Love-triangle slay suspect Kaitlin Armstrong may not be deported from Costa Rica for days: reports
It could be days or even weeks before fugitive Texas yoga instructor Kaitlin Marie Armstrong is sent back to the United States to face charges of gunning down a pro bicyclist in a rage-fueled love-triangle murder.
Armstrong — who allegedly killed Anna Moriah Wilson, a 25-year-old cyclist romantically linked to her boyfriend — was nabbed in Costa Rica on Wednesday after a 43-day international manhunt.
A spokesperson from Costa Rica’s Migration Directorate told CNN that the 34-year-old yoga teacher is in the midst of “deportation proceedings, but there’s no specific date for this to be completed” — and they added that the county has 30 days to complete any deportation order.
Armstrong was being held in a Los Lagos prison as of Thursday, the official said.
Armstrong had fled using a valid, active passport that belongs to someone with “very similar physical descriptions” to go on the lam and flee to the South America country, Deputy US Marshal Brandon Filla told News Nation Now.
“She was very easily able to get through those types of obstacles to where she boarded a flight from Newark International Airport to Costa Rica,” Filla said, adding he didn’t yet know an exact date when Armstrong would be extradited.
She had altered her appearance, dying her light hair dark and cutting it shoulder length. She also reportedly was found with a bandage on her nose and bruising under the eyes, and used the name of the person whose passport she used to go into hiding, Filla said.
She allegedly was trying to establish a new life, staying at a hostel and studying yoga, Filla said.
Costa Rica’s Public Force police posted a photo on Twitter of Armstrong in custody on Thursday, showing her from behind with shortened dark hair. The cycling site Velo News said Armstrong appeared to have undergone plastic surgery, according to sources.
One person who claimed to be with Armstrong at the time she was arrested said she looked much different than her photos, the Independent reported.
“She did have a bandage on the nose she told me was a surf accident,” the person said on an online forum, according to the Independent. “I was about to ask how exactly it happened because if a surf board did that to her nose she should be dead in the water. I think she had surgery done.”
Armstrong had allegedly stiffed an Austin spa for a $653 Botox treatment in 2018. She was accused in a complaint of receiving the treatment and then pulling out a credit card.
“Before the card could be run for payment, Armstrong stated she did not want to use the card, but had another card in her vehicle she preferred to use. Armstrong left the card on the counter, walked out of [the spa], and did not return to pay,” the arrest warrant said.
Austin, Texas police believe Armstrong shot Wilson multiple times in the bathroom of her friend’s home on May 11, after Wilson spent the day with Armstrong’s boyfriend, Colin Strickland, who’s also a bicyclist.
Armstrong and Strickland lived together and dated for three years, but he sparked up a relationship with Wilson around October when the couple was on the outs. Wilson came to Austin and was staying with a friend as she prepared for an upcoming race in May.
On the day of the murder, Strickland picked up Wilson on his motorcycle and the two went swimming and out to eat. A minute after he dropped her off, surveillance footage from a neighbor’s house showed a Jeep Grand Cherokee that matched Armstrong’s stop near the house.
Strickland told police he had to change Wilson’s name in his phone and delete her text messages due to Armstrong’s jealousy, and he lied to his girlfriend about where he was on the night of the slaying, according to a police affidavit posted by the Austin American Statesman.
Callers told Austin police Armstrong was furious when she learned of her boyfriend’s fling in January allegedly saying she was so enraged she “wanted to kill Wilson.”
The yoga instructor allegedly called Wilson and told her to stay away from Strickland, the affidavit with the warrant said.
Strickland said in a statement to the Sun last month that he and Wilson were now platonic and said the statements in the police affidavit were “skewed.” Several sponsors ended their relationships with Strickland in the wake of the killing, Velo News said.
After the shooting, Armstrong was questioned by cops but released and disappeared. The US Marshals Service said she sold her Jeep for $12,200, hopped a flight from Austin to New York City, then was dropped off at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, where she caught a flight to Costa Rica.
