Texas cyclist murder suspect Kaitlin Armstrong’s Jeep found
(NewsNation) — The black Jeep registered to a woman accused of killing a popular cyclist in a love triangle was found, U.S. Marshals said Thursday.
Kaitlin Armstrong, 34, is accused of murdering Moriah Wilson, 25, a rising star in the cycling world. Wilson had been visiting Austin before a race in Hico, Texas, last month, NewsNation local affiliate KXAN reported. She was found unconscious with a gunshot wound at an Austin residence on May 11, and died at the scene from her injuries.
Armstrong was brought in for questioning in the murder case, but she was released and has been on the run ever since.
In the latest development from KXAN on the story, Armstrong sold her Jeep on May 13 to a CarMax dealership in South Austin for $12,200. She received a check from the dealership one day after being questioned by Austin Police.
Investigators earlier this month said Armstrong was dropped off at an airport in Newark, New Jersey, on May 18. Surveillance footage also places her at a Texas airport three days after the alleged crime.
A police affidavit related to the case shows Wilson met with Armstrong’s boyfriend, fellow pro cyclist Colin Strickland, on May 11 — the same night as her death.
Strickland, who said he dated Wilson last fall, told police the two went swimming and then to dinner on May 11, before he dropped Wilson off at the home where her body was later found.
Security footage shows an SUV similar to Armstrong’s pulling up outside one minute after Wilson arrived home. Shell casings found at the scene of the killing were analyzed against a gun belonging to Armstrong, with police writing in an affidavit that the potential that the same firearm was involved in Wilson’s death is “significant.”
One anonymous tipster, who police said is credible, said when Armstrong discovered Strickland was romantically involved with Wilson, she became “furious,” and wanted to “kill” her.
However, Strickland has called the police’s affidavit into the murder investigation “misleading,” KXAN reported, insisting in an interview with The Sun that he and Wilson had a “completely platonic relationship and friendship.”
“It’s unfortunate how that has been skewed out to be a salacious aspect to this story when it really wasn’t the case,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Austin Police Department told KXAN that the department has “been in discussions with Moriah’s family, and we are respecting their privacy in this matter.”
Strickland is not a person of interest in the case.