A TV monitor shows an image of Tyler Robinson, the suspected of killing Charlie Kirk on September 11, in Orem, Utah, on September 12, 2025.
Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Photographs
Because the search unfolded for conservative political activist Charlie Kirk’s murderer, with the suspect recognized on Friday as Tyler Robinson, regulation enforcement parsed each attainable lead. One piece of proof they homed in on: a forearm print taken from the sniper’s place.
Earlier than Robinson’s apprehension Friday morning on account of very human strategies — it has been reported that Robinson provided what might have been a type of confession to relations, who then shared the knowledge, resulting in his give up, although the scenario is fluid and extra particulars on the investigation have been provided over the weekend — FBI agent Robert Bohls stated investigators had collected a “footwear impression, a palm print and forearm imprints” from the crime scene for evaluation.
Forearm imprints usually are not a generally collected piece of proof, based on specialists CNBC spoke with.
“It’s totally uncommon,” stated Patrick McClain, a Texas-based felony protection lawyer and retired Marine Corps navy decide. McClain defined that sometimes, when a forearm print is talked about, authorities have collected DNA or different pores and skin residue from the floor in opposition to which the forearm was pressed.
“It is merely a mildew from an imprint left from remaining in a susceptible capturing place with forearms on the deck for a time frame,” stated Jeff Wenninger, founder and CEO of Legislation Enforcement Consultants, who has labored with the LAPD’s elite Metropolitan Division and with the Secret Service in defending dignitaries. “It will be just like a shoe or boot print that they elevate with a mildew,” he added.
Wenninger says {that a} forearm print can be utilized to corroborate identification functions, similar to distinctive traits like scarring or the imprint of recognized clothes worn.
“Like fingerprints, a forearm print will be distinctive sufficient for identification if it is of ample high quality,” he stated.
It may even have a forensic worth if organic materials like sweat, physique oils, or contact DNA will be recovered, and together with different proof, it may corroborate or contradict witness statements or video footage.
New expertise is giving the forearm a wider window right into a attainable suspect. Bodily impressions have been utilized in forensic investigations for years, Wenninger stated, however lately, the methodologies for figuring out and evaluating particular significant markings have developed, and the scanning expertise for analyzing imprints has improved a lot that “it appears new.”
3D scanning has revolutionized this science, turning the forearm print right into a reservoir of beforehand untapped data. An imprint alone can’t decide components similar to ethnicity and gender, and investigators would nonetheless be reliant on whether or not DNA or different organic proof has been obtained from the imprint.
“It is a newer exploration in forensics, together with different pores and skin prints. However it’s not like a finger/palm print that’s 100% distinctive,” stated Toby Braun, CEO and Founding father of American Particular Investigative Group, which makes a speciality of govt safety, threat-intelligence monitoring, and sophisticated investigations.
In keeping with Braun, a forearm print will not ID an individual from a database like a fingerprint would. “A forearm print is just not thought of a main type of forensic proof in the identical method {that a} fingerprint is,” he stated.
Legislation enforcement officers, together with members of an FBI forensics workforce, examine close to the crime scene the place political activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley College in Orem, Utah, on Sept. 11, 2025.
Melissa Majchrzak | AFP | Getty Photographs
A forearm print is not a main type of proof as a result of there will be ambiguity, based on Braun. For instance, whereas the friction ridges on fingers and palms are distinctive to every particular person, the pores and skin on the forearm doesn’t possess the identical detailed, everlasting, and individualized ridge patterns.
The issue with forearm residue is that even in essentially the most high-profile circumstances, any DNA would take some time to get outcomes from, and that if the individual is just not in a recognized database, it will not be useful till there may be an arrest. “There usually are not going to have been too many individuals on the roof of the constructing,” McClain stated. “However it’s not like a fingerprint; there isn’t a distinctive construction to everybody’s forearm.”
In keeping with McClain, there have been circumstances tried with forearm prints if there’s something distinctive, similar to a tattoo or scarring sample, “however I’ve by no means carried out a type of circumstances; they’re undoubtedly uncommon,” he stated.
As in any manhunt, within the hours after the capturing, the main focus was on discovering the shooter and making an arrest. “Extra proof for the strongest attainable case can be developed subsequently because the investigation continues to be ongoing,” Braun stated, including that authorities simply want possible trigger for an arrest, and proof past an inexpensive doubt is for a trial. “However that’s developed because the case progresses,” he added.
Dan Gerl, founder and managing lawyer at Subsequent Legislation, says that for a forearm’s “sample” to be lifted or photographed as proof, the topic would have needed to apply ample strain upon a receptive floor space and that the prints are most helpful as supporting proof moderately than main, similar to to help a request for a search warrant in search of further proof.
“Below sure circumstances, forearm prints can be admissible in court docket. Like all scientific proof, forearm prints must be admitted by a certified knowledgeable’s testimony, and go the court docket’s assessments for reliability,” Gerl stated. Such a forensic proof would doubtless encounter extra procedural hurdles to clear earlier than being admitted at trial, he added.
Robinson was arrested on suspicion of aggravated homicide, felony discharge of a firearm, and obstruction of justice by police. Prosecutors will in the end resolve the costs he faces earlier than the court docket, that are anticipated to be filed on Tuesday.
Ultimately, the arrest of Tyler Robinson got here all the way down to human moderately than forensic connections, and a few felony specialists say a defining characteristic of current political violence is a killer’s underlying need to be caught moderately than meticulously plan and evade seize.
Bryanna Fox, a former FBI particular agent and professor of criminology on the College of South Florida, says advances in crime expertise have been notable over the previous two decade, and a few criminals will not be conscious of the extent of forensics obtainable to regulation enforcement. “He might have thought, ‘Oh, I can depart my forearm prints and it will not quantity to something,” Fox stated.
However she thinks that one other mindset might have been at work. Evaluating the Robinson case to the case of Luigi Mangione, who assassinated a United Healthcare govt final 12 months, Fox thinks ideologically pushed criminals might care extra about sending a message than about escaping penalties for his or her crimes.
Which means they will not be fascinated about the path of proof they depart behind as a lot as another criminals, whether or not prints, overlaying their face, or how they get rid of a weapon. “The eye helps give extra oxygen to what an ideologue desires to say,” Fox stated. “In a method they’re form of stipulating to the truth that they may get caught and are OK with leaving some proof. They do not wish to get caught straight away, however their principal mission is to attain the purpose, which is to kill their goal,” she added.
