A Utah state investigator took the stand Thursday and read aloud a string of text messages in which Tyler Robinson allegedly admitted to shooting Charlie Kirk, apologized to his former lover for dragging him into it, and laid out a motive rooted in what Robinson called Kirk's "hatred", all while scrambling to recover the rifle he said he left hidden in a bush.

The testimony came during the fifth day of Robinson's preliminary hearing, where prosecutors are building the case that the 23-year-old carried out a premeditated assassination of the Turning Point USA founder outside a campus event in Orem, Utah, last September. If the judge finds enough evidence to proceed, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Utah State Bureau of Investigation Agent Brian Davis walked the court through screenshots of an alleged exchange between Robinson and Lance Twiggs, Robinson's former roommate and former lover. The messages, as reported by Fox News Digital, paint a picture of a young man who had just carried out a political killing and was methodically trying to cover his tracks, while simultaneously confessing to the one person he trusted.

The texts: admission, apology, and a rifle in the bushes

The alleged exchange began with Robinson telling Twiggs to stop what he was doing and look under a keyboard. What followed was a series of messages in which Robinson allegedly told Twiggs he was "stuck in Orem" and needed to retrieve his rifle from a hiding spot near the scene.

When Twiggs asked directly, "You weren't the one who did it, right?", Robinson's alleged reply was blunt:

"I am. I'm sorry."

Twiggs pushed back, saying he thought police had already caught someone. Robinson allegedly explained that authorities had grabbed "some crazy old dude" and then interrogated another person in similar clothing, but that he was the actual shooter. He said he had planned to grab the rifle from a "drop point" shortly after the shooting, but that "most of that side of town got locked down."

When Twiggs asked why he did it, Robinson allegedly responded with what prosecutors are treating as a statement of motive:

"I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out. If I'm able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence. Going to attempt to retrieve it again. Hopefully they have moved on."

That single passage, mixing ideological justification with operational calculation, captures the chilling nature of what prosecutors say happened on September 10, 2025, when Kirk, 31, was shot and killed while speaking to a crowd at Utah Valley University during a "Prove Me Wrong" event.

Planning, preparation, and engraved bullets

Robinson allegedly told Twiggs he had been planning the attack for "a bit over a week." He described leaving the rifle in a bush where he changed outfits, saying he didn't have the time or ability to carry it with him. He worried about fingerprints. He watched for police activity near the hiding spot, noting a squad car parked nearby but reasoning that if officers had found the weapon, "there would be more commotion."

At one point, Robinson allegedly speculated that a K-9 unit had sniffed out the rifle. He expressed uncertainty about the weapon itself, describing it as "old as s***" and saying his "Gramps did some modifying." He didn't fully know what the gun was.

The messages also referenced engraved bullets. Robinson allegedly texted Twiggs: "Remember how I was engraving bullets? The f****** messages are mostly a big meme. If I see notices... on Fox News, I might have a stroke." Previously unsealed court documents had already revealed Robinson's confession note and texts, but the hearing brought new detail about the bullet engravings.

Those engravings were the subject of earlier testimony in the hearing. The New York Post reported that the spent round recovered near Utah Valley University was engraved with "Notices Bulge/OwO/What's This?", a meme associated with transgender and furry subcultures. Other ammunition allegedly bore video game references, a lyric from the anti-fascist Italian song "Bella Ciao," and the phrase "Hey fascist catch!"

Twiggs, Robinson's trans partner, testified under limited immunity during the hearing and confirmed the texts, describing Robinson's tearful confession.

Cleanup instructions and surrender

The alleged messages show Robinson shifting from confession to damage control. He told Twiggs to delete the exchange. He referenced his father wanting to use a high-caliber round for rifle hunting season, then pivoted to assess the weapon's effectiveness: "Judging from today, I say Gramps' gun does just fine."

Eventually, Robinson allegedly told Twiggs he planned to turn himself in. He wrote that one of his neighbors was a deputy for the sheriff and that he hoped "to keep things sort of quiet here." He instructed Twiggs to ask for a lawyer and stay silent if police came asking questions, naming Doug Terry as his intended attorney.

Robinson's alleged final message to Twiggs was a promise that Terry would reach out to make sure police "follow" proper procedure. The messages, taken together, read less like a panicked outburst and more like a man who had thought through both the act and its aftermath, yet still hadn't managed to retrieve the weapon that could tie him to the crime.

The AP reported that Robinson also told Twiggs the day after the shooting that "he wishes he hadn't done it," and posted "it was me at UVU yesterday" in a Discord chat room roughly an hour before turning himself in.

Defense challenges, prosecution confidence

Robinson's defense team has not disputed the existence of the messages but has focused its energy on challenging physical evidence. Defense attorneys questioned the reliability of DNA evidence linking Robinson to the rifle found near where Kirk was shot, as well as to ammunition and a tool allegedly used to etch messages onto bullet cartridges.

Ballistics testing on a bullet fragment recovered from Kirk's body proved inconclusive. ATF examiner Samantha Karner testified that "saying anything but inconclusive was inappropriate", a point the defense seized on. Newsmax reported that defense lawyers are working to sow doubt about the forensic case even as prosecutors argue the totality of evidence speaks for itself.

Deputy Utah County Attorney Chad Grunander told the judge bluntly: "Your honor's heard four days of testimony now. The evidence is overwhelming. It's devastating."

The judge will not issue a ruling on whether to bind Robinson over for trial until after oral arguments scheduled for September 1. The court had earlier decided to keep cameras in the courtroom and pushed the preliminary hearing to July, a decision that has allowed the public to see the prosecution's case unfold in real time.

The weight of the words

Forensic disputes are standard fare in any murder case. Defense lawyers are paid to challenge every link in the evidentiary chain, and inconclusive ballistics results give them something to work with.

But text messages are harder to explain away. If the court accepts these exchanges as authentic, and the prosecution presented them with screenshots, the jury will eventually read a defendant's own words describing his motive, his method, his escape plan, and his regret, all sent to the person closest to him.

Robinson allegedly engraved political taunts onto the ammunition he used to take a man's life. He allegedly planned the attack for over a week. He allegedly shot a 31-year-old man for the crime of speaking on a college campus. And then, by his own alleged account, he hid the rifle in a bush, changed clothes, and texted his ex-lover to apologize.

The killing of Charlie Kirk has sent ripples far beyond the courtroom. Turning Point USA has faced internal turmoil in the months since Kirk's death, and the organization's future remains a subject of debate.

Kirk's widow, Erika, has been drawn into public disputes of her own. Turning Point USA defended her publicly against outside criticism, and her attorney objected during the hearing to the redaction of certain video evidence, arguing it creates the false impression "that something else lurks in there that isn't."

None of that changes what Agent Davis read into the record Thursday. The words attributed to Tyler Robinson don't need a prosecutor's spin. They don't need a commentator's outrage. They speak plainly enough on their own.

A man who engraves jokes onto the bullets he uses to take a life, then texts an apology to his ex, that's not political resistance. That's the cold arithmetic of someone who decided another human being's existence was negotiable. The court will sort the evidence. The words, if authentic, have already sorted the man.