How was fugitive Kaitlin Armstrong caught? She answered U.S. Marshals’ advert for a yoga teacher

Kaitlin Armstrong is serving 90 years in jail for murdering skilled up-and-coming gravel bicycle owner Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson. It is a story that drew worldwide headlines as a result of after being suspected of killing Wilson in Texas, Armstrong vanished — seemingly into skinny air. The seek for the suspected killer sparked what would turn out to be a global manhunt — first main authorities throughout the US, after which ultimately to the seashores of Costa Rica.

In June 2022, one month after Armstrong disappeared, Deputy U.S. Marshals Damien Fernandez and Emir Perez traveled to Costa Rica. A supply advised them Armstrong may very well be hiding out in Santa Teresa. They knew discovering Armstrong within the small, tourist-filled village was going to be a problem — alongside the way in which, Armstrong used a number of identities and altered her look — even getting cosmetic surgery.

They hit useless finish after useless finish. After many intense days of looking for Armstrong with no luck, the U.S. Marshals determined to attempt one final tactic, hoping that her love of yoga would repay for them.

“We determined we had been gonna put an advert out … or a number of adverts for a yoga teacher and see — what would occur,” Perez advised “48 Hours” contributor Jonathan Vigliotti.

However after nearly per week of looking, even that did not appear to be working. Perez and Fernandez had been about to go again to the States, when out of the blue they obtained a break.

CYCLIST MO WILSON WAS FORGING HER OWN PATH 

In March 2022, up-and-coming professional gravel bike racer –25-year-old Anna Moriah Wilson, referred to as “Mo” to some, appeared on the “Pre Journey Present,” a web-based program about biking.

MORIAH WILSON (“Pre Journey Present interview): So excited to be right here. It looks like the primary large race of the yr so yeah …  I am able to kick it off.”

Simply two months later, Wilson was discovered murdered — the information surprising the biking neighborhood.

Lisa Gosselin Lynn: I do not suppose anyone may actually imagine it at first. You realize, why would anyone wanna damage or hurt or kill this beautiful, proficient younger lady?

Lisa Gosselin Lynn is the editor of Vermont Sports activities Journal and Vermont Ski and Journey Journal. She can be a CBS Information advisor.

Lynn had been following Wilson’s profession for a lot of months earlier than her tragic demise.

Lisa Gosselin Lynn: Moriah was just about profitable each race that she entered, profitable or ending within the prime two. And the races that she entered had been prime tier.

Lisa Gosselin Lynn: Moriah had the potential to be one of many prime bike racers, positively within the nation, and possibly on this planet.

Remarkably, Lynn says that Wilson was new to the professional biking world. Her first ardour had been downhill ski racing,  a love shared by her close-knit household.

Lisa Gosselin Lynn: She was born right into a household of actually nice athletes. Her father Eric had been on the U.S. Ski Workforce. … and Moriah’s aunt … really was a two-time Olympic Nordic ski racer.

And it is no shock that Wilson was drawn to out of doors endurance sports activities. She was raised in northern Vermont subsequent to Kingdom Trails, a mecca for skiers and mountain bikers.

Lisa Gosselin Lynn: And that was her playground.

Wilson attended Burke Mountain Academy, an elite ski college that produced Olympic greats like two-time Gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin. Wilson had hoped to make the U.S. Ski Workforce, however knee accidents ultimately ended her snowboarding profession. That is when she switched sports activities.

Lisa Gosselin Lynn: She had used biking as a approach for rehabbing and type of constructing again her power. What was fascinating to me was she then went on to Dartmouth. She obtained an engineering diploma. And after doing that, she went to her mom and stated, “Hey Mother, I believe I wish to be an expert bicycle owner.”

And Wilson advised the “We Acquired to Hangout” podcast that she needed to do rather more than simply win races.

MORIAH WILSON (“We Acquired to Hangout” interview): How can I encourage individuals? How can I give again to the biking neighborhood? How can I convey extra individuals into the game? How can I make it extra inclusive? … I wanna discover which means and function in biking that goes like far past the consequence.

Wilson ultimately moved to San Francisco the place she targeted on biking, and rapidly rose to the highest of the game.

Lisa Gosselin Lynn: Moriah was forging her personal path. … She knew what she needed to do. And she or he was working exhausting to pursue it.

On Could 10, 2022,  only one week earlier than her twenty sixth birthday, Wilson arrived in Austin, Texas, to organize for the Gravel Locos bike race — a race she was favored to win. Wilson stayed with a detailed buddy in her Austin house. However the subsequent night, simply earlier than 10 p.m., the buddy returned house and found Wilson, who had been shot a number of instances. She referred to as 911.

CAITLIN CASH | 911 name:  … she’s laying on the toilet ground and there is blood in every single place.

Wilson’s buddy tried CPR, nevertheless it was too late.

Det. Marc McLeod: It sounded prefer it began off close to the door … and went backwards. Like she was attempting to get away or there was some kind of battle.

Austin Police Officers Marc McLeod and Jonathan Riley labored the case from the start.

Det. Marc McLeod: Whoever shot her at that time stood over prime of her and shot her no less than as soon as.

Investigators puzzled who may have murdered this promising younger athlete. As they canvassed the rapid space, police found a potential clue. Wilson’s costly racing bicycle had been discarded within the bushes.

Det. Jonathan Riley: So, at that time … OK. Is that this a housebreaking, a theft gone unsuitable?

However that idea was rapidly dismissed as a result of there was no signal of a break-in. Then, police realized that simply hours earlier than Wilson was discovered murdered, at round 8:30 p.m., she had been dropped off by one other skilled bike racer named Colin Strickland.

Det. Marc McCloud: So, clearly the main target could be … who’s this Colin Strickland?

Lisa Gosselin Lynn: Colin Strickland was an excellent gravel racer. … He was on the prime echelon.

Colin Strickland, who was 35, was thought of a pioneer within the sport. He had gained among the most prestigious races and was sponsored by the business’s prime manufacturers, like Pink Bull.

In 2020, he appeared in a web-based video referred to as Wahoo Frontiers about his lengthy and profitable profession.

COLIN STRICKLAND (Wahoo Frontiers video): My title is Colin Strickland and I am a bicycle racer and a normal entertainer.

Chris Tolley: Fairly early on I regarded as much as Colin after I was developing on the scene.

Chris Tolley is buddies with Strickland. They met on the racetrack.

Chris Tolley: He was the one to beat. … He cherished to type of create a present round bike racing — type of promoting bike racing. He was actually keen about it.

And Tolley stated though his buddy had been fashionable with ladies, he ultimately turned severe with a girl named Kaitlin Armstrong. Nevertheless, in a social media publish after the crime, Strickland wrote that about six months earlier than Wilson’s homicide, throughout a brief breakup with Armstrong, he did have a “transient romantic relationship” with Wilson that “spanned per week or so.” He stated that it ended, and their relationship had became a “platonic {and professional} one.”

Chris Tolley: He simply needed to be buddies with, like, somebody who was going to do nice issues in biking.

The day after Wilson’s homicide, police visited and spoke to Strickland at his house.

Det. Marc McLeod: My … my private take was he was being very cooperative, being very forthcoming. Um, clearly he was in shock.

Jonathan Vigliotti: Being very clear.

Det. Marc McLeod: Very clear. Yeah.

And investigators say, when he agreed to go all the way down to the police station to be interviewed, he did not appear to carry again when telling them concerning the day he spent with Wilson — a day that will find yourself being her final.

That day in Could was sizzling, within the 80s. And this story began with a swim at a neighborhood out of doors pool. Strickland advised detectives he took Wilson there on the again of his motorbike to chill off.

Det. Marc McLeod: They went swimming, then they obtained meals.

Wilson and Strickland are seen on the restaurant’s safety digital camera.

Jonathan Vigliotti: I do know he is being clear at this level throughout this questioning, however what he is saying is beginning to sound so much like a date.

Det. Jonathan Riley: Sure.

Det. Marc McLeod: Oh yeah. 100%.

Investigators had a number of questions and their prior go to to Strickland’s house had raised much more. On the evening of Wilson’s homicide, police found an necessary clue on video from a neighbor’s safety digital camera. The video was taken only one minute after Wilson was dropped off.

Det. Marc McLeod: There is a video from a Ring doorbell digital camera that clearly reveals like a black SUV with a motorcycle rack. … You’ll be able to’t see the license plate due to the bike rack on it.

Det. Jonathan Riley: So, it was clearly … we have to concentrate on this.

And a automobile that match that description was exterior Strickland’s home. Who was driving the black Jeep SUV with the bike rack? The reply would lead immediately to a different lady.

WHO IS KAITLYN ARMSTRONG?

The day after Wilson’s homicide, investigators rapidly had a solution to who may have been driving that black Jeep that was seen on safety cameras shortly earlier than her demise.

Investigators had noticed an analogous wanting Jeep in Strickland’s driveway after they spoke to him.

Det. Jonathan Riley: They see a black Jeep with the bike rack on the again of it. … so at that time we run the license plate, and it comes again that it is registered to Kaitlin Armstrong.

Kaitlin Armstrong, Colin Strickland’s girlfriend. Tolley says he knew her very effectively.

Chris Tolley: We related fairly early on. … Kaitlin and I turned buddies.

They had been each from the Midwest.

Chris Tolley: We kinda had an analogous — like, upbringing, and so I believe that type of — , assist us turn out to be, like, even higher buddies. … She’d come over to events I’d have.

Armstrong had a background in finance and cherished yoga.

Chris Tolley: She had a extremely robust, , type of — you  know, love for journey, love — , she had hung out just about, , globe-hopping all over the world … actually, , a type of fascinating particular person.

Armstrong obtained licensed as a yoga teacher in Bali. After she met Strickland in 2019, she additionally began entering into biking.

Chris Tolley: He was very prepared to type of present her, , what his passions had been and the way passionate he was for biking and, , get her concerned with it … and he or she additionally turned … type of hooked on biking, together with Colin.

Armstrong even began racing on an newbie degree.

Chris Tolley: On the finish of the day, like, I really feel like they’d a fairly, like, regular relationship. They each journey bikes collectively. They might, , do enjoyable stuff. And, , then 2020 occurred and the pandemic began. So everybody was type of, , pressured with – , shut quarters with their important others.

The couple ultimately moved in collectively.

Chris Tolley: The second I — I noticed the connection turn out to be extra severe is  , they talked about — that they’d bought a home not too long ago — collectively, which I  thought, , was a fairly large indication that it is — , a severe relationship.

Additionally they began a enterprise collectively, restoring basic trailers.

Chris Tolley: I believe she was serving to with the finance facet of issues. Colin was doing a number of the operations. … their relationship went from, , only a — regular couple to additionally proudly owning a enterprise collectively.

However issues obtained bumpy in late 2021.

Chris Tolley: The breakup, I personally did not know, like, they had been break up up on the time. … neither of them talked about something to me.

It was throughout this time that Strickland and Wilson had briefly dated. Though Strickland had stated that they’d damaged it off, Wilson appeared confused within the aftermath. Pilar Melendez lined the case for the Every day Beast. 

Pilar Melendez | Every day Beast senior reporter: Round this time, I believe Mo was fairly confused concerning the standing of her relationship with Colin. … and he or she actually wrote:

…This weekend was unusual for me…

…Should you simply wish to be buddies…that is cool,

…Truthfully…my thoughts has been getting into circles…

 Pilar Melendez: it appears like somebody who’s of their early 20s who simply needs to know the standing of her relationship with somebody that is complicated her. And it appears completely cheap that she is perhaps confused.

Strickland had so much to say about his relationship with Armstrong.

Det. Marc McLeod: He begins to painting her as being the jealous kind, even saying issues like,” I am unable to hold individuals in my cellphone.” Like “Mo’s not in my cellphone as Mo.”

Strickland advised investigators he saved Wilson’s cellphone quantity underneath an alias in his contacts, and on that night after he’d been out with Wilson on the pool, he texted Armstrong that he’d been out operating an errand and that his cellphone had died. That was not true.

Investigators say, there have been different clues pointing towards Armstrong.

Det. Jonathan Riley: … on the evening of the homicide, Kaitlin Armstrong’s cellphone was not related to a cell community.

Jonathan Vigliotti: Not related?

Det. Jonathan Riley: Right. So, whether or not she powered it off, whether or not she put in an airplane mode, uh, there’s some one thing occurred that her cellphone was not speaking with any cellphone towers.

Jonathan Vigliotti: Do you suppose this was on function?

Det. Jonathan Riley: Completely … at the moment, in case your cellphone is off and never related to a community, you are both the sufferer of a criminal offense otherwise you’re most likely committing one.

Jonathan Vigliotti: A silent cellphone speaks louder in some instances than actions.

Det. Jonathan Riley: Oh, completely.

Strickland additionally shared that he had purchased handguns for Armstrong and himself for private safety

Det. Marc McLeod: He talks about how they buy weapons.

Det. Marc McLeod: And that there are these two weapons and that she has a gun, um, they’ve taken classes and that these — these weapons are again on the home. And so few issues like that begin to paint an image of like, this might — it may positively be her

Police labored rapidly. That very same day, investigators picked Armstrong up on an outdated warrant for failing to pay for a Botox therapy.

DETECTIVE CONNER: … what had been you doing yesterday?

KAITLIN ARMSTRONG: I want to go away.

Det. Marc McLeod: And she or he’s simply type of sitting there and he or she’s not displaying very a lot emotion in any respect. … usually after we see some interviews occurring and for those who did not do it, that is your, like, you are going to be like, , not me, not it. I would like out of this room. What do you wish to know? … In order that you do not come again searching for me. And there was none of that.

DETECTIVE CONNER: Is there any clarification so far as why the automobile could be over there?

KAITLIN ARMSTRONG: I want to go away …

Det. Jonathan Riley: She was nearly fully disinterested in — in listening to what the detectives needed to say.

Jonathan Vigliotti: So, it appears like it is a large purple flag instantly?

Marc McLeod: Oh —

Jonathan Riley: Oh, completely.

However investigators needed to let Armstrong go. There was an issue — Armstrong’s birthdate did not match the date on the warrant, so the warrant wasn’t legitimate, and police did not have sufficient to cost her with the rest.

Two days after that interview, police obtained an surprising name. It was from a buddy of Armstrong. Police say the caller advised them that Armstrong was so indignant about Strickland’s relationship with Wilson, that she needed to kill her. It was yet one more indication that they had been heading in the right direction. A number of days later, an arrest warrant was issued, however when police went searching for Armstrong, she was gone.

ON THE HUNT FOR KAITLIN ARMSTRONG

After Kaitlin Armstrong vanished, U.S. Marshals obtained the job of monitoring her down.

Chris Godsick: Plain and easily the Marshals are man hunters.

Chris Godsick hosts and produces a podcast with the U.S. Marshals Service. His “Chasing Evil” podcast tells tales of among the Marshals Service’s largest instances, together with the hunt for Armstrong.

Chris Godsick: No person thought Kaitlin Armstrong was going to run and he or she stunned all of them. She disappeared.

“CHASING EVIL” PODCAST: Kaitlin Armstrong ran from a homicide cost. … However the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive job drive had a unique plan …

Jonathan Vigliotti: So take me by this. … The place do you start while you’re searching for any person that doesn’t wish to be discovered?

Deputy U.S. Marshal Emir Perez: You realize, it is determined by the case, actually. … we search for buddies, typically we search for … household.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Damien Fernandez: One of many issues that I did was gather as many photographs as I may.

Damien Fernandez and Emir Perez are Deputy U.S. Marshals. They joined Austin Police Officers Jonathan Riley and Marc McLeod on the case. The group, primarily based in Texas, is called the Lone Star Fugitive Job Power.

With no signal of Armstrong, the duty drive suspected she could have left city headed for her sister Christie’s place in upstate New York.

Det. Marc McLeod: We had been pondering perhaps she’s driving cross nation. We did not know.

Their instincts had been proper. In upstate New York, one other Deputy U.S. Marshal managed to trace down Armstrong’s sister.

Jonathan Vigliotti: What did the sister say?

Deputy U.S. Marshal Emir Perez: The sister finally stated … that her sister had come to go to her … and stayed together with her a few days, however that she had dropped her off on the airport in Newark. And final she heard, she was gonna board a flight again to Austin, however then referred to as her again later and stated that she determined that she was gonna drive again.

Det. Marc McLeod: … which made absolute — no sense to any of us that you’d simply drive again.

When the duty drive checked outbound flights at Newark Airport, no reservations had been made in Kaitlin Armstrong’s title.

Det. Marc McLeod: We by no means obtained successful on Kaitlin Armstrong’s passport.

However the group had a hunch as a result of Christie Armstrong advised the Deputy U.S. Marshal in New York that she did not know the place her passport was. In order that they checked with their contact at Homeland Safety.

Det. Jonathan Riley: And inside minutes of reaching out to him, he obtained again to me and he is like, yeah, we’re displaying Christie Armstrong traveled out of Newark, New Jersey, Worldwide Airport on a one-way flight to Costa Rica

Jonathan Vigliotti: You knew it.

Emir Perez: I stated, there is not any approach that the sister left. And we’re searching for her and we won’t discover Kaitlin. No, that is Kaitlin.

The U.S. Marshals suspected that Kaitlin Armstrong has used her sister’s passport to flee. Christie Armstrong later emphasised to authorities that she didn’t give her sister the passport. She has by no means been charged with any crime associated to the case.

Kaitlin Armstrong landed in Costa Rica, the gem of central America and residential to mountains, tropical rain forests and white sand seashores so far as the attention can see.

However she did not spend a lot time in San José. Shortly after arriving, Armstrong disappeared once more — and he or she had an enormous lead on the U.S. Marshals. Perez and Fernandez arrived in Costa Rica a month after Armstrong.

Jonathan Vigliotti: That is you guys now on the hunt. How intense is it when you contact down in Costa Rica? What occurs?

Deputy U.S. Marshal Damien Fernandez: You are on a timeline.

Jonathan Vigliotti: I hear timeline and I hear the strain is on —

Deputy U.S. Marshal Damien Fernandez: Strain’s on. I do know we had been sitting within the aircraft and we’re speaking, what is the sport plan?

Though they might have assist from the Costa Rican authorities and U.S. State Division officers on the bottom, they knew discovering Armstrong was going to be an enormous problem.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Emir Perez: We had different intelligence indicating that … she was staying in hostels in Costa Rica. And I do not know if something about Costa Rica, however Costa Rica has a number of hostels, so much, an unbelievable quantity of hostels.

The U.S. Marshals would not inform “48 Hours” precisely how their intelligence gathering labored, however their group again within the States had managed to trace down the cellphone quantity for an American businessman they believed had related with Armstrong sooner or later.

Det. Marc McLeod: We did not know what metropolis he was in. So we determined, hey, let’s simply chilly name him. … So we name him. And we’re on the convention room and he solutions. And we’re like, “Hey, it is the U.S. Marshals. My title is Marc.” And he goes, “I do not need any,” click on simply hangs up. Prefer it’s a — like a —

Jonathan Vigliotti: A telemarketer.

Det. Marc McLeod: Yeah. A telemarketer.

Det. Jonathan Riley: Proper. Or a rip-off name.

After three or 4 name makes an attempt, the businessman lastly stayed on the road to reply the U.S. Marshals’ questions.

Det. Marc McLeod: And we really ended up sending an image of Kaitlin … whereas we’re on the cellphone with him. He appears to be like at it and he goes, sure, however she would not appear to be that and he or she’s not utilizing that title.

Jonathan Vigliotti: And did he let you know her new title?

Det. Marc McLeod: He did.

Det. Jonathan Riley: It was Beth.

Det. Marc McLeod: Beth.

Det. Jonathan Riley: She was going by Beth.

Jonathan Vigliotti: Going by Beth.

And the businessman stated Armstrong now not regarded like her picture. She had minimize her hair and altered its coloration.

Det. Jonathan Riley: It was brown hair as a substitute of purple.

Emir Perez: Yeah, she dyed her hair.

The businessman advised the U.S. Marshals he had no concept that the girl who referred to as herself Beth was really Kaitlin Armstrong, however he did inform them the place they could discover her.

Det. Marc McLeod: He is like, “Nicely, I met her at a yoga studio in Jacó.”

Jacó is a well-liked vacationer vacation spot recognized for its nightlife and its seashores and the proper place to cover. It was the U.S. Marshals’ first actual tip, in order that they rushed  there.

They canvassed the world, combed by hours of surveillance video, however couldn’t discover a single signal of Kaitlin Armstrong anyplace. It was a bust.

Chris Godsick: … however the Marshals have yet another strong lead and that takes them to a phenomenal touristy seashore city— a one-street city referred to as Santa Teresa.

WAS KAITLIN ARMSTRONG HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT?

One month after Kaitlin Armstrong disappeared, the U.S. Marshals had been in sizzling pursuit of her in one other space of Costa Rica. A supply had instructed she may need gone to a small village on the Pacific coast.

The U.S. Marshals took a ferry to achieve a distant peninsula. As soon as there, they drove by automobile by mountains to the tiny city of Santa Teresa. However after they lastly arrived, they bumped into an surprising downside.

Jonathan Vigliotti: … you get to Santa Teresa. … Was it simple to determine her there from the opposite people who had been there?

Deputy U.S. Marshal Damien Fernandez: I believe from the get-go we had been advised … you are gonna be in for a shock ‘trigger a number of the ladies in Santa Teresa look similar to Kaitlin — a number of them.

And it seems, that recommendation was proper. The city was stuffed with overseas vacationers. Deputy U.S. Marshals Fernandez and Perez arrived in Santa Teresa after darkish.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Emir Perez: So, we get there, and he begins strolling down a important strip that is there, uh, like down the road.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Damien Fernandez: There’s just one highway on — on that city.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Emir Perez: And he sees —

Deputy U.S. Marshal Damien Fernandez: Predominant highway.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Emir Perez: He sees a lady and he says, , that appears similar to her. Nicely, a pair minutes later, we see one other one. And it is late at evening and we’re like, whoa, oh, man, that is two. … After which there’s one other one.

Because the U.S. Marshals tried to search out Armstrong, they even had one in every of their feminine operatives begin going to yoga courses to see if they might spot her.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Damien Fernandez: She really did three completely different courses for us.

They usually tapped into native contacts.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Damien Fernandez: Oh, yeah. We made buddies with individuals there that will ship us footage. Oh look, I — I believe I noticed her at this restaurant yesterday and he or she’s within the again within the background of a photograph that I took, stuff like that.

The truth is, individuals had seen Armstrong at native spots in Santa Teresa, however they did not understand who she was. Armstrong was hiding in plain sight utilizing completely different names.

Jonathan Vigliotti:  She had like a number of names.

Greg Haber: Yeah. Um, she got here in —

Man in restaurant: Beth?

Greg Haber: Um —

Jonathan Vigliotti Beth?

Greg Haber: It wasn’t Beth.

Lady in restaurant: Ari?

Greg Haber: Ari.

Jonathan Vigliotti: Ari.

Greg Haber: Ari, proper. So she got here in as Ari.

Greg Haber is an American from the New York space who owns a restaurant referred to as Kooks Smokehouse and Bar in Santa Teresa.

Jonathan Vigliotti: Ari. What did Ari appear to be? Did she stand out to you?

Greg Haber: Fairly, got here in, um, , launched herself as a yoga trainer, which is mainly anyone else down right here … “hey, I moved right here, educating yoga down the road” … and that was it.

Jonathan Vigliotti: What was her normal vibe like?

Greg Haber: She positively appeared like she was attempting to ascertain roots right here. Like this was gonna be her new house.

And Haber says at some point he seen one thing completely different about her.

Greg Haber: I noticed her on the seashore. … I stroll my canine on the seashore each evening for sundown. … And also you’re strolling by, and also you see the bandage on her face. It is like, “Oh, what occurred?” She’s like, “Oh, surfboard hit me within the face.”

Greg Haber: It is like, effectively, occurs to all people, proper, no less than as soon as. So, you would not even query that story right here. Like, you see individuals on a regular basis.

Seems that bandage would later show to be an necessary a part of this story — and one of many causes the U.S. Marshals say Armstrong was so exhausting to search out.

Jonathan Vigliotti: So, you are this near giving up.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Damien Fernandez: Sure.

Lastly, they selected one final tactic: they turned to a neighborhood Fb web page.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Emir Perez: We determined we had been gonna put an advert out, for a yoga teacher and see what would occur.

Jonathan Vigliotti: So that is the equal of Craigslist.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Emir Perez  Sure, right. Proper. Just about.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Damien Fernandez: Just a little bit extra vigorous, however sure. … And simply saying, hey, we’re at this hostel, we’re searching for a yoga teacher as quickly as potential. Please contact us at this quantity.

However after nearly per week of looking, even that did not appear to be working.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Damien Fernandez: Sunday, we determined we’ve not gotten any response again from something.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Emir Perez: Nothing. We’re burned.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Damien Fernandez: So, Sunday we’re like, OK, we’re completed. … None of ’em have panned out. So —

Deputy U.S. Marshal Emir Perez: We’re going again to San José 

Now again in San José,  the U.S. Marshals had been on the brink of head house when out of the blue —

Deputy U.S. Marshal Emir Perez: We obtained a chunk, any person that, um, recognized herself … as a yoga teacher and stated they needed to fulfill with us at a specific hostel … and we stated … “that is, that is our probability!”

Perez and Fernandez rushed again to Santa Teresa simply forward of a tropical storm.

Tourism Police Lieutenant Juan Carlos Solanos’ group helped the U.S. Marshals of their seek for Armstrong. They did surveillance on a hostel referred to as “Don Jon’s” the place the yoga teacher — the one who answered that on-line advert — was believed to be.

Jonathan Vigliotti (to Solano in Costa Rica): So, there may be this large worldwide manhunt, and of all locations on this planet, it ends on this very discreet hostel.

Lt. Juan Carlos Solano: Sí, aquí se ubicó, ella estaba hospedada acá. (Translation: Sure, that is the place she was staying, she was staying right here.)

It was now time for the U.S. Marshals to make their transfer.

They determined that Deputy U.S. Marshal Perez would strategy the girl alone. They did not wish to scare her off. He would faux to be a vacationer and attempt to get a extremely good have a look at her face.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Emir Perez: So I walked up … and I obtained in. And I noticed two people sitting there at a desk, off to the left, as quickly as I walked in.

He says one was a girl.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Emir Perez: She regarded like Kaitlin, however not one hundred pc. … So I believed, effectively, how can I strategy her or get shut sufficient the place I begin asking questions the place she would not suspect one thing, So, I made a decision that I used to be gonna communicate to her in Spanish. So I spoke to her in nothing however Spanish.

Jonathan Vigliotti: So, you are speaking, she goes to make use of her cellphone for Google Translate after which –

Deputy U.S. Marshal Emir Perez: So, I obtained a bit nearer ‘trigger I noticed that she was attempting to get to Google Translate on her cellphone and he or she’d raised it as much as me and I obtained even nearer. … And I seen that she had a bandage on her nostril and presumably her lips had been swollen. and I noticed her eyes … The eyes are the very same ones that I noticed within the image. And that is her one hundred pc.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Damien Fernandez: He will get within the automobile, and he’s like, “That is her. She’s in there.”

Native police moved in to make the precise arrest. And shortly the U.S. Marshals found why Armstrong had been so exhausting to search out: she had been getting cosmetic surgery after they first arrived in Santa Teresa.

On the hostel, they discovered a receipt.

Damien Fernandez: The receipt for, surgical procedure.

Jonathan Vigliotti: Cosmetic surgery?

Damien Fernandez: Cosmetic surgery.

In side-by-side photographs, you’ll be able to see that Armstrong modified the form of her nostril. The Deputy Marshals stated their feminine operative — the girl they despatched to yoga courses to attempt to discover Armstrong — advised them Armstrong’s new look would have tricked her.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Damien Fernandez: She advised me, I believe if I’d’ve run into her on the yoga studio doing yoga courses, I do not suppose I’d’ve acknowledged her.

Jonathan Vigliotti: Wow. It nearly labored.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Damien Fernandez: It nearly labored.

THE CASE AGAINST KAITLIN ARMSTRONG

The U.S. Marshals took Armstrong again to Texas, the place she was charged and held in jail. However simply weeks earlier than she was as a result of stand trial for the homicide of Moriah Wilson, Armstrong escaped from custody once more.

Pilar Melendez: She was at a physician’s appointment and tried to flee as they had been strolling out.

Pilar Melendez from the Every day Beast says Armstrong did not get far earlier than deputies caught her.

Pilar Melendez: It was fairly astonishing that she did that given the truth that she had tried to flee prosecution prior.

D.A. José Garza: This was simply extra proof of her guilt.

José Garza is Travis County’s district lawyer. He says his group of prosecutors — Rickey Jones and Guillermo Gonzalez — had been greater than able to attempt the case.

D.A. José Garza: Once we realized that she had tried to flee, it simply added to our confidence degree within the info of this case … that we’d have the ability to safe justice for Moriah and her household.

On Nov. 1, 2023, Armstrong’s trial started.

RICKEY JONES | Prosecutor (opening assertion): The very last thing Mo did on this earth was scream in terror.

In opening statements, Jones advised the jury about chilling audio from a safety digital camera that

captured the final moments of Moriah Wilson’s life.

RICKEY JONES (opening assertion): These screams are adopted by “pow! pow!” Two gunshots. … Kaitlin Armstrong stood over Mo Wilson and put a 3rd shot. Proper into Mo’s coronary heart.

Prosecutors stated Armstrong had been monitoring Wilson by utilizing a sports activities app.

Pilar Melendez: Kaitlin, previous to the homicide, had been following Mo on the Strava app, which is mainly an app that athletes use to trace their miles, operating, biking … And she or he knew precisely the place she was.

They usually stated that Armstrong, on the evening of the homicide, was most definitely monitoring Colin Strickland, as effectively.

Guillermo Gonzalez | Prosecutor: She did have the flexibility to observe his communications. She had entry to all of his passwords. She had entry to his Instagram account. 

Rickey Jones: I imagine that when Mo despatched Colin a textual content letting him know the handle the place she was. I imagine that Kaitlin Armstrong was at house on Colin Strickland’s laptop computer. … She noticed that message.

After murdering Wilson and earlier than leaving the scene, Jones advised the jury that Armstrong took Wilson’s bike and discarded it within the bushes simply yards away from the place her Jeep was parked.

Rickey Jones: Our perception is that she perhaps staged it to appear to be a theft or one thing. Or, one other idea is, Mo Wilson’s bike is a device of her commerce. It may need been just like the bullet shot within the coronary heart. I will shoot you within the coronary heart. I will throw away your bike.

However they stated Armstrong made one large mistake: she left her DNA behind on the handlebars and seat of Wilson’s bike. And that is not all of the proof prosecutors had in opposition to Armstrong. There was that receipt that confirmed Armstrong had obtained cosmetic surgery whereas hiding out in Costa Rica.

Rickey Jones: Every little thing she does … it is all per attempting to evade the authorities.

However when it was the protection’s flip, lawyer Geoffrey Puryear advised the jury there was no direct proof — together with safety footage — that truly confirmed Armstrong was on the scene of the crime.

GEOFFREY PURYEAR (in court docket): Not one witness noticed Kaitlin Armstrong allegedly commit this homicide.

Then why would Armstrong flee and conceal from authorities? Protection lawyer Rick Cofer pointed the finger at Colin Strickland.

RICK COFER (in court docket): Was she scared? What do you suppose? Do you suppose that she could have been involved a bit bit that her boyfriend had killed somebody? … Concern ends in battle or flight and it was flight.

However Jones stated, there was an enormous downside with this idea as a result of Strickland had nothing to do with the homicide of Wilson.

Rickey Jones: The truth is, on the time of the homicide, he was really on the cellphone talking with somebody. … it wasn’t Colin Strickland.

Armstrong’s protection group didn’t reply to “48 Hours”‘ request for an interview.

After a two-week trial, it took the jury round two hours to determine Armstrong’s destiny.

JUDGE (studying verdict): We the jury discover the defendant Kaitlin Armstrong responsible of the offense of homicide …

Rickey Jones: As a prosecutor, the primary row proper behind you is the household … you started to really feel their ache and their want for a simply end result for his or her family members.

In the future after her conviction, Armstrong was sentenced to 90 years behind bars. 

However earlier than the case got here to an finish, Choose Brenda Kennedy allowed Caitlin Money — Wilson’s shut buddy whose house she had been staying at and who had discovered Moriah’s physique – to take the stand and communicate on to Armstrong.

CAITLIN CASH (in court docket): So many individuals on this room have misplaced a lot. … I am indignant at you, on the utter tragic nature, on the senselessness at not with the ability to hear Mo’s voice once more. … I really feel deep disappointment for the highway forward.

Then it was Moriah Wilson’s mom’s flip.

KAREN WILSON (in court docket): I hate what you probably did to my stunning daughter. It was very egocentric and cowardly that violent act on Could eleventh. It was cowardly since you by no means selected to face her woman-to-woman in a civil dialog. She would’ve listened. She was a tremendous listener. She would have cared about your emotions.

However regardless of the ache, Karen Wilson closed with phrases of affection and optimism, as a result of she stated that is how Moriah would have needed it.

KAREN WILSON (in court docket): You killed her earthly physique, however her spirit is so very a lot alive, and you’ll by no means change that.

Right now in Kingdom Trails in northern Vermont, a spot that was sacred to Wilson, a path was inbuilt her honor. It is referred to as “Moriah’s Ascent.”

Lisa Gosselin Lynn: Moriah was a Vermonter. She was giving. She was hardworking. She was trustworthy. She was caring. And she or he got here from a beautiful household. And that household actually needs that legacy and all of her good qualities to encourage others …

To honor Moriah, the Wilson household created the Moriah Wilson Basis that promotes wholesome residing and neighborhood constructing.

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Produced by Chuck Stevenson and Chris Ritzen. Hannah Vair is the sector producer. Alicia Tejada is the coordinating producer. Ryan Smith, Jenna Jackson and Cindy Cesare are the event producers. Matthew Mosk is the senior investigative editorial director. Wini Dini, Mike Baluzy, Grayce Arlotta-Berner and Joan Adelman are the editors. Lourdes Aguiar is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the chief editor. Judy Tygard is the chief producer.