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Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old suspected assassin accused of shooting Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk during a campus appearance at Utah Valley University last month, will no longer show his face in a Provo courthouse at a planned in-person hearing later this week.
Robinson is due in court Monday for a virtual appearance where he won’t show his face, either, according to court officials. The judge is expected to weigh in on motions to allow him to wear street clothes in court and to bar cameras from the proceedings, but his tentatively scheduled preliminary hearing has been pushed back to January.
Robinson’s defense was already expected to ask for more time at the now-canceled Oct. 30 hearing.
WHAT WILL BE TYLER ROBINSON’S DEFENSE STRATEGY? EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON ACCUSED CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSIN
In Utah, preliminary hearings can be delayed for months in cases involving serious felonies, sometimes up to a year, Skye Lazaro, a Salt Lake City-based defense attorney, told Fox News Digital earlier this month.
The hearing gives the defense a chance to cross-examine witnesses and force prosecutors to show evidence in court that establishes probable cause to bring charges in the alleged crime.
CHARLIE KIRK’S ASSASSINATION LEAVES UNANSWERED QUESTIONS AS INVESTIGATORS PIECE TOGETHER GAPS IN CASE
Robinson faces a top charge of aggravated murder, which carries the potential death penalty.
He is accused of climbing onto a campus rooftop with his grandfather’s Mauser .30-06 and shooting Kirk once in the neck.
Authorities have previously alleged that they found the suspected murder weapon with his DNA on it and incriminating text messages in which he allegedly admitted to the crime to friends and family.
They also have video from the campus security system that allegedly shows him coming and going before and after the slaying. Additional evidence against him is expected to emerge at the preliminary hearing, once it is held.
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