A Texas woman accused of murdering a rising star in the professional cycling world in a jealous rage—who spent 43 days on the lam before being captured—briefly escaped police custody on Wednesday after a doctor’s appointment.
Kaitlin Armstrong ran from two deputies as they were walking her back to the patrol car to take her back to the Travis County Correctional Complex after escorting her to a medical appointment. The Travis County Sheriff’s Office said the amateur cyclist and yoga teacher was a fugitive for mere minutes before deputies, who had their sights on her during the pursuit, nabbed her. She was taken to Dell Seton Medical Center for treatment after the incident. Her lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The escape is the second time Armstrong has attempted to flee from law enforcement since she allegedly shot and killed Anna Moriah Wilson in Austin, Texas, on May 11, 2022. Just before the murder, Wilson allegedly went out to dinner and swimming with her ex, Colin Strickland, who was then in a relationship with Armstrong.
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The day after the shooting, the arrest affidavit states, authorities went to Strickland’s Austin home and found a 2012 Jeep Cherokee “with a large bicycle rack mounted on the trailer hitch of the vehicle, a luggage rack mounted on the roof, and chrome around the windows that appeared to be the same vehicle observed on surveillance footage.”
Armstrong, who had an open misdemeanor warrant for allegedly skipping out on a Botox bill, was briefly interviewed by police. The affidavit states that when police confronted her about a video that showed her car near the scene of Wilson’s slaying, “she had no explanation as to why it was in the area and did not make any denials surrounding the statements presented to her.” However, she was released after investigators determined the open warrant “was not valid.”
U.S. Marshals say Armstrong suddenly sold her car, flew to Houston, and then to New York. She was then seen getting dropped off at Newark Liberty International Airport on May 18—a day after police issued a homicide warrant.
Armstrong flew to San Jose, Costa Rica, using a fraudulent passport that belonged to someone who looked like her, the affidavit says. She remained in Costa Rica—where authorities say she frequented “more than a handful” of hostels and yoga establishments—until June 30, 2022. She used three main aliases to avoid capture: Ari Martin, Beth Martin, and Liz Martin.
Authorities were tipped off to her location after Armstrong took a bus from San Jose to Jaco Beach, leaving a paper trail for police. She was arrested at Don John’s Lodge in Saint Teresa, where she was taking yoga part-time. Police discovered two passports and a $6,350 receipt for cosmetic surgery in her hostel lockbox.
Wilson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other charges and is expected to face trial on Oct. 30.
