Accused killer Kaitlin Armstrong’s former boyfriend resumed his testimony Monday in Austin, as prosecutors questioned him about his relationship with slain cyclist, Moriah “Mo” Wilson.
According to Fox News Digital, Colin Strickland, identified as Armstrong’s former boyfriend, testified that he told Armstrong to stop coming to his professional cycling races shortly before fellow professional cyclist, Wilson, was murdered.
Police found Wilson shot dead inside her friend Caitlin Cash’s Austin apartment in May 2022. The murder allegedly occurred minutes after Strickland dropped Wilson off at the apartment that night.
Strickland testified that he had a rocky relationship with Armstrong, whom he started dating in 2019 and broke up with briefly in 2020. During the 2020 split, Strickland said he had a brief romantic relationship with Wilson but insisted they were professional friends only during the time Wilson was murdered.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Armstrong, who’s currently on trial for allegedly murdering Wilson, was arrested in 2022, in a Costa Rica hideaway spot she fled to after Wilson’s death. Investigators believe that Armstrong murdered Wilson because she suspected Wilson was having an affair with Strickland.
š§µKAITLIN ARMSTRONG MURDER TRIALš§µ
Video is Colin Strickland entering the Travis County Courthouse Monday. He will continue testifying today.
On Friday, he described his "tumultuous" relationship with #KaitlinArmstrong & shared his memories from the night Mo Wilson was killed. pic.twitter.com/2yDEYshQvw
— Alex Caprariello (@alcaprari23) November 6, 2023
On the day of Wilsonās death, Strickland allegedly lied to Armstrong to conceal that he had taken Wilson to Austin’s Deep Eddy Pool and dinner before dropping her off at Cash’s apartment, where Wilson had been staying while in town for a race.
On May 11, 2022, Cash found Wilson inside the apartment with multiple gunshot wounds, which police believe were fired by a 9 mm Sig Sauer handgun. Investigators said the casings found at the crime scene matched Armstrongās gun.
Strickland dropped the F-word in court to prosecutor Rick Cofer after he questioned Stickland’s character about “being popular,” winning races, and selling merchandise.
Strickland then acknowledged that he changed Wilson’s name to “Christine Wall” in his phone contacts to avoid an argument with the defendant. He added that someone could have become upset after reading the messages, depending on the reader’s frame of mind at the time.
āIt is no one that I know, but it is the name I used in my phone for Mo,ā Colin testified, referring to the made-up name.
Stickland also testified that Wilson and Armstrong did not get along and that Armstrong had made rude comments about Wilson in the past.
Text messages between Wilson and Strickland were shown to the court, which detailed plans for them to meet and go swimming, followed by dinner. Strickland insisted he didn’t know Armstrong that well, despite their dating since 2019.
WATCH: When leaving the courthouse after his testimony today, key witness Colin Strickland goes out of his way to step on a photographer's foot. You can hear the photographer wail in pain.
The photographer tells me he has pressed charges. This is his second negative interactionā¦ pic.twitter.com/7N3Pw3NBU5— Alex Caprariello (@alcaprari23) November 6, 2023
Defense attorney Kenney Baden suggested that Strickland, who reportedly had numerous people blocked on his phone, drove Armstrong to do something she wouldn’t have normally done. She also suggested that “DNA evidence could be less of a smoking gun than expected,” WFIN reports.
“Ladies and gentlemen the undercurrent is ā¦ look, you see this guy? You see that he made her crazy. If you think that she murdered Mo, maybe it’s just a manslaughter, or maybe it’s an aggravated manslaughter because of the state of mind he put her in, and you have the same state of mind dealing with this person also.”
āWhy would you kill anybody for this guy? Heās not too bright. Heās not too honest. Heās not too loyal.ā
When Strickland left the court Monday, he became hostile at the media and reportedly stepped on a photographer’s foot.
Armstrong pleaded not guilty to the charges against her. She could face up to 99 years in prison if convicted.
The trial continues. Check back for updates.
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[Featured Photo: Mo Wilson/Family Handout]
