Feds detail capture of Kaitlin Armstrong, suspect in cyclist's killing
Kaitlin Armstrong was "exhausted" by the time officers in Costa Rica approached her as the prime suspect in the Austin killing of professional cyclist Moriah Wilson. Though Armstrong didn't give her true identity at first, she eventually admitted who she was, officials with the U.S. Marshals Service said Thursday.
The six-week search for Armstrong — the Austin yoga instructor who is facing a murder charge in connection with Wilson's death — ended last week when officials tracked her down and arrested her after she had fled the United States.
The arrest came nearly 50 days after authorities say Armstrong entered a home in Central Austin on May 11 and shot Wilson, who investigators believe was a rival for her boyfriend's affection.
The day after the shooting, detectives interviewed Armstrong and confronted her with video that showed a vehicle resembling hers pulling up to the home where Wilson was staying. Wilson, who lived in San Francisco, was at a friend's house in East Austin preparing for a race that coming weekend near Waco.
Timeline:From Moriah Wilson's killing to Kaitlin Armstrong's arrest
Armstrong ended the interview with police and was not arrested. The police had picked her up for questioning on an unrelated warrant from 2018 for allegedly not paying for a Botox treatment. Police said they mistakenly released her from custody because her birthdate in the Austin Police Department's system did not match her birthdate on the warrant.
On May 17, a homicide warrant was issued for her arrest, and the Austin Police Department requested assistance from the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force to apprehend her. At that point, however, she had already fled the Austin area days earlier by boarding a flight from the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to Houston, then getting on a connecting flight to New York.
She then flew to San Jose, Costa Rica, by "presenting a passport that did not belong to her but belonged to someone that was closely associated with her," said Brandon Filla, spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service. He declined to name the person, but said officials are investigating whether to file charges against that person.
While in Costa Rica, Armstrong traveled to multiple towns and yoga studios and used a variety of aliases, Filla said.
Officials involved in the investigation "went door to door and conducted multiple interviews, going from yoga establishments and also made contact with lodging venues that she had left behind," Filla said.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Marshals Service, Homeland Security Department and the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service, working with authorities in Costa Rica, found and arrested Armstrong at a hostel on Santa Teresa Beach in Provincia de Puntarenas. She was initially detained on an immigration violation and deported back to the United States.
A Travis County grand jury on June 10 indicted Armstrong for murder. She is also facing a charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution since she used a false name and fraudulent passport to flee the country, according to law enforcement officials.
Armstrong was booked into the Travis County Jail on Tuesday afternoon. She was in jail on Thursday with bail set at $3.5 million on the murder charge, according to online records.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Feds detail capture of Kaitlin Armstrong, suspect in cyclist death
