Tyler Robinson grew up among some of the most spectacular natural scenery in the United States.
Washington, Utah, is a short drive from the stunning peaks and rock formations of Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon, and about three and a half hours from Orem, where Charlie Kirk was shot on Wednesday.
As a high school student, Robinson appears to have excelled. In 2021, he won a residential scholarship to study engineering at Utah State University, near Salt Lake City.
But it didn't last. The university confirmed Robinson dropped out of his pre-engineering course after just one semester.
He returned home to Washington, where he took up an electrical apprenticeship at Dixie Technical College, living with his family.
At the time of his arrest, the 22-year-old was in the third year of his apprenticeship, with no criminal record, the Reuters news agency reported.
Like much of rural Utah, Washington is overwhelmingly white. And politically, it's overwhelmingly red: in last year's election, Donald Trump won more than 75 per cent of the vote there.
Yet Robinson did not appear to be particularly political. He is registered to vote, but did not choose a party affiliation, as most registered voters in the US do.
What's more, he is listed as an "inactive" voter — meaning he did not vote in the last two general elections.
But according to Utah Governor Spencer Cox, things had changed.
"Investigators interviewed a family member of Robinson who stated that [he] had become more political in recent years," Cox told reporters on Friday.
"The family member referenced a recent incident in which Robinson came to dinner prior to [the day of the shooting], and in the conversation with another family member, Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU [Utah Valley University].
"They talked about why they didn't like him and the viewpoints that he had. The family member also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate."
When the first grainy images of the suspect were released on Thursday, it was Robinson's father who recognised his son and confronted him.
He urged his son to turn himself in, a law enforcement source told the Associated Press. Robinson refused at first, but then changed his mind.
"A family member of Tyler Robinson reached out to a family friend, who contacted the Washington County Sheriff's Office with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident," Cox said.
The family friend is reportedly a youth pastor and a US Marshals task force officer. And he advised Robinson's father to keep him in place until the FBI arrived.
Robinson was arrested late on Thursday night, local time, and taken to the Utah County Jail at Spanish Fork, near the site of the shooting. He was admitted in the early hours of Friday morning.
"I want to thank the family members of Tyler Robinson, who did the right thing in this case and were able to bring him into law enforcement," the governor said.
He said investigators had spoken to a person they identified as a "roommate" of Robinson, but did not explain why he had a roommate if he was living at the family home.
The roommate showed investigators messages sent by Robinson on the chat app Discord.
"The content of these messages included … [stating] a need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point, leaving the rifle in a bush," Cox said.
"[There were] messages related to visually watching the area where a rifle was left, and a message referring to having left the rifle wrapped in a towel. The messages also refer to engraving bullets, and a mention of a scope and the rifle being unique."
Cox also said police saw messages from Robinson mentioning a change in outfits — and that at the time of his arrest, he was wearing clothing consistent with those seen in surveillance images at the university campus.
"When he's first spotted on campus, he has different clothing on," he said.
"Then he changes clothing on the roof, and then changed back into that clothing at some point. So when he was arrested, the clothing matched the clothing he had on before the shooting here at UVU."
The governor said investigators had recovered significant physical evidence.
"Investigators discovered a bolt-action rifle wrapped in a dark-coloured towel," he said.
"The rifle was determined to be a Mauser Model 98 30-06 calibre bolt-action rifle. The rifle had a scope mounted on top of it. Investigators noted inscriptions that had been engraved on casings found with the rifle."
One unfired casing bore the words, "Hey fascist! Catch!" and an up, right, and three down arrows. The arrows resemble a possible cheat code for a video game, but it's not clear, and no images have been released by the FBI.
Another casing carried lyrics to the song Bella Ciao, an anti-fascist anthem with its roots in the Italian partisans of World War II, fighting against the Mussolini dictatorship and Nazi occupation.
Other inscriptions displayed apparent references to online trolling humour. One read: "If you read this, you are GAY lmao."
The casing of the bullet that killed Kirk read: "notices bulges OwO what's this?"
Robinson remains in custody without bail on suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily harm, and obstruction of justice charges, according to a court affidavit.
Before Robinson was identified and arrested, the Utah governor issued this warning:
"We have been working with our attorneys, getting everything that we need ready so that we can pursue the death penalty in this case. And that will happen."
