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US Marshals: Kaitlin Armstrong used several aliases to move around Costa Rica

The suspect in Moriah Wilson murder case used many tricks to avoid detection

Kaitlin Armstrong detained in Austin Photo by: US Marshals

Kaitlin Armstrong, the 34-year-old woman accused in the so-called “love triangle murder” of pro cyclist Moriah Wilson, used several names and snuck around Costa Rica before she was arrested last week. According to Deputy US Marshal Brandon Filla, she used the names Beth Martin, Liz Martin and Ari Martin. Filla updated the public at a news conference on Thursday.

Wilson was murdered by gunshot on May 11. A warrant for Armstrong’s arrest went out days later, and she promptly fled the country. She was last seen in New Jersey. Armstrong was dating Colin Strickland, a pro gravel racer, and became jealous when she learned he had spent time with Wilson. Investigators believe she murdered Wilson in a fit of rage.

Changed her look to avoid being spotted

Armstrong was arrested at a Don Jon’s Lodge, a a $50-a-night hostel where she taught part-time yoga under the name Ari Martin . Costa Rican cops arrested her at the hostel where they discovered she had changed her appearance, by cutting her hair and dyeing it brown, and she had a bandage on her nose. They found a $6,350 receipt for cosmetic surgery, and two passports.

According to Filla, US Marshals explained they sent two agents to Costa Rica and found Armstrong through “good old-fashioned police work. The feds went door-to-door at hostels in San Jose, Jaco Beach and Saint Teresa, for six weeks.

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Kept on the move

“During the investigation in Costa Rica, it was learned that Armstrong travelled to multiple destinations to include San Jose, where she landed there at the airport, to Jaco Beach and to Santa Teresa, Costa Rica,” Filla said.

She was ultimately captured at Don Jon’s Surf Shop and Yoga Lodge. She gave local cops a fake name when they questioned her for entering the country with a fraudulent passport, Filla said. Within minutes, she confessed that she was lying and gave her true identity.

Filla said that Armstrong had fled the country by way of Newark Liberty International Airport using a legitimate passport except that it belonged to someone “closely associated” with her.

Once she arrived in Costa Rica, she started her stay by taking a six-hour bus ride out of San Jose.

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Trying to start a new life

“She frequented other hostels, as well as other yoga studios. So she was really trying to build something to where she could instruct yoga there in Costa Rica,” Filla said.

“That’s currently an active investigation right now,” Filla replied. “We have forwarded that information to the United States Attorney’s Office in Austin and also in New Jersey.”

The US Marshal added that they could tell the fatigue of living on the run was getting to her.

“I’d say she was exhausted,” Filla said. “You could tell when she was encountered by the officers in Costa Rica. She didn’t give her true identity at first. But when she was taken into custody and questioned, minutes later, she finally confessed to her true identity,”

Armstrong has retained two lawyers in her defense: Naomi Howard and Richard Lyn Cofer. Neither lawyer has made a public statement as of Friday.