When Anna Moriah Wilson’s boyfriend returned home to her Austin apartment late on May 11 to find Wilson unconscious and covered in blood on the ground, he left the cycling world in shock.
The 25-year-old Vermont native, known to her friends as Mo, had arrived in Texas just the day before to compete that weekend in the Gravel Locos, a 150-mile (150-mile) gravel race that she was eager to win.
She had quit her job several weeks earlier to race full-time, according to VeloNews, which described her in a profile as “the winningest woman on the American off-road scene.”
Wilson had been shot multiple times in the apartment in what the Austin police later described as a targeted murder.
In a stunning update on Friday, police charged yoga teacher and fellow cyclist Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, 34, with first-degree murder, KVUE reported. Armstrong was in a relationship with a man who had also been involved with Wilson, investigators said in an affidavit obtained by The Boston Globe.
According to the affidavit, the friend who received Wilson at her East Austin apartment told police she left the house around 5:30 p.m. May 11 and later received a text from Wilson saying she would be meeting a male friend for a swim.
Investigators say Armstrong was dating the man, but Wilson was also romantically involved with him in the past when he and Armstrong broke up. The man on Friday identified himself as Colin Strickland, another champion gravel cyclist who rides for Red Bull and also runs a business with Armstrong that refurbishes tractor trailers.
Just before 6pm Wilson arrived back at the apartment and used a key code to get in. The code was reopened at 8:36 p.m., and a neighbor’s security camera captured an SUV driving toward the apartment at the time, the affidavit said.
Police say the SUV belonged to Armstrong, who lives with Strickland. It prompted police to search Armstrong’s South Austin home this week, but it’s not clear what evidence has been gathered.
In an interview with police, Strickland claimed he dropped Wilson back at the friend’s apartment around 8:30 p.m. after going for a swim. He admitted that he and Armstrong have 9mm pistols in their house. He has not been charged with any criminal offences.
In a statement to local media on FridayStrickland said he and Wilson were dating for a week in late 2021 when Wilson visited Austin. They were both newly single, he said, but about a month after Wilson left Austin, he reunited with Armstrong. He said he often saw Wilson at competitive events and that they sometimes trained together.
†[W]I didn’t have a romantic relationship, just a platonic and professional relationship,” he said. “It was not my intention to pursue a romantic auxiliary relationship that would mislead anyone.”
He said he felt “regret and torture” over his proximity to the “terrible crime”.
Armstrong worked in real estate agent Kuper Realty’s Austin office, the company wrote in a December 2021 blog post and a Facebook post that has since been deleted.
The post described her as a “retentive cop” and “avid cyclist” who also teaches yoga and co-founded Wheelhouse Mobile, the vintage trailer renovation company. Wheelhouse’s website states that she founded the company in 2021 with her partner Strickland, a Red Bull athlete.
Kuper Realty, Wheelhouse Mobile and Strickland did not immediately respond to emails and phone calls requesting comment. It was not clear whether Armstrong had already retained a lawyer.
In a statement released shortly after her death, Wilson’s family called her death “inscrutable.”
†[A]At the same time, we want everyone to join us in celebrating her life, achievements and love for others,” they wrote. “Always pushing tirelessly to achieve her goals, we knew she was pursuing what she loved. We will miss her terribly and know that we all mourn her with us.”
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