Kaitlin Armstrong trial: Witness testimony
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Kaitlin Armstrong, the yoga teacher who allegedly gunned down rising pro cyclist Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson and then fled the country, is on trial in Texas.
Ms Armstrong’s ex-boyfriend Colin Strickland took the stand for the second day on Monday and testified about their tumultuous relationship. Prosecutors have alleged that she targeted Wilson because both women were involved in a love triangle with Mr Strickland.
Mr Strickland told the court that Ms Armstrong’s jealousy escalated to the point that she confronted Wilson on the phone.
In one instance, Ms Arsmtrong even told him to “send [her] love to Mo” after he posted a with Wilson in the background, he testified.
After a lunch recess on Monday, Mr Strickland appeared to clash with photographers, according to NewsNation reporters in court. He reportedly tried to knock the photographer’s camera, causing the latter to lose his grip.
Video later showed Mr Strickland appearing to go out of his way to step on a photographer’s foot.
Key points Show latest update
1699421400ICYMI: A star cyclist was gunned down in Texas. Now her yoga instructor love rival is on trial for murder
Nearly a year and a half after Kaitlin Armstrong made international headlines for allegedly killing her romantic rival and then going on the run for 43 days, her murder trial is underway.
The Texas woman found herself at the centre of a love triangle with her boyfriend Colin Strickland and professional cyclist Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson, who was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds at a friend’s house on 11 May 2022.
Ms Armstrong was questioned by police just three days after the killing but once freed, she fled to Costa Rica leading the authorities on an intensive manhunt that ultimately ended in her capture despite her effort to disguise her identity with dyed hair and plastic surgery.
The 35-year-old yoga teacher and realtor was brought back to the United States and charged with first-degree murder. She pleaded not guilty in July 2022 and has been held at the Travis County Correctional Complex in Texas on a $3.5m bond.
Now her trial is underway.
Andrea Blanco8 November 2023 05:30
1699416020DNA ‘highly likely’ from Kaitlin Armstrong was found on Mo Wilson’s bike
Kaitlin Armstrong, 35, is on trial for the May 2022 murder of Wilson, a competitive gravel and mountain bike racer who was found dead at her friend’s East Austin home with gunshot wounds to her head and chest.
In court in Texas last week, jurors heard testimony from Sgt Timothy Price who responded to the scene of the murder.
He said that Wilson’s bike was found lying in the middle of bamboo a few yards from the apartment.
It was swabbed by another crime scene investigator, he said.
DNA found on the bike was “highly likely” to have come from Armstrong, prosecutors told the court during opening statements. But, during witness testimony, defence attorney Rick Cofer questioned crime scene specialist Katie Ferrara about why the bike had been taken to the police department without a protective covering.
She said police did not have a big enough bag for the bike. Ms Ferrara also testified that there were no track marks in the grass leading to where the bike was located, and that she did not know how the bike got there.
Andrea Blanco8 November 2023 04:00
1699410630No signs of forced entry at home where Wilson was found dead
Austin police detective Rolando Ramirez, another witness for the prosecution, testified last week that he thought Wilson’s killing was “more of a personal thing or more of anger type of shooting”.
His theory was based on the fact that there was no sign of forced entry and no signs of struggle.
Nothing appeared to have been stolen from her home, he added.
Andrea Blanco8 November 2023 02:30
1699405220Alleged killer Kaitlin Armstrong confronted Moriah Wilson on the phone, ex-boyfriend Colin Strickland testified
Mr Strickland said that at one point, Armstrong called Wilson to confront her on the phone, which Wilson found “ strange and unnerving.”
He looked very sad and defeated as he testified, according to reporters in the courtroom.
Wilson then left for a different cycling event but maintained communication with Mr Strickland, although the two were not very serious about moving on with a formal relationship, Mr Strickland said. The pair saw each other at different events
During that period, Ms Armstrong is said to have dated two other men, while still living at Mr Strickland’s home.
Mr Strickland and Ms Armstrong eventually reconciled and travelled together to a championship in Arkansas in January 2022.
Andrea Blanco8 November 2023 01:00
1699399820WATCH: Kaitlin Armstrong appears in court for opening statements in murder trial
Kaitlin Armstrong appears in court for opening statements in murder trial
Andrea Blanco7 November 2023 23:30
1699394870 Missed signs of plans to fee in foreign currency and ‘visiting healer’ alibi
Mr Strickland and Ms Armstrong were told about Wilson’s murder by Austin Police detectives on 12 May 2022, just a day after the murder. Bodycam footage shown to the court reportedly showed that the two seemed shocked after learning the tragic news.
Mr Strickland later joined investigators at the police station, where he gave a statement for nearly six hours. The following day, authorities served a search warrant and seized weapons from his home.
Crime scene specialist Mirezha Guevara testified on Friday (November 3) that while she was taking pictures of the firearms eence and Ms Armstrong’s black Jeep, she also noticed Ms Armstrong’s passport and foreign currency inside the home.
An attorney representing both Mr Strickland and Ms Armstrong was present while the warrant was served, but investigators did not ask to interview Ms Armstrong.
However, they did ask Mr Strickland about her black Jeep, the same model of car seen on surveillance footage near the home where Wilson was found. The car had also been spotted near the swimming pool bar that Mr Strickland and Wilson had been at just hours before she was killed.
Ms Strickland suggested during his testimony that investigators knew it belonged to Ms Armstrong.
Mr Strickland said that after he was interviewed and the warrant was served, he and Ms Armstrong were exhausted. He asked her to write a timeline of her activities on the day and reportedly said she went to yoga and visited a “healer” but made no mention of seeing Wilson.
He then went to his business’ headquarters in Lockhart and did not see Ms Armstrong again.
On 14 May, Ms Armstrong took a flight from Austin to Houston. She was found in Costa Rica 43 days later.
Andrea Blanco7 November 2023 22:07
1699385751Who was murder victim Anna Moriah ‘Mo’ Wilson?
On May 11 2022, 25-year-old Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson was found dead by a friend whose Texas apartment she had been staying at. She had multiple gunshot wounds.
Wilson was a competitive gravel and mountain bike racer from Vermont, was found dead on 11 May in her friend’s Austin, Texas apartment.
A month before her death, she beat 30 of the top gravel racing cyclists in the United States to claim the Fuego 80k at the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California.
Wilson followed up that victory with a win at the Belgian Waffle Ride in San Diego on 30 April 2022 and arrived in Austin on 10 May as the favourite to win the Gravel Locos in Hico, a few days later.
She was staying at her friend Caitlin Cash’s apartment on Maple Avenue, East Austin, and on 11 May arranged to meet fellow pro-cyclist Colin Strickland, who according to a police affidavit she had an on-again, off-again relationship with when he and his then-girlfriend Kaitlin Armstrong were on a hiatus.
Texts between Mr Strickland and Wilson showed that she was under the impression they were still dating.
Andrea Blanco7 November 2023 19:35
1699381729Mr Strickland texted Amstrong ‘Can you please be an adult?’ after she asked him not to go to a bar with Wilson
In October 2021, Ms Armstrong texted Mr Srickland: “I know you know better than to show up at meteor [a popular cycling bar] with that girl.”
Mr Strickland, who testified “that girl” was Wilson.
Mr Strickland then asked Ms Armstrong to “please be an adult” but ultimately texted her that he wouldn’t go to Meteor because he was trying to respect her. Later that day, Ms Armstrong confronted him about “calling Mo.”
Mr Strickland refused to answer the phone.
In December 2021, Mr Strickland asked Ms Armstrong for a receipt of the gun they had purchased because he wanted to buy a new one that better fit his hand. The court is then shown a of Ms Armstrong firing the weapon at a shooting range.
Andrea Blanco7 November 2023 18:28
1699373124No court today for ‘personal reasons’
Yesterday we heard from Mr Strickland, who reminisced about the time he spent with Wilson and her promising talent.
Mr Strickland also admitted while being grilled by the defence that his relationship with Ms Armstrong was not quite as “tumultuous” as he had led on last week. She was jealous, he said, but was never verbally, psychologically, or physically abusive to him.
He also shocked people in the courtroom when he said that he “didn’t know [Ms Armstrong] well], and was at the centre of several clashes with the media – one of which reportedly prompted a photographer to file charges against him.
Mr Strickland was dismissed as a witness but may be called back on the stand.
At the end of the day, friends of Mr Strickland and law enforcement personnel testified about the days following Wilson’s murder.
There will be no court today. NewsNation correspondent Alex Caprariello said sources had cited “personal reasons.”
Andrea Blanco7 November 2023 16:05
1699366835 Alleged cyclist killer’s ex clashes with media member at court
The ex-boyfriend of a yoga teacher charged with the murder of an up-and-coming pro cyclist clashed with a member of the media multiple times as he appeared in court to give eence.
In footage captured by reporters who attended the trial on Monday, Colin Strickland appeared to purposefully go out of his way to stamp on a photographer’s foot.
Mr Strickland is the former partner of Kaitlin Armstrong, who is facing trial at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin, Texas, over the murder of cyclist Moriah “Mo” Wilson in May 2022.
Prosecutors have alleged that Ms Armstrong targeted Wilson because they were both involved in a love triangle with Mr Strickland.
Andrea Blanco7 November 2023 14:20
