The lawyer for a Texas woman accused of murdering her boyfriend’s love interest said his client will be found not guilty if a jury hears the case, Fox News reports.
In an interview with NBC’s “Dateline” that aired Friday, attorney Rick Cofer said the state doesn’t have enough evidence to convict 34-year-old Kaitlin Armstrong, who is accused of fatally shooting 25-year-old Moriah Wilson in Austin, Texas, on May 11.
“I expect this: the government’s own evidence will acquit Kaitlin Armstrong. They just haven’t looked at it,” Cofer told the news program. “Kaitlin Armstrong is not guilty, and if this case goes to trial — if the district attorney doesn’t dismiss it before it goes to trial — she will be found not guilty.”
Armstrong was on the lam for 43 days and was arrested in Costa Rica in June. She allegedly fled the United States using a passport that did not belong to her.
Authorities allege that Armstrong shot Wilson after Wilson spent an evening out with Armstrong’s boyfriend, Colin Strickland. Strickland and Wilson reportedly had a romantic history that police believe upset Armstrong.
However, Cofer is casting doubt on that claim.
“The crux of law enforcement’s theory from within the first 24 hours of this case — they had decided that Kaitlin Armstrong is a crazy, jealous person that, in a fit of rage, murdered Miss Wilson,” Cofer told the television program. “The whole case against Kate Armstrong is predicated on a deeply misogynistic view of her.”
One piece of evidence against Armstrong is that a security camera recorded a black SUV with a bike rack near the home where Wilson was staying shortly after Wilson returned to the residence after being with Strickland.
Wilson was found “bleeding and unconscious” inside the home with multiple gunshot wounds.
Investigators the following day went to interview Strickland, who lived with Armstrong, where police noticed a 2012 black Jeep Cherokee with a large bike rack consistent with the vehicle in the security camera recording. Two handguns were found in Strickland’s house.
Armstrong was interviewed by police and shortly thereafter sold the Jeep for $12,200 and then went on the run.
Cofer said the vehicle recorded in the security camera footage cannot be definitively tied to his client, noting that the recording did not identify the license plate or who was in the SUV, according to Fox News.
“So, this dark-colored SUV — that’s where the detective really wants to start to hang this horrible crime on Kaitlin Armstrong. There’s no evidence presented ever of a license plate on this vehicle, of any description of an occupant of the vehicle,” Cofer told “Dateline.” “You can’t be in two places at once. That’s just kind of some simple math.”
When pressed for an explanation by “Dateline” host Keith Morrison, Cofer said he does not “have to prove” Armstrong was not at the crime scene.
“I don’t have to prove that,” Cofer told Morrison. “That’s not how the system works.”
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[Featured image: Kaitlin Armstrong/U.S. Marshals]
