Picture Illustration by The Each day Beast/Handout
A Texas lady accused of fatally capturing a rising skilled cyclistafter turning into enraged over a relationship the girl beforehand had together with her live-in boyfriend offered her Jeep to a neighborhood automobile dealership earlier than occurring the lam, authorities mentioned Thursday.
Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, the novice bike owner and yoga instructor who has been lacking for greater than a month, is dealing with costs for the Might 11 killing of 25-year-old Anna Moriah Wilson, a Vermont native who was in Austin for an upcoming race. There's presently a $21,000 reward for info resulting in Armstrong’s arrest within the homicide authorities consider was spurred by jealousy over one other bike owner, Colin Strickland, who had briefly been concerned with Wilson and had seen her on the day of her loss of life.
The U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Activity Drive on Thursday painted an image of 34-year-old Armstrong rigorously orchestrating an effort to go off the grid.
Authorities say that two days after Wilson was discovered shot useless in an Austin house, Armstrong offered her black Jeep Grand Cherokee to a CarMax dealership in south Austin for $12,200.
“Armstrong was offered a examine from the dealership a day after being questioned by Austin authorities,” the Marshals mentioned on Thursday. “She departed the Austin airport on Might 14.”
Investigators now consider that Armstrong took a flight from Austin Worldwide Bergstrom Airport that afternoon to Houston, earlier than boarding a connecting Southwest flight to LaGuardia Airport in New York.
On Might 18, Armstrong was final seen being dropped off on the Newark Liberty Worldwide Airport—someday after Austin police issued a murder warrant for her arrest in reference to Wilson’s homicide. Authorities say that Armstrong received a experience to the New Jersey airport, however discovered that she didn't have any flight reservations for an outbound flight.
Video of her on the airport confirmed Armstrong with a blue denim jacket, white denims, a black COVID masks, and presumably a yoga mat on her shoulders.
For Debra Cronin, who was once married to Wilson’s grandfather, the concept that Armstrong has been capable of evade authorities for greater than a month is “actually upsetting.”
Noting that Wilson was part of her life for 15 years, Cronin instructed The Each day Beast that she may barely wrap her thoughts round the concept that “Moriah was brutally murdered by a yoga instructor—which isn't very zen—however that the instructor is getting away with it!”
“It’s unbelievable that somebody can get away with homicide now,” Cronin instructed The Each day Beast. “Police had her of their custody they usually let her go! It sucks. Moriah deserves justice and nothing is including up.”
The grim saga started simply earlier than 10 p.m. on Might 11, when authorities acquired a name from one in every of Wilson’s buddies—with whom she was staying—who found her with a number of gunshot wounds. When officers arrived, they discovered the pal performing CPR and a number of cartridge casings on the ground. Officers pronounced Wilson useless shortly after.
Previous to her loss of life, authorities realized that Wilson had gone swimming and grabbed dinner with Strickland, a champion gravel racer described by his sponsor, Crimson Bull, as one of many sport’s “main lights.” Wilson is believed to have returned house from hanging out with Strickland at round 8:36 p.m.
Footage from a neighbor’s safety digicam, obtained by Fox 7, gave cops their first clue. It confirmed a “dark-colored SUV” drive previous the pal’s home at 8:37 p.m., precisely one minute after Wilson walked again in from her swim with Strickland.
“The dark-colored SUV then slowed down, showing to come back to a cease, straight subsequent to [the friend’s] residence,” in response to a possible trigger affidavit for Armstrong’s arrest. “The SUV appeared to have a big bicycle rack mounted on the trailer hitch of the automobile, a baggage rack mounted on the roof, and what gave the impression to be chrome across the home windows. No different autos had been noticed on video surveillance passing by till marked emergency autos arrived.”
The following day, authorities went to Strickland’s home and noticed a 2012 Jeep Cherokee “with a big bicycle rack mounted on the trailer hitch of the automobile, a baggage rack mounted on the roof, and chrome across the home windows that gave the impression to be the identical automobile noticed on surveillance footage.”
Strickland mentioned that he and Armstrong had been collectively for about three months and admitted to briefly relationship Wilson in October 2021. He added that Armstrong returned house the earlier evening in her Jeep at round 9:30.
Authorities briefly interviewed Armstrong after discovering she had an open misdemeanor warrant on a theft of companies cost. Throughout the interview, “Armstrong was confronted with video proof of her automobile, [and] she had no rationalization as to why it was within the space and didn't make any denials surrounding the statements introduced to her,” the affidavit continues.
Armstrong, nevertheless, was launched after detectives decided the warrant “was not legitimate” and he or she was free to go away.
That left those that knew Wilson flummoxed at authorities—and, to some extent, in awe of an accused assassin being so profitable at evading seize.
“It’s like she simply vanished into skinny air,” Cronin mentioned.