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Kaitlin Armstrong, a 34-year-old yoga teacher, was wanted on murder charges following the May 11 shooting death of Anna Moriah "Mo" Wilson in Austin Texas.
Wilson had briefly dated Armstrong’s boyfriend, who was also a pro cyclist, authorities said.
Federal agents tracked Armstrong to the Santa Teresa Beach hotel in Costa Rica’s Provincia de Puntarenas, where she was taken into custody by local authorities late last month, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.
She was returned to Texas last weekend and is awaiting a first appearance in federal court in Austin.
Armstrong became a suspect after Wilson was found shot several times.
Police in Austin had only just interviewed her when she sold her Jeep – which had been spotted near the murder scene -- and flew to LaGuardia Airport, a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark says.
Armstrong then boarded a flight from Newark Liberty International Airport to Juan Santamaría Airport in Costa Rica “after presenting a ticket and United States passport in the name of another individual known to Armstrong and whom Armstrong represented as herself” on May 18, Sellinger said Thursday.
Surveillance images released by the U.S. Marshals Service show her at the gate in Newark. It was exactly a week after the murder.
Armstrong was carrying her own passport -- as well as the one she’d used -- when Costa Rican authorities captured her for the U.S. Marshals Service on June 29, the U.S. attorney said.
Using the names Beth and Liz Martin, Armstrong aimed to teach yoga there, authorities said.
She’d cut, straightened and colored what had been curly blonde hair, becoming a brunette, and was using the names Beth and Liz Martin, U.S. Marshals said (see before/after photos above).
Armstrong’s nose also appeared different and there was bruising under her eyes, which she attributed to a surfing accident, they said.
“She was exhausted,” Deputy U.S. Marshal Brandon Filla told reporters. “It took a little bit of time for her to reveal her true identity.”
Armstrong, who also works as a real estate agent, is charged federally in New Jersey with misuse of a passport. Sellinger didn’t address an initial federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution out of Texas.
Although a first appearance in federal court hadn’t yet been scheduled, Armstrong's bond was reportedly $3.5 million.
Sellinger credited the U.S. Marshals Service and special agents of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service New York Field Office with the capture. He also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, Homeland Security Investigations, the Austin Police Department, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection for their assistance.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Garrett Schuman of Sellinger’s General Crimes Unit in Newark is handling the prosecution for the federal charges out of New Jersey, he said.
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