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A fugitive yoga teacher who reportedly gunned down a love rival lost her bid to suppress video evidence of police interview where she was seen nodding in agreement with them.
Travis County Judge Brenda Kennedy announced on Kaitlin Armstrong, 34, and her defense team were unable to convince the court that detectives illegally brought her for an interview after Anna Moriah ‘Mo’ Wilson, 25, was found dead inside her home.
Armstrong’s team argued Richard Spitler, who wrote the arrest warrant, was biased and included information that was inaccurate, alleging he used information from anonymous callers and didn’t corroborate with Austin police, according to Valley Central.
Her lawyer Rick Cofer filed documents on August 17 claiming police did not read his client her Miranda Rights before being interrogated, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed.
In addition, expert witness, Douglas Deaton, argued that the arrest warrant was ‘completely unnecessary’ and wasn’t written accurately and was a borderline character assassination [of Armstrong],’ who fled to Costa Rica after Wilson’s death.
Despite some inaccurate information, the judge ruled there was still probable cause to arrest Armstrong.
‘There was no evidence of any intentional disregard for the truth,’ Kennedy said.
Kaitlin Armstrong, 34, has been accused of killed her love rival Anna Moriah ‘Mo’ Wilson, 25, in May and fleeing to Costa Rica
She has been denied by a Travis County judge to suppress using the video of her police interview as part of evidence against her
Travis County Judge Brenda Kennedy said Armstrong and her defense team were unable to convince the court that detectives illegally brought her for an interview. They accused police of illegally interviewing her as she was not read her Miranda Rights
Armstrong is accused of gunning down her love-rival on May 11 in Austin, Texas. Wilson was discovered dead in a friend’s apartment with two bullet holes in her head and another in her chest.
Armstrong reportedly flew into a jealous rage after discovering pro-cyclist Wilson was seeing her boyfriend, Colin Strickland, 35.
Her team claimed in August that any evidence obtained with an ‘illegal arrest warrant’ and accused detectives of basing the arrest affidavit on ‘lies and a reckless disregard for the truth.’
She was arrested on a separate misdemeanor charge the day after the killing and was wrongly released by officers who thought that the warrant was invalid.
Armstrong was not read her Miranda Rights at any point during the interview, and her lawyers are now arguing that any evidence from it is inadmissible.
She has been charged with first-degree murder, and US Marshals also obtained a warrant for her arrest on a charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
She fled Texas in May, travelling to Costa Rica from Newark Airport, in New Jersey, before she was arrested at a hostel on Santa Teresa Beach.
Armstrong spent 43 days on the run before authorities tracked her down, and was extradited back to the US to face charges.
A federal judge has dismissed the charge of unlawful flight against Armstrong, but she may face the charge again in the future if prosecutors deem it necessary.
Her team also claim that a witness that was relied upon by officers was under the influence of drugs and alcohol, who also admitted he may have ‘imagined’ seeing a cyclist flee the scene.
He also claims that the timestamps on footage with reportedly capture Armstrong’s black Jeep Grand Cherokee driving past Wilson’s friends home were wrong.
The documents also reveal that months before the shooting the trio had attended a cycling event together, with Wilson later texting Strickland to say it was a ‘strange’ weekend for her.
Wilson (pictured) was discovered dead in a friend’s apartment on May 11 with two bullet holes in her head and another in her chest
Strickland (pictured) repeatedly told cops during his second interview that Armstrong was not a jealous person and described her as the ‘least volatile’ woman he had dated
Strickland apologized for putting Wilson in a ‘s**tty’ situation and said that it was ‘not a good idea’ to take Armstrong.
During his interview, he also admitted to dating Wilson in October, during which time he claims that he and Armstrong were on a break but still living together.
Wilson reportedly told Strickland that Armstrong had called her at some point in that period saying that she ‘pretty much live at Colin’s house.’
When asked by officers if Armstrong was jealous of their relationship, Strickland said: ‘She is one of the least volatile women I have dated in terms of emotion over up — upwelling of, like, anger and jealous and emotion.’
He also claimed that during their break Kaitlin had been dating men on Bumble, and they were sleeping in separate rooms.
Strickland said: ‘If there were any f**king signs, I would have extricated myself from a relationship and gotten a lot of space and a restraining order or something.
‘If I thought she was physically capable of hurting another human, I would have extricated myself immediately from that situation, not only for my – not so much for my own personal safety but my concern for another human.’
The yoga teacher paid for a nose job and dyed her hair brown after fleeing the US, using her sisters passport to fly from the US
She was caught in Costa Rica with two passports, including her sister’s
Armstrong fled police for 43 days before getting arrested in Costa Rica
Search warrants revealed that Armstrong visited a gun range with her sister before the killing and was given $450,000 by Strickland.
He also admitted to purchasing two firearms between the end of 2021 and start of 2022 for himself and Armstrong.
Shell casings from the gun, labelled ‘9mm JAG’ were found in the room where Wilson was shot, just moments after returning from an outing with Strickland.
Her lawyers also claim that an anonymous tip received by police was ‘uncorroborated, unreliable, and full of lies.’
The caller, who refused to give a name, claimed that they were with Armstrong in January 2022 when she discovered Strickland was cheating on her.
She reportedly flew into a rage, was ‘shaking with anger’ and said that she wanted to ‘kill Wilson.’
Authorities have revealed that the yoga teacher paid for a nose job and dyed her hair brown after fleeing the US, using her sisters passport to fly from the US.
Armstrong also used several aliases while on the run, using the name ‘Ari’ to woo a man she met in a tattoo shop while on the run.
She told Teal Akerson she’d been through a ‘traumatizing break up’ after they met in Costa Rica in June.
He said that Armstrong had a bandage on her nose, which she claimed was from a surfing accident, and he didn’t recognize the pictures put out by police.
After her arrest Armstrong admitted that she had been going as ‘Ari’, and was deported to Houston.
Other Costa Rican locals said that Armstrong had ‘seemed normal’, and spent most of her time working part-time at the front desk of the hostel where she stayed and teaching yoga.
Her car was allegedly spotting driving in Wilson’s neighborhood prior to the attack
The car was spotted again that night after Strickland dropped off Wilson
She reportedly stayed at Don Jon’s Surf and Yoga Lodge for less than $20 a night, and partied at a barbecue restaurant founded by a former New York lawyer.
Police found two passports inside her hostel lockbox when they arrested her on an immigration violation.
Armstrong had previously been charged with larceny for skipping out on a $650 bill for a Botox procedure in 2018, an affidavit revealed.
The affidavit states Armstrong went to pay with her Mastercard but then told the spa she wanted to use a different card and went to get it from her vehicle.
She never returned to the spa to pay and was charged with larceny.
The cyclist is expected to start her trial the week of June 26, 2023.
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