Prosecutors today described how Texas yoga teacher Kaitlin Armstrong stood over her love rival Moriah ‘Mo’ Wilson and shot her ‘in the heart’ in explosive opening statements to kick off her murder trial.
Armstrong, 36, appeared in court in a navy jacket with her auburn hair curled. She appeared to have returned to her natural hair color after dying it a darker shade and undergoing plastic surgery while on the run.
She is accused of murdering Wilson in cold blood, shooting her three times, in May 2022, after learning that she was texting her boyfriend, Colin Strickland.
Armstrong denies the charges. Her lawyers today said they would focus on ‘reason, doubt and common sense’. Their remarks enraged prosecutors, who objected relentlessly throughout.
Cameras were allowed inside the courtroom only for opening statements. They will return for closing arguments, but the presentation of evidence will not be televised.
Yoga teacher Kaitlin Armstrong enters the courtroom on Wednesday for opening statements in her murder trial
Accused killer Kaitlin Armstrong appears in court for opening statements in her murder trial
Kaitlin Armstrong is accused of shooting dead Moriah ‘Mo’ Wilson on May 11, 2022, in Austin
In their remarks, Armstrong’s lawyers said she fled Austin for New York and then Costa Rica after an initial police interview because she was ‘passionate about traveling and yoga’ and had started to fear for her safety after ‘weird things’ started happening at her home but claimed she was unaware cops were looking for her.
Prosecutors told the jury they would hear Wilson’s screams in surveillance footage from the scene, that they say also proves it was Armstrong who committed the murder.
‘On May 11, 2022, at 9.15pm , here in Austin, Texas, the last thing Mo did on this earth was scream in terror. You will hear those screams.
‘There is a surveillance camera with an audio coursing through it.
‘We will play it for you. You’ll hear those screams. You will also hear ‘pam, pam,’ the prosecutor said, clapping to mimic the sound of gunshots.
‘Kaitlin Armstrong stood over Mo Wilson and put a third shot right in Mo Wilson’s heart,’ he said.
In addition to surveillance camera footage and cell phone evidence, the prosecution says they will present testimony from Strickland about his romance with Armstrong and his friendship with Wilson.
Attorney for the state of Texas, Rickey Jones, claps his hands to imitate a gunshot sound as he gives the opening arguments during the first day of trial for State of Texas v. Kaitlin Armstrong
Armstrong’s sister Christine, center, was among those in court today for the first day of the trial
Caitlin Cash, right, found Moriah Wilson’s body. She is expected to testify at the trial
Caitlin Cash, the friend who Wilson was staying with when she was shot, will also take the stand.
She will describe how she found Wilson in her home, lying with her legs splayed out ‘as if she had been on a run’.
Armstrong was taken into custody last year after spending 43 days on the run in Costa Rica.
Earlier this month, she attempted to flee jail guards again during a visit to a doctor’s office.
US Marshals launched a massive manhunt for Armstrong after she fled