PROVO, Utah — The state brought forth its proof in a crowded courtroom. A towel and a screwdriver, left behind in the wake of violence, bore the genetic markers of two men. Prosecutors allege the DNA belongs to Tyler Robinson, the accused gunman, and Lance Twiggs, his former roommate and lover.
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Subscribe Sekarang →The crime took place on a late summer afternoon, September 10, 2025, during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University. There, the 31-year-old conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed. According to police testimony, Robinson used a dark towel to hide a Mauser 98 bolt-action rifle in the woods near the campus shortly after the fatal shot was fired.
The weapon had been modified to fire .30-06 rounds. Based on testimony from Sgt. Jennifer Faumuina of the State Bureau of Investigations, those rounds matched the caliber of the bullet fragments recovered during Kirk's autopsy. Her team also recovered a screwdriver from the rooftop of the campus Losee Center, the vantage point where the killer allegedly stood.
David Hull of the Utah Department of Public Safety presented surveillance footage to the court. The video tracked Robinson as he moved across the campus and drove his Dodge Challenger before and after the shooting. It was a cold recording of a man's movements on a fatal day.
An FBI forensic analyst, Amanda Bakker, testified that Robinson was likely the majority donor of the DNA found on both the towel and the screwdriver. Twiggs was identified as the minority contributor. Twiggs has not been charged with a crime and is currently cooperating with the state's investigators.
The defense attorney, Michael Burt, questioned the analyst at length, drawing multiple objections from prosecutor Ryan McBride. The state argued the defense went far beyond the requirements of a preliminary hearing. Judge Tony Graf Jr. monitored the exchange while the father of the deceased watched from the gallery and took notes.
The hearing will determine if there is probable cause to head to a full trial. Robinson, 23, faces a heavy list of charges including aggravated murder, which carries the possibility of the death penalty. He has not yet entered a plea. Legal experts, including Maryland attorney Randolph Rice, stated that the establishment of probable cause in this case remains an absolute certainty.