Kaitlin Armstrong, the Texas yoga teacher who was convicted of killing her love rival, claimed she was pregnant around the time of her arrest in Costa Rica, court filings have revealed.
The bombshell claim was made in a bid for a new trial that was filed by Armstrong’s attorney on 15 December, according to DailyMail.com, who obtained the filings.
“Kaitlin has also been pregnant twice, once occasion of which was during or near the time of her arrest,” the filing reads.
Last month, Armstrong was sentenced to 90 years in prison for fatally shooting professional cyclist Anna Moriah ‘Mo’ Wilson, the same night Mo had dinner with Armstrong’s boyfriend, Colin Strickland. Wilson was a competitive gravel and mountain bike racer from Vermont who had briefly dated Mr Strickland in 2021.
Armstrong was questioned by police just three days after the killing but once freed, she fled to Costa Rica leading the authorities on an intensive 43-day manhunt that ultimately ended in her capture despite her effort to disguise her identity with dyed hair and plastic surgery.
Kaitlin Armstrong enters the courtroom on 16 November. She was sentenced to 90 years in prison after fatally shooting professional cyclist Anna Moriah ‘Mo’ Wilson— (Gannett)
In the appeal filed earlier this month, Armstrong’s attorney attempts to paint his client as a more sympathetic person – the daughter of an alcoholic mother, whose dad abandoned her and who was the victim of sexual abuse.
“As her family struggled during her childhood, her childhood friend also recalled Kaitlin was the victim of multiple instances of (actual or attempted) sexual violence,” the attorney wrote.
During Armstrong’s trial last month, the court heard from her former boyfriend Mr Strickland about their relationship as well as his “on again, off again” relationship with Wilson.
When Armstrong found out about the relationship, she “became furious and was shaking in anger” and stated that she wanted to kill Wilson, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit also revealed Armstrong began calling Wilson and ordering her to stay away from her boyfriend.
On the day of Wilson’s murder she had arranged to meet fellow pro-cyclist Mr Strickland, with whom she had an on-again, off-again relationship when he and his then-girlfriend Armstrong were on a hiatus.
They went swimming at the Deep Eddy Pool public aquatic centre in Austin before going for a meal at nearby Pool Burger, Mr Strickland, 35, told investigators. He dropped Wilson off at her friend’s home at around 8.30pm.
She was found dead hours later.
At Armstrong’s trial, Assistant District Attorney Rick Jones told the jury: “I’ve never seen so much evidence in my life against one person.”
“The last thing Mo Wilson did was scream in terror,” Mr Jones said. “She stood over her after she shot her in the head twice and put another bullet in her heart ... you heard the medical examiner. That third bullet was in her heart.”
Moriah ‘Mo’ Wilson was one of the top gravel racing cyclists in the world— (Instagram/Mo Wilson)
Vehicle satellite records, phone-tracking data and surveillance video from a nearby home showed Armstrong’s Jeep driving around the apartment and parking in an alley shortly before Wilson was killed.
Defence Attorney Rick Cofer told the jury that Armstrong had been “caught in a nightmare of circumstantial evidence.”
After 43 days on the run, Armstrong was arrested and brought back to the United States and charged with first-degree murder. She pleaded not guilty in July 2022 and has been held at the Travis County Correctional Complex in Texas on a $3.5m bond.
On 11 October 2023, Armstrong attempted to escape for a second time during a scheduled to attend a medical appointment which required transport to a physician. As she left the facility with a corrections office she took off running.
Colin Strickland testified at Kaitlin Armstrong’s murder trial— (Instagram)
In a video that captured the incident, and shown at court, she could be seen running across a yard toward a brown wooden fence. The corrections officer pursues, but slips and falls in the grass.
A jury found Armstrong guilty after just two hours of deliberation.
Wilson’s family members in the courtroom cried and embraced each other while Armstrong remained emotionless as the verdict was read.
