The man accused of killing Charlie Kirk allegedly spent hours on the Utah Valley University campus before the shooting, dressed casually in shorts and a T-shirt, purchasing food at Chick-fil-A and interacting with members of Kirk’s staff, an investigator testified Tuesday.
Utah State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull outlined Tyler Robinson’s alleged actions before and after Kirk was fatally shot, as prosecutors showed state court previously unreleased campus surveillance footage. According to Hull, Robinson first arrived at the university roughly four hours before the killing.
As the court viewed video that Hull said showed Robinson walking toward a rooftop and lying down, Erika Kirk appeared emotional, crying and wiping her eyes.
Prosecutors have said they plan to pursue the death penalty. For now, they are working to persuade Judge Tony Graf that the evidence is sufficient for Robinson to stand trial on an aggravated murder charge.
Robinson has not entered a plea, and his attorneys have not publicly addressed whether he is guilty or innocent. They have sought to have the death penalty removed as a possible punishment, but those efforts have not succeeded so far.
In one video shown Tuesday, Hull testified that Robinson climbed over a railing onto a rooftop, crouched and ran to a position overlooking the area where Kirk was speaking. After the shot was fired, Hull said, Robinson ran back across the roof, dropped to the ground and fled on foot.
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Investigators later recovered what they believe was the murder weapon: a bolt-action rifle containing one spent round, wrapped in a towel and left in nearby woods. Hull also testified that a police officer spotted Robinson again in the campus area later that night.
The defense objected when prosecutors sought to broadcast a second, enhanced version of the same surveillance footage previously shown to the media, and the judge upheld the objection.
This week’s preliminary hearing marks the most significant presentation of evidence to date in the case. Authorities allege Robinson, 23, shot Kirk on Sept. 10 while the conservative activist and ally of President Trump was speaking to a crowd of thousands.
Former university police Officer Christopher Bagley testified Monday that he witnessed the shooting then went to the nearby gravel rooftop, where it appeared someone had been lying prone with a clear sightline to Kirk’s location.
“It looks like a sniper pad,” Bagley told the court.
Witness and FBI DNA analyst testify on towel and screwdriver evidence
Jennifer Faumuina, who worked for the State Bureau of Investigation at the time of the shooting, testified Tuesday that the gun was documented, and then packaged and taken to the FBI and eventually provided to a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms laboratory.
A screwdriver found on the rooftop of the Losee building on the Utah Valley University campus was also collected as evidence, she said.
DNA found on the towel was matched to two people, and one of them was Tyler Robinson’s roommate, Faumuina said.
FBI DNA analyst Amanda Bakker later testified that Robinson was included as a “possible contributor” of the DNA on the screwdriver and towel. She said she let the local investigators know about that result on Sept. 13.
U.S. Department of Justice policy is that examiners don’t use terms such as “absolute identification” or “reasonable degree of scientific certainty,” Bakker said.
Examiners also can’t imply that forensic autosomal DNA examinations are infallible.
Court will hear statement from Tyler Robinson’s roommate
Prosecutors also plan to present video from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office from Sept. 11 — the day Robinson turned himself in — and recorded testimony from Robinson’s roommate.
Judge Graf ruled last month that Robinson’s former roommate did not have to testify in person during the preliminary hearing.
Prosecutors allege Robinson confessed in a note left for his roommate, who was also his romantic partner, that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”
Robinson reportedly texted his roommate that he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred,” prosecutors have said.
Prosecutors have also said they plan to present DNA evidence linking Robinson to the suspected murder weapon, autopsy findings and witness statements. They contend the shooting endangered others at Kirk’s campus event — an aggravating circumstance that could make the crime punishable by death under Utah law.
Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images
Kirk’s family members attend hearing
Before his death, Kirk and the organization he co-founded, Turning Point USA, galvanized the conservative youth vote to help Mr. Trump win a second term.
This week marks the first time Kirk’s parents, Kathryn and Robert, and widow, Erika, have been in the courtroom since the case began. Robinson’s parents, Matt and Amber Robinson, also have been present and sat a few rows behind the Kirks on Monday.
Kirk’s family briefly walked out of the courtroom twice on Monday — when Bagley started testifying about Charlie Kirk’s arrival on campus and again when prosecutors introduced several graphic videos of Kirk’s shooting. Each time, they returned.
In a statement before Monday’s hearing, Kathryn and Robert Kirk said, “Every court proceeding serves as a painful reminder of his death and the loss that has irrevocably impacted our lives and the lives of his children.”
Prosecutors have a low bar
The proceeding resembles a minitrial, but prosecutors need only demonstrate that there are reasonable grounds to believe Robinson killed Kirk and should stand trial. The standard is lower than for a trial, where prosecutors must prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Legal experts say that means prosecutors should have little trouble advancing their case.
Defense attorney Kathryn Nester repeatedly objected to evidence introduced by prosecutors. She was mostly overruled by the judge.
When she asked Bagley about finding an empty pistol holster on the ground after the crowd fled, he acknowledged he never took custody of the holster and didn’t know whether it had been fingerprinted.
Spectators camped out for hearing
Utah County residents Denae Branch and Jean Rivera lined up outside the courthouse in Provo around midnight Tuesday and snagged one of the few seats available to the public.
The women said they were in the crowd when Kirk was shot and now think about it every day.
“It feels like a lot of the world just kept spinning and we’re still dealing with the trauma of it,” Branch said. “Our hearts and minds are still trying to process it and, yeah, it kind of helps being here.”
Rivera on Tuesday wore a shirt that read “FREEDOM” — just as Kirk did on the day he was shot. She said she hoped to hear testimony about Robinson’s alleged confession note.
Carter Evans
contributed to this report.
