Kaitlin Armstrong’s highly anticipated trial in pro-cyclist Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson’s murder concluded last week with a guilty verdict. A Travis County jury convicted her of first-degree murder on November 16. The same panel deliberated for about three hours the following day and recommended a 90-year prison term. Judge Brenda Kennedy accepted and delivered the same sentence, per NBC News.
Prosecutors alleged that Armstrong was infuriated over her boyfriend Colin Strickland’s friendship with Wilson. Strickland, also a pro-cyclist, had previously dated the victim briefly in 2021 while he and the accused were separated. The prosecution also presented video, cellphone, ballistic, and DNA evidence in court, linking the defendant to the crime.
Wilson’s friend Caitlin Cash found her dead body on the floor of her house where the former had been staying on May 11, 2022. Armstrong’s vehicle was spotted near the same house around the time of the murder. Moreover, the accused, a yoga teacher, was on the run for 43 days. Authorities arrested her in Costa Rica in June that same year.
Kaitlin Armstrong’s sentencing and murder trial, explained
In a murder case that witnessed a 43-day international manhunt, Kaitlin Armstrong was sentenced to 90 years in prison on November 17, 2023. Judge Brenda Kennedy handed her the sentence a day after the jury’s guilty verdict in pro-cyclist Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson’s murder, per CBS News. Wilson, 25, died of multiple gunshot wounds on May 11, 2022.
Prosecutors claimed Armstrong fatally shot Wilson in a jealous rage over her then-boyfriend Colin Strickland’s friendship with the 25-year-old. The news report also mentioned that the victim had gone swimming with Strickland on the day of the murder.
At the time of her murder, Wilson had been visiting Austin ahead of a race and staying at her friend Caitlin Cash’s house. Cash was the one who found her body and claimed that she even tried to perform CPR but to no avail.
The prosecution presented solid evidence in court. Moreover, they even stated that Armstrong’s Jeep was spotted near the apartment around the time of the murder. Police also proved that bullet casings found near the victim’s body matched a gun the accused owned.
CBS’ report stated that after the killing, the yoga teacher briefly met with police, sold her vehicle, and used her sister’s passport to flee to Costa Rica. There, she spent over $6,000 on a nose job there and hair color, and styling to evade arrest. Authorities eventually arrested her at a beachside hostel after 43 days in June of that year.
