CONVICTED: Kaitlin Armstrong pleaded not guilty at trial. Photo: Mikala Compton / AP / NTB
Kaitlyn Armstrong (35) has been found guilty of the murder of professional cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson (25). Now 90 years await behind bars.
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Last May, Anna Moriah Wilson was found murdered at a friend’s home in Texas – three days before she was due to compete in a cycling race, which she was among the favorites to win.
According to police documents, which have been reproduced by media such as The Guardian and New York Times, she was found unconscious and bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds in a friend’s apartment. Empty shell casings were scattered around her.
On Thursday, the verdict came – Kaitlyn Armstrong was sentenced to 90 years in prison – in practice life.
The jury did not need more than three hours to agree on the sentencing, AP writes.
DEATH: Anna Moriah Wilson. Photo: AP / NTB
Killed in furious jealousy
The investigation has revealed that Wilson had briefly dated Armstrong’s boyfriend, Colin Strickland, a few months earlier, according to the news agency AP.
On the night the 25-year-old cyclist was killed, she allegedly went swimming and had a meal with Strickland.
The investigation into the case revealed that Armstrong followed Wilson to the apartment where she lived where she fired three shots that killed Wilson.
The prosecution’s evidence showed Armstrong’s Jeep Cherokee driving around Wilson’s apartment the night she was killed, and weapons technology evidence revealed that it was her gun that was used in the murder.
The police therefore concluded that Armstrong had fired the shots at Wilson in furious jealousy.
Armstrong’s defenders, on the other hand, believe their client was “trapped in a nightmare of evidence”.
Defense lawyer Rick Cofer says the prosecution had to portray Armstrong as a “jealous psychopath” in order to create a motive, and that they thus got “tunnel vision” and dropped following other leads.
GETS THE VERDICT: The judge Photo: Mikala Compton / AP / NTB
Armstrong was missing for over 40 days. When she was found and arrested in Costa Rica, she had tried to change her appearance and establish herself as a yoga instructor.
The prosecution asked rhetorically in the closing proceedings why Armstrong traveled to Costa Rica under a false name in her passport, and why she attempted to undergo plastic surgery to change her appearance.
– These are all indications of guilt, ladies and gentlemen, said public prosecutor Guillermo Gonzales.
Armstrong pleaded not guilty to premeditated murder throughout.
– Worst moment of my life
Wilson’s family has issued a joint statement following her death.
“There are no words that can express the pain and suffering we are experiencing because of this senseless, tragic loss,” the family said in a statement.
She describes them as a “talented, kind and caring” young woman.
– Her life was taken from her before she had the opportunity to achieve everything she dreamed of.
The mother was asked in court about the moment when she found out that her daughter was dead. She answered in court, choked with tears:
– It was the worst moment of my life. My life hasn’t been the same since. Everything turned around and it will never be the same.
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Published: 18.11.23 at 01:57
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2023-11-18 00:57:08
#Convicted #jealousy #murder
