Closing arguments in Kaitlin Armstrong murder trial to be delivered this morning
Lawyers will make closing arguments in the murder trial of Kaitlin Armstrong sometime after 9 a.m. on Thursday. Armstrong is charged in the fatal shooting of Anna "Mo" Wilson on May 11, 2022, in East Austin. She faces up to 99 years in prison if convicted.
Armstrong, 35, did not testify on Wednesday, the only day her defense team called witnesses. Prosecution witnesses in the nine-day trial said she was jealous of Wilson for briefly dating Armstrong's boyfriend, Colin Strickland, and said she talked about wanting to kill her.
Strickland and Armstrong had broken up briefly in October 2021 when Wilson went out with him for a few weeks.
Police said during the trial that they found Armstrong's DNA on the handlebars and bicycle seat of Wilson's bicycle after she was killed. She was shot four times at a garage apartment on Maple Avenue where she was staying with a friend. There was no forced entry to the apartment, investigators said.
Video surveillance cameras from neighbors showed a black SUV resembling Armstrong's Jeep driving around before Wilson was killed. Witnesses testified that the GPS in Armstrong's Jeep showed the vehicle was parked near the garage apartment where Wilson was staying about a half-hour before she was shot. The GPS in the Jeep also showed the vehicle left the area about two minutes after the shooting, witnesses said.
Investigators never found anyone who heard the gunshots but a neighbor's video camera recorded screams and then three shots fired at 9:15 p.m. on May 11, 2022. A police forensics expert testified that the cartridge casings and bullets found at the crime scene had tiny lines, or striations, on them similar to the shots that investigators fired from Armstrong's 9mm Sig Sauer pistol. Police found the gun on May 12 at the South Austin house where she was living with Strickland.
More: DNA expert says Kaitlin Armstrong's DNA could have been transferred without touching bike
Witnesses testified that Armstrong knew Wilson was visiting Austin from San Francisco at the time because she repeatedly viewed an app called Strava that showed where Armstrong was taking bike rides.
Defense says no video shows Armstrong at scene
Defense lawyers never said where Armstrong was when Wilson was killed but they have said the videos did not show who was driving the dark-colored SUV. They also have suggested that Armstrong never touched Wilson's bike, which was found lying in grass a few yards from where Wilson was staying. Armstrong's DNA could have gotten there, a defense witness said, after Wilson wore a motorcycle helmet that Armstrong had worn.
Strickland, who gave Wilson his helmet to wear while they were riding on a motorcycle a few hours before she was killed, offered testimony on Wednesday that cast doubt that Wilson had contact with Armstrong's DNA. He said he and Armstrong had separate motorcycle helmets and Armstrong mostly used her own helmet.
More: Analyst: Kaitlin Armstrong's DNA found on Mo Wilson's bike, along with third person's
Defense attorneys also said during the trial that police did not investigate other suspects, including Strickland. A prosecution witness, however, testified this week that cell phone data shows Strickland was talking on the phone in South Austin when Wilson was killed in East Austin.
A DNA analyst also testified during the trial that the DNA of a third unidentified person was found on the handlebars and seat of Wilson's bike, as well as on Wilson's gun. Police also testified that they never investigated who vandalized Strickland's home after Wilson died.
Strickland had reported to investigators that his motorcycle was pushed into Armstrong's Jeep and several paving stones, weighing about 20 to 30 pounds each, had been turned over outside his house either during the night of May 12 or the early morning of May 13.
'Mo' Wilson's final day
Strickland said he and Wilson went swimming at Deep Eddy pool and ate at Pool Burger before he drove her back to the East Austin apartment on Maple Avenue on his motorcycle on May 11, 2022. Evidence showed that Wilson unlocked the door to the apartment at about 8:36 p.m. and sent the last text message on her phone at 9:13 p.m.
Strickland, who was a professional cyclist at the time Wilson was killed, also testified last week that he met Wilson, at a cycling race in September 2021. Wilson was a rising star in the cycling world at that time and Strickland said she had "immense talent." Strickland said he and Armstrong had gotten back together by May 2022 and were doing well when Wilson visited Austin from San Francisco to prepare for a gravel cycling race near Stephenville.
More: Kaitlin Armstrong's former boyfriend Colin Strickland testifies in her murder trial
The friend who lived at the apartment where Wilson was staying testified that she came home at 9:54 p.m and found Wilson laying on her back in the bathroom. Wilson already had been shot, said the friend who called 911. Paramedics performed CPR but could not save her life.
Armstrong flew to Costa Rica on May 18 using her sister's passport, officials said during the trial. While in Costa Rica, she searched for articles online about whether handling pineapples could erase fingerprints, they said. Evidence presented at the trial showed Armstrong also had plastic surgery on her nose in Costa Rica.
An undercover U.S. marshal testified he sent local police to arrest Armstrong after he found her on June 29 at a hostel in the tourist town of Santa Teresa.
Armstrong tried to escape custody last month, a sheriff's deputy testified, when she ran away after a doctor's appointment in South Austin. She ran about half a mile before the deputy caught her on Wilson Street on Oct. 11, the deputy said.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Closing arguments in Kaitlin Armstrong murder trial set for today
