A towel wrapped around the weapon that killed Charlie Kirk contained two people's DNA. Tyler Robinson's made up 95%. Lance Twiggs' made up the other 5%.
Twiggs, the transgender lover of accused gunman Tyler Robinson, got immunity. Robinson got charged with murder. And now the Kirk family is in court fighting just to let the public hear what Twiggs told police.
At a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Utah, Erika Kirk's attorney Jeffrey Neiman made a straightforward request to Judge Tony Graf Jr.: release the full, unredacted recordings of Lance Twiggs' police interviews to the public. No edits. No blackouts. The family's push for complete transparency in the case that has gripped the conservative world since Kirk's assassination is in part because even they don't know everything that happened, the other part is to try to put a stop to some of the hurtful conspiracies that have popped up in the wake of his murder.
"The Kirk family believes strongly that if the evidence is being admitted in this preliminary hearing, it should be made public for the world to see," Neiman told the court. "No redactions."
The argument wasn't complicated. Evidence being used in open court proceedings should be visible to the public watching those proceedings. Neiman pointed out the court had other tools available to protect Robinson's right to a fair trial without sealing testimony from public view.
"This court has tools at its disposal to make sure the defendant receives a fair trial," Neiman said. "You'll use them if you find that you need to."
Judge Graf ruled otherwise. Only redacted portions of the Twiggs interviews would be played during the preliminary hearing. The judge reviewed the complete, unredacted interviews himself when deciding whether probable cause existed to move forward to trial — but the public would get the edited version.
The DNA evidence presented by analyst Amanda Bakker drew a picture the family wants fully explored in the open. That towel wrapping the murder weapon showed Robinson at 95% and Twiggs at 5%. A screwdriver recovered from the rooftop where the shooting took place came back at 89% Robinson, 11% Twiggs. Robinson and Twiggs were living together at the time of the killing.
Prosecutors told the court that Robinson — Twiggs' romantic partner — confessed to murdering Kirk through text messages sent to Twiggs immediately after the shooting. Robinson also left a handwritten note expressing his premeditated intent to kill Kirk.
Twiggs, who is transgender, received "use immunity" from prosecutors in exchange for cooperation. That deal makes Twiggs the star witness when this case eventually reaches a jury. Which is precisely why the Kirk family wants every word of those police interviews in the sunlight now.
"To not be transparent here, to not be open, to not let the world see what happened, will create doubt and distrust in the judicial system," Neiman argued, "and that's not what anybody wants. That's not what any of us believe should happen here."
He's not wrong. When key witnesses get immunity deals and their testimony gets redacted in the same proceeding, the gap between what the court knows and what the public knows becomes its own story. Especially in a case this high-profile. Especially when the victim was one of the most visible conservative voices in America.
The preliminary hearing doesn't determine what a jury will ultimately see. Twiggs could testify directly at trial, and different evidentiary standards apply. But that's months away. In the meantime, a judge has the full picture, the prosecution has the full picture, the defense has the full picture — and the Kirk family is asking why the American public shouldn't.
Five percent DNA on a murder weapon. Eleven percent on a rooftop screwdriver. Full immunity. And a redacted interview.
The family wants answers in the open. The court, so far, prefers them behind closed doors.