Fugitive love-triangle slay suspect Kaitlin Armstrong caught in Costa Rica
The Texas yoga teacher who allegedly gunned down a pro cyclist in a jealous love-triangle murder was arrested in Costa Rica — ending a 43-day international manhunt, officials said Thursday.
Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, 34, was nabbed Wednesday and will be deported to the US to face charges in the May 11 killing of Anna Moriah Wilson, a 25-year-old cyclist who was romantically linked to Armstrong’s boyfriend, the US Marshals Service said.
“The Marshals Service elevated the Kaitlin Armstrong investigation to major case status early in this investigation, which likely played a key role in her capture after a 43-day run,” US Marshal for the Western District of Texas Susan Pamerleau said in a statement.
“This is an example of combining the resources of local, state, federal and international authorities to apprehend a violent fugitive, bring an end to that run and hopefully a sense of closure to the victim’s family.”
Armstrong was nabbed at a hostel on Santa Teresa Beach in Provincia de Puntarenas by US Marshals, working alongside Homeland Security Investigations, Department of State Diplomatic Security Service and local authorities, according to a news release.
The flexible fugitive was busted with an altered appearance — her shoulder-length hair had been dyed dark brown, Deputy US Marshal Brandon Filla told KXAN. She also had a bandage on her nose and bruising under her eyes from a reported surfboarding accident.
“That physical appearance changed slightly,” Filla said. “Would it have changed more as she started to create that, you know, type of foundation for herself there in Costa Rica? Possibly.”
Filla said it’s believed Armstrong was staying at a hostel to stretch her money and that she’d been taking yoga classes at studios to “better her profession to teach a specific type of yoga” related to surfboarding.
Video circulated later Thursday apparently showing Armstrong, wearing shorts, in custody.
The yoga instructor had used a fraudulent passport to hop a United Airlines flight out of Newark Liberty International Airport to San Jose, Costa Rica, on May 18 — a day after Austin cops issued a warrant for her arrest, the Marshals Service said.
Last week, marshals found Armstrong’s black Jeep Grand Cherokee and learned she had sold it for $12,200 to a CarMax dealership in Austin on May 13. Officials believe a day after the sale, she flew from Austin Bergstrom International Airport to Houston Hobby Airport, then took a connecting flight to LaGuardia Airport in New York.
Armstrong was dropped off at the Newark airport on May 18, but no outbound flights were listed under her name, marshals said.
Her live-in boyfriend Colin Strickland, 34, had a fling with Wilson and had snuck out on the day of the shooting to meet her when she was in Austin from San Francisco and preparing for an upcoming race in Waco, officials said.
Strickland dropped off the cyclist at her friend’s house, where she was later found dead. A Jeep appearing to be Armstrong’s was seen on surveillance footage outside.
Police questioned Armstrong but released her without charges before she went on the lam, officials said.
In a statement, Wilson’s family thanked authorities for finally arresting Armstrong, according to KXAN.
“We’re relieved to know this phase of uncertainty is now behind us, and we trust that justice will prevail,” they said.
