Father of fugitive in suspected murder of SF cyclist speaks out

“As of Saturday, May 21st, Specialized has terminated the contract agreement with Colin Strickland and he will no longer be a sponsored athlete for the brand,” the Morgan Hill company told the outlet Monday. Red Bull, Strickland’s primary sponsor, did not return SFGATE’s request for comment at time of publication.

Wilson, a Vermont native who recently lived in the Bay Area and worked for Specialized, was considered one of the best off-road cyclists in the country, and was staying with a friend in Austin to prepare for an upcoming race. There, it’s alleged she went swimming with her former romantic partner Strickland hours before she died. The arrest warrant describes a complex love triangle of deceit and jealousy that allegedly ended in murder. 

Police say that on the evening of May 11, Strickland picked Wilson up on his motorcycle and took her swimming in a nearby pool, while telling his girlfriend over text that he was instead dropping off flowers at a friend’s house and that his phone died. That text was reportedly sent at 8.36 p.m., the same time that Wilson reentered her friend’s apartment. 

One minute later, an SUV resembling Armstrong’s 2012 Jeep Cherokee was seen on surveillance footage on the street. Wilson’s friend later returned to find Wilson shot multiple times, bloodied and unconscious in the bathroom. After calling 911, first responders pronounced Wilson dead at 10:10 p.m.

In a police interview for an unrelated arrest warrant the following day, investigators confronted Armstrong with the surveillance footage. The affidavit states that when a detective told Armstrong that the evidence “made things not look too good” for her, Armstrong nodded “as if in agreement” before asking to leave the interview. She was released and her current whereabouts are unknown. 

The police affidavit says that some time between December and January, Strickland bought two guns, one for him and a SIG Sauer 9mm for his girlfriend. After ballistics testing, police say there is a “significant” possibility the SIG Sauer was a match for the one used in Wilson’s murder. 

Strickland is not suspected of a crime.

The report also states that an anonymous tipster told investigators Armstrong went into rage while telling them that Wilson was still in a relationship with Strickland in January. Armstrong allegedly “became furious and shaking with anger,” and told the unnamed source that Armstrong was so angry she “wanted to kill Wilson.”

In a statement to the American-Statesmen, however, Strickland said after a brief romance in October last year, his relationship with Wilson was “only a platonic and professional one.”

As tributes and condolences continue to pour in for Wilson, her family has also sought to clarify that Wilson was not in a relationship with Strickland, or anyone else, at the time of her death. 

“While we will not elaborate about the ongoing investigation, we do feel it’s important to clarify that at the time of her death, those closest to her clearly understood, directly from Moriah, that she was not in a romantic relationship with anyone,” the family said in a statement shared by KPIX.

The suspect’s father, Mike Armstrong, does not believe his daughter capable of murder. “I know her, I know what she believes, and I know she would not do something like this,” Armstrong told ABC News. “I know that she did not do this. There are a lot of unanswered questions.”

Kaitlin Armstrong is white or white Hispanic, 5-foot-1, with brown hair and hazel eyes. Anyone with information on Armstrong’s whereabouts is urged to contact the U.S. Marshals Service Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102.