Prosecutor whose daughter witnessed Charlie Kirk murder denies conflict of interest

By Andrew Hay

Feb 3 (Reuters) – A Utah County attorney prosecuting the alleged murderer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Tuesday rejected defense arguments that he had a conflict of interest in seeking the death penalty because his daughter had witnessed the shooting.

Defense attorneys have argued the decision to seek the death penalty less than a week after Kirk’s killing showed a “strong emotional reaction” from Chad Grunander, senior prosecutor at the Utah County Attorney’s Office, whose 18-year-old daughter alerted him to the September 10 murder in a string of text messages.

Tyler Robinson, 22, is charged with seven criminal counts in the shooting death of Kirk at a Utah college campus.

Testifying in Provo before District Court Judge Tony Graf, Grunander said his daughter’s presence at the shooting did not play any role in his office’s move to seek the death penalty. He said the decision was made after he and other prosecutors decided they had sufficient evidence against Robinson.

“It would have been a team effort in large part, but the ultimate approval was Mr. Gray’s,” Grunander said in reference to his office’s chief, County Attorney Jeffrey Gray.

Grunander said Gray at no time asked for his opinion on whether to seek the death penalty.

“We felt there’s simply no conflict here,” Grunander said.

Earlier, Grunander’s daughter testified during a closed session of the hearing. The judge agreed to close the session and ordered that her name not be disclosed after prosecutors argued that she could be subjected to threats or attacks in the charged atmosphere around the case.

Graf said he would rule on the defense motion to disqualify the prosecution at a February 24 virtual hearing.

‘I WAS STARTLED’

Following the shooting, Grunander testified, he called his daughter to check on her welfare and texted her for details of what she heard.

“I was startled, I was concerned for her welfare, I understood almost immediately when I found out about it that she was okay, that she was out of danger,” Grunander said, adding that his daughter had not had to seek therapy or miss school since the shooting and he had not noted a change in her behavior.

After hearing from her, he alerted other prosecutors at the Utah County Attorney’s Office and drove to the site of the shooting at Utah Valley University in Orem.

Robinson, charged with aggravated murder, witness tampering and obstruction of justice, will not enter a plea until after a preliminary hearing, tentatively scheduled for mid-May. 

Earlier in the hearing, Gray said the decision to seek the death penalty was based on evidence.

“I believe that the death penalty is entirely appropriate in this particular case,” Gray testified.

The accused, who was studying to be an electrician, is alleged to have fired a single round from a rooftop that hit Kirk as he debated students at Utah Valley University in Orem during a tour of U.S. colleges. 

Kirk was credited with mobilizing young voters who helped President Donald Trump win the 2024 election and his death underscored rising political violence in the United States.

(Reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; editing by Donna Bryson, Cynthia Osterman and Stephen Coates)