Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Confesses on Discord — Everything We Know

Starting point is 00:00:00 Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Accused assassin, Tyler Robinson confessed to killing Charlie Kirk on Discord. That information was confirmed by the company. I take a look at what Robinson is alleged to have said and what else he and his friends were doing on the chat platform. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Ingenette Levy. Tyler Robinson admitted to his friends on Discord that he murdered Charlie Kirk. That news was first reported by the Washington Post late Monday afternoon and a spokesperson for Discord confirmed to me that that report was accurate. This news came as Discord has come under scrutiny. People have been wondering, what was Tyler Robinson discussing on Discord? Was he radical? on the platform used widely by gamers. There are a lot of questions, and I'm going to answer all of them for you as best I can. But first, to Tyler's alleged confession. Last Thursday,

Starting point is 00:01:11 the one-time straight-A student and scholarship recipient was in a group chat with a lot of people. When he let them know, they wouldn't be hearing from him any longer. The message Tyler sent, according to the Washington Post, said, hey guys, I have bad news for you all. It was me at UV you yesterday. I'm sorry for all of this. I'm surrendering through a share of friend in a few moments. Thanks for all the good times and laughs. You've all been so amazing. Thank you all for everything. Again, a Discord spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of these messages. Before Robinson's mission, one of the friends talked about seeing Kirk assassinated and said, bro didn't deserve to go out like that. The next day, one of the people in the chat said they should pray for

Starting point is 00:01:58 Tyler and his repentance and then said, while some didn't agree with Kirk's stances, they should also pray for his family. The New York Times has reported that Tyler Robinson had joked with friends that the man in the surveillance photos and images released by the FBI and Utah DPS was his doppelganger, trying to get him into trouble. The FBI says it has evidence that Tyler Robinson wrote about killing Charlie Kirk. And we have evidence to show what was in that note, which is, and I'm going to summarize basically saying, the suspect wrote a note saying, I have the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I'm going to take it. That note was written before the shooting.

Starting point is 00:02:39 Evidence of existence, we now have learned, existed before the shooting was in the location in the suspect and partner's home. But we have since learned that the note, even though it has been destroyed, we have found forensic evidence of the note and we have confirmed what that note says because of our aggressive interview posture at the FBI. A Discord spokesperson has confirmed to me that Robinson's roommate, who was also his romantic partner, discussed this note on Discord with another person and that the notes discussed retrieving the weapon and the bullets. A fired casing had notices bulge OWO, what's this written on it, which apparently originates from furry culture.

Starting point is 00:03:20 Unfired casings had other sayings etched on them. Hey, fascist, catch with an exclamation point. Another had, oh, Bella Chow, Bella Chow, Bella Chow, Chow, which is an Italian anti-fascist song from the 1940s, which has become more popular now on TikTok. And finally, if you read this, you are gay LMAO. Officials have said they are talking with the romantic partner, who likely holds a lot of information about Tyler Robinson. There were reports yesterday that that we can confirm that that his roommate was indeed a boyfriend who is transitioning from from male to female. That's that's information that the FBI had had mentioned yesterday. We can't confirm that as well and that that that he is cooperating with with authorities as well.

Starting point is 00:04:11 The discord spokesperson says Tyler Robinson did not plan the assassination on discord and she claims he did not discuss. discussed it before it happened and was not radicalized on the platform. She also said, Tyler and his partner did not discuss the killing on Discord either. She says the platform is cooperating with law enforcement in the investigation. FBI director Cash Patel was asked at a Senate hearing about Discord's role in this probe. Reports have suggested that the FBI is investigating a broader network of groups that may have had some knowledge of the shooter's plans. Can you give us any details on that? following up what you've already said in public,

Starting point is 00:04:50 how's the FBI working to find other potential accomplices, folks who may have known about the shooter's plans, folks who may have encouraged him, any update on any of that? So in terms of what we do for an interrogation perspective, we go and reach out to the family and community immediately, and we've conducted those investigations and interrogations with local law enforcement, and we're continuing to do that

Starting point is 00:05:11 because those closest to the suspect are going to hopefully know the most about the suspect and his beliefs and his ideology. On top of that, unfortunately, it has been leaked that there was a Discord chat. And for those unfamiliar with it, it's a gaming chat room online that the suspect participated in.

Starting point is 00:05:32 So what we're doing, we've already done, is sort of legal process, not just on Discord, so that the information we gathered is sustained and held in a evidentiary posture that we could use in prosecution, should it be decided to do so. and we're also going to be investigating anyone and everyone involved in that Discord chat. Okay, very good.

Starting point is 00:05:52 I see the public reports that the Discord thread had as many as 20 additional users. It sounds like you're trying to run down all of that to see if that's accurate, who else may have been on that thread, what they may have known. Is that fair to say? It's a lot more than that, and we're running them all down. It's a lot more than 20? Yes, sir. And you're running all of that too.

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Starting point is 00:06:38 ways to catch a killer with 50 Cent exclusively on Fox Nation. I want to bring in Sky Lozaro. She is a defense attorney who practices in Utah. Sky, right off the bat, I want to get your reaction to Tyler Robinson, apparently telling his friends on Discord on Thursday night of last week. Yeah, hey, guys, it was me. I did it. My dad is getting ready to turn me into sheriff's deputies. Yikes. You know, as a criminal defense attorney, as soon as somebody starts making admissions on any platform, your heart kind of sink. to your stomach because those words are never going to go away. There are things we can keep out of trials and different things, but a defendant's words are never one of them. And so, you know,

Starting point is 00:07:27 if they can verify that it was him who put that out there and made that admission, that's going to be pretty compelling evidence against him. And all of this discord stuff. I mean, discord is becoming a focal point of this investigation because the roommate, the trans roommate, the partner of Tyler Robinson, apparently was telling people on Discord, telling a third party, Tyler left this note, and he talked about how he did it and, you know, the bullets and that I needed to go get their weapon or retrieving the weapon from the woods and all of this stuff. So there's this digital trail. there's a lot of scrutiny, you know, Discord is under scrutiny right now because it sounds like

Starting point is 00:08:14 this is a platform where people are talking about all kinds of stuff. He didn't plan it on Discord, Discord says. He didn't talk about it or become radicalized on Discord. But this thing was certainly discussed on there. So something's going on this app. That's true. And I think that happens with different apps where people are messaging. This one, seems to be front and center right now and it maybe wasn't picked up or it wasn't turned in or maybe nothing was ever said before he did it. I think we'll probably see more as the investigation goes on and they collect more evidence. The roommate, you know, has been or seemingly has been cooperating with police. This note that's referenced doesn't seem to exist anymore. I guess

Starting point is 00:09:06 We'll see if they can find that. But, you know, it is problematic. I think, you know, for discord itself, mostly, that these conversations were being held. Yeah, most certainly. And these are adults. You know, these aren't kids. They're younger adults. Even though they kind of are kids, like we would look at them as younger kids, you know, because they're college age.

Starting point is 00:09:31 Let's talk about the charges now. he is going to be charged formally with aggravated murder most serious charge you can face in Utah I mean the facts are the facts here if you're a defense attorney and Tyler Robinson

Starting point is 00:09:47 ends up being your client you know good luck that's all I can say they say they have DNA connecting him to this they've got him on camera walking to this place we now have this discord message that we've been told he wrote where he

Starting point is 00:10:03 says, yeah, it was me. There's video of him running away, DNA on the towel, DNA on the screwdriver. What do you do with this? This appears to be a tough case. I mean, as we all know, the things that come out early on, especially in probable cause affidavits and charging statements are always the state's best evidence. You know, we don't see the other evidence that, you know, may tend to disprove it. Now, in this case, it seems to be mounting very quickly. And that's the age we live in. You know, any more, there are very few places you can go where you can't get caught on camera. And these aren't these black and white grainy videos that we used to see that we couldn't identify people on. You know, and then kids, or, you know, like you said, we call them kids.

Starting point is 00:10:54 He's an adult in the eyes of the law. You know, they can't help themselves. but to communicate on these platforms and all of this communication is preserved. So in this case, it's seemingly going to be a tough case. They're going to charge them with aggravated murder. I would be shocked if they don't seek the death penalty, even though they don't have to make that election early on. This very well may be a case that does not revolve around guilt or innocence, but really revolves around the penalty phase of this.

Starting point is 00:11:28 you know, is there a way to keep the state of Utah from wanting to execute this kid if he is convicted? You know, Utah is a different state. You know, it seems to be a conservative state, but, you know, Utah County is Utah County. The prosecutor there will handle this case the way he sees fit or, you know, the county attorney. if you're the defense attorney in this case with all of the evidence and you're going to go through all of the hoops, you're going to file motions to suppress, you're going to go through all of this stuff, you're going to look at this kid's mental health as far as mitigation goes. We don't know about any mental health issues, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are some.

Starting point is 00:12:18 What, you know, where do you begin with this? I mean, obviously you're going to get discovery. You're going to make the demand for discovery. I wouldn't be surprised if the defense attorney isn't just given what they have so far at this appearance today, given a thumb drive or flash drive with something on it. They'll get it very quickly. In Utah, they have to turn over that initial discovery within a very short time period of individual being charged and being seen by a judge. You know, sure, you have to go through it, like you said, you're going to have to go through, you know, the DNA and the forensics and the video. they're probably going to have his phone and all of this electronic data that you're going to have to get through. But really, you know, if I'm appointed on this case or whoever they appoint, the first thing I'm doing is hiring a mitigation expert.

Starting point is 00:13:08 It's a death penalty case. And from day one, they really need to, they really need to start building a case to save this kid's life. I really think that that is going to need be their first and foremost priority. We've seen public officials, high-ranking public officials, already calling for the death penalty when we don't even have charges. And so this is really one of those cases where I think you have got to start doing the work now so that, you know, if he's convicted and if the evidence is what it is, it's probably likely that the guilt phase is going to be a foregone conclusion. But maybe not. Like I said, we don't know it all. But really what you need to start doing is building a case as to why this is, you know,

Starting point is 00:14:00 potentially a life without parole case and not a death penalty case. This kid is innocent until proven guilty, of course. But it seems like we've got evidence of a lot of premeditation here. You know, we've got markings on the bullets. Seems like a Luigi Mangione copycat to me. I mean, that takes some time to put stuff on bullets. with these so-called anti-fascist phrases on them and some furry stuff. I mean, it runs the gambit.

Starting point is 00:14:28 There's some gamer things on there, too. And then you've got him at dinner telling people how much he hates Charlie Kirk and apparently says in a message to somebody that he had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, so he did it. I mean, there you go. I mean, that that is compelling, compelling evidence. So, you know, you're saying you're, as a defense attorney, you're trying to save this kid's life. Do you just, and I know I'm fast forwarding here quite a bit, do you go to the state of Utah and try to make a deal? Like, let's, I'll get him to plead, you know, he's going to plead guilty and then, you know, take death off the table and he'll just waive all appeals like we saw in the Coburger case.

Starting point is 00:15:18 I was going to say we've seen this in other cases. over the years where really, when it's a death penalty case, then you know the state is going to want to seek the death penalty and do so pretty seriously. I think really what you do is try to get death out the table, whatever it takes, offer to plead. I don't know if this is a case unless the temperature comes down a whole bunch that there's going to be a plea. deal in it. But, you know, we don't know because we haven't seen all the evidence. I don't know if the state has seen all the evidence. I would guess this is probably ongoing. But I think you do whatever you can in these types of cases to avoid the death penalty. And then we don't even know

Starting point is 00:16:07 if he'll be charged federally. They're considering that. That's true. And I think that'll be interesting to watch. I don't know if that's going to be one of those things where they hold off and maybe We don't charge them federally and see what the state does and see how the state case progresses or as they build their case or build evidence. And we see this a lot where they file state charges and hold somebody. I see them in gun or drug cases all the time. They'll arrest someone on probable cause, charge them in the state. The feds will build their case and then the feds will come in and file it.

Starting point is 00:16:45 And usually ultimately the state case gets dismissed. in favor of the feds, but they can both charge him with crimes. So there's no double jeopardy when it comes to concurrent state and federal prosecutions. They don't generally do that, but I would expect that the U.S. Attorney's Office is going to wait and see how all the evidence comes out, whether or not they have problems, what they can charge him with, and really what Utah County is going to do with it. If Utah County is going to seek the death penalty and not offer this kid a deal, you know, the U.S. Attorney's Office may look at this and say, hey, look, there's, we don't, we don't both need to pay to try to execute him. What's the mood like in Utah?

Starting point is 00:17:33 I mean, I know you're not in Utah County, but my God, this happened in Utah. I'm not very far away. You know, I'm only 40 minutes from there. So, yeah, I think it's, it's pretty similar to the rest of the country, I think there's a lot of sadness when any of this happens. This has been a very polarizing event. Our governor, I think, gave a talk on campus or to university students, really calling for people to basically disagree better, you know, that there should be a safe, open place for ideas. And just because you disagree with somebody doesn't mean you hate them and doesn't mean you resort to violence. But I think it's really instilled some fear. And, you know, also because of the relationship with the roommate and whether or not he's trans,

Starting point is 00:18:30 I think there's some concern for the LGBT community. I know there's been some incidents within the last couple days targeting members of the press. And so I think whenever something something like this happens. And Utah really is, we're a big state, but we don't have a lot of people. And so most of these people are, we're all concentrated in the Wasatch Front, which is, you know, Utah County, Salt Lake County. And so you're talking about a pretty small geographic area, and people here are pretty tight. And so when something like this happens, people are a little fearful, I think. People are a little concerned. Like, we don't, you never want to think something like this happens here.

Starting point is 00:19:16 You know, we read about it happening other places, but here we are. Yeah, just horrible. Well, Sky Lozaro, thank you so much for coming on and for offering your thoughts and your expertise as always. I appreciate it. Thank you. And thanks for having me. So right there, this investigation, it's really just starting.

Starting point is 00:19:36 And they are looking into whether Tyler Robinson was radicalized on the internet and whether anybody else had a role in this assassination. nation. Tyler Robinson is going to be charged with aggravated murder and other crimes, and it's likely that the prosecutors will pursue the death penalty in this case. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.

Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Confesses on Discord — Everything We Know

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