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A horrific 911 phone call revealed the final moments of slain pro cyclist Moriah ‘Mo’ Wilson, where her panic-stricken friend told dispatchers ‘her brain is leaking.’
The grisly 911 call was played in court Wednesday at the murder trial of yoga instructor Kaitlin Armstrong, 36, who is accused of shooting her love rival Wilson in May 2022 after learning that she was texting her boyfriend, Colin Strickland.
Armstrong allegedly opened fire in Wilson’s friend Caitlin Cash’s home, where the cyclist was discovered laying in a pool of blood in her bathroom, leading to a frantic 911 call that was played for the jury.
‘Her brain is leaking,’ Cash said in the audio. ‘I just walked in and she’s lying on the bathroom floor and there’s blood everywhere. I can’t tell what’s happened.’
Taking the stand to testify over the moment, Cash said she saw Wilson’s ‘feet sticking out from the bathroom’, which was when she ‘realized something was seriously wrong.’
Yoga teacher Kaitlin Armstrong pictured entering the courtroom for opening statements in her murder trial on Wednesday
Kaitlin Armstrong is accused of shooting dead Moriah ‘Mo’ Wilson on May 11, 2022, in Austin, after discovering Wilson was texting her boyfriend
The shooting erupted on May 11, 2022, after Wilson returned home from swimming and a dinner with Strickland.
Wilson, a professional cyclist, did not live in Austin at the time and had travelled to the city for a race. She was hailed as one of the most promising female off-roaders in the nation at the time.
After Wilson was shot dead in Cash’s home, Armstrong was initially questioned by police but was released on a paperwork technicality because an officer filled out her date of birth incorrectly on a form.
The yoga instructor, who has pleaded not guilty, spent 43 days on the run in Costa Rica after the shooting, and also attempted a daring prison escape earlier this month before her trial began.
During her time on the lam, Armstrong underwent plastic surgery and dyed her hair to alter her appearance.
Cash testified that when she arrived at home the night Wilson had been killed, she initially didn’t realize the gravity of the situation and called out to greet her.
When she didn’t receive a response, Cash said she approached Wilson in her bathroom, and thought the sight of her laying on the floor was because ‘she had gotten really hot and was lying on the tile.’
But after seeing her friend laying in a pool of blood, Cash said she ‘immediately bent down and tried to wake her up.’
‘Pretty quickly, I called 911’, she added.
Wilson was hailed as one of the most promising offroad cyclists in America at the time of her killing
US Marshals launched a massive manhunt for Armstrong after she fled, lasting on the lam for 43 days before she was extradited to the US from Costa Rica
She said the last text she was sent from Wilson was around 5pm that day, where she said she planned to ‘go swimming’ with Strickland.
According to a police affidavit, Strickland had lied to Armstrong about his whereabouts that evening.
The yoga instructor had access to his messages on a laptop at their home, however, as prosecutors said Armstrong tracked Wilson’s movements on the night of the killing using exercise app Strava, before stopping her car near Cash’s Austin apartment.
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As Cash was questioned about the shocking scenes, much of the focus centered upon Wilson’s relationship with Strickland, who prosecutors said had an ‘on again, off again’ relationship with Armstrong.
Friends of Wilson said the cyclist and Strickland had been romantically involved around October 2021, when he was allegedly on a break from Armstrong, but the two were not romantically together when they met again on the night of the killing.
After the panic-stricken 911 call was played to the court, the jury also watched grisly bodycam footage from the responding officer who performed CPR on Wilson.
The day before her testimony, heartbreaking footage saw Cash break down in tears as she was comforted by members of Wilson’s family and friends when the court broke for lunch.
Caitlin Cash (right) embraces Mo Wilson’s family members at the trial for the cyclist’s alleged killer
The trial got underway this week as both sides laid out opening arguments before the jury, with prosecutors alleging Armstrong stood over Wilson and shot her ‘in the heart’ in an explosive beginning to the case.
Armstrong appeared in court with seemingly dyed hair, after she previously dyed it a darker color and underwent plastic surgery while on the run last year.
Prosecutors grew enraged and raised objections as Armstrong’s attorneys went through their remarks, who said they would focus on ‘reason, doubt and common sense.’
The yoga instructor’s lawyers said she fled from Austin to New York and then Costa Rica after she was questioned by police because she was ‘passionate about traveling and yoga.’
They said Armstrong started fearing for her safety after ‘weird things’ happened to her, but claimed she was unaware cops were searching for her.
Prosecutors countered that Armstrong googled herself while on the lam in Costa Rica.
In their chilling opening statements, prosecutors said: ‘The last thing Mo did on this earth was scream in terror. You will hear those screams.’
‘There is a surveillance camera with an audio coursing through it,’ the attorneys added, citing the evidence that was played in court on Wednesday.
‘We will play it for you. You’ll hear those screams. You will also hear ‘pam, pam,’ the prosecutor said, clapping to mimic the sound of gunshots.
Attorney for the state of Texas, Rickey Jones, claps his hands to imitate a gunshot sound as he gives the opening arguments during the first day of trial for State of Texas v. Kaitlin Armstrong
‘Kaitlin Armstrong stood over Mo Wilson and put a third shot right in Mo Wilson’s heart,’ he said.
It was also revealed that two of the three shell casings from the shooting were quickly located, before a third was later found lodged in a tile floor where Wilson had been laying.
The casings, prosecutors said, were a match to a 9mm Sig Sauer handgun owned by Armstrong.
The prosecution says they also plan to present testimony from Strickland about his romance with Armstrong and his friendship with Wilson.
Strickland went into hiding after the murder when Armstrong was on the run, and had allegedly hidden his previous fling with Wilson from her.
