By Tim StellohNBC
News
Authorities in Texas were searching Friday for a woman accused of shooting and killing an elite cyclist after discovering the athlete had been romantically involved with her partner who is also a cyclist.
The US Marshals Service said it was looking for Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, 35, in the May 11 slaying of Anna Moriah Wilson, 25.
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Austin police issued a manslaughter warrant for Armstrong on Tuesday, the service said.
The cyclist, known as "Mo," had traveled to Texas to participate in a race in Hico, southwest of Fort Worth, according to Velo News.
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A friend of Wilson's found her body in an Austin home on the night of May 11, Austin police said in a statement.
Wilson was pronounced dead shortly after 10:00 pm.
Police initially said he had been shot multiple times inside the house in a killing that "does not appear to be a random act."
According to an affidavit obtained by KXAN, an NBC affiliate station in Austin, Armstrong had been in a relationship with professional cyclist Colin Strickland for approximately three years.
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But during a break in their relationship, Strickland had begun dating Wilson, the affidavit states.
An unidentified friend who reported being with Armstrong in January when she found out about the relationship said the woman "became furious and shaking with anger," according to legal documents.
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Based on inquiries from Wilson's phone, investigators said the messages indicated the cyclist believed she was "still in a romantic relationship with Strickland, even though she was currently dating Armstrong," the affidavit says, according to KXAN.
Armstrong deleted her social media accounts and was last heard from on May 13, the affidavit says.
Strickland has not been charged with any crime in the case.
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Although he did not immediately respond to a request for comment, in a statement to an Austin American-Statesman reporter, he said he was "stunned by grief over Mo Wilson's death and by the facts that emerged during the investigation."
"There is no way to express the regret and torture I feel for my proximity to this horrible crime. I am sorry, and I simply cannot understand this unfathomable tragedy," he said in the statement.
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Strickland added that he and Wilson had a "brief romantic relationship" from late October to early November of last year, while Wilson was visiting Austin.
Both had recently ended previous relationships, Strickland said.
He and Armstrong reconciled a month later.
"After our brief relationship in October 2021, we did not have an affair, just a platonic and professional relationship," he said.
And she added: "Moriah and I were leaders in this very lonely sport of cycling, and I looked up to her and considered her a close friend of hers."
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Velo News described Wilson as a "dominant" road and mountain bike racer, winning several races this year and quit her job at a bike company to pursue racing.
He was expected to win the Gravel Locos race in Hico, the site reported.