AUSTIN, Texas — The state called four new witnesses and brought back the lead homicide detective, Richard Spitler, on the fifth day of the Kaitlin Armstrong murder trial.
Armstrong is accused of killing semi-professional cyclist Anna Moriah "Mo" Wilson in East Austin in May 2022.
Lead Homicide Det. Richard Spitler
Wednesday's testimony started with Det. Richard Spitler returning to the witness stand to finish questioning. The state asked Spitler why he investigated Gunnar Shaw, an ex-boyfriend of Wilson, and Allen Lim, who Spitler believes might have been a close friend of Wilson's.
Spitler said he investigated these two men because he thought it was a very personal homicide. He said after reviewing phone location data and other evidence, he was able to rule out Shaw and Lim as suspects.
The state then showed images of an email account that Armstrong created two days after Wilson’s death. There were images of an email confirming an Uber ride from Armstrong’s resident to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, an email confirmation of a Southwest Airline flight from Austin to LaGuardia for passenger Kaitlin Armstrong and an email confirmation of a United flight from New York to Costa Rica.
After a brief recess, the state brought data from Armstrong’s Google account that shows she searched her own name a few weeks after Wilson was killed. Other searches obtained from her account were “can IMEI be tracked for not making phone calls”, “post rhinoplasty photos” and “can pineapples burn your fingerprints?”
When the defense began questioning Spitler, they asked him a long line of questions about the process to become a detective and how he came to be the lead homicide detective in this case, pointing out that this was his first as a lead detective.
The defense also wanted to know why Spitler did not apply for a search warrant of Colin Strickland’s laptop. They also pointed out that Strickland’s laptop was the only piece of evidence in the case that had been returned to anyone. Upon that, the defense asked, “Did you treat Colin differently because he was a minor celebrity?” to which Spitler replied, “No, sir.”
Just before the jury broke for lunch, the court took a turn as the defense called for a mistrial, claiming there was a "vandalism" that occurred at Strickland’s home on May 12, but the District Attorney never provided this report to the defense. The judge dismissed the motion for a mistrial, and that report was later entered in as evidence.
Testimony from Armstrong's cycling friends
After thoroughly questioning Spitler, the state called Nicole Mertz, a friend of Armstrong’s.
Mertz testified that she moved to Austin in 2019 and met Armstrong through cycling. Mertz described Armstrong and Colin Strickland’s relationship as on-again, off-again. She said Strickland would often refer to Armstrong as his “lady friend” but not his girlfriend.
Mertz recalled an evening when a group of cyclists were at The Meteor Cafe in Bentonville, Ark., after a big cycling race in January 2022 that Strickland, Wilson and Armstrong were all at. Armstrong expressed to Mertz that Strickland had cheated on her with Wilson. Mertz testified that Armstrong was visibly angry and talked about killing Wilson. Mertz said she didn’t think anything of the remarks at the time because Armstrong was emotional.
Mertz continued, stating that she thought Armstrong might have had something to do with Wilson's death after she found out about it from a news article. She said she then called the police two or three days later, telling them she might have some information that could help their investigation.
The state next called up Jacqueline Chasteen, another one of Armstrong’s cycling friends. Chasteen lives in Bentonville and met Armstrong through Strickland. Her husband is a photographer who would shoot cycling races.
Chasteen also recalls a conversation she had with Armstrong at The Meteor Cafe in Bentonville. Chasteen testified that Armstrong came up to her trembling, saying that she recently found out Strickland cheated on her with “Mo,” Moriah Wilson. Chasteen recalled that in the conversation Armstrong mentioned wanting to kill Wilson, or the fact that she had thought about it and mentioned a gun. Chasteen also testified she didn’t take those remarks seriously at the time because Armstrong was emotional, but that changed when she learned of Wilson’s death in May.
Chasteen also called the police after finding out about Wilson's death, feeling that Armstrong could have been involved.
The state closed the day by calling two more witnesses, Keith Cox, the location general manager at CarMax in South Austin, and Brian Bell, the vice president of Global Communication for Strava, the popular app for cyclists and hikers to track their activity.
The court will reconvene Thursday morning.