Austin PD
NOS News•Today, 09:42
A fugitive woman suspected of the murder of American cyclist Mo Wilson has been arrested in Costa Rica. Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, 34, had been missing since mid-May but was now arrested in a hostel in the Central American country.
Moriah ‘Mo’ Wilson was a rising star in gravel racing. The 26-year-old’s body was found on May 11 at a friend’s home in Austin, Texas. She appeared to have been shot.
Armstrong quickly came into the picture as a suspected perpetrator. It could possibly be a crime of passion: she is the partner of Colin Strickland, a colleague with whom Wilson had a brief relationship. In addition, her car had been filmed by surveillance cameras near the crime scene.
Before the police could arrest her, Armstrong flew via New York to Costa Rica with a false passport. After that, until Wednesday, there was no trace of her. She is scheduled to be extradited to the US within the next 30 days.
Win without cheering
Wilson’s murder cast a shadow on the current clay-court season. Previously a skier, Wilson switched to cycling after an injury, where she had huge success in the relatively new category of gravel cycling, a discipline between road cycling and mountain biking. “She came like a comet”, former cyclist Laurens ten Dam describes her success.
AFP
Laurens ten Dam
Three days after her death, participants started gloomily at the Gravel Locos, a race in Austin that should have included Wilson. Dutchman Jasper Ockeloen was the first to cross the line without cheering.
Laurens ten Dam feared that he too would become involved in the case: he had been with colleague Strickland for a long time to comfort him after the death of Wilson, who had remained a good friend. The concern proved unnecessary when police concluded that Strickland was not involved in Wilson’s death.
