The Utah District Court in Provo has entered the second day of preliminary hearings in the murder case of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, with his widow Erica Kirk present at the hearing. Within a week, the court will have to determine whether prosecutors have sufficient evidence to transfer the case against Tyler Robinson to consideration on the merits as part of a full trial, The New York Times reports.
The hearing began with cross-examination by one of the lead investigators in the case, David Hull. At the time of the investigation, he was serving with the Utah Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The day before, Hull had already testified: prosecutors used them to show video recordings of the moment of the murder.
New surveillance footage from Utah Valley University, where Kirk was killed during a public appearance last fall, was played in court Tuesday. They show a man, identified by investigators as Tyler Robinson, arriving on campus around 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 10, the day of the murder. He spoke with Turning Point USA members accompanying Charlie Kirk and then left campus. He returned to campus later that morning and purchased food from the Chick-fil-A restaurant located on campus about two hours before the murder.
Robinson was also caught on camera after the shooting – the recording shows him running along the roof of one of the university buildings, then jumping onto the lawn and leaving the territory on foot.
Start of hearings
On Monday, the prosecution focused on explaining the circumstances of the crime. Prosecutors explained in detail the layout of Utah Valley University's campus and also presented forensic evidence. According to the conclusion, the cause of the activist’s death was a gunshot wound to the neck, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
In addition to Hull, former Utah Valley University police officer Chris Bagley took the stand. He said thousands of people attended the Turning Point USA event with Kirk in attendance. Bagley said he clearly heard a shot that he thought came from a rifle. The witness noted that there was a direct aiming line between the Losee Center campus building and where Kirk was under the white tent.
Bagley then climbed to the roof of the Losee Center, where he discovered what he called a “sniper's position” – a depression in the loose gravel. He said the marks looked like someone was lying there face down in a prone position.
During the hearing, the prosecution also showed several videos that captured the moment Kirk was shot and security officers attempting to provide first aid to him. As the tapes were shown, and at the beginning of Bagley's testimony about Kirk's arrival on campus, Kirk's widow and his parents briefly left the courtroom.
The defendant sat quietly between his lawyers throughout the trial, watching the evidence presented by the prosecution on the monitor and taking notes from time to time.
The meeting was attended by Donald Trump Jr. and his wife Bettina, who took seats in the front row. The media note enhanced security measures: Erica Kirk, the parents of the murdered man and Trump Jr. and his wife arrived with security, and Robinson was taken from the county jail in an armored car.
At least ten law enforcement officers were on duty at the courthouse, including several SWAT members who were out of camera view, NBC3 News notes.
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was killed while speaking at Utah Valley University last September. Student Tyler Robinson was arrested as the primary suspect approximately 33 hours after the crime. As RTVI previously reported, during the search for the suspect, over 7,000 tips were received and about 200 interrogations were conducted.
Robinson has been charged with a total of 7 counts, including murder, causing grievous bodily harm, obstruction of justice, and tampering with witnesses. As aggravating circumstances, the prosecutor's office points to the alleged political motive of the crime, as well as the fact that it was committed in the presence of children.
According to investigators, Robinson wrote to friends that he shot Kirk because he was “tired of his hatred.” His correspondence also shows that the rifle used in the attack previously belonged to his grandfather. The prosecutor's office intends to seek the death penalty for the defendant.
The presentation of evidence will continue throughout the week. The meetings are broadcast live.
