Kaitlin Armstrong’s then-boyfriend testifies about ‘tumultuous’ relationship

(NewsNation) — Colin Strickland, who had been in a relationship with Kaitlin Armstrong, a yoga instructor accused of shooting and killing professional cyclist Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson, testified on day three of her trial Friday.

Wilson was found unconscious with a gunshot wound to the head May 11, 2022 at a friend’s Austin, Texas home.

Armstrong, 35, had allegedly been involved in a love triangle between herself, Strickland and Wilson. Wilson, 25 years old and a Vermont native, had previously dated Strickland, a competitive gravel racer.

Armstrong and Strickland had begun to live together in January 2021, when Armstrong’s apartment flooded from the historic Texas freeze.

Strickland said in court Friday that his “on-again-off-again” relationship with Armstrong had been  “tumultuous,” adding that he was uncertain if he wanted to pursue something more long-term.”

Questioned by the state on his relationship with Wilson, Strickland said he met her at a racing event, calling her the “most exceptional female racer and an obvious immense talent.” He added that he wanted to help her career.

After one October 2021 race in Arkansas that he and Wilson competed in, Strickland was invited on a mountain bike ride with her and other professionals — and that ended up causing friction with Armstrong, who he says felt left out. However, Strickland said Armstrong had not been skilled enough to go on a ride like that. On the drive back to Texas, he and Armstrong got in a fight where Strickland ended the relationship.

About five to six days later, Strickland said he got a text from Wilson saying she was in Austin and had recently ended her relationship, and the two became romantic. Strickland testified that he can’t recall telling Armstrong about this relationship, but one day, Armstrong called Wilson and confronted her, despite the two never meeting face-to-face. Wilson had found that “strange and unnerving,” Strickland said.

Although Wilson stayed in Texas a couple more days before moving on to her next cycling event, she and Strickland never had conversations about having a more serious relationship, he said, though they would have regular conversations and see each other at cycling events.

During this time, Armstrong dated at least two other men while continuing to live in a separate bedroom in Strickland’s home. Eventually, the couple reconciled and started dating again, and Armstrong started acting as a manager for Strickland’s business interests, meaning she controlled his passwords, social media accounts, financial accounts and records.

After seeing Wilson at an event they were both at, Armstrong asked Strickland about Wilson. He said she was jealous. Another time, Strickland said, he posted a video on Instagram of a race finish with Wilson in the background, to which Armstrong responded “send my love to Mo.”

“I felt it was extremely passive-aggressive at the time,” Strickland told the court.

Even when the couple was broken up, Armstrong would not move out of the house, Strickland said. While Strickland said he can’t be sure if Armstrong was monitoring his conversations with other women, he testified in court he believes she was.

Strickland said Armstrong would confront him about his communications with other women. During one instance in 2021, while he was dating Armstrong, Strickland texted that he would be visiting his friend in Colorado. Armstrong responded by sending Strickland a text with a semi-nude photo of an unnamed woman he met in Colorado in late 2020, before she moved in.

Basically, Armstrong pulled the photo from Strickland’s private texts, proving to him that she was monitoring him and knew more than she let on.

Incidents like this made Strickland hesitant to be transparent with Armstrong moving forward, even though he and the woman from Colorado never became intimate.

Investigators quickly cleared Strickland of Wilson’s death, with prosecutors saying that video and cellphone calls, texting and location data confirm that he was nowhere near the scene of the shooting.

Armstrong faces first-degree murder charges as well as a charge for second-degree felony escape causing bodily injury after running from corrections officers while leaving a medical appointment outside the jail two weeks ago.

In the first two days of the trial, those in court have seen crime scene photos and videos as well as audio of gunshots and a woman screaming. On Thursday, jurors heard from a homicide detective, crime scene specialist and the landlord for the apartment where Wilson was found.

No cameras will be allowed in the courtroom until closing statements.

Daniel Sheer, who lives in Austin near where Wilson’s body was found, was the first to testify Friday. He owns a surveillance camera that hangs underneath his carport. 

A few days after Wilson’s death, police left a card at his door, requesting footage from his camera. When he submitted the footage, Sheer didn’t know what crime had been committed.

In Sheer’s video, which was played for the court, a black vehicle can be seen parked inside the carport, which belonged to him. The port is slim and can only fit one car. There was a door on the right leading into the house and a fence to the left, separating homes. The video shows Sheer emerging from the door toward his car as a motorcycle passes by the carport. 

According to police documents, Strickland had picked up and dropped Wilson off on his motorcycle in the hours leading up to when she was killed.

Prosecutors played video footage from Austin Police Department Sgt. Jason Ayers’s body camera footage of Strickland being questioned, even though defense objected to much of it, according to NewsNation local affiliate KXAN. While the judge allowed jurors to see the whole video, she ruled the audio had to be cut after the first few minutes.

Ayers, testifying Friday, said he and another detective went to go speak to Strickland because he was apparently the last person to see Wilson alive.

On the body camera, Strickland is seen in a gray shirt and green shorts in his garage as a detective tells him about Wilson.

“There’s no easy way to put this, but last night, she passed away,” the detective said. Strickland, at a loss for words, had his mouth wide open as he heard the news. He told the Austin Police Department he gone to the pool with Wilson the day before and dropped her off a little before dark.

When Ayers asked Strickland if Armstrong knew about his relationship with Wilson, Strickland said “no, not at all.”

Later that evening, Ayers helped execute a search warrant at Strickland’s home with a team of others.

Recovered during the search were two MacBooks, two cellphones, DNA swabs of a vehicle’s steering wheel, digital photographs and two 9mm handguns. Although police also had a search warrant for a home being renovated by Armstrong, nothing was taken from there. 

NewsNation’s Alex Caprariello reported Friday that Armstrong’s defense attorneys have filed an application for community supervision. Armstrong “prays that in the event of a conviction that the sentence be suspended and that she be placed on community supervision,” according to court documents.

This story is developing. Refresh for updates.

The Associated Press and NewsNation local affiliate KXAN contributed to this report.