In the weeks after she fatally shot an elite cyclist in Texas, Kaitlin Armstrong led authorities on a manhunt that spanned thousands of miles, crossed international borders and nearly ended with authorities deflated and empty-handed.
Eventually, Armstrong was caught and, in November, she was found guilty of shooting Moriah “Mo” Wilson, 25, three times in a jealousy-fueled rage and sentenced to 90 years in prison.
This is the account of Armstrong’s escape — and capture — as told by the investigators who tracked her from Austin to the Costa Rican beach town where an unusual mix of deception and yoga finally led to her apprehension.
May 12: The murder of a rising athlete
One day after Wilson, a rising star in the increasingly popular sport of gravel racing, was found with gunshot wounds in the Austin apartment where she had been staying for a competition, investigators questioned Colin Strickland, the pro cyclist with whom Wilson had previously been involved.
Strickland told authorities he’d spent time with Wilson the day before: They’d shared a meal and gone for a swim before he dropped her off, according to a transcript of the interview obtained by “Dateline.”
Strickland told investigators that he’d been with Armstrong, 36, for three years, but he’d gotten together with Wilson after he and Armstrong briefly ended their relationship in fall 2021, according to the transcript. Wilson, he said, was now listed under a different name in his phone — a fact he attributed to his “right to have a friendship with this person without having, like, constant strife.”
“He did that because he knew his girlfriend Kaitlin had gone through his phone in the past,” Richard Spitler, the Austin homicide detective who led the investigation into Wilson’s killing, told “Dateline. “He didn’t wanna start any issues, any drama.”
Security video reviewed by Austin police showed a black SUV near the apartment where Wilson was killed around the time of her…
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