The arrest of Kaitlin Marie Armstrong marks the close of a 43-day manhunt in the ‘Mo’ Wilson murder case.
Authorities in Costa Rica today arrested the Austin, Texas, woman accused of killing world-class cyclist Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson on May 11.
The U.S. Marshals Office of International Operations, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service worked with authorities in Costa Rica to locate and arrest Kaitlin Marie Armstrong at a hostel on Santa Teresa Beach in Provincia de Puntarenas, the department said in a statement.
Armstrong’s last known whereabouts were at Newark Liberty International Airport on May 18, a day after Austin police issued a warrant for her arrest. Officials did not find any flights registered in her name there.
According to the U.S. Marshals, she used a fraudulent passport to fly out of the airport that day on a United Airlines flight.
On May 25, investigators obtained an arrest warrant in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Texas for an Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution. Armstrong, 34, now faces deportation to the U.S.
Mo Wilson Murder Suspect in Custody
Armstrong is charged with the first-degree murder of Wilson, who died of multiple 9mm gunshot wounds inside an Austin home.
Another cyclist, Colin Strickland, was implicated in a possible love triangle between the three. According to police, he’d gone swimming with Wilson hours before her death and dropped her off at the home where she died.
A neighbor’s security footage showed a vehicle that appeared similar to Armstrong’s black Jeep Cherokee arrived one minute after she was dropped off that night, the arrest affidavit said.
Armstrong later sold the vehicle to an Austin dealership.
“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,” said Susan Pamerleau, U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Texas.
“This is an example of combining the resources of local, state, federal, and international authorities to apprehend a violent fugitive, bring an end to that run, and hopefully a sense of closure to the victim’s family.”
