PROVO, Utah (Court TV) — A last-minute plea from Charlie Kirk’s widow prompted a judge to overturn his earlier ruling, allowing the public to see an interview with Tyler Robinson’s roommate and lover for the first time.
Tyler Robinson listens during a preliminary hearing on Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Spenser Heaps, Pool)
Robinson, 23, has been in court all week for a multi-day preliminary hearing; he has pleaded not guilty to seven charges, including murder, in Charlie Kirk’s death. Charlie Kirk, 31, was a well-known conservative political influencer when he was shot to death while hosting an event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025.
Lance Twiggs, who was both Robinson’s roommate and lover at the time of Kirk’s killing, participated in a recorded interview with a prosecutor in lieu of appearing to testify in-person at the preliminary hearing.
Judge Tony Graf had initially ordered that Twiggs’ interview would be among other evidence shown only to him and not made publicly visible to those in court or broadcast by media attending the hearing. On Wednesday evening, Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, filed a document with the court requesting that the judge reconsider his position. Erika Kirk joined Charlie Kirk’s parents in traveling to the hearing “for one reason: to be present at these proceedings and to bear witness to the evidence concerning the death of their husband and son,” the document reads. “They were present in body, yet denied the very thing their presence was meant to secure: their ability to meaningfully observe the preliminary hearing.”
A recorded interview with Lance Twiggs was played during Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing on July 9, 2026. (Court TV)
When the preliminary hearing resumed on Thursday, Graf gave Erika Kirk’s attorney a chance to address him regarding their request; he also allowed input from the prosecution, the defense and a media attorney present in court. After hearing the arguments, Graf reconsidered his previous ruling and ordered prosecutors to revise their planned presentation of Twiggs’ interview in preparation for its showing in court.
In the recording, Twiggs said he had met Robinson in person in 2023 after meeting online. When the two first met, “he was just a new roommate,” Twiggs said. Within two to three months, however, the two had developed a romantic relationship.
Discussing the date of Charlie Kirk’s killing, Twiggs said that he noticed Robinson had gotten up earlier than usual. “I heard him leaving, and he just said he had, like, a long drive to work that day so he was leaving early.” Later that day, he received a text message from Robinson instructing him to look beneath his keyboard; he allegedly found a note there that said, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”
Erika Kirk leaves the Fourth District Courthouse, Monday, July 6, 2026, in Provo, Utah, after a hearing for Tyler Robinson. (AP Photo/Marielle Scott)
The two roommates met in person one last time in their apartment in the early hours of Sept. 11, before Robinson turned himself in to the police. “He didn’t go into detail,” Twiggs said. “I just asked him in person if what he said was true the night before, and he said it was. He started crying a little bit and said he wished he hadn’t done it. And then kept going around and just doing stuff to keep himself busy or distracted or something.”
Early in the investigation, detectives revealed that bullets found in the rifle believed to have been used to kill Charlie Kirk had been engraved with messages. One bullet read, “Hey Facist! Catch! [arrow symbols]” while another said “If you Read This, You Are GAY Lmao.”
Detectives asked Twiggs whether he recalled Robinson ever engraving messages on bullets, and Twiggs confirmed he had. “He said he was planning to go hunting with his family. He asked me if we had a Dremel because he said he wanted to create messages on bullets.” At the time, Twiggs said, he didn’t think the behavior was strange. “I told him to make sure he doesn’t set off the bullet on accident in the house, but I didn’t really think about it.”
While Graf agreed to allow the media to broadcast Twiggs’ interview, no cameras were allowed to record images of the note allegedly penned by Robinson or several other exhibits of messages. The evidence was, however, visible to all those seated in the courtroom, including Charlie Kirk’s parents and Erika Kirk.
The preliminary hearing is expected to continue on Friday.
