Kaitlin Armstrong sentenced to 90 years for murder of cyclist Mo Wilson - Updates
Jurors returned guilty verdict against Kaitlin Armstrong on Thursday for shooting death of star cyclist Moriah ‘Mo’ Wilson
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Your support makes all the difference.Kaitlin Armstrong has been sentenced to 90 years in prison for the murder of her alleged love rival Moriah “Mo” Wilson.
A jury returned the sentencing verdict after around three and a half hours of deliberation on Thursday in Austin, Texas. Armstrong will also be required to pay a fine of $10,000.
The two women were reportedly involved in a love triangle with Ms Armstrong’s then on-and-off boyfriend and Wilson’s fellow cyclist Colin Strickland.
In the aftermath of the May 2022 shooting, Ms Armstrong fled to Costa Rica and was only captured five weeks later.
The state rested its case on Wednesday morning after introducing testimony from Mr Strickland, friends of Ms Armstrong, and law enforcement personnel. The defence called experts who sought to discredit the state’s DNA and ballistics evidence.
During closing arguments, prosecutors pointed out what they suggested was overwhelming evidence linking Ms Armstrong to the crime, and asked jurors to ignore the “rabbit holes” the defence had asked them to go down.
Meanwhile, Ms Armstrong’s attorneys accused police of a sloppy investigation that too quickly focused on her as the sole suspect.
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Sentencing to unfold shortly
Armstrong is brought back to the courtroom. Wilson’s father is staring at her.
The Wilson family will now present their victim statements.
Caitlin Cash, who discovered Wilson’s body, will go first.
Caitlin Cash says Wilson 'moved her beyond belief’
Ms Cash is now telling the court about the time she picked up Wilson at the airport just days before she was killed.
They were so excited to see each other, Ms Cash says, that they forgot to claim Wilson’s luggage.
Ms Cash remembers texting a picture of Wilson to the cyclist’s mother on 11 May 2022.
“...your girl is in safe hands here in Austin,” Ms Cash says she wrote, prompting an audible sob from Wilson’s mother.
Caitlin Cash says she felt guilty she couldn’t protect Wilson
“Every time I park my car and I walk up my stairs, I have to talk myself into doing it,” Ms Cash says.
Ms Cash still lives in the apartment where Wilson was killed.
“I have to tell myself that there is nothing that’s scary on the other side of the door.”
“Every time I go to put in a load of laundry, I see the dent that the bullet left when she was shot in the head. Every time I get something out of my pantry, I think of her standing right here.”
Caitlin Cash speaks of panic attacks, fear, and grief
“It’s been 554 days since she was killed and I cannot tell you how many times I have relived that night,” Ms Cash tells the court.
She says she can’t look at ambulances, look at stains or hear sirens. Ms Cash spent 100 minutes giving CPR to Wilson, without realising she was dead.
The longest 10 minutes of her life, Ms Cash says.
Wilson’s brother gives victim impact statement
Matthew Wilson opened up about his struggle with depression, and how his sister had made it her personal mission to be there for him.
Wilson had suggested they’d text each other their three favourite things about their day, every day.
So in the days leading up to Wilson’s murders, the siblings had talked every day on the phone.
Matthew Wilson recounts moment he learned about sister’s murder
“He said, we lost Moriah. And I just freaked out. I ran out of the building and ran up the stairs into the street, punching walls... my mom looks at me crying and I’m crying and she says, it gets worse,” Matthew Wilson said.
“I thought maybe something happened to Cash, too. She looks at me and she says, she was murdered.”
Wilson’s mother gives heartbreaking victim impact statement
Karen Wilson says her daughter was strong, independent and delicate.
The day she gave birth to Moriah, Ms Wilson said, she screamed so loud because her daughter had been born wanting to “climb and live” but was trapped in the body of a newborn.
Ms Wilson says that Moria hated inconveniencing others and always worked hard to accomplish her goals.
‘She did not deserve a death like that'
Ms Wilson said her daughter began biking as rehabilitation after sustaining a knee injury that ruined her career in skiing.
Ms Wilson says that Moriah’s daughter has irreparably changed her family’s life, but that she has found in Caitlin Cash another daughter.
“When you love somebody so much, and if any of you are parents, you understand what that means... when you love someone that much, and it’s taken from you, the depth of the joy of that love is equal to the depth of the pain you have to live with,” Ms Cash says. “
I just miss her so much and nothing here can bring her back and I knew that coming down here. I would have done anything to stand in the way of that bullet and I wasn’t there to protect her. And she died all alone on the floor of her friend’s house. She did not deserve a death like that.”
‘She was just coming into her own'
Eric Wilson says he was very close to his daughter and recounted his heart “sinking” when he found out that she had been killed.
“It’s so hard to watch [Karen and Matt] go through this,” Mr Wilson said. “I’m so grateful Matt has done so well considering what he’s had to live with.”
He also said: “She was a beautiful girl, a beautiful young woman. She was just coming into her own really as a cyclist in that last year and I knew that she wanted to be a professional cyclist. And she achieved that dream.”
Kaitlin Armstrong’s father gives statement
“It’s a very difficult time. It’s been a tragic time,” Mike Armstrong tells the court.
“But I also want to say that it’s far worse for the Wilson family. I can’t imagine what they are going through. I’ve always known that it’s horrible what we are going through, but I know what they are going through is worse.”