TX - Moriah Wilson, 25, Cyclist Fatally Shot Before Race, Austin, 2022 *arrest* #5

[caradana]

New Yorker article

A Murder Roils the Cycling World

In gravel racing—the sport’s hottest category—the killing has exposed a lot of dirt.

www.newyorker.com

Ian Parker is a trip! From the article: “[Colin is] lean and good-looking, and has the deliberate enunciation of someone who’s a little more stoned than he’d planned to be.”
the New Yorker lololol

 

[charminglane]

New Yorker article

A Murder Roils the Cycling World

In gravel racing—the sport’s hottest category—the killing has exposed a lot of dirt.

www.newyorker.com

Good article.
A sport full of self important people.

 

[scdiv]

Good article, Colin sounds like a real gem.

 

[Marysmith]

New Yorker article

A Murder Roils the Cycling World

In gravel racing—the sport’s hottest category—the killing has exposed a lot of dirt.

www.newyorker.com

Thank you for this. It’s a good read.
For some reason what really got me was the quote from Colin, and I’m paraphrasing, that he could have spent the last 3 years with someone else as he had lots of opportunities. I think it’s just sad that they stayed together and for what?

 

[jash]

New Yorker article

A Murder Roils the Cycling World

In gravel racing—the sport’s hottest category—the killing has exposed a lot of dirt.

www.newyorker.com

Thank you for sharing!

I find it fascinating to read how people who know KA describe her. According to one of CS's cycling friends:

"He liked Armstrong; he described her as beautiful, a little intense, and—as he came to realize—competent with money in a way that Strickland didn’t care to be."

...she seemed happy with her relationship. “She was in love with Colin. She wanted him to be—you know—the one.”

...once described herself as being too jealous to ever have agreed to be in an open relationship.

We also learn a bit more about the timeline. On October 23rd, Mo and CS were at the same race. CS brought KA along and when they approached Mo and her friend/fellow racer, KA was "pointedly unfriendly". Mo's friend is confident that Mo and CS were still just platonic at that point. Three days later, Mo was in Austin and CS took her to a regular local cycling event, where KA knew all the female participants. That evening, Mo received a call: It was an unknown number, but she took the call. A woman told her, “Stay away from Colin.” During that visit to Austin, Mo and CS even took a trip together to West Texas. When Mo got back to California, she told her friend about what happened and her friend (who actually has her own history with CS) tried to steer Mo away from him. By May 7th, CS had just completed a solo road trip which included California; while there, he and Mo were in the same race and the two of them did a training ride together.

Lastly, Mo's friend said something that I hadn't considered before:

... unnerved by the thought that Wilson, while launching herself as a professional racer, had perhaps felt obliged to keep in touch with Strickland because of his “access to brands and sponsorships and connections.”

 

[Marysmith]

Go

Thank you for sharing!

I find it fascinating to read how people who know KA describe her. According to one of CS's cycling friends:

"He liked Armstrong; he described her as beautiful, a little intense, and—as he came to realize—competent with money in a way that Strickland didn’t care to be."

...she seemed happy with her relationship. “She was in love with Colin. She wanted him to be—you know—the one.”

...once described herself as being too jealous to ever have agreed to be in an open relationship.

We also learn a bit more about the timeline. On October 23rd, Mo and CS were at the same race. CS brought KA along and when they approached Mo and her friend/fellow racer, KA was "pointedly unfriendly". Mo's friend is confident that Mo and CS were still just platonic at that point. Three days later, Mo was in Austin and CS took her to a regular local cycling event, where KA knew all the female participants. That evening, Mo received a call: It was an unknown number, but she took the call. A woman told her, “Stay away from Colin.” During that visit to Austin, Mo and CS even took a trip together to West Texas. When Mo got back to California, she told her friend about what happened and her friend (who actually has her own history with CS) tried to steer Mo away from him. By May 7th, CS had just completed a solo road trip which included California; while there, he and Mo were in the same race and the two of them did a training ride together.

Lastly, Mo's friend said something that I hadn't considered before:

... unnerved by the thought that Wilson, while launching herself as a professional racer, had perhaps felt obliged to keep in touch with Strickland because of his “access to brands and sponsorships and connections.”

Yeah… that stuck with me as well. It’s a sport where you have to have make connections to get ahead.

 

[BeachSky]

I don't think this it is odd that she went back to her home that night, that's where she lived.

What’s beyond odd is she got a friggin’ nose job in another country!
JMO

 

[RickshawFan]

Also from the article -

Under questioning from Armstrong’s defense attorney, Rick Cofer, Conner conceded that the 35-year-old was allowed to leave the state, and even the country after her May 12 interview.

Armstrong flew to New York May 14 and on to Costa Rica four days later. Austin detectives obtained a murder warrant for her arrest May 17 . . .

Yeah, but she wasn't allowed to leave using someone else's passport. You have to present the passport to TSA, and if she was using someone else's she was in violation already at that point.

 

[scdiv]

Thank you for this. It’s a good read.
For some reason what really got me was the quote from Colin, and I’m paraphrasing, that he could have spent the last 3 years with someone else as he had lots of opportunities. I think it’s just sad that they stayed together and for what?

I love how he made it all about him. He gets one girl murdered and he's like, "I could have spent the last three years with someone else because I had so many opportunities." What a total narcissist.

What’s beyond odd is she got a friggin’ nose job in another country!
JMO

It still gets me that even more odd is that she took her friggin yoga mat! I can get a new face but I will not be able to find a new yoga mat!

 

[JerseyGirl]

Judge to announce if some evidence in Armstrong’s murder trial should be thrown out

A Travis County judge will announce Wednesday whether some evidence should be thrown out in Kaitlin Armstrong’s upcoming murder trial.

www.kxan.com

 

[Emi]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1590435542646214657

https://twitter.com/x/status/1590332936397926401

https://twitter.com/x/status/1590335084426842116

 

[watergirl62]

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A Travis County judge said Kaitlin Armstrong, accused of killing professional cyclist Moriah Wilson, will have her jury trial starting the week of June 26, 2023.

The judge ruled Wednesday the defense was not able to convince the court that detectives acted unconstitutionally when they brought her in for an interview following Wilson’s death. She said that the court would not suppress the video evidence of the interview in the trial.

Judge sets trial date for Kaitlin Armstrong, accused of murdering pro-cyclist

During a pre-trial hearing, Armstrong’s defense team argued early-obtained evidence was gathered improperly by homicide detectives and thus should not be available for prosecutors to use against Ar…

www.kxan.com

 

[Emi]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1590464224425570304

 

[Gypsy Road]

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A Travis County judge said Kaitlin Armstrong, accused of killing professional cyclist Moriah Wilson, will have her jury trial starting the week of June 26, 2023.

The judge ruled Wednesday the defense was not able to convince the court that detectives acted unconstitutionally when they brought her in for an interview following Wilson’s death. She said that the court would not suppress the video evidence of the interview in the trial.

Judge sets trial date for Kaitlin Armstrong, accused of murdering pro-cyclist

During a pre-trial hearing, Armstrong’s defense team argued early-obtained evidence was gathered improperly by homicide detectives and thus should not be available for prosecutors to use against Ar…

www.kxan.com

Wow! I’m quite happy with her ruling. I had a feeling she was going to throw it out, and I was wrong!

 

[Marysmith]

Wow! I’m quite happy with her ruling. I had a feeling she was going to throw it out, and I was wrong!

Me too!!

 

[Gypsy Road]

Kaitlin Armstrong trial date set as judge rejects defense motion to toss evidence in pro cyclist murder | Fox News

The trial over the shooting death of cycling pro Anna Moriah "Mo" Wilson will begin in June after an Austin judge rejected her defense's motion to toss evidence.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Cryptic]

New Yorker article

A Murder Roils the Cycling World

In gravel racing—the sport’s hottest category—the killing has exposed a lot of dirt.

www.newyorker.com

Wow, this was a well written article.

The article somewhat increased my opinion of Strickland.

I don't think he was reckless in his, well, "extra relationship relationship" in the sense that he should have known what Armstrong was capable of. Nor, did he appear to goad her into possible violence by purchasing a weapon for her.

Rather, the article seems to accurately portray Strickland as a "SMJ" Standard Male Jock, who was capable of carrying on multiple relationships with attractive women via his athleticism, relative fame, and looks- and then proceeded to act on that ability.

Though clearly not going to win say, First Baptist Church of Round Rock's "Family Man of the Quarter Award", and I imagine a certain number of his fellow "SMJs" have matured and dropped out of the high school / college game of "Juggling Chicks" Strickland does not come across as a master manipulator either.

 

[steeltowngirl]

I just read the New Yorker article, and it had the opposite effect on me. AR describes him as very demeaning - telling her she was “nowhere near skinny enough” to be a bike climber.

CS is described as growing unhappy with his waning success. I have no doubt he was grumpy and transferred that over to KA. He was also dismissive of his real relationship with her. She was in love - he was “the one”. He could barely acknowledge her as his girlfriend publicly.

Three words from the article wrapped it up for me.
”He seemed tired.”

And I think he was. Tired of biking, tired of playing the ladies’ man field, and mostly tired of KA. Maybe he was truly hoping to move on to MW. Or maybe she was another conquest. Or, maybe for MW, that ship had sailed.

Whatever was going on with MW, KA was having none of it.
She was done.

And with that, MW was tragically done, and for all intents and purposes, KA would make sure that for CS, life as he once knew it, was also done.

jmo

A Murder Roils the Cycling World

In gravel racing—the sport’s hottest category—the killing has exposed a lot of dirt.

www.newyorker.com

 

[Mariposa]

I just read the New Yorker article, and it had the opposite effect on me. AR describes him as very demeaning - telling her she was “nowhere near skinny enough” to be a bike climber.

CS is described as growing unhappy with his waning success. I have no doubt he was grumpy and transferred that over to KA. He was also dismissive of his real relationship with her. She was in love - he was “the one”. He could barely acknowledge her as his girlfriend publicly.

Three words from the article wrapped it up for me.
”He seemed tired.”

And I think he was. Tired of biking, tired of playing the ladies’ man field, and mostly tired of KA. Maybe he was truly hoping to move on to MW. Or maybe she was another conquest. Or, maybe for MW, that ship had sailed.

Whatever was going on with MW, KA was having none of it.
She was done.

And with that, MW was tragically done, and for all intents and purposes, KA would make sure that for CS, life as he once knew it, was also done.

jmo

I agree it was interesting to see this portrayal of CS as kind of becoming the grumpy old man on the scene. Juxtaposed with MW as the bright new star in their niche sport, very idealistic and optimistic. It’s a small world of competitors and MW was accumulating sponsors and it makes sense that she might turn to CS for career advice, especially as she was quitting her job in California to do cycling full time.

I thought this painted a telling picture not about the inner workings of the relationship between CS and KA, but about how it appeared to others and how he described it to others. You can see how MW could be confused as indicated by the text from January that was quoted from in the arrest affidavit (the “just friends” one).

Also how chilling was the story about MW going to an event in Austin with CS last fall and getting a call WHILE STILL AT THE EVENT with a woman’s voice telling her “Stay away from Colin”.

 

[jash]

I just read the New Yorker article, and it had the opposite effect on me.

Me too.

A big takeaway for me was that he seems to have a fluid relationship with the truth, and it goes beyond just lying to his girlfriend to hide his 'extracurriculars'. He gave different reasons for the gun purchase to police (KA's road-rage experience) versus to his friend (protection for when KA goes on her solo bike treks). He also wasn't truthful with his friend about the circumstances around seeing Mo on what turned out to be the last evening of her too-short life (he said that he went to the apartment to drop off a bike).

And I can't stop thinking about what Mo's friend AR said about maybe Mo feeling she had to maintain contact with CS for the sake of her career. It's entirely possible that by May 2022, Mo's interest in CS was purely platonic/professional and she would have preferred to spend the evening with her host rather than going for a swim and dinner but felt she couldn't/shouldn't reject the invitation. If I comprehended the article correctly, it sounds like even after AR's own personal and professional experience with CS had soured, they found themselves staying at the same place in CO and he aggressively pursued her.

I know he's not accused and I don't think he foresaw his choices and actions resulting in murder (despite his supposed aptitude for strategic thinking and future planning), but obviously if he was not in the equation, none of this would have happened. And somehow it makes the outcome feel even worse, IMO, if KA executed Mo for being an unfounded perceived threat.