Will Cain dissects 'absurd,' 'insane' conspiracy theories in Charlie Kirk's killing
Fox News host Will Cain breaks down the conspiracy theories circulating online about the death of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on ‘The Will Cain Show.’
PROVO, Utah — Tyler Robinson's preliminary hearing in the assassination of Charlie Kirk came to a close without a decision from Judge Tony Graf Jr. on Friday, but the week-long proceeding introduced a wide swath of evidence in the case to the public.
Robinson, 23, is accused of shooting Kirk, 31, from a rooftop sniper's perch during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025.
Graf agreed to a defense request to allow lawyers to file briefs before he decides whether Robinson's case should go to trial, a move that adds about six weeks to the process. The next hearing, on Sept. 1, is scheduled to be held just days before the first full year since Kirk's assassination.
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A split image showing Tyler Robinson talking to his lawyers in court and Charlie Kirk at the UVU rally where he was killed. (Rick Egan/Pool via Reuters, Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
Amid the lengthy process, enormous public interest in the case and closed-door hearings and court filings, a series of conspiracy theories about what happened last year in Orem have emerged. Many of them were debunked by evidence introduced in court over the last week:
The claims:
Kirk's cause and manner of death
Although Robinson's defense team objected to showing his autopsy report in court, testimony from Utah State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull listed his death as a homicide caused by a gunshot wound to the neck.
The testimony included no indication that the forensic pathologist who handled the autopsy found anything inconsistent with that conclusion, ruling out theories involving an exploding microphone.
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While there has been some speculation about the lack of a visible "exit wound" in graphic video of Kirk's murder, the doctor who performed the autopsy was still confident it was the gunshot that killed Kirk.
Samantha Karner, a firearm and tool mark examiner for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, testifies during a preliminary hearing for Tyler Robinson, who is accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, at the Fourth District Courthouse in Provo, Utah, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Spenser Heaps, Pool)
James Gagliano, a retired FBI supervisory special agent and Fox News contributor, said that over his 25-year career, he's seen .22-caliber rounds go all the way through a human body, and much larger .45-caliber rounds hit a bone, muscle or even soft tissue and stop.
"Suppositions like this highlight a complete ignorance of ballistics and are typically spouted by those who have never stood alongside a medical examiner conducting homicide victim autopsies," Gagliano said. "It’s to be expected that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms' 'inconclusive' determination in attempts to match bullet fragments from Kirk’s body with the murder weapon would cause conspiratorial conjecture."
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The forensic pathologist recovered bullet fragments from Kirk's body, which were sent to the ATF for testing. Although tool marks on the fragments themselves were inconclusive, the caliber was consistent with a spent cartridge casing found in the suspected murder weapon — which authorities allege had Robinson's DNA on it.
On the other hand, the defense may have fanned some flames by playing up evidence of other, unrelated weapons recovered at the scene.
The defense noted that investigators found an empty pistol holster just steps from where Kirk was killed as well as an unfired .223 round on the roof of another building.
Robinson is shorter than the suspect seen on UVU surveillance video
WATCH: Man who recreated Tyler Robinson's alleged route at UVU slams conspiracy theories
According to this theory, the suspect is several inches taller than Robinson, who is listed as standing 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing around 150 pounds, according to the Utah County Sheriff's Office.
The video isn't the only evidence that prosecutors say places Robinson at UVU, however. They have surveillance video of a Dodge Challenger coming and going. He allegedly encountered a Spanish Fork police officer who ran his license plates. And his DNA was allegedly recovered from a screwdriver found near the sniper's perch and on the suspected murder weapon, hidden in a "wooded area" just steps away from campus.
Tayler Hansen, an independent journalist, attempted to recreate the suspect's route across campus to test and debunk this theory with a video of his own.
An armored police vehicle believed to transport Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk, arrives at the courthouse on the first day of a weeklong preliminary hearing on July 6, 2026, in Provo, Utah. Charlie Kirk was fatally shot on Sept. 10, 2025, while speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University. Kirk's widow Erika Kirk also attended. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
"I went down there and decided to capture as close to the same angles as I could, compare myself, because I'm six-feet-tall, and the new conspiracy is that the real shooter, what they're claiming, is anywhere between six-foot-two to six-foot-three," he told Fox News Digital Friday.
Although he didn't have access to the campus surveillance footage, he said he did his best to place his camera at the same angle and height as the school's cameras. Then he retraced Robinson's steps and compared their heights.
"I was slightly taller, just in the ever slight amount," he said. "And that's enough right there, I mean it's enough to say, 'OK guys, let's move on to the next one.'"
Robinson wasn't even on campus
WATCH: New CCTV video allegedly shows Tyler Robinson on UVU campus on day Charlie Kirk was killed
Again, investigators alleged they can place Robinson on campus multiple times the day of the murder with video, physical and digital evidence.
They say he arrived in the morning, entered the campus, left, and came back later with different clothes on, following virtually the same path. And they showed a compilation video taken by UVU surveillance cameras showing all of that.
Additionally, Robinson allegedly made contact with some Turning Point USA representatives on campus.
Fourth District Court Judge Tony Graf attends a hearing for Tyler Robinson, accused in the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, in 4th District Court, on Friday, March 13, 2026, in Provo, Utah. (Laura Seitz/Deseret News via Pool)
In addition to the evidence mentioned above, police also obtained a Cellebrite extraction from Robinson's phone, according to testimony throughout the week. Such extractions include information about calls, texts, app usage and location and phone tower data. Robinson's defense attorneys have not introduced any phone data that could place him somewhere else at the time of the murder.
WATCH: Evidence in Tyler Robinson's case is overwhelming and devastating, lead prosecutor says
Maroon shirts
Another conspiracy theory promoted on social media claims that there are "many" young men who decided to wear maroon shirts and light shorts on the day Charlie Kirk was killed, stating "without a clear image, they certainly cannot declare it is Tyler Robinson."
Surveillance footage shows Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, at a gas station the morning after the shooting in Cedar City, Utah on Sept. 11, 2025. (Cedar City Police Department)
A compilation video played in court shows the suspect in two different outfits — one of which included a maroon T-shirt. In the other, he wore a black, long-sleeved shirt. Prosecutors have alleged Robinson appears to be both of them, and they also have video of the suspect getting out of a gray Dodge Challenger in the school's parking garage — the same kind of vehicle Robinson drove.
A grey Dodge Challenger parked in the driveway of Tyler Robinson's family home in Washington, Utah, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. Robinson reportedly drove a grey Dodge Challenger to UVU on the day he is alleged to have assassinated Charlie Kirk. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
In addition to the suspect wearing a maroon T-shirt at UVU, Robinson was also wearing a maroon T-shirt when he surrendered to authorities, video shows.
Claims that Lance Twiggs was never interviewed
Lance Twiggs, Robinson's former roommate and lover, sat for multiple interviews with authorities, including one that the prosecution attempted to play video of in court. After some objections from the defense, a redacted version was shown.
It was between Twiggs and Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride, one of the prosecutors on the case. Additional investigators were present but not shown on camera, including Agent Brian Davis of the Utah SBI.
Lance Twiggs testifies in a videotaped interview with investigators and prosecutors in connection with the murder case against his former lover and roommate Tyler Robinson. (Pool)
The highly anticipated video was a huge part of the hearing this week.
Foreign government involvement
Sniper teams move into position at the courthouse before a weeklong preliminary hearing for Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk, on July 6, 2026, in Provo, Utah. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
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The defense tried hard not to allow the public to hear testimony from Twiggs or see text messages, Discord chat logs or the handwritten note Robinson left for Twiggs — all three of which include what appear to be admissions of guilt.
Graf allowed that evidence, however, and the defense showed nothing to indicate there was a foreign conspiracy involved in Kirk's murder.
