TX - Moriah Wilson, Cyclist Fatally Shot Before Race, Austin, #3

[Warwick7]

Her lawyer's bio says this, so this might be one angle they take:
Because I served as a Travis County mental health civil prosecutor, I am often hired by well-resourced families to represent young adults with mental health diagnoses facing criminal charges.

Partner Rick Cofer | Cofer & Connelly, PLLC

While most of Rick Cofer's work involves representing adults facing serious charges, his practice also focuses on juvenile cases and mental health matters.

www.coferconnelly.com

I guess if you've got the money to afford it, the defense could be that she didn't do it and if she did do it was due to mental health issues.

BBM
That goes right back to my earlier question. If she used 1/2 the sale of her car for her facelift, and now hires this attorney??

Again where is the money coming from?!

 

[WingsOverTX]

Her lawyer's bio says this, so this might be one angle they take:
Because I served as a Travis County mental health civil prosecutor, I am often hired by well-resourced families to represent young adults with mental health diagnoses facing criminal charges.

Partner Rick Cofer | Cofer & Connelly, PLLC

While most of Rick Cofer's work involves representing adults facing serious charges, his practice also focuses on juvenile cases and mental health matters.

www.coferconnelly.com

I guess if you've got the money to afford it, the defense could be that she didn't do it and if she did do it was due to mental health issues.

BINGO!

 

[Seattle1]

So she cheats a company for botox (less than $1000) and ends up with a warrant for that.....but can afford almost 6.5 thousand for the facelift?!

Where's the money coming from?

Typically, her unpaid botox would have gone to collections. This was different -- theft of service by deception. Her cc was denied so she left the card with the clinician under the guise she was going out to her vehicle to get another form of payment but never returned. Provider went straight to the police with the theft report and why this became an outstanding warrant. It's still unclear to me how she walked out of jail in May without either paying the bill or posting bond for this botox/theft.

ETA: Theft of service occurred March 2018 (Class B Misdemeanor).

 

[Seattle1]

That goes right back to my earlier question. If she used 1/2 the sale of her car for her facelift, and now hires this attorney??

Again where is the money coming from?!

Probably her dad (Mike) that professed her innocence.

 

[Gypsy Road]

Out of just plain curiosity, Have KA’s mother or siblings done any public interviews?

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

Is it just me or was she trying to steal the identity of a deceased person, one she made deceased?

Where had the victim been prior to her arrival in Austin? Could her passport have been in plain sight, an easy swipe?

Ari. Moriah.

It makes no sense for KA to morph into her sister as a disguise since they already look alike.

But the competition? Sick twist.

This reeks of the macabre.

JMO

Someone posted yesterday that "Arie" perhaps came from "Marie," which is KA's middle name.

 

[SMK777]

I can see definite changes in nose. Narrowed with a little upturned bump IMO

Definitely.

 

[Warwick7]

View attachment 352480

Austin cycling community announces memorial for Moriah Wilson: 'This will be a gathering to acknowledge the tragedy of the loss'

A memorial will be held for a medal-winning California cyclist who died in Austin, according to a report from Austin ABC affiliate KVUE.

austinjournal.com

This crossed my mind too. There is a better one of Mo sitting at a table with a scarf on.

 

[Herat]

I've only ever seen photos of her with a huge smile. It'd be good to compare this mug shot with a previous photo of her sans smile. That can really change a face. Her face lights up when she smiles and her cheeks are pronounced. In this mugshot, her face looks "slanted" or something is off about the angle, and her cheeks are not as pronounced. Did she have lipo on the cheeks, perhaps?

I also don't see any scar on her nose. If plastic surgery was performed on it in the past few weeks, wouldn't it still be bruised or have a visible red scar?

They really should have had her look directly at the camera, eyes included.

I also think her sister has brown eyes from what I've seen, and it looks like KA's are gray. Wonder if colored contacts were to have been her next purchase.

I've seen a photo of her not smiling and it does look more like the mug shot.

It was one of the photos of the Wheelhouse trailer remodeling business she had with CS.

Anyone else remember that? She was sitting inside one of the trailers and frankly, looked kinda pizzed off.

 

[di anna]

Wow, it does not even look like the same person. Are they sure
they have the correct woman? Kinda creepy to say the least.

 

[WingsOverTX]

We need a lawyer to look up the theft. Bond's too high for it to be the botox theft.


@Kristin Esq.

 

[Gypsy Road]

I think the fact that KA fled the country to a beautiful place, used a fraudulent passport, got plastic surgery are going to sink any mental health defense she may try to use. She knew exactly what she was doing.

 

[Countem]

CR would surely have asked for the passport. Yet two passports were abandoned in a locker. There has to have been a third passport. Maybe it was manufactured in CR or she stole someone else’s there.

Respectfully, there does not have to be a third passport. When Costa Rican Law Enforcement asked her where her passport was, she said it was at another resort, so it seems like she did not present a passport when being arrested.

Staff were apparently bamboozled when cops swooped on the resort and demanded to see her passport, which she claimed it was in a nearby resort in Tamarindo.

Yoga teacher 'traveled on sister's passport and had PLASTIC SURGERY'

Kaitlin Armstrong, 34, likely traveled to Costa Rica using her sister's passport and possibly underwent plastic surgery while on the run. Two US passports were found amid her belongings.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

I've seen a photo of her not smiling and it does look more like the mug shot.

It was one of the photos of the Wheelhouse trailer remodeling business she had with CS.

Anyone else remember that? She was sitting inside one of the trailers and frankly, looked kinda pizzed off.

I remember that one. She was seated, looking rather somber or just bored.

 

[Herat]

It looks like Wheelhouse Mobile has been taken down as a website.

There is a biking website article that has a video of KA and CS's Wheelhouse Mobile business trailer, and it has a link to a video, but it doesn't open for me.

All Access | FloBikes | Cycling

All FloBikes exclusives!

www.flobikes.com

 

[Sundog]

Her lawyer's bio says this, so this might be one angle they take:
Because I served as a Travis County mental health civil prosecutor, I am often hired by well-resourced families to represent young adults with mental health diagnoses facing criminal charges.

Partner Rick Cofer | Cofer & Connelly, PLLC

While most of Rick Cofer's work involves representing adults facing serious charges, his practice also focuses on juvenile cases and mental health matters.

www.coferconnelly.com

I guess if you've got the money to afford it, the defense could be that she didn't do it and if she did do it was due to mental health issues.

Her lawyer's webpage lists all the areas he has expertise in, and it looks like a good background for her case, also he served as an assitant DA, and knows the community so this should be helpful in terms of knowing the various judges and their characteristics, as well as likely Austin-based jury pools, etc.

His goal may be to go after a lesser charge, not necessarily acquittal, although of course he will work toward the latter as any defense attorney would.

I do think "heat of the moment" will be the strategy and that some of the challenges with this will be that KA had a gun with her when she went to the apartment where MW was staying, and also the statement made by the anonymous person about KA mentioning wanting to kill MW, and in the same conversation with the anonymous person saying that she was about to, or recently, acquire a gun. This person's testimony on the stand will be critical to the case, I think, if s/he is a credible witness. Although lots of people say "I want to kill x..." and don't necessarily act on their statements. Still, that statement and the statement about getting a gun possibly can be used by the prosecution against the "crime of passion" defense, if that is presented.

JMO.

 

[Countem]

@WingsOverTX Could the theft charge pertain to MW’s bicycle being removed from where she was staying and disposed of in bamboo thickets near the scene of the crime?

The only thing missing from Wilson's room was her bike, which investigators said they found in a bamboo thicket more than 60 feet from the house.

Cops believe yoga teacher accused of killing love rival fled to NYC

the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force believe Kaitlin Armstrong, the yoga teacher accused of killing her boyfriend's lover, fled Texas to New York City on a Southwest Airlines flight.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[SpanishInquisition]

Is it just me or was she trying to steal the identity of a deceased person, one she made deceased?

Where had the victim been prior to her arrival in Austin? Could her passport have been in plain sight, an easy swipe?

Ari. Moriah.

It makes no sense for KA to morph into her sister as a disguise since they already look alike.

But the competition? Sick twist.

This reeks of the macabre.

JMO

I hope that was done as that would be solid non-circumstantial evidence. So far everything I've heard could be explained away or be inadmissible (the anonymous tip saying KA was shaking with anger and wanted a gun would most likely be thrown out unless the tipster came forward and was willing to testify). Having stolen MW's passport would put KA at the scene of the crime and with her going to Costa Rica and all, I can see that she'd be a dumb enough criminal to do that...and that would explain why LE had a hard time finding her off flight manifests.

 

[hooziewhutz]

[Apologies if this has already been discussed]

I remember hearing that Botox injections take a few days to start showing results and/or see full results. I do believe she’s had some since the murder but when and how would it affect her appearance as it's related to who she was posing as and when she was executing said posing, etc? It may be neither here nor there but could help in discerning the timeline. This link is just a randomly selected one from the several that explain the process.JMO

Woman takes photo every day revealing how long it takes for botox to work

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

It looks like Wheelhouse Mobile has been taken down as a website.

There is a biking website article that has a video of KA and CS's Wheelhouse Mobile business trailer, and it has a link to a video, but it doesn't open for me.

All Access | FloBikes | Cycling

All FloBikes exclusives!

www.flobikes.com

I am checking the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. There are 4 captures of that Wheelhouse Mobile website. One from Dec 2021 and 3 in May (one prior to the murder) but there are gaps in the photos if you visit the Projects page. Which is odd, because even if hers were deleted in May, this Wayback Machine's capture would show how the site looked exactly when that capture was made - recent deletions or edits would not affect the previous versions.

Projects — Wheelhouse

web.archive.org