Texas Yoga Instructor Who Murdered Love Triangle Rival Could Still Have These Charges Dropped

Kaitlin Armstrong, the yoga instructor who was found guilty of murdering Moriah “Mo” Wilson at the end of a three-week trial, is scheduled to be back in front of a judge early next month for a separate case related to her alleged escape attempt.

But a court official said the everything could change before her Dec. 4 hearing.

"It's tentative whether there will be a hearing" or if the case will be "dropped" altogether, the bailiff for the 403rd District Court in Travis County told The Messenger Wednesday.

He added they're waiting for the state to decide.

The Travis County District Attorney's Office did not return a request for comment.

On Oct. 11, nearly three weeks before the start of her murder trial, Armstrong, 36, briefly escaped from police custody while attending a doctor's appointment.

She "manipulated her left hand" out of her restraints and managed to run for a block before she was recaptured, according to an affidavit.

"She remained within the deputies' eyesight at all times,” a Travis County sheriff's statement said.

Armstrong was charged with one count of escape causing bodily injury, which faces a sentence up to 20 years.

Armstrong will appear in Travis County court on Dec. 4 for a hearing on the matter with District Court Judge Brandy Mueller.

On Nov. 17, she was sentenced to 90 years behind bars and fined $10,000 for murdering Wilson.

Prosecutors said she shot the cyclist twice in the head and once in the chest after Wilson went swimming and had dinner with Armstrong’s then-boyfriend Colin Strickland.

Wilson briefly dated star cyclist Strickland while he and Armstrong were on a "break" at the end of 2021. They returned to being friends after he reunited with Armstrong.

But on May 11, 2022, Strickland didn’t tell his girlfriend he planned to meet with Wilson, who was visiting Austin ahead of a 155-mile bike race in Hico, Texas.

After he dropped her off at the East Austin apartment where she was staying, Armstrong, who'd been following Wilson's location through online apps, walked into her apartment and shot her.

"The last thing Mo Wilson did on this earth was scream in terror," said assistant district attorney Rick Jones while replaying shocking audio of her final moments alive while presenting his closing arguments.

Austin Police questioned Armstrong at the time but she was released. Days later, when detectives attempted to arrest her with a warrant, Armstrong had fled the country.

She used a fake passport on May 18, 2022, to board a United Airlines flight from Newark, N.J., to San Jose, Costa Rica, according to investigators.

More than a month later, U.S. Marshals tracked down Armstrong at Santa Teresa Beach in Costa Rica and arrested her.

Armstrong had been living in a hostel and changed her appearance by the time she was detained, cutting her long hair to shoulder-length and dying it brown.

Her nose was also different, and there was bruising under her eyes, Deputy U.S. Marshal Brandon Filla said during a press conference. Armstrong told officials she'd been in a surfing accident.

Detectives claimed she used fake names — reportedly "Beth" and "Liz Martin" — and planned to teach yoga in Costa Rica. Her involvement in the yoga community, they said, helped investigators find Armstrong.

“She was exhausted. It took a little bit of time for her to reveal her true identity,” Filla said.

Back in Texas inside Travis County Jail while waiting for her trial to begin, officials said Armstrong had started “exercising vigorously” ahead of her planned escape, according to an arrest affidavit.

“Inmate Armstrong can be seen running, doing squats and yoga throughout her dayroom and recreation time,” the affidavit stated.