A woman accused of killing San Francisco professional cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson as a romantic rival pleaded not guilty to a murder charge on Wednesday.
Wilson, 25, was found shot to death on May 11. Kaitlin Armstrong, 34, fled the country after her initial interviews with investigators. This led to a 43-day manhunt with her arrest at a beachside hostel in Costa Rica on June 29.
According to authorities, Armstrong tried to change her appearance and used several aliases as she moved around Costa Rica trying to be a yoga instructor in that country.
Wilson was a competitive gravel and mountain bike racer and had previously dated Armstrong’s boyfriend, cyclist Colin Strickland.
Investigators claimed that Armstrong’s SUV was seen on surveillance video outside the home where Wilson was killed. She is facing up to 99 years in prison if she’s convicted and is held on a $3.5 million bond.
Prosecutors question the quick trial setting, stating “privilege” for Armstrong. This would put her case in front of other murder trials that have waited for two years or longer because of the pandemic.
“If they chose to indict without evidence, that’s the district attorney’s problem,” Armstrong’s attorney, Rick Cofer, told District Judge Brenda Kennedy before she granted the request to set a trial date and scheduled it to begin Oct. 24.
