Just nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleSheila FlynnSenior US Reporter
The former roommate of accused shooter Charlie Kirk told authorities that Tyler Robinson admitted to the killing, cried at their apartment afterwards and expressed regret, a Utah court heard Thursday.
The details came on the fourth day of testimony in a hearing for Robinson who faces a slew of charges in connection with the 10 September death of the conservative activist.
The prosecution played an investigative interview with ex-roommate Lance Twiggs and revealed text messages between the two.
Robinson has not yet entered a plea. Through Friday, prosecutors will present evidence against Robinson, and the judge will determine whether it is enough for a trial in the possible death penalty case.
ReutersPortions of both the video and text exchanges were redacted, while others were played only for those in the courtroom – not for public consumption.
Twiggs appeared in the interview taped in April with long hair parted in the middle, a navy blue blazer and blue patterned tie. He paused at times to sip from a bottle of water as prosecutor Ryan McBride posed questions.
According to Twiggs, Robinson, 23, asked for an engraving tool in the months before the shooting, saying he wanted to inscribe bullets for an upcoming camping and hunting trip with his family.
Robinson sometimes discussed politics, said Twiggs, but since he didn’t share the same interest, he didn’t “really contribute much” to such conversations. But Twiggs said he believed Robinson listened to politics on the radio while traveling to and from his jobs as an electrician.
Most of his comments centered on President Donald Trump, or new legislation, Twiggs said, and he never heard Robinson discuss Kirk. The pair also did not speak about LGBTQ issues, according to the recording.
On the day of the shooting, Robinson left earlier than usual, around 4am, but Twiggs said he thought he was just going to a job that was farther away.
After Kirk was killed, the alleged shooter texted his roommate telling Twiggs to “drop what you’re doing” and “look under your keyboard.”
As Robinson texted further, Twiggs asked: “You weren’t the one who did it, right?”
“I am,” Robinson wrote in a text message presented in court. “I’m sorry.”
ReutersWhen Twiggs asked why, Robinson responded that he’d “had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
He continued texting Twiggs that night, still near the Utah Valley University campus in Orem where Kirk was shot, telling his roommate that he’d left his rifle in bushes where he’d changed his clothes and was waiting to retrieve it.
“If I’m able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence,” Robinson said in the text messages.
He complained about crickets being too loud and lamented that a sniffer dog may have located the firearm. A heavy police presence and squad car remained near the spot.
“I’m just sitting in my car watching reels for another hour,” Robinson texted Twiggs.
He also texted that he was leaving Orem, more than a three-hour drive from their apartment in St George, in southern Utah, telling Twiggs he was on his way home.
The next day, Twiggs said on video, Robinson was in their apartment when he woke up.
Robinson “didn’t go into detail” about the previous day, Twiggs said.
“I just asked him in person if what he said was true the night before and he said it was. He started crying a little bit and said he wishes he hadn’t done it and then kept going around and just doing stuff, I think to keep himself busy or distracted or something.”
Robinson told his roommate that he intended to turn himself in.
Utah State Bureau of Investigation agent Brian Davis previously testified on Wednesday that Robinson, accompanied by his parents and a family friend, arrived around 9pm that day to turn himself in at Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
Hours of court proceedings on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning centred on discussion between the prosecution and defence, as well as lawyers for the media and Erika Kirk, about whether Twiggs’ video statement could be published.
Judge Tony Graf eventually ruled that both the footage and text exchanges could be published, with some redactions, and with some portions visible only in the courtroom and not to the public.
Robinson’s defence team has raised repeated objections to exhibits and testimony throughout the proceeding. Earlier in the week, the prosecution presented an FBI report, which described DNA belonging to Robinson and Twiggs found on a rifle, screwdriver and towel recovered at the scene.
The defence then spent hours questioning the analyst who signed the report, asking about protocol, testing, interpretation and margins of error.
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