A lady who had been named as a suspect in the homicide of a rising off-road biking star in Texas final month has been arrested in Costa Rica, the authorities mentioned on Thursday, ending a 43-day search.
The U.S. Marshals Service mentioned that the suspect, Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, had been discovered on Wednesday at a hostel in Santa Teresa Beach in Provincia de Puntarenas on Costa Rica’s west coast. She shall be extradited to the United States, the authorities mentioned.
Ms. Armstrong, 34, had been sought in the loss of life of Anna Moriah Wilson, who competed in gravel biking, a self-discipline that blends mountain biking and highway biking. Ms. Wilson, 25, died shortly after she was discovered unconscious and bleeding from a number of gunshot wounds at a good friend’s residence in Austin, Texas, on May 11, the authorities mentioned.
The authorities in Costa Rica, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Marshals Office of International Operations labored collectively to find and arrest Ms. Armstrong, who the Marshals Service mentioned had used a fraudulent passport to fly from Newark to San José, Costa Rica, on May 18. It was not instantly clear if she had a lawyer.
A police affidavit revealed that Ms. Wilson and Ms. Armstrong had each been romantically concerned with one other biking star, Colin Strickland, 35.
The authorities mentioned that Ms. Wilson, who was often called Mo, had been shot a number of occasions, and that the taking pictures didn’t seem like random.
The police questioned Ms. Armstrong on May 13. She is believed to have boarded a flight to Houston the subsequent day earlier than touring to New York, the Marshals Service mentioned. On May 18, a day after the Austin police obtained a warrant to arrest her on a first-degree homicide cost, Ms. Armstrong was seen at Newark Liberty International Airport, however there have been no outbound flights booked underneath her identify.
The Marshals Service, which mentioned Ms. Armstrong was armed and dangerous, had supplied a $5,000 reward for info resulting in her arrest. Additionally, Capital Area Crime Stoppers supplied $1,000 and an nameless donor supplied $15,000, making the full reward $21,000.
On the evening Ms. Wilson was killed, she and Mr. Strickland had visited the Deep Eddy pool in Austin and had dinner collectively at a restaurant, according to the police affidavit, posted by The Austin American-Statesman.
Mr. Strickland informed the police that he’d dropped Ms. Wilson off at her good friend’s home and didn’t go inside.
He informed investigators that he had been in a romantic relationship with Ms. Wilson final October throughout a one- or two-week break in his roughly three-year relationship with Ms. Armstrong, based on the affidavit.
The affidavit mentioned an nameless caller informed the police that Ms. Armstrong had mentioned in January that she needed to kill Ms. Wilson after studying that Mr. Strickland was in a romantic relationship along with her.
A car much like Ms. Armstrong’s was seen in entrance of the house in Austin the place Ms. Wilson was staying an hour earlier than the police responded to her good friend’s 911 name, based on the affidavit. Ms. Armstrong didn’t clarify why her car was close to the scene of the taking pictures, the police mentioned. According to the Marshals Service, Ms. Armstrong bought the automotive, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, on May 13 at a CarMax location in Austin for $12,200.
In December or January, Mr. Strickland bought two 9-millimeter handguns, one for himself and one for Ms. Armstrong, the affidavit mentioned. A police evaluation of Ms. Armstrong’s gun, which was recovered at Mr. Strickland’s residence, revealed that it had “significant” potential to be the one which was used to kill Ms. Wilson, the affidavit mentioned.
“There is no way to adequately express the regret and torture I feel about my proximity to this horrible crime,” Mr. Strickland mentioned in an announcement to The Austin American-Statesman. “I am sorry, and I simply cannot make sense of this unfathomable tragedy.”
Mr. Strickland mentioned that he had a short romantic relationship with Ms. Wilson final fall “that spanned a week or so,” then reconciled with Ms. Armstrong. He mentioned that he and Ms. Wilson had not been in a romantic relationship after that, however had a platonic {and professional} relationship and would typically see one another at biking occasions.
“Moriah and I were both leaders in this lonely, niche sport of cycling, and I admired her greatly and considered her a close friend,” Mr. Strickland mentioned in his assertion. “I am deeply grieving her loss.”
