Austin police issue arrest warrant in Moriah Wilson murder case
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This article originally appeared on Velo News
Austin city police issued a warrant Thursday for first-degree murder in the case of gravel racer Moriah “Mo” Wilson.
The warrant named Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, 34, in the warrant for first-degree murder felony charges. Wilson, 25, was found shot dead in an Austin apartment on May 11.
Armstrong is listed as “Colin Strickland’s partner and financial guru” on the Wheelhouse Mobile website. Wheelhouse Mobile is Strickland’s vintage trailer restoration business; he is also a professional gravel cyclist. VeloNews attempted to contact him but the call went unanswered.
Armstrong has not been arrested. According to the Austin-Statesman, police say she deleted her social media accounts and that her boyfriend told them he has not seen her since May 13. Her account on Strava -- an online cycling and fitness platform -- remains public and shows that she last cycled on May 11, the day Wilson died.
On Friday, the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force announced it is conducting a “fugitive investigation” and asked for the public’s help in locating Armstrong.
The arrest warrant is the latest development in the shocking case involving the high-profile gravel racer.
More details emerged this week surrounding the investigation.
According to an affidavit obtained by The Boston Globe, Wilson went swimming with a male cyclist in the hours before her death, and then an SUV belonging to a woman who lives with that male cyclist was seen leaving the house where Wilson was murdered. The Globe declined to use the male cyclist’s name as he has not been charged with a crime.
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In its initial public report, the Austin Police Department said the shooting did not appear to be random.
Detectives identified a person of interest, and issued the arrest warrant Thursday. In Texas, first-degree murder felony can be a capital offense.
The affadavit said that Wilson’s female friend picked her up at the Austin airport May 10. The friend told authorities that she left her apartment (where Wilson was staying) around 5:30 p.m on May 11 and later received a text message from Wilson that she was going for an evening swim with a male cyclist.
Wilson’s friend returned to the house shortly before 10 p.m. on May 11 and found Wilson “covered in blood.” She was pronounced dead shortly after police arrived.
The key pad at the home Wilson was staying in was accessed at 8:36 p.m. According to the affadavit, a neighbor’s surveillance footage showed a SUV pulling up to the apartment on Maple Avenue, and the vehicle resembled an SUV registered to a woman who lives with the cyclist.
The affadavit also said that police obtained a warrant to search another home owned by that woman the day after the murder.
According to the affadavit, Wilson was shot multiple times with a 9mm handgun. The male cyclist, who was questioned by police the day after the murder, said both he and the woman he lives with own 9mm handguns.
He also said he went swimming with Wilson at a city pool before dropping her off at her friend’s house around 8:30 p.m. on May 11. In the affadavit, he said that the woman he lives with returned home in the SUV around 9:20 p.m.
Wilson’s death has rocked the cycling community and her hometown of East Burke, Vermont. The 25-year-old was a dominant gravel and mountain bike racer who had recently quit her job with Specialized to focus fully on racing. Last Friday, her parents issued a statement that was also shared at the start of the Gravel Locos race in Hico, Texas.
We know that Moriah would want the event to carry on, for her compatriots to test their limits, as she would have been alongside her friends on the race course. We hope everyone feels her passion and support as they chase their own dreams. Her spirit will be there with you all, while training and on every race day.
(Photo: A copy of the arrest warrant.)
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