Tyler Robinson Hearing Ends Without Ruling as Evidence Undercuts Charlie Kirk Conspiracy Claims

PROVO, Utah — A preliminary hearing for Tyler Robinson in the assassination case of Charlie Kirk ended Friday without an immediate ruling from Judge Tony Graf Jr., but the weeklong proceeding offered the public its most detailed look yet at the evidence prosecutors have gathered.

Robinson, 23, is charged with fatally shooting Kirk, 31, from a rooftop sniper position during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025.

Rather than issue a decision at the close of the hearing, Graf granted a defense request allowing attorneys to submit written briefs before he determines whether the case should proceed to trial. That decision is expected to extend the process by roughly six weeks. The next hearing is set for Sept. 1, just days before the one-year mark of Kirk’s death.

The case has drawn intense public attention, and the combination of sealed filings, closed-door hearings and a slow-moving legal process has fueled a number of conspiracy theories about what happened in Orem last year. Several of those claims were addressed, and in some cases undermined, by testimony and evidence presented in court over the past week.

Among the claims examined in court:

Kirk’s cause and manner of death

Although Robinson’s defense team objected to the presentation of Kirk’s autopsy report in court, Utah State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull testified that Kirk’s death was classified as a homicide caused by a gunshot wound to the neck.

The testimony offered no indication that the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy found evidence inconsistent with that conclusion, effectively undercutting theories that suggested an exploding microphone or another alternative cause of death.

While there has been some speculation about the lack of a visible “exit wound” in graphic video of Kirk’s murder, the doctor who performed the autopsy was still confident it was the gunshot that killed Kirk.

James Gagliano, a retired FBI supervisory special agent and Fox News contributor, said that over his 25-year career, he’s seen .22-caliber rounds go all the way through a human body, and much larger .45-caliber rounds hit a bone, muscle or even soft tissue and stop.

“Suppositions like this highlight a complete ignorance of ballistics and are typically spouted by those who have never stood alongside a medical examiner conducting homicide victim autopsies,” Gagliano said. “It’s to be expected that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms’ ‘inconclusive’ determination in attempts to match bullet fragments from Kirk’s body with the murder weapon would cause conspiratorial conjecture.”

The forensic pathologist recovered bullet fragments from Kirk’s body, which were sent to the ATF for testing. Although tool marks on the fragments themselves were inconclusive, the caliber was consistent with a spent cartridge casing found in the suspected murder weapon — which authorities allege had Robinson’s DNA on it.

On the other hand, the defense may have fanned some flames by playing up evidence of other, unrelated weapons recovered at the scene.

The defense noted that investigators found an empty pistol holster just steps from where Kirk was killed as well as an unfired .223 round on the roof of another building.

Robinson is shorter than the suspect seen on UVU surveillance video

According to this theory, the suspect is several inches taller than Robinson, who is listed as standing 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing around 150 pounds, according to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.

The video isn’t the only evidence that prosecutors say places Robinson at UVU, however. They have surveillance video of a Dodge Challenger coming and going. He allegedly encountered a Spanish Fork police officer who ran his license plates. And his DNA was allegedly recovered from a screwdriver found near the sniper’s perch and on the suspected murder weapon, hidden in a “wooded area” just steps away from campus.

Tayler Hansen, an independent journalist, attempted to recreate the suspect’s route across campus to test and debunk this theory with a video of his own.

“I went down there and decided to capture as close to the same angles as I could, compare myself, because I’m six-feet-tall, and the new conspiracy is that the real shooter, what they’re claiming, is anywhere between six-foot-two to six-foot-three,” he told INC News Friday.

Although he didn’t have access to the campus surveillance footage, he said he did his best to place his camera at the same angle and height as the school’s cameras. Then he retraced Robinson’s steps and compared their heights.

“I was slightly taller, just in the ever slight amount,” he said. “And that’s enough right there, I mean it’s enough to say, ‘OK guys, let’s move on to the next one.'”

Robinson wasn’t even on campus

Again, investigators alleged they can place Robinson on campus multiple times the day of the murder with video, physical and digital evidence.

They say he arrived in the morning, entered the campus, left, and came back later with different clothes on, following virtually the same path. And they showed a compilation video taken by UVU surveillance cameras showing all of that.

Additionally, Robinson allegedly made contact with some Turning Point USA representatives on campus.

In addition to the evidence mentioned above, police also obtained a Cellebrite extraction from Robinson’s phone, according to testimony throughout the week. Such extractions include information about calls, texts, app usage and location and phone tower data. Robinson’s defense attorneys have not introduced any phone data that could place him somewhere else at the time of the murder.

Maroon shirts

Another conspiracy theory promoted on social media claims that there are “many” young men who decided to wear maroon shirts and light shorts on the day Charlie Kirk was killed, stating “without a clear image, they certainly cannot declare it is Tyler Robinson.”

A compilation video played in court shows the suspect in two different outfits — one of which included a maroon T-shirt. In the other, he wore a black, long-sleeved shirt. Prosecutors have alleged Robinson appears to be both of them, and they also have video of the suspect getting out of a gray Dodge Challenger in the school’s parking garage — the same kind of vehicle Robinson drove.

In addition to the suspect wearing a maroon T-shirt at UVU, Robinson was also wearing a maroon T-shirt when he surrendered to authorities, video shows.

Claims that Lance Twiggs was never interviewed

Lance Twiggs, Robinson’s former roommate and lover, sat for multiple interviews with authorities, including one that the prosecution attempted to play video of in court. After some objections from the defense, a redacted version was shown.

It was between Twiggs and Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride, one of the prosecutors on the case. Additional investigators were present but not shown on camera, including Agent Brian Davis of the Utah SBI.

The highly anticipated video was a huge part of the hearing this week.

Foreign government involvement

The defense tried hard not to allow the public to hear testimony from Twiggs or see text messages, Discord chat logs or the handwritten note Robinson left for Twiggs — all three of which include what appear to be admissions of guilt.

Graf allowed that evidence, however, and the defense showed nothing to indicate there was a foreign conspiracy involved in Kirk’s murder.