Kaitlin Armstrong's former boyfriend Colin Strickland testifies in her murder trial

The former boyfriend of the woman accused of killing Anna Moriah "Mo" Wilson testified Friday about his relationship with both women.

Colin Strickland, a professional cyclist, said he dated Kaitlin Armstrong, who is charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Wilson, for more than two years. He said the relationship with Armstrong was tumultuous at times. "I was highly uncertain I wanted to form a long-term partnership with her," he said.

He said he met Armstrong on a dating app in October 2019. They broke up twice before getting back together again, he said.

Strickland, who spoke in a low voice when he testified, said he met Wilson, a rising star in gravel cycling, in September 2021 at a bike race in Idaho. "She was obviously going to be an immense talent," he said. He said he became friends with Wilson to help her get a sponsor and to achieve her goals.

During one of the times he had broken up with Armstrong, he said, he had a romantic relationship with Wilson in October 2021 while she was visiting Austin. The romantic relationship ended when she left to continue racing, he said. He continued being friends with Wilson and saw her at bike races throughout 2021 and 2022, he said.

Strickland said he eventually got back together with Armstrong, who had access to his financial records, his email and his Instagram account because she managed a business for him.

Armstrong knew he had dated Wilson, he said. One time, when he had shot a video at the end of a bike race that showed Wilson in the background, Armstrong sent him a text message, he said. The text message said, "Send my love to Mo," he said. He said he knew that Armstrong wasn't being sincere and described her text as being "passive aggressive."

At one point, he said, he bought guns for himself and Armstrong because she was worried about cycling by herself in the woods, had "paranoia" about road rage incidents and worried about homeless people who lived about a block away from Strickland's house, where Armstrong was living with him.

More: Police give details in shooting of slain cyclist in Kaitlin Armstrong murder trial

Police interview shown in court

The day after Wilson's killing on May 11, 2022, police arrived at Strickland's home. Investigators were told he had been swimming with Wilson hours before her death.

After two detectives approached Strickland in his garage, one of them asked him if he knew someone named Anna, according to a police body cam video shown in court on Friday. Strickland initially said no.

Strickland said later in the video that he knew Wilson after the detective, Richard Spitler, told him she was known as "Mo" and was a gravel cyclist. The detective then told Strickland that Wilson had died. "How did that happen?" Strickland asked.

"Right now, it's an open investigation," said Spitler. "It's being investigated as a homicide."

Strickland was silent for a few seconds, and he then walked a few steps away from the officers, and, while looking away from them, said in a hushed voice, "That's wild."

More: Kaitlin Armstrong knew where slain cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson was staying, prosecutor says

The video also showed Strickland, who was not accused of any wrongdoing in the case, looking in his motorcycle for items Wilson might have left behind when they went swimming, and he then went back into the garage to put on his shoes after agreeing to an interview at police headquarters, Sgt. Jason Ayers testified Friday. Strickland and Armstrong lived together at the South Austin house on Fort Clark Drive, police have said.

Ayers said he saw a woman, later identified as Armstrong, through a kitchen window as she was walking back and forth while Spitler interviewed Strickland. Police did not talk to Armstrong at the scene.

Police return to Strickland's home

Investigators later came back that same day to Strickland's house with a search warrant. They found two handguns in a box on the shelf of a closet, Ayers said. The guns both had a lock on them, he said. A prosecutor said during the opening statements of the trial that police think Armstrong used one of the guns to kill Wilson. He said investigators also found cellphones, laptops and electronic tablets at the residence, as well as a black Jeep Cherokee parked outside that belonged to Armstrong.

Mirezha Guevara, an Austin crime scene investigator in 2022, testified Friday that she arrived at Strickland's house on May 12 to take pictures and collect any DNA evidence or fingerprint evidence she could find. She said she couldn't find any fingerprints on the guns.

She said she saw no bloodstains inside Armstrong's Jeep but swabbed parts of it, including the steering wheel, for DNA. She did not say what the DNA results showed.

Guevara also testified that she took pictures of a table in Strickland's kitchen that had Armstrong's passport on it, a U.S. passport card belonging to Armstrong's sister, Christine Armstrong, $500 in cash and also some foreign currency. She did not say what country issued the foreign currency.

She said she also found business cards in the kitchen with Kaitlin Armstrong's name and the words "global real estate advisor" printed on them, she said. Police have said that Armstrong sold her Jeep on May 13 and used her sister's passport to fly to Costa Rica on May 18.

Armstrong, 35, is charged with murder in the shooting death of Wilson, 25, in an East Austin garage apartment. If convicted, Armstrong faces up to 99 years in prison.

Wilson was in Austin on May 11, 2022, to prepare for a race near Stephenville, about 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth. She was staying with a friend in a garage apartment on Maple Avenue when she was killed.

More: Kaitlin Armstrong trial in death of Moriah Wilson set to begin. What you need to know.

She had just returned to her friend's home after swimming with Strickland when surveillance video showed a vehicle resembling Armstrong's Jeep pull up to the apartment, a prosecutor has said in the trial that started Wednesday.

Prosecutors showed videos in court this week from the surveillance camera at a neighbor's house that recorded screaming and three gunshots being fired around 9:15 p.m. May 11.

Police arrested Armstrong the day after Wilson died because she had an outstanding Class B misdemeanor warrant. They had to release her because of a clerical error regarding her birthdate.

Investigators charged Armstrong with murder on May 17, 2022. She was arrested 43 days later in Costa Rica where she had been teaching yoga, authorities said. Prosecutors said Armstrong had plastic surgery and had colored and cut her hair while she was in Costa Rica.

Defense attorneys said during opening statements that no one had seen Armstrong with Wilson at the time she was killed, and that no surveillance video showed Armstrong at the scene of the shooting, even though there were several cameras around.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Kaitlin Armstrong murder trial: Ex-boyfriend Colin Strickland testifies