The woman accused of gunning down a competitive cyclist she perceived as a rival for her boyfriend’s affections has been convicted of murder.
Kaitlin Armstrong, 35, was convicted by a jury in Austin, Texas, on Thursday in the 2022 shooting death of Moriah “Mo” Wilson, 25. The jury returned its verdict after around two hours of deliberation, which followed a trial that lasted two weeks.
There was no discernible reaction from Armstrong as the verdict was read. At trial, Armstrong did not take the stand in her own defense.
Left: Moriah “Mo” Wilson is interviewed after winning the Sea Otter Classic Fuego 80K XC Women’s Race on April 9, 2022 (via YouTube screengrab/FloBikes). Right: Kaitlin Armstrong enters the courtroom during the first day of her trial at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, in Austin, Texas. Armstrong is charged with murder in connection with the shooting death of pro cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson. (Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)
As Law&Crime has previously reported, Armstrong was accused of fatally shooting Wilson, a rising star in the world of competitive bike racing whom she apparently perceived as a romantic rival, in May 2022 before fleeing the country for Costa Rica. She was apprehended and brought back to the U.S. the following month.
During closing arguments, Armstrong’s defense lawyers Rick Cofer and Geoffrey Puryear insisted that Armstrong was innocent and that Wilson’s real killer was still out there.
“Who killed Moriah Wilson?” Cofer asked the jury on Thursday. “I don’t know. What an unsatisfying answer.”
Cofer also said that if Armstrong was convicted and subsequently exonerated, the jurors would “know the basis” of why — prompting an objection from prosecutor Rickey Jones. Judge Brenda Kennedy sustained the objection.
Puryear accused the prosecution of having “tunnel vision,” failing to investigate other potential suspects, and described her journey to Costa Rica as a “fight or flight” response.
State attorney Guillermo Gonzalez, on rebuttal, told the jurors that there is only one reasonable conclusion.
“No one saw who murdered Moriah Wilson, but the evidence all points in one direction: the defendant,” Gonzalez said.
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