Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / Judge Graf And The Order To Bind Tyler Robinson Over For Trial On All Counts Charged (Part 1) (9/4/26)

Transcript

Judge Graf And The Order To Bind Tyler Robinson Over For Trial On All Counts Charged (Part 1) (9/4/26) · The Epstein Chronicles

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome back to the program. Now
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: that Tyler Robinson is going to be standing trial for
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the murder of Charlie Kirk, Judge Graff has released the
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: order and the memorandum going with it. So in this episode,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: we're going to begin taking a look at the ruling
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: and order on Tyler Robinson standing trial for the murder
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: of Charlie Kirk, state of Utah plaintiff. versus Tyler James Robinson,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: the defendant. Ruling and order on preliminary hearing bind over.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Case number 251403576. Before the court is the state's motion
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: to bind defendant Tyler James Robinson over for trial in
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: the district court on all seven counts charged in the information.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: The charges include count one, aggravated murder, a capital felony
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: under Utah Code section 76-5-202. together with the state's victim
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: targeting notice. Count two, felony discharge of a firearm causing
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: serious bodily injury, a first degree felony under section 76-11-210.
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  Speaker 1: Counts three and four, obstruction of justice, second degree felonies
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  Speaker 1: under 76-83062. Counts five and six, tampering with a witness,
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  Speaker 1: third degree felonies under section 76-8508. And count seven, violent
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  Speaker 1: offense committed in the presence of a child, a Class
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  Speaker 1: B misdemeanor under Section 76-3-203.10, which the state alleges is
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: reclassified as a Class A misdemeanor under 76-3-203.14. The court,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: acting as magistrate, conducted a five-day prelim hearing from July
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  Speaker 1: 6 to July 10, 2026. The court received testimony from
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  Speaker 1: several witnesses and including Utah State Bureau of Investigation's SBI
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  Speaker 1: agent Brian Davis and David Hull, FBI forensic DNA examiner
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Amanda Baker, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
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  Speaker 1: firearm and Tumark examiner Samantha Karner. The court also provisionally
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: admitted and reviewed extensive video and documentary exhibits. Following the
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: evidentiary hearing, the court ordered post-hearing briefing. The state filed
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  Speaker 1: its memorandum in support of prelim hearing bind over on
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  Speaker 1: July 28, 2026. Defendant filed his prelim hearing briefing on
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: August 11, 2026. And the state filed its reply memorandum
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  Speaker 1: on August 18, 2026. Oral argument was held on September 1, 2026.
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  Speaker 1: Having considered the party's written submissions, the evidence admitted at
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: the preliminary hearing, the arguments of counsel, and the governing authorities,
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  Speaker 1: The court enters this ruling in order. The findings and
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  Speaker 1: conclusions in this ruling in order are preliminary and apply
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  Speaker 1: only under the standards of governing a Utah prelim hearing.
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  Speaker 1: They do not determine defendant's guilt, the ultimate credibility of witnesses,
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  Speaker 1: the weight of evidence, or the admissibility of evidence at trial.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Procedural and Factual Background On September 10, 2025, Turning Point
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  Speaker 1: USA hosted an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
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  Speaker 1: The event included public discussion of political, social, cultural, and
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  Speaker 1: religious issues. Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA,
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  Speaker 1: was the headline speaker and was scheduled to speak to
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  Speaker 1: participants and answer their questions. The event took place on
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: the campus courtyard, an outdoor amphitheater located in the middle
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  Speaker 1: of several campus buildings. Thousands of participants gathered in the
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  Speaker 1: courtyard and surrounding areas, including at least two children. A
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  Speaker 1: white canopy tent was set up, on the west side
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  Speaker 1: of the courtyard adjacent to the Hall of Flags, a
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  Speaker 1: raised walkway that runs north-south through campus. Mr. Kirk entered
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  Speaker 1: the courtyard by walking underneath the Hall of Flags to
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  Speaker 1: the white tent. At approximately 12.20 p.m., Mr. Kirk was
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: sitting on a raised chair under the middle of the
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  Speaker 1: tent behind a U-shaped table. A man standing to the
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  Speaker 1: right of and behind Mr. Kirk at an unknown distance
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  Speaker 1: from Mr. Kirk. The man was close enough that his
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  Speaker 1: body is positioned underneath the tent. Another man was standing
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  Speaker 1: to the left of and in front of Mr. Kirk
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  Speaker 1: and the tent, northeast, at an unknown distance from Mr. Kirk.
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  Speaker 1: Another man was standing to the right and in front
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  Speaker 1: of Mr. Kirk and the tent. A participant was standing
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  Speaker 1: at a microphone positioned in front of the tent, east,
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  Speaker 1: at unknown distance from Mr. Kirk. The front row of
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  Speaker 1: the crowd of participants was located east of the microphone
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  Speaker 1: at an unknown distance from Mr. Kirk. The participant at
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  Speaker 1: the microphone and the crowd were separated from Mr. Kirk's
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  Speaker 1: tent by a patch of grass of unknown dimensions and barriers.
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  Speaker 1: At approximately 12.23 that afternoon, Mr. Kirk was answering a
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  Speaker 1: question from a participant standing at the microphone. Officer Christopher
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: Bagley with the Utah Valley University Campus Police heard a
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  Speaker 1: rifle shot from the east. He saw Mr. Kirk lean
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  Speaker 1: and fall to his left. The man standing to Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Kirk's right took more than two steps to reach Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Kirk's side. Mr. Kirk's security team carried him out of
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  Speaker 1: the courtyard, under the Hall of Flags, and to the hospital,
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  Speaker 1: where he was pronounced dead. Mr. Kirk died by a
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  Speaker 1: gunshot wound to his neck. Forensic examination of the bullet
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  Speaker 1: fragments found in Mr. Kirk's body revealed the bullet to
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  Speaker 1: be a. 30 caliber class round. The trajectory of the
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  Speaker 1: bullet was anatomically from front to back, slightly left to right,
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  Speaker 1: and downward. State example 11. The bullet did not exit Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Kirk's body, but came to rest in the subcutaneous tissue
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  Speaker 1: in his upper back, left of the midline. Officer Bagley
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  Speaker 1: searched the roof of the Losey Center, a campus building
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  Speaker 1: east of, but not directly adjacent, to the courtyard. The
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  Speaker 1: top of the Losey building is made with two shades
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  Speaker 1: of gravel, a dark gray and a lighter gray. It
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  Speaker 1: has four stories, including an atrium on the roof. There
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  Speaker 1: is a public outside stairway attached to the building that
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  Speaker 1: leads to a pathway going east. A guardrail protects the
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  Speaker 1: roof of the Losey Center from the pathway, but the
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  Speaker 1: guardrail is short enough to be jumped over. When a
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  Speaker 1: person stands on the southwest corner of the roof of
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  Speaker 1: the Losey Center, there is a clear line of sight
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  Speaker 1: to the white canopy tent where Charlie Kirk was sitting.
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  Speaker 1: Officer Bagley found a red and black screwdriver approximately 10
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  Speaker 1: to 15 feet west of the guardrail on the roof
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  Speaker 1: of the Losey Center. He saw disturbances in the rooftop
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  Speaker 1: gravel on the southwest corner of the building and The
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  Speaker 1: disturbances were described by Officer Bagley as consistent with a
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  Speaker 1: sniper pad, meaning a place where a person was lying
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  Speaker 1: in a prone position with a line of sight to
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  Speaker 1: where Mr. Kirk had been seated. The distance from the
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  Speaker 1: perch area to the tent was approximately 415 feet, angled downward.
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  Speaker 1: The elevation difference between the perch and the tent is
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: 68 feet. Around 6pm that day, investigators located a rifle
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  Speaker 1: wrapped in a black towel in a wooded area on
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  Speaker 1: the north side of the campus drive, an area to
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  Speaker 1: the northeast of the low-sea center. The rifle was a
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  Speaker 1: Mauser model, 98 bolt-action, that had been retrofitted to a.
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  Speaker 1: 30- 06 barrel and was operable condition. It contained an optical accessory.
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  Speaker 1: A bolt-action rifle requires a user to manipulate the bolt
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  Speaker 1: to load it, lock it, and extract anything that's in it,
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  Speaker 1: including a spent shell casing. When investigators located the rifle,
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  Speaker 1: they found one. 30- 06 fired cartridge casing as well as
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  Speaker 1: three unfired cartridges. The casings and unfired cartridges had engravings
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  Speaker 1: on them. The towel, rifle, casing, and cartridges were sent
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  Speaker 1: to the FBI for testing. Further investigation revealed that in
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  Speaker 1: the early morning hours on September 10, 2025, Mr. Robinson
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  Speaker 1: left his apartment in St. George, Utah and traveled to
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: Utah Valley University campus in Orem, Utah. At 8.30 a.m.,
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  Speaker 1: A gray or silver Dodge Charger entered the parking garage
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  Speaker 1: on campus. The Charger included the distinctive wheels, is consistent
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  Speaker 1: with the car owned by Mr. Robinson. A person identified
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  Speaker 1: as Mr. Robinson exited the Charger and walked on foot
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  Speaker 1: out of the parking garage towards the outdoor amphitheater on campus.
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  Speaker 1: He was wearing a maroon shirt, short sleeves, shorts, a hat,
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  Speaker 1: and a backpack. He spoke with representatives from Turning Point
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  Speaker 1: USA and then returned to his vehicle in at approximately 9.25 a.m.
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  Speaker 1: He drove out of the parking garage. Video surveillance captured
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  Speaker 1: a person identified as Mr. Robinson returning to campus on
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  Speaker 1: foot from the Northeast just after 10 a.m. He ate
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  Speaker 1: at Chick-fil-A in the Sorenson Center, one of the buildings
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  Speaker 1: adjacent to the outdoor amphitheater. He then walked to the
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  Speaker 1: Northeast corner of the campus to a wooded area on
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  Speaker 1: the north side of Campus Drive. Just prior to 11 a.m.,
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  Speaker 1: he returned to campus and walked up the exterior stairway
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  Speaker 1: of Losey Center Building to the guardrail that, if climbed over,
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  Speaker 1: could give access to the roof of the building. He
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  Speaker 1: then walked back down the stairs and off campus. At 11.53 a.m.,
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  Speaker 1: a person identified as Mr. Robinson then returned to campus
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  Speaker 1: wearing the same shoes but different clothing, a dark long-sleeved shirt, jeans,
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  Speaker 1: and a backpack. He walked with a gait or a limp,
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  Speaker 1: his right leg stiff. He had nothing in his hands.
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  Speaker 1: Video surveillance just afternoon captured a person wearing dark clothing
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  Speaker 1: and a backpack slowly walking and limping down the sidewalk
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  Speaker 1: in front of the Losey Center toward the exterior staircase
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  Speaker 1: that leads to the roof. At approximately 12.15pm, video surveillance
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  Speaker 1: captured a person wearing a dark, long-sleeved shirt and pants
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  Speaker 1: at the top of the exterior staircase of the Losey Center.
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  Speaker 1: The person climbs or rolls over the guardrail separating the
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  Speaker 1: walk from the roof of the building. At approximately 12.22 p.m.,
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: the same person seen running toward the southwest corner of
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  Speaker 1: the rooftop of the Losey Center. He crouches down, crawls,
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  Speaker 1: then stops in a prone position for approximately 45 seconds.
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  Speaker 1: He then gets up and runs from the southwest corner
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  Speaker 1: of the roof to the northeast corner of the roof.
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  Speaker 1: He's holding a long, skinny, dark object in his hand.
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  Speaker 1: He lowers himself off of the roof and lands on
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  Speaker 1: the grass. He walks towards Campus Drive, crosses the street,
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  Speaker 1: and enters the wooded area. At approximately 11 p.m., Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Lance Twiggs, Mr. Robinson's roommate, whom he'd been dating, received
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  Speaker 1: a text from Mr. Robinson's phone number. The text told Mr.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: Twiggs to look under his keyboard. Under the keyboard was
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  Speaker 1: a note purportedly written by Mr. Robinson saying, explaining that
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  Speaker 1: I had left the house that morning on a mission.
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  Speaker 1: I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and
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  Speaker 1: I took it. I wish we could live in a
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  Speaker 1: world where this did not feel necessary. Mr. Twiggs took
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: a picture of the note. Mr. Twiggs responded to the
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  Speaker 1: text from Mr. Robinson's phone and asked, You're joking, right?
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  Speaker 1: The texter explained that he was still in Orem because
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: he left his rifle wrapped in a towel in a
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  Speaker 1: bush where he changed outfits. The texter explains, if I'm
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left
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  Speaker 1: no evidence. I'd D.E.K. if it had a serial number,
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: but it wouldn't trace to me. I worry about prints.
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  Speaker 1: I might have abandoned it and hope they don't find prints.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: He continues, judging from today, I'd say Grandpa's gun does
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: just fine. I think that was a $ 2, 000 scope. When Mr.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: Twiggs asked, you weren't the one who did it, right?
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  Speaker 1: The texter responded, I am. I'm sorry. When Mr. Twiggs
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: asked why he did it, the texter responded, I had
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  Speaker 1: enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out.
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  Speaker 1: When asked how long he had been planning it, the
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: texter responded, A bit over a week, I believe. The
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: texter directed Mr. Twiggs to delete this exchange. Near the
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  Speaker 1: end of the exchange, the texter directs, If any police
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  Speaker 1: ask you questions, ask for a lawyer and stay silent.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: The texter told Mr. Twiggs, he was going to willingly
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: turn himself in. All right, folks, we're going to wrap
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  Speaker 1: up the first episode right here. And in the next episode,
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: we're going to pick up with at approximately 1230 a.m.
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  Speaker 1: All the information that goes with this episode can be
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: found in the description box.