Kaitlin Armstrong trial: Murder suspect ‘tracked’ love rival Mo Wilson

Court proceedings in the trial of Kaitlin Armstrong, the yoga teacher who allegedly gunned down rising pro cyclist Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson and then fled the country, have finished for the day.

The trial will resume at 9am local time, in Austin, Texas, on Friday.

On the second day of the trial, jurors heard testimony from several residents from the neighbourhood in which Wilson’s body was found. They also saw video and audio footage from the time of the alleged incident.

In one piece of doorbell cam footage, a womans screams and gunshots could be heard.

Michael Donlin says that he had turned over his doorbell cam footage to police after seeing a post on social media platform Nextdoor requesting information and video.

He tells the court no police had come to his door to ask for the footage, and that he did not see the jeep in person on the night of the alleged incident.

Like Martha Palao, Mr Donlin says he has not seen Kaitlin Armstrong before, prior to her appearance in court.

Jurors have been shown doorbell cam footage shared with police by former resident Michael Donlin. The footage contains audio.

A black jeep was also spotted in Mr Donlin’s footage around 8.26pm.

At 9:15pm a woman can be screaming as well as two consecutive gunshots. After a pause, a third gunshot is heard.

The sounds are distant, but audible.

As the footage is played to the court, Ms Armstrong stares ahead, mostly motionless – even as the gunshots ring out.

Caitlin Cash, Wilson’s friend who discovered her body bows her head, while another friend consoles her in the courtroom.

The court next heard testimony from Martha Palao, who lives around 100m from where Wilson was found dead.

Jurors were shown two pieces of CCTV footage, in which a black jeep with a bike rack could be seen passing in front of her house and later in her back alley.

Ms Palao said that although she was awake at the time of the alleged murder, she did not hear any gunshots. Police arrived in the neighbourhood around 10pm, she said.

David Harris, the landlord and neighbor of the apartment where Mo Wilson was killed, took the stand at Kaitlin Armstrong’s murder trial on Thursday.

He is describing what he heard on that night in May 2022 and says he went to the garage to take a marijuana bong hit before going on his walk for exercise.

When he went in to open the garage and smoke, that’s when he heard what sounded like someone rushing down stairs of the apartment and the “whisking” sound of a bicycle being moved.

“Immediately someone took off,” he added.

Prosecutors asked him, “If police came into your house and asked to search, would you have let them?”

He responded, “Absolutely.”

They then asked, “Mr. Harris, I hate to ask you this, but did you kill Moriah Wilson?”

“No, I did not,” he responded.

Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson, 25, a competitive gravel and mountain bike racer from Vermont, was found dead on 11 May in her friend’s Austin, Texas apartment.

A month before her death, Ms Wilson beat 30 of the top gravel racing cyclists in the United States to claim the Fuego 80k at the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California.

Ms Wilson followed up that victory with a win at the Belgian Waffle Ride in San Diego on 30 April 2022 and arrived in Austin on 10 May as the favourite to win the Gravel Locos in Hico, a few days later.

She was staying at her friend Caitlin Cash’s apartment on Maple Avenue, East Austin, and on 11 May arranged to meet fellow pro-cyclist Colin Strickland, who according to a police affidavit she had an on-again, off-again relationship with when he and his then-girlfriend Kaitlin Armstrong were on a hiatus.

The pair went swimming at the Deep Eddy Pool public aquatic centre in Austin before going for a meal at nearby Pool Burger, Mr Strickland, 35, told investigators. He dropped Ms Wilson off at her friend’s home at around 8.30pm.

One minute later, a neighbour’s surveillance camera captured Ms Armstong’s Cherokee SUV outside the address.

Later that night Ms Wilson was found bleeding and unconscious with multiple gunshot wounds by the friend she was staying with. Despite attempts to resuscitate her, she was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to a police affidavit, Mr Strickland told detectives in a 12 May interview that Ms Armstrong had returned to their home in her SUV around 9.20pm.

Mr Strickland said he struck up a relationship with Ms Wilson in October 2021 when he and Ms Armstrong were on a brief hiatus. Texts between him and Ms Wilson showed that she was under the impression they were still dating.

According to the affidavit, a friend called police on 14 May to say that Ms Armstrong had learned of the “on again, off again” relationship in January.

Another caller, identified by the pseudonym Jane to shield her identity from Ms Armstrong, said she “became furious and was shaking in anger” and stated that she wanted to kill Ms Wilson. She began calling Ms Wilson and ordering her to stay away from her boyfriend, according to the affidavit.

In an interview with police, Mr Strickland said around that time he purchased 9mm handguns for himself and Ms Armstrong. He spoke in glowing terms about Ms Wilson’s prospects as a pro-cyclist, describing her as the best gravel cyclist in the United States, and possibly the world.

He was not nearly as flattering about his girlfriend Ms Armstrong, also a “competitive” cyclist, telling officers he had asked her not to ride with him because she “holds him back”.

Mr Strickland has cooperated with investigators and is not a suspect.

Graphic photos are being shown in court of the crime scene that show a close up of Mo Wilson’s shoes and blood stains.

Kaitlin Armstrong stares straight ahead, unflinching, according to News Nation’s Alex Caprariello who is in the courtroom.

The courtroom remains silent as jurors are shown Wilson’s injuries. One photo that has been blurred shows her bloodied face. Another is a close-up of her dress pulled up past her waist.

Witness testimony continued on Thursday with a homicide detective and a crime scene analyst each taking the stand.

The courtroom was shown graphic photos of the crime scene which triggered crying from several of Mo Wilson’s loved ones. Some of her family left the room.

Wilson’s competitive bicycle was brought out for the jury to see shortly before court took a recess for lunch.

In explosive opening statements on Wednesday, Travis County prosecutor Rickey Jones told jurors that they would hear Wilson’s final screams and the shots that killed her.

“The last thing Mo did on this earth was scream in terror,” adding that nearby surveillance equipment captured the screams.

“Those screams are followed by ‘Pop! Pop!’” Mr Jones said, smacking his hands together for emphasis. “You won’t hear any more screams after that.”

Seconds after those shots, Jones said, “Kaitlin Armstrong stood over Mo Wilson and put a third shot right into Mo Wilson’s heart.”

Nearly a year and a half after Kaitlin Armstrong made international headlines for allegedly killing her romantic rival and then going on the run for 43 days, her murder trial is underway.

The Texas woman found herself at the centre of a love triangle with her boyfriend Colin Strickland and professional cyclist Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson, who was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds at a friend’s house on 11 May 2022.

Ms Armstrong was questioned by police just three days after the killing but once freed, she fled to Costa Rica leading the authorities on an intensive manhunt that ultimately ended in her capture despite her effort to disguise her identity with dyed hair and plastic surgery.

Andrea Cavallier reports…