Next witness: Nicole Mertz, lives in Austin. First met Kaitlin Armstrong in 2019 shortly after she moved to
#ATX. Mertz is a former professional cyclist.Kaitlin was one of her best friends in Austin. They became close in 2020. They would see each other typically every day.
Mertz says she knew Strickland pretty well. She was closer to Armstrong. Mertz says she didn't know Mo Wilson, but was familiar with her given her profession.Mertz says Strickland and Armstrong loved each other and worked well together, but it was "always off and on." They never referred to each other as boyfriend/girlfriend, Mertz says.
Mertz says she and Armstrong stayed with Strickland following the Texas ice storm in 2021. Mertz left after one night, Armstrong never moved out.Strickland would refer to Armstrong as his "lady friend." She called their relationship "casual, but not casual."
Mertz says she knows Armstrong was logged into Colin's iCloud. She knew she had access to his bank accounts and emails. She knew she sent emails from Colin's account for his business. Mertz says she watched her on a laptop access his accounts.
Mertz says Armstrong told her in Oct. 2021 that "they were breaking up for good but they would be in business together and would still be very close and would be in each other's lives."In Nov. 2021, Mertz recounts a big group at the Meteor. Armstrong was quiet, which was not like her. Armstrong told her that Mo was in town with Strickland and she was upset. Colin had brought her to Justine's the night before, which she knew from an email Colin received from OpenTable.Mo walked into the Meteor, but left pretty quickly. Armstrong saw Mo walk in. Armstrong told Mertz that Mo was there. When she told Mertz, "she was pretty angry. Visibly angry. I had never seen her like that before, which is why I remembered it.”
Mertz recalls asking Armstrong what she would do if Colin ever dated someone else. "[Armstrong] said she would kill her," Mertz testifies.
#KaitlinArmstrong
Mertz says she remembers Armstrong telling her that she had called Mo earlier that day. Armstrong told Mo that she and Strickland were living together and in business together," Mertz says.
That night, Armstrong told Mertz that she was going to Mexico. She left the very next day. Mertz suggested Armstrong stay with her when she gets back from Mexico. But when she got back, Armstrong stayed with Strickland.
Armstrong occasionally told Mertz about dating other men. She would go on dates when she and Colin were breaking up. She said she would do it to make Colin jealous. One of those dates, Mertz says, was with an NBA basketball player.
Mertz recalls finding out about Mo Wilson's death in a news article."My first thought was that Kaitlin might have had something to do with it." She and Armstrong were still friends. About 2-3 days later, Mertz called the police and shared she had information they should know.
Beginning May 11 at about 2pm, evidenced by text messages, Mertz had no further contact with Armstrong. Mertz texted Armstrong when she heard about Mo, but the text didn't go through. Armstrong's IG had been deleted, too.
Upon noticing IG had been deleted: "It just made me think that she had something to do with it even more."Mertz spoke to Armstrong's sister, who told her that Kaitlin was safe.Q: "Why did you reach out to the police?"A: "I just kind of had a feeling. I remembered that comment that she made and I knew that she was not happy with Colin and Moriah hanging out. I just had a feeling and thought that was the right thing to do.”
Defense's turn.
Asks Mertz what is her birthday? How old is she? What college did she go to? What year did she graduate? Shoe size? Favorite color? Favorite band? Favorite song? Favorite TV show?Mertz cannot answer almost all of those questions. Defense wonders if she truly is as good of a friend as she claims to be.
Clarification on last post: Defense asks Mertz what is *Armstrong's birthday? How old is *Armstrong? etc...No further questions. Witness dismissed.
