Woman set for trial in 2022 killing of cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson: Here's what to know

AUSTIN, Texas − The trial of Kaitlin Armstrong, who is charged with murder in the shooting death of 25-year-old champion bicyclist Anna Moriah "Mo" Wilson in Austin in 2022, is scheduled to begin Monday with jury selection. Armstrong, 35, faces up to 99 years in jail if convicted.

The case has garnered international attention and involves what police say was a possible love triangle, a fake passport, a 43-day international hunt and Armstrong's recent attempted escape from custody.

Here is what you need to know about the murder case as it goes to trial.

Previously: Haircut, yoga, plastic surgery: How cops think Texas woman eluded arrest in rival's death

How was Anna Wilson killed?

A friend found Wilson, 25, with multiple gunshot wounds in the bathroom of the friend's home in Austin on the night of May 11, 2022, police said. Wilson, a rising star in the competitive world of gravel and mountain cycling, was in town from San Francisco to prepare for a race near Stephenville, according to police. She was staying at the friend's home.

The friend called 911, but Wilson died at the scene after paramedics arrived. Earlier in the day, Wilson had gone swimming at Deep Eddy Pool with Armstrong's professional cyclist boyfriend, Colin Strickland, police said. They said Wilson had a short romantic relationship with Strickland in October after Strickland had briefly broken up with Armstrong.

Strickland later told the Austin American-Statesman, part of the USA TODAY Network, that he and Wilson had a platonic and professional relationship after he got back together with Armstrong.

How did Kaitlin Armstrong become a suspect?

A surveillance video showed a dark-colored SUV with a bicycle rack on the back and a luggage rack on the top arriving at the house where Wilson was staying shortly after she returned from swimming with Strickland, according to an arrest affidavit. Police said Armstrong's 2012 Jeep Cherokee resembled the SUV in the video.

Police also searched the home where Armstrong lived with Strickland and found a 9 mm handgun that Strickland said he had bought for Armstrong, according to the affidavit. It said police compared shell casings fired from that gun to those found where Wilson died and said the potential that the same firearm was used was "significant."

An anonymous tipster also called police to say that Armstrong found out in January about Strickland's fling with Wilson in October, the affidavit said. It said the tipster told police that Armstrong was angry and said she would kill Wilson.

Strickland also told police in an interview that Armstrong had blocked Wilson's number on his phone, so he changed Wilson's name in his phone, the affidavit said.

Strickland is not accused of any wrongdoing in the case.

What happened when police interviewed Armstrong?

Police arrested Armstrong on May 12, the day after the killing, after finding out she had an outstanding Class B misdemeanor warrant for an unrelated matter.

At the time there was no murder charge against her. She was brought in for questioning but later was released because her birthdate on the warrant did not match the birthdate police had for her in the department's system, authorities said.

During the interview, police asked her if she knew why a dark-colored SUV that looked like her 2012 Jeep Cherokee was seen in the area where Wilson died, but Armstrong offered no explanation, an affidavit said. It also said Armstrong told police she did not know that Strickland had seen Wilson recently.

"I didn't have any idea that he saw or went out with this girl … as of recently," said Armstrong, according to the affidavit.

How did Armstrong arrive in Costa Rica?

Armstrong sold her Jeep for $12,200 on May 13, 2022, and apparently used the money to pay for her escape, police have said.

The next day she flew out of Austin to Houston and then to New York's LaGuardia Airport, authorities said. She was charged with murder on May 17. On May 18, she took a flight out of Newark, New Jersey, to Costa Rica using a fake passport, officials said.

How was Armstrong arrested in Costa Rica?

The U.S. Marshals Service, Homeland Security Department and the Diplomatic Security Service, working with authorities in Costa Rica, located and arrested Armstrong at a hostel on Santa Teresa Beach in Provincia de Puntarenas on June 29, 2022.

She was going by several names and was staying and teaching yoga at the hostel, Don Jon’s Surf and Yoga Lodge, according to a Statesman reporter who interviewed residents.

Officials have not said how they learned Armstrong was in Costa Rica.

Armstrong changed appearance while on run

Police say Armstrong altered her appearance while trying to evade authorities by changing her hairstyle and hair color.

She told authorities after her arrest that she was wearing a bandage on her nose because of a surfing accident. Officials said they found a receipt in her hostel lockbox for plastic surgery for someone with a different name. They believed but had not yet concluded at the time that she got a nose job.

What does Armstrong's attorney say about the case?

A judge placed a gag order on attorneys in August 2022 forbidding them from commenting on the case to the media. Armstrong's lawyer, Rick Cofer, filed a motion that month seeking a hearing to suppress evidence in the case. It said the arrest affidavit was "rife with false statements, material omissions, reckless exaggerations and gross mischaracterizations made with a reckless disregard for the truth."

The motion said the affidavit was illegal because when police first questioned Armstrong, they did not read her rights to her. The motion also said the surveillance video showed a dark SUV arriving at the crime scene but never showed the vehicle's license plate number or an occupant inside the vehicle.

It also said the affidavit falsely stated Strickland's words to "fabricate a theory of jealousy as a presumed motive for the murder." The affidavit did not include multiple statements by Strickland in which he "adamantly insisted" that Armstrong could not have killed Wilson, the motion said. Strickland also told police he has never seen any signs of Armstrong being unstable, the motion said.

"She's an incredibly kind, caring, sweet person who has helped me take care of my aging mother, she helped her secure like $20,000 in unemployment — by just going — being on the phone for five days," he told police, according to the motion. Armstrong's lawyer also said in the motion that the affidavit relied heavily on statements about her from the anonymous 911 caller "who was unreliable and not credible." Police also "exaggerated and overstated" the importance of a test they did on the gun they found at Armstrong's house, according to the defense motion.

Court records do not show if the motion was denied, but they do say that the state opposed the motion.

Armstrong's attempted escape

Armstrong ran away from corrections officers on Oct. 11 after being taken to a medical appointment in Austin, authorities said. They captured her about a mile away but not before she injured the arms and knees of two deputies trying to grab her, according to an affidavit.

It said she appeared to have planned her escape by complaining of an injury to get an outside medical appointment and making a medical request to restrict the use of her leg restraints. Officers also found a broken metal pin in her cell that could have been used to remove handcuffs, the document said.

Armstrong now faces a charge of escape causing bodily injury, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in jail.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Kaitlin Armstrong trial in death of Anna Moriah Wilson set to begin