KAITLIN Armstrong asked to be caught after she concocted a “crazy” plan to hide from police during a yoga retreat in Costa Rica after allegedly shooting her love rival, a friend says.
The 34-year-old, who has been charged with the murder of Moriah Wilsonwas arrested June 30 at Don Jon’s Surf and Yoga Lodge in Santa Teresa after 43 days on the run.
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Investigators said they used “old-fashioned” police techniques to track Armstrong down, noting that she had taken numerous yoga classes in Costa Rica, which created a paper trail for them to follow.
Armstrong had even filled the front desk and occasionally taught Vinyasa yoga at Don Jon’s Lodge in the weeks leading up to her arrest.
US Deputy Marshall Brandon Filla said at a news conference earlier this month that Armstrong was “really trying to build something where she could teach yoga right there in Costa Rica.”
A former friend of Armstrong, who… studied yoga with her during an intensive course in Bali, Indonesia, The US Sun told The US Sun in 2018 that the accused killer was “stupid” because he believed she could start her life over in the bustling tourist center of Santa Teresa.
“It’s kind of weird what she did,” said the source, who wishes to remain anonymous.
“I mean, she’s obviously put a lot of thought into it, but at the same time it’s like going on the run, to Panama, Cuba, where you can’t be extradited or something.”
The source added that they were “very, very surprised” at where Armstrong decided to hide and try to evade capture.
“If you were a smart person on the run, you would hibernate for a long time — a long time, but the more I think about it, the crazier it all gets.
“It’s crazy to possibly have killed someone and then go straight back to a busy city – a busy tourist town – and just teach yoga as if nothing happened.
“It’s crazy.”
ARM STRONG ‘UNRECOGNIZABLE’
By the time Armstrong was found by the police, she had drastically changed her appearance. spend over $6,000 on a rhinoplasty.
She is also said to have used various aliases – Beth, Liz and Ari Martin – and traveled through the tropical Central American country fraudulently using a passport believed to have belonged to her younger sister, Christine Armstrong.
The US Sun source, who hasn’t seen Armstrong in four years, said they probably wouldn’t have recognized her if they had passed her on the street.
“I don’t think I would have recognized her right away — I probably would have scratched my head if I had seen her,” they said.
“If I hadn’t known all this had happened, I wouldn’t have recognized her at all.”
The source spent four weeks with Armstrong at a retreat in Canggu, Bali, in January 2018, learning how to become a Vinyasa yoga instructor.
During an initiation ceremony for the 200-hour course, Armstrong tearfully told the circle of 25 other participants that she had decided to flee to Bali because she ‘wanted to change something at home’.
Armstrong never revealed what that something was, but the participant told The US Sun that her reason for taking the course was “more sensitive” and “sadr” than most.
“You could tell some people weren’t really happy with their current situation at home – and she was one of them,” said the source, who wished to remain anonymous.
“You could tell by the way she talked that she wanted to get better [herself].
“But her soul…she had this sweet side. She didn’t want this pain inside and she sought refuge or change or healing to try to eliminate [her] inner struggle.”
CAUSE A SCNE
For most of the course Kaitlin – although she always lacked a smile – was described as quiet and reserved, speaking only when she had to say something.
And while she was friendly to everyone in her class, she didn’t seem to forge close or lasting friendships.
“I think she was more lonely in that regard,” the source says.
“She didn’t stand out and she didn’t want to; she kept to herself a bit.”
The source added that they never really “clicked” with Armstrong during the month they spent together.
Any chance of forming a bond ran aground, they said, after an incident with Armstrong at a group dinner early one night in the trip.
“We were all a group of us, maybe seven of us, and we’d been out for dinner and went back to one of the guys at the house of the group he’d rented.
“She had a kind of mild panic attack because she had a minor allergic reaction to some of the food… she was really overreacting.”
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After a small rash appeared on her chest, the typically calm Armstrong began to hyperventilate and tremble in what the source perceived as a fit of needless hysteria.
“[It] seemed a bit of an overreaction to what was happening,” they said.
“She was quite anxious… just shaking a little and breathing heavily.
“There was just no need to react like that… everyone knew what was going on.
“It was, you know, a whole scene.”
Armstrong eventually calmed down “slowly” after being given an antihistamine and addressed in a calm, soothing tone by the group.
The source considered herself a “drama-free person” and kept Armstrong at bay for the rest of the trip.
“After that night, she overreacted… I never clicked with her as well compared to other people on the course.
“I never really got into deep conversations with her, I found it hard to… it was just because of the whole vibe I got from that night.”
‘PAIN AND SUFFERING’
After finishing in Bali, Armstrong went back to the US to resume her work as a real estate agent in Austin, Texas.
Aside from seeing a few updates from time to time on Armstrong’s Instagram, the source wouldn’t hear from her for the next four years when she was announced as a suspect in the murder of Moriah “Mo” Wilson.
Wilsona 25-year-old female cyclist, was shot and killed in Austin on May 11, shortly after dining out with Armstrong’s boyfriend, Colin Strickland.
Armstrong was questioned by police the day after the deadly shooting and later sold her car before fleeing to New York on May 14 — three days before a warrant was issued against her.
Then she went on the run for 43 days, on board a United Airlines flight to San Jose, Costa Rica, using a “fraudulent passport” where she underwent plastic surgery to change her appearance and hid in a $50-a-night surf and yoga hostel in Santa Teresa.
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The US Sun source said they were stunned to learn that the meek but sweet aspiring yoga instructor they’d met four years earlier was now a full-fledged fugitive on the run from murder.
“It was a bit of a ‘Woah’ moment…just shock and confusion,” they said, adding that they had been warned of Armstrong’s fugitive status by another participant in the Bali retreat.
“Anyone is essentially capable of killing someone…but I didn’t think, you see someone at a yoga class and they’re a killer just because they have pain in them or a little sadness in their eyes…it came not on my mind [that she’d ever allegedly do such a thing].
“You have to be in a lot of pain and a lot of suffering… there must be something wrong in you to possibly do something like that and also plan it.”
‘A TRAGEDY’
Armstrong’s classmate from Bali said she is now completely unrecognizable from the person they met four years ago — in more ways than one.
“I see it as a tragedy for everyone involved,” they said.
“[Kaitlin] must have been through some internal battles that we have no idea about, and that piled up along with a moment of madness, jealousy and anger and whatever [else].”
The source provided The US Sun with never-before-seen photos of Kaitlin during their four-week course.
Looking back at the footage of her now is “heartbreaking,” the source said.
“It is heartbreaking that someone is now in this position. Do I feel sorry for her? Yes, I do.
“But at the same time, she shouldn’t have done what she was doing.
“It’s very bad what she did, take someone’s life and now she has to face the consequences.”
Armstrong is currently in Travis County Jail, where she is being held allegations of first degree murder and first degree theft.
Her bail is set at $3.5 million.