A rising biking star who was visiting Texas for a contest was discovered shot lifeless in Austin this month, rattling the tight-knit group of off-road biking and racing.
Investigators started to piece collectively a story of that evening with surveillance video, a remorseful interview with one other skilled bicycle owner she had been seeing, and finally ballistics. Now, U.S. Marshals are helping the police look for a girl who has been recognized as a suspect within the loss of life of Anna Moriah Wilson, 25.
The suspect, Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, 34, was courting Colin Strickland, 35, one other star gravel bicycle owner, a self-discipline that blends mountain biking and street biking. The police stated Ms. Wilson had additionally been romantically concerned with Mr. Strickland.
On the evening of Might 11, a good friend returned to her residence in Austin the place Ms. Wilson had been staying, discovered Ms. Wilson bleeding and unconscious and referred to as 911, the police stated.
Ms. Wilson, who was referred to as Mo, was pronounced lifeless shortly after, the police stated. An preliminary investigation revealed that somebody had shot Ms. Wilson a number of instances inside the house and that the taking pictures didn’t seem like random.
On the evening she was killed, Ms. Wilson and Mr. Strickland had collectively visited the Deep Eddy pool in Austin, according to a police affidavit posted by The Austin American-Statesman.
In an interview with the police, Mr. Strickland stated he had dropped Ms. Wilson off at her good friend’s home and didn’t go inside. He advised the police that he had been in a romantic relationship with Ms. Wilson in October throughout a one- or two-week break from his roughly three-year relationship with Ms. Armstrong, in accordance with the affidavit.
In December or January, Mr. Strickland bought two 9-millimeter handguns, one for himself and one for Ms. Armstrong, the affidavit stated. A police evaluation of Ms. Armstrong’s gun, which was recovered at Mr. Strickland’s residence, revealed that it had “vital” potential to be the identical because the one used to kill Ms. Wilson, the affidavit stated.
A car much like Ms. Armstrong’s, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, was seen in entrance of the Austin residence the place Ms. Wilson was staying an hour earlier than the police responded to her good friend’s 911 name, the affidavit stated. Ms. Armstrong didn’t clarify why her car was seen close to the scene of the taking pictures, the police stated.
The day after Ms. Wilson was discovered lifeless, the police took Ms. Armstrong into custody on an unspecified misdemeanor warrant however had been then knowledgeable that the warrant was not legitimate and advised Ms. Armstrong she may go away if she wished to, the affidavit stated.
The Austin police didn’t instantly reply to messages searching for additional remark. Mr. Strickland and his sponsor, Purple Bull, didn’t reply to electronic mail requests for remark. Ms. Armstrong couldn’t be reached.
The affidavit stated the police had acquired a tip from an nameless caller. The caller stated Ms. Armstrong had stated in January that she wished to kill Ms. Wilson after studying that Mr. Strickland was in a romantic relationship with Ms. Wilson whereas he was courting Ms. Armstrong.
Mr. Strickland stated he had not been involved with Ms. Armstrong since Might 13, in accordance with the affidavit.
“There isn’t a option to adequately specific the remorse and torture I really feel about my proximity to this horrible crime,” Mr. Strickland stated in a press release to The American-Statesman. “I’m sorry, and I merely can’t make sense of this unfathomable tragedy.”
Mr. Strickland stated that he had a quick romantic relationship with Ms. Wilson within the fall “that spanned every week or so,” then reconciled with Ms. Armstrong. He stated that he and Ms. Wilson had not been in a romantic relationship after that, however had been in a platonic {and professional} relationship and would usually see one another at biking occasions.
He stated Ms. Wilson was “the perfect feminine bicycle owner in the US and presumably the world,” in accordance with the affidavit.
“Moriah and I had been each leaders on this lonely, area of interest sport of biking, and I admired her drastically and regarded her an in depth good friend,” Mr. Strickland stated in his assertion. “I’m deeply grieving her loss.”
In an interview in Might with VeloNews, a aggressive biking journal, Ms. Wilson stated she had not too long ago give up her job with the bike firm Specialised to give attention to biking full time. VeloNews stated that Ms. Wilson had received 10 off-road races this yr.
Biking publications described Ms. Wilson as a rising star within the off-road racing world who had racked up spectacular performances recently, together with profitable an 80-kilometer race in April on the Sea Otter Traditional, a biking competition in Monterey, Calif.
Her loss of life rattled the mountain biking and gravel racing world, and tributes to her had been posted on-line.
Rebecca Rusch, an expert bicycle owner, said on Instagram that there “was a bubble of positivity and pleasure” round Ms. Wilson.
Ms. Wilson had traveled to Texas to compete in Gravel Locos, a 150-mile race in Hico, about 135 miles north of Austin. The winner of the race, Marisa Vandersteen Boaz, said on Instagram that she wished Ms. Wilson may have received it.
Ms. Boaz stated she had not recognized Ms. Wilson personally, however had been impressed by her.
“I do know everybody taking part gave it their all and I feel that’s what Mo would have wished,” Ms. Boaz wrote.
Vimal Patel contributed reporting.
