The judge presiding over the upcoming murder trial for Kaitlin Armstrong, accused in connection to the shooting death of cyclist Moriah Wilson, is expected to communicate her decision on November 9 concerning two motions to suppress evidence filed by Armstrong's defense team.
Armstrong's trial was expected to begin in October but has been delayed pending Judge Brenda Kennedy's decision on the two motions.
Armstrong has been formally charged with first-degree murder in connection to Wilson's death in an East Austin, Texas home on May 11. She is currently being held at the Travis County Jail in Austin, with a bond set at $3.5 million. She pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In a multi-day, pre-trial hearing on October 19 at a Travis County court, Armstrong's defense team requested that Judge Brenda Kennedy throw out some of the evidence obtained by authorities during their investigation of the case.
Armstrong's defense team has filed a Frank’s Hearing and Motion to Suppress Evidence that challenges the truth of the information which detectives put forth in their written affidavit to support the search and arrest warrants during their initial investigation.
Rick Cofer, Armstrong's defense attorney, has previously alleged that the investigation and the affidavit used to support the warrant for Armstrong's arrest contains "factual errors," "misattributions," and "incorrect assertions".
Prosecutors have acknowledged errors in the original affidavit but have suggested that errors were not a reckless disregard for the truth, according to a report in KXAN news outlet.
In addition, the defense team argued the legality of authorities' questioning of Armstrong on May 12 when she was brought in with an outstanding class B warrant for her arrest that concerned an unrelated incident. At that time, she was briefly detained and questioned by authorities about the death of Wilson.
Armstrong's defense team argued that the interview conducted by a detective was an 'illegal interrogation' because the class B warrant was unrelated to the murder investigation and that the detective did not fully read Armstrong her Miranda rights during this questioning.
Armstrong was released from custody due to a date-of-birth discrepancy in the files and the class B warrant.
State attorneys have argued that the detective told Armstrong she was free to leave five times.
In their earlier investigation, authorities discovered, through the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, that Armstrong had sold her black jeep for $12,200 on May 13. Investigators believe the black jeep "appeared to be the same vehicle observed on surveillance footage" outside the East Austin home crime scene on May 11.
Investigators believe that, on May 14, after selling her black jeep, Armstrong then left from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, connecting through Houston Hobby Airport, to LaGuardia Airport in New York.
Authorities said on May 18, Armstrong fraudulently used another person's passport to flee the US from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey to San Jose, Costa Rica.
After a 43-day fugitive hunt, Armstrong was located and apprehended on June 29 at a hostel on Santa Teresa Beach in Provincia de Puntarenas, Costa Rica, then deported back to the US on July 2.
She was formally charged with first-degree murder felony charges in the Travis County Jail, where she was moved on July 5 and has awaited a jury trial to begin.
Judge Brenda Kennedy requested that legal teams file memorandums by the end of October. After giving each side 10 to 15 minutes to summarize their arguments, she would issue a ruling on November 9.
Cyclingnews has pieced together a timeline of how authorities believe this crime allegedly unfolded, based on legal documents. Cyclingnews will provide additional updates as more information from authorities becomes available.
