A judge’s order meant to keep evidence under wraps backfired in spectacular fashion Thursday, when a handwritten confession note allegedly left by accused killer Tyler Robinson flashed briefly across a courtroom livestream for the public to see.
The slip happened during a high-stakes preliminary hearing for Robinson, 23, who faces the death penalty if convicted of fatally shooting conservative commentator Charlie Kirk before thousands of witnesses at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025.
Earlier in the week, Judge Tony Graf had specifically ruled that any material prosecutors characterize as a confession could not be shown to the public prior to jury selection. That order, it turned out, didn’t hold for long.
As originally reported, two images of the alleged note appeared on the court’s livestream Thursday before anyone caught the error. One showed the partially burned note. The other was an earlier photograph of the undamaged letter, which investigators said was taken from the phone of Robinson’s roommate and former romantic partner, Lance Twiggs. Graf noticed the mistake and ordered both images pulled from the public feed.
Prosecutors allege Robinson left the handwritten note tucked beneath a computer keyboard for Twiggs to find. According to court filings and the photographed letter, Robinson addressed Twiggs by the name “Luna,” which Twiggs told investigators was a name used only by certain people in his life.
The note’s contents were stark and direct. It read, in part: “If you are reading this per my text, then I am so sorry. I left the house this morning on a mission, and set an auto text. I am likely dead, or facing a lengthy prison sentence. I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I took it.
The note continued: “I don’t know if I will/have succeeded, but I had hoped to make it home to you. I wish we could have lived in a world where this did not feel necessary. I wish I could have stayed for you and lived our lives together.”
Twiggs told investigators during an April police interview that he discovered the note after Robinson sent him a text directing him to look under the keyboard.
The accidental broadcast is a significant moment in what is already a closely watched case. The weeklong preliminary hearing has drawn intense public attention, and the judge’s earlier order was clearly intended to protect Robinson’s right to a fair trial by keeping potentially damaging evidence away from prospective jurors. That protection, however briefly, failed on Thursday.