The fourth day of Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing in the assassination of Charlie Kirk brought some of the most condemning testimony yet, as prosecutors played a recorded interview with Robinson’s former roommate and introduced DNA results tying Robinson to the murder weapon, and presented text messages exchanged between the two men in the hours after the September 10, 2025 shooting at Utah Valley University.

Robinson, 23, faces several charges including aggravated murder, a capital offense, in Kirk’s killing outside a “Prove Me Wrong” event in Orem. The hearing, now in its fifth day Friday, will determine whether prosecutors have shown sufficient probable cause to send the case to trial.

Thursday’s proceedings opened with Judge Tony Graf declining a request from an attorney representing Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, to have every piece of evidence displayed in open court. Graf said he would continue using a tiered approach, weighing each exhibit separately for admission, in-courtroom display, and broadcast to the public. A media attorney pushed for maximum transparency, while Robinson’s defense accused the Kirk family’s legal team of dragging out proceedings with matters unrelated to the evidence itself.

Utah State Bureau of Investigation agent Brian Davis then played the long-awaited video interview with Lance Twiggs, Robinson’s former roommate, portions of which were redacted. Twiggs told investigators that roughly a month before the shooting, Robinson had asked to borrow a Dremel tool, saying he wanted to engrave bullets ahead of a family hunting trip. Twiggs said he later confronted Robinson in person, who confirmed the shooting was real and appeared visibly shaken. Twiggs also said Robinson generally discussed politics in the context of the Trump administration and current policy debates.

Text messages between the pair, recovered from Twiggs’ phone, were read into the record. In the exchange, Robinson confirmed to Twiggs that he was responsible for the shooting, telling him he could no longer tolerate Kirk’s rhetoric. He described plans to retrieve the rifle he’d left behind at the scene, expressed concern about a police vehicle stationed nearby, and worried about fingerprints on the weapon. He later informed Twiggs he intended to surrender to authorities voluntarily.

A Discord channel tied to Robinson under the username “tyler/ikum” was also entered into evidence, along with a photograph of a handwritten note Twiggs found under Robinson’s keyboard the night of the shooting — a note that was inadvertently broadcast to media during the proceedings before officials caught the error.

Sergeant Jennifer Faumina of the Utah State Bureau of Investigation, who oversaw the crime scene, testified that a bolt-action rifle wrapped in a towel was recovered from bushes near campus, along with a fired cartridge casing and three unfired rounds bearing engraved messages. Search warrants executed at Robinson’s residence turned up a Dremel tool and bits, ammunition, shoes matching surveillance footage, a cartridge marked “test shot,” and multiple shooting targets. DNA testing on the rifle, cartridges, and Dremel tool all returned results implicating Robinson as a likely contributor.

A defense witness, ATF forensic examiner Samantha Carner, testified that while she conducted toolmark and rifling analysis on the recovered bullet fragments, the quality and quantity of the markings were insufficient to either conclusively link or exclude them from the recovered firearm.

Judge Graf ultimately decided not to issue closing arguments Friday as originally scheduled, instead asking both sides to submit written briefs on whether probable cause has been established, with oral arguments now set for September 1.