Trial begins over killing of cyclist
AUSTIN, Texas — The murder trial of a woman accused of gunning down rising pro cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson and fleeing the country began Wednesday with Texas prosecutors telling jurors they would hear Wilson’s final screams and the shots that killed her.
Kaitlin Armstrong, 35, has pleaded innocent to murder and faces up to 99 years in prison in the May 2022 slaying of Wilson, a competitive gravel and mountain bike racer. Wilson had been shot several times when she was found at a friend’s home before a race that she was among the favorites to win.
In a short opening statement, defense attorney Geoffrey Puryear said Armstrong was caught in a “web of circumstantial evidence,” and that no video evidence or witnesses can put Armstrong at the scene of the shooting.
Police have said Wilson, a 25-year-old Vermont native, had previously dated Armstrong’s boyfriend, Colin Strickland, who also was a competitive gravel racer, and had gone swimming with him earlier in the day.
Prosecutors said they will show that Armstrong tracked Strickland’s communications with Wilson — as well as Wilson’s whereabouts — in the weeks and days before the shooting. Armstrong was able to track Wilson’s location because Wilson had not turned on a safety feature on a phone app.
Among the first witnesses was Caitlin Cash, the friend who found Wilson covered in blood and not breathing when she returned home from dinner. The jury heard a recording of Cash’s emergency call and the sound of her counting through chest compressions on Wilson.
The case drew international headlines when Armstrong fled the country after her initial meeting with police, leading to a 43-day search. Investigators said she sold her vehicle for $12,000 and fled the country using her sister’s name, email, credit card and passport.
Federal authorities tracked Armstrong to Costa Rica, where prosecutors said she spent $6,425 for surgery to change her appearance and used several aliases while attempting to establish herself as a yoga instructor. She also had cut and darkened her hair, and had a bandage on her nose and discoloration under her eyes when arrested at a beachside hostel.