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The fugitive yoga teacher who is accused of killing her love rival in a jealous rage has been captured in Costa Rica after six weeks on the run.
Kaitlin Armstrong, 34, was wanted for the murder of cyclist Anna Moriah ‘Mo’ Wilson, 25, on May 11 in Austin, Texas.
US Marshals have been searching for her across the US, and said she was last seen at Newark’s Liberty International on May 18, the day after the Austin Police Department issued a warrant for her arrest.
On Thursday evening, Armstrong was captured at a Santa Teresa Beach hostel in Costa Rica, US Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force said in a statement.
They added that a joint investigation by the Marshals and Homeland Security Investigations found that Armstrong fled the country on May 18 on a fraudulent passport.
She boarded a United Airlines flight to San Jose at Newark, and arrived there that evening.
The statement said she had used to a fraudulent passport to board a flight to San Jose, Costa Rica on May 18, a day after Austin police issued a warrant for her arrest.
Armstrong is now set to be deported to the US.
Armstrong is white, stands 5 feet 8 inches and weighs approximately 125 pounds
Armstrong shown here at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport on May 14
Authorities say Armstrong fell into a jealous rage and shot Wilson, 25, left, dead after she went for a swim and dinner with Armstrong’s boyfriend, professional cycler Colin Strickland, right
Santa Teresa Beach, where Armstrong was found, is a remote town located on Costa Rica’s northern Nicoya peninsula. The town is located over five hours from San Jose, the city that Armstrong flew into.
‘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,’ read the statement.
The area is home to many hostels and hotels that have comparatively low prices to other remote vacation spots, with some as low as $50 a night.
The town is known for beautiful beaches and surfing, and has recently seen an uptick in tourists and expats since celebrities including Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen vacation there.
The couple are frequently spotted around Santa Teresa, most recently in February, and Bündchen told Vogue in 2010 that they have been going there together since 2007.
Armstrong is wanted in connection to the death of Wilson after authorities found Wilson ‘bleeding and unconscious’ after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds on May 11 at her friend’s apartment in Austin.
Wilson, a Vermont native and ‘world-class’ cyclist, was staying in Austin for a race.
Armstrong’s car was seen in the area around the time of the shooting, leading authorities to believe she had killed Wilson in a jealous rage.
This is the latest US Marshals wanted poster for Kaitlin Armstrong
They later found out that earlier that night, Wilson had gone to dinner with Armstrong’s boyfriend Colin Strickland, who told police that the two of them had been swimming at Deep Eddy Pool before getting burgers at Pool Burger.
Strickland said he picked her up from the apartment of her friend Caitlin Cash on his BMW motorbike at 5.45pm and dropped her off again at 8.36pm – stopping shortly after to text Armstrong to tell her he had been dropping off flowers to another friend and that his phone had run out of battery.
But unknown to Strickland, Armstrong had allegedly been tracking both him and Mo using cycling app Strava which shows the routes runners and cyclists take.
Armstrong was questioned by Austin police officers on May 14 after they discovered that the yoga instructor had an open misdemeanor warrant on a theft of services charge, the Daily Beast reports.
The cops then used the opportunity to briefly question her about Anna Moriah ‘Mo’ Wilson’s death several days earlier – after they received an anonymous tip that Armstrong flew into a rage when she discovered that her live-in boyfriend, Colin Strickland, had previously been romantically involved with Wilson.
During the interview, cops showed Armstrong video surveillance of her SUV apparently coming to a stop outside the apartment where Wilson was found dead on May 11.
The footage was time stamped just one minute after Wilson, 25, entered the building following a swim and dinner with Strickland.
During the interview, Armstrong reportedly admitted it ‘doesn’t look good,’ and a probable cause document for her arrest says she ‘had no explanation as to why it was in the area, and did not make any denials surrounding the statements presented to her.’
On May 13, five days before she fled the country, it was discovered that Armstrong had sold her black Jeep Grand Cherokee to a car dealership in Austin for $12,2000
A police tipster, who did not want to be identified, earlier told investigators that Armstrong flew into a rage on discovering cyclist Strickland’s romance with fellow cyclist Wilson in January 2022.
The informant told police: ‘Armstrong became furious and was shaking with anger. Armstrong told the caller Armstrong was so angry Armstrong wanted to kill Wilson.’
That tipster got in contact with cops on May 14, three days after Wilson was murdered. Armstrong was subsequently questioned by cops, and freed due to a technicality.
After realizing Armstrong had fled, the US Marshals Service ‘elevated the investigation to major case status early in this investigation, which likely played a key role in her capture after a 43-day run.’
