A fugitive yoga instructor has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson on May 11. It is alleged that she shot dead her love rival in Texas before escaping to Costa Rica.
After being transferred from Houston, Kaitlin Armstrong, 34, arrived at the Travis County Jail in Austin at around 3:30 p.m.
Armstrong travelled from Costa Rica to Houston on Sunday, modifying her appearance to include shorter, darker hair and what appears to be cosmetic surgery in an effort to elude capture.
Naomi Howard and Richard Lyn Cofer II are the two attorneys Armstrong has so far hired for her defence.
An alleged $6,350 voucher for cosmetic treatment was allegedly discovered among her baggage by a witness to her arrest in Costa Rica.
Before her arrest on June 29, the witness claimed to have seen Armstrong at a $50 per night “treehouse hostel” near Santa Teresa Beach with bandages covering her nose.
Armstrong was captured on video by ABC 13 with her hands bound and her once-ginger hair covered in a dark brown dye job, which she allegedly cut and coloured to conceal her identity in the Central American nation.
Armstrong was apprehended “at a good time,” according to Brandon Filla, deputy U.S. marshal for Austin, Texas, before she could further modify her look.
Filla told the ‘TODAY Show’ that Armstrong had made the changes ‘to throw off law enforcement officials,’ and indicated she may’ve attempted to get tattoos to make her more unidentifiable.
On Saturday, it was revealed Armstrong most likely used her sister’s passport to enter Costa Rica and may have undergone plastic surgery while fleeing.
Zachary Paulsen, who claims to have seen her arrest, claims she was seeking cost-cutting measures when police arrived for a normal inspection of the place.
‘She was just asking about how to get around cheaper, and then the police came,’ Paulsen told Inside Edition. Armstrong was seized by Costa Rican officers after they couldn’t find her fake name in their database.
Paulsen alleged the fugitive left behind two American passports in a locker where she had stored her things. One of the documents bore her name and the other seemingly belonged to her lookalike sister, Christine Armstrong.
Photographs of the documents show one passport bearing the name Kaitlin Marie Armstrong and featuring the yoga instructor’s personal information and picture.
The other passport seemingly belonged to a 31-year-old brunette named Christine Elizabeth Armstrong, believed to be Armstrong’s younger sister.
Filla confirmed to the news outlet that Armstrong had ‘cropped her hair about shoulder length’ and ‘dyed it dark brown.’ This was likely an attempt to better resemble Christine.
Paulsen also claimed to have found a $6,350 receipt for cosmetic surgery under ‘another name’ among her belongings. He alleged Armstrong had been walking around the hostel with a ‘bandage on her nose and blood in her nostrils.’
The receipt doesn’t indicate what services were provided, but Paulsen claims Armstrong had bandaged her nose.
Armstrong fled to Costa Rica in an apparent attempt to carry out a double life under a false name.
She was posing as a woman named ‘Ari’ during her stay at Don Jon’s Lodge in the small town of Santa Teresa, which is home to only 3,000 people.
Fellow guests described her as a ‘strange’ loner who would ‘keep to herself,’ despite sleeping in an eight-bunkbed dorm.
A source revealed to DailyMail.com on Friday that Armstrong first arrived at the Don Jon’s Lodge on June 8.
Staff had repeatedly turned down her requests to work as a yoga instructor, but eventually relented and she started helping with the classes when the normal teacher was off. She was also working shifts on the front desk in reception.
The source said: ‘When the [regular] yoga girl couldn’t make it, [Armstrong] carried out the class instead of the other one. She didn’t always work.’
They continued: ‘She didn’t talk to anyone. She didn’t have to work in the morning and slept late. When she got up, she drank a lot of coffee. And she sat in some chairs, apart from the others.’
Armstrong had led cops on a mammoth six-week chase across multiple countries and U.S. states, including Texas, New York and New Jersey before she was arrested.
Earlier this week, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed footage of the alleged killer being marched into a police station in Costa Rica with a dramatically changed appearance.
Susan Pamerlea, the U.S. marshal for the Western District of Texas said Thursday: ‘The Marshals Service elevated the Kaitlin Armstrong investigation to major case status early in this investigation, which likely played a key role in her capture after a 43-day run.’
Armstrong stands accused of the May 11 shooting of Wilson, a cyclist whom she thought was having a relationship with her boyfriend, Colin Strickland.
The yoga instructor was linked to Wilson’s death after authorities found her ‘bleeding and unconscious’ at her friend’s apartment in Austin. She had sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
Police performed CPR on Wilson before pronouncing her dead at the scene. Wilson, a Vermont native and ‘world-class’ cyclist, was staying in Austin for a race.
Armstrong’s car was seen in the area around the time of the shooting, leading authorities to believe she had killed Wilson out of jealousy.
Later on, they learned that on May 11, Wilson had gone out to supper with Armstrong’s on-and-off boyfriend Strickland. Strickland had informed the police that the two of them had been swimming at Deep Eddy Pool before grabbing burgers at Pool Burger.
Strickland claimed that on his BMW motorcycle, he picked her up from her friend Caitlin Cash’s apartment at 5:45 p.m., dropped her off at 8:36 p.m., and then stopped briefly to text Armstrong to let her know he had been dropping off flowers to another friend and that his phone had run out of battery.
But without Strickland’s knowledge, Armstrong is said to have been monitoring both of them using the riding software Strava, which displays the routes that runners and cyclists follow.
Armstrong’s black Jeep Cherokee was spotted by a neighbor’s security camera pulling up to the property at 8:35 p.m., she previously revealed to DailyMail.com while requesting anonymity.
Additionally, she revealed to DailyMail.com that Armstrong had been seen on camera the day before riding a bike in the same location.
Police in Austin questioned Armstrong on May 14 after learning that the yoga instructor was wanted on a misdemeanour theft of services allegation.
Police took advantage of the occasion to interview her briefly about Wilson’s death a few days earlier after receiving a tip that Armstrong lost her cool when she learned that Strickland had once been romantically connected with Wilson.
Police showed Armstrong video surveillance of her SUV seemingly coming to a stop outside the apartment where Wilson was discovered dead on May 11 during the interrogation. Following a swim and dinner with Strickland, Wilson, 25, entered the building just one minute before the video was time-stamped.
Armstrong also admitted it ‘doesn’t look good,’ and a probable cause document for her arrest says she ‘had no explanation as to why it was in the area, and did not make any denials surrounding the statements presented to her.’
It was determined that Armstrong had sold her black Jeep Grand Cherokee to an Austin car dealership for $12,2000 on May 13, five days before she left the country.
Unnamed police informant claimed that in January 2022, Armstrong lost his cool after learning about cyclist Strickland’s romance with another cyclist Wilson.