A jury has been set and opening arguments will be presented today in the murder trial of Kaitlyn Armstrong.
The yoga instructor is accused of killing professional cyclist Moriah “Mo” Wilson. Wilson was in Austin to tackle the “Gravel Locos” race in Hico. As luck would have it, Wilson has friends in the area, so instead of booking a hotel, bunks down with her friend. The friend already has plans for the evening, but that’s OK.
Wilson has plans of her own. She tells her friend that she’s meeting up with a guy she dated briefly, to go swimming, grab a meal, and catch up.
Wilson’s friend was also Kaitlyn Armstrong’s boyfriend. During a brief period when Armstrong and Colin Strickland were separated, he and Wilson dated. It made Armstrong angry, to the point that she confronted Wilson, telling her not to contact Strickland.
When Mo Wilson’s friend returns home from her dinner plans, she finds Wilson unresponsive inside the home. There’s blood everywhere and her friend is in the bathroom, lodged between the toilet and the wall. 911 is called. Police arrived to find Wilson had been shot multiple times, with a 9mm weapon, and it doesn’t appear the shooting was random.
As the Austin Police Department investigates, they reach out to neighbors, asking for surveillance video. A neighbor’s camera, pointed at the driveway of the home where Wilson was staying, caught a Black Jeep Grand Cherokee driving past the house just one minute after Wilson went inside.
In the meantime, police reach out to Colin Strickland, who agrees to an interview at his home. When the police arrived, they see a Black Jeep Grand Cherokee in the driveway… the same one seen in the surveillance video. It belongs to Strickland’s girlfriend, Kaitlyn Armstrong.
Police begin to look at Kaitlyn Armstrong as a suspect. An anonymous caller tells police Armstrong said she wanted to kill Wilson and even bought a gun. On May 12, Kaitlin Armstrong was brought in for questioning but APD wasn’t able to get probable cause until May 17. When Armstrong spoke with homicide detectives, she couldn’t explain why her SUV was in the area the night Mo Wilson was murdered. Police release Armstrong.
When officers try to talk to Armstrong again, she is nowhere to be found. Three days later, a video is released of Armstrong in Austin’s airport. Investigators say she flew from Austin to Houston and then on to New York. Surveillance footage shows Kaitlin Armstrong flying into New York’s La Guardia airport on May 14. On May 18, the day after a murder warrant was issued for Armstrong, someone dropped her off at New Jersey’s Newark airport, but there’s no record of her taking a flight.
US Marshalls tracked Armstrong to Costa Rica. She had used a family member’s passport to get there. She had dyed her hair and had plastic surgery to change her appearance.
After a 43-day manhunt, Kaitlyn Armstrong is taken into custody.
Joining Nancy Grace Today:
Additional Guest
- Alan Bennett – Former Assistant District Attorney, Partner at Gunter, Bennett, and Anthes
- Tony Plohetski – Investigative Reporter, Austin American-Statesman and KVUE; Twitter: @tplohetski
“Crime Stories with Nancy Grace” on Fox Nation is also a national radio show on SiriusXM channel 111, airing for two hours daily starting at 12 p.m. EST. You can also subscribe and download the daily podcasts at iHeart Podcasts.
[Feature Photo via US Marshals/Armstrong before changing her appearance]
