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Austin woman suspected of killing cyclist arrives at Houston airport after being caught in Costa Rica

Video shows Kaitlin Armstrong in handcuffs being escorted by authorities at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin woman suspected of killing rising cycling star Moriah Wilson in May has arrived in Houston after being arrested in Costa Rica earlier in the week.

Video obtained by KTRK, the ABC affiliate in Houston, shows Kaitlin Marie Armstrong being escorted by authorities at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. Armstrong was seen leaving the airport in handcuffs. 

On Sunday, she was booked into the Harris County Jail on charges of murder and theft. The sheriff's office set her bond at $3.5 million for the murder charge and $3,500 for the theft charge. If she posts bond, she will be required to surrender her passport, submit to GPS monitoring and follow an 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. curfew. 

Credit: Harris County Sheriff's Office
Kaitlin Armstrong's booking photo

Armstrong has hired Austin law firm Cofer & Connelly to represent her.

Armstrong was captured on June 29 after being located at a hostel on Santa Teresa Beach in Provincia de Puntarenas, Costa Rica, according to the U.S. Marshals. The Marshals' Office of International Operations, Homeland Security Investigations and the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service worked with authorities in Costa Rica to locate and arrest the 34-year-old suspect. 

Investigators discovered that Armstrong had used a fraudulent passport to fly from Newark International Airport to Costa Rica on May 18. A photo taken by Costa Rican authorities shows Armstrong cut her once-long hair and dyed it brown. 

They also found she had been practicing yoga, a big hobby of hers, and signed up for classes using the same alias she used to book the flight to Costa Rica.

"We know that she registered at specific yoga studios based on communication that was brought back to us here in the United States. So we knew she had a pattern of life, she was trying to extend that career possibly to be a yoga instructor, to get the knowledge of it," Deputy Brandon Filla with the U.S. Marshal Service previously said. 

Before she was arrested, the most recent update on Armstrong was that investigators learned she sold her car to a CarMax dealership in South Austin on May 13. She was given a check for $12,200 a day after being questioned by police. 

Armstrong flew out of the Austin airport on May 14 and was last known to have been dropped off at the Newark Liberty International Airport on May 18. That was the same day the Austin Police Department issued a homicide warrant for her arrest in connection to Wilson's murder on May 11. 

On May 25, investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Armstrong for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. That warrant is in addition to the existing homicide warrant.

Armstrong was named as a suspect in Wilson's death while authorities investigated the cyclist's death. Wilson was found by a roommate on May 11 with a gunshot wound. She died that night. 

Surveillance video showed an SUV stopped near the home Wilson was at later concluded it was Armstrong's. Armstrong was arrested and questioned, saying she heard of the death but wasn't able to explain why her vehicle was in the area. 

She requested to leave and was released because her birthday was listed wrong on the Class B warrant, causing a legal discrepancy. As the investigation continued, evidence led officials to believe Armstrong killed Wilson. 

For everything we know about the case, click here.

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