penalty. He has not entered a plea.
Kirk was killed by a single bullet fired at him from a rooftop while he engaged with students under a tent on the campus of Utah Valley University.
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 video interview with Utah County prosecutor Ryan McBride, recorded on April 20, Mr. Twiggs was dressed in a suit and tie and wore his hair shoulder-length. 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 why Mr. Robinson left the rifle behind and how he could replace the gun so his grandfather, who owned it, wouldn’t notice it missing. He also talked about the messages he engraved a month earlier into the bullets, which he described as “a big Meme.”
Mr. Robinson said 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 due to police presence in the area. He drove back to the St. George apartment he shared with Mr. Twiggs.
Mr. Robinson turned himself in 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,” adding that he’d ask his own lawyer to reach out to Mr. Twiggs.
Prosecutors entered into evidence incriminating messages from a chat Mr. Robinson engaged in on Discord as well as a picture of the note he placed under his keyboard confessing to the shooting. The chat and note were not shown to the public.
The taped interview with Mr. Twiggs and the text messages were presented after days of legal wrangling among the defense, prosecutors, the media’s lawyers and Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk.
The defense successfully fought to keep from the pubic some of Mr. Davis’ testimony, some unreleased text messages and certain testimony from Mr. Twiggs, arguing they would taint the future jury pool and jeopardize Mr. Robinson’s right to a fair trial.
Ms. Kirk’s lawyer, Jeffrey Neiman, argued 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.”
