Accused Texas love triangle killer Kaitlin Armstrong turned off her phone just as police suspected she was stalking and killing victim Moriah “Mo” Wilson, a police forensic expert testified in an Austin courtroom Monday.
Armstrong, 35, whose murder charge was charged in her trial that began on October 30, made international headlines after fleeing Austin, Texas, for Costa Rica to avoid being charged with her murder last year on Wilson. She recently attempted to escape from custody just days before her trial began.
The alleged murderer, who police say followed her boyfriend and Wilson for hours while they were out on the town together on the day of the murder, turned off her phone from about 7:30 PM to 9:47 PM on May 11, 2022. according to Fox News.
Wilson, who had dated Armstrong’s boyfriend months earlier, was killed around 9:20 p.m., police previously testified.
The last text message Wilson sent before she was killed was also revealed.
“I just put some in there. Let me know if these will work,” Wilson texted in response to some photos she added to a Google hard drive, according to Fox news.
Moriah Wilson, known as Mo, (left) and Colin Strickland (right) met because they were both members of the professional cycling community. Strickland was dating Armstrong at the time, but the two broke up for about two months in the fall of 2021. During that time, Strickland testified that he dated Wilson and later got back together with Wilson.
Colin Strickland testified over several days in Armstrong’s murder trial and described his relationship with Armstrong as tumultuous. The former cyclist lashed out at members of the media and attacked several photographers as he left the courtroom
While he was on the run, authorities say Armstrong got a nose job, a brow lift and changed her hair color to avoid being recognized. This photo above shows what the yoga teacher looked like before he became a murder suspect
Wilson sent the photos to Colin Strickland, Armstrong’s friend who knew Wilson because they were both stars in the cycling community.
Strickland and Wilson had been in a sexual relationship in late 2021 when Armstrong and Strickland briefly broke up before getting back together.
A text message shown in court Monday between Armstrong and a friend showed the former yoga teacher vacationing alone in Mexico, while Strickland celebrated his birthday with Wilson during that breakup.
“Well, today is his birthday. He’s home with a 24 year old who may or may not have moved to Austin, and I’m alone in Tulum. Especially practice, sound healing, meditation. Some learn. Now off to a massage and then a Temezcal ceremony for a detox and rebirth,” Armstrong texted a friend on November 7, 2021.
While the digital treasure on Armstrong’s phone was limited, jurors also saw a photo of a “scantily clad” woman wearing only a bra and shorts or pants.
Cyclist Moriah “Mo” Wilson had dinner with Armstrong’s boyfriend the night she was shot, prosecutors said.
The yoga teacher is pictured before the attack (left) and after fleeing the country (right). Police said she had plastic surgery including a nose job, a brow lift and had her hair dyed brown while on the run.
Armstrong’s black 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee was spotted driving outside Wilson’s friend’s home in Austin, where the cyclist was killed
It’s unclear who the image belongs to, but earlier in this trial, Strickland testified that Armstrong hacked into his phone and got his hands on a sexy photo that Wilson had texted him.
Strickland told jurors that he and Wilson met on May 11 since Wilson was in town to prepare for a race in Texas.
The pair, who he said were just friends at the time of the killing, went swimming and later went to a restaurant for burgers and drinks.
He also admitted that he did not tell his live-in girlfriend that he was having dinner with Wilson to avoid a conflict.
He saved Wilson on his phone under a different name, “Christine Walls.”
After dinner the night of the murder, Strickland dropped Wilson off at a friend’s apartment where she was staying.
The jury also saw surveillance video showing Armstrong’s black Jeep driving around the block where the duo were eating and the apartment where Wilson was staying.
In one clip, Armstrong’s SUV is seen approaching, followed by gunshots and blood-curdling screams from Wilson.
In recent days, Austin Police Department investigators took to the witness stand to say Armstrong’s vehicle GPS places her at the scene of the crime, but defense attorneys have countered that there is no evidence Armstrong was the one who drove the black Jeep controlled. .
In addition, Armstrong’s DNA was found on Wilson’s bicycle located outside the apartment where the shooting occurred. Investigators did not say whether the DNA was blood or other bodily fluid.
Armstrong entered Costa Rica on her sister’s passports in the days after a warrant was issued for her arrest in Austin, Texas. Weeks later she was arrested
Armstrong is seen here arriving at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston as she was brought back from Costa Rica
Austin police issued an arrest warrant for Armstrong within days of Wilson’s murder, but the yoga teacher fled the country using her sister’s passport — from Austin to New York and later to Costa Rica.
Jurors who will decide whether Armstrong goes to prison also heard testimony about the plastic surgery Armstrong underwent while she was on the run.
Armstrong paid $6,350 for a nose job, a brow lift and filler for her lips and eyes to change her appearance while she was on the run. She also darkened her hair.
In Costa Rica, she used several aliases, including “Ari” and “Allison” while staying at Don Jon’s Lodge in the resort town of Santa Teresa.
In July, U.S. Marshals traveled to the Central American country where they tracked her down. Costa Rican officials arrested Armstrong for entering the country on a passport that was not hers.
A few days before her trial began, she tried to flee again during a visit to a doctor’s office.
Officials revealed that Armstrong faked a leg injury to be transported without leg irons, which is local protocol. She was seen training vigorously in the days before his second escape failure.
She faces separate charges in the failed jailbreak. Armstrong could face up to 99 years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.