Kaitlin Armstrong murder trial hears Moriah Wilson photos stored on suspect’s phone : Updates

Nicole Mertz, a close friend of Ms Armstrong, was called to the stand on Wednesday (8 November).

Ms Mertz said that her friend and Mr Strickland often broke up and got back together and that he referred to Ms Armstrong as “his lady friend.” Ms Mertz went on to recount that Ms Armstrong once said that if Mr Strickland dated another woman, she “would kill her.]”

“My first thought was that Kaitlin might have had something to do with it,” Ms Mertz said about the moment she found out about Wilson’s killing.

Jacqueline Chasteen, a friend of Mr Strickland who eventually also befriended Ms Armstrong, said that during a gathering in Bentonville, Ms Armstrong confided in her that Mr Strickland had “cheated” on her with Wilson.

“She had described how Colin had cheated but while she was describing that, she had said in so many words that she wanted to kill her,” she said, per NewsNation. “That she had thought about it. But how she said it at the time I didn’t take it seriously…she said something to the effect that she had bought a gun… I do know the words kill and the words gun were used.”

Before fleeing the country last year in a desperate bid to evade charges of murder against Wilson, Ms Armstrong was a yoga teacher. She and Mr Strickland met online in the fall of 2019 and eventually started a relationship.

Ms Armstrong stayed over Mr Strickland’s home during the Texas freeze of 2021, and never left.

She became a pivotal part of his cycling business and acted as his manager. According to testimony heard in court, Ms Armstrong had access to all of Mr Strickland’s social media and financial accounts.

Jacqueline Chasteen, a friend of Strickland who also befriended Ms Armstrong, said during her testimony that Mr Strickland would openly say he didn’t have a girlfriend, despite being “head over heels” at the beginning of his relationship with Ms Armstrong.

Ms Chasteen went on to say that during a party in early 2022, Ms Armstrong confided in her that Mr Strickland had “cheated” on her with Wilson.

“She had described how Colin had cheated but while she was describing that, she had said in so many words that she wanted to kill her,” she said, per NewsNation. “That she had thought about it. But how she said it at the time I didn’t take it seriously…she said something to the effect that she had bought a gun… I do know the words kill and the words gun were used.”

According to Newsnation’s Alex Caprariello, the family of Kaitlin Armstrong are also in court.

They have shown little reaction and have asked for privacy, sitting by themselves in the courtroom.

“They definitely pay attention to the photographs, slides and evidence, when shown to the courtroom,” Mr Capariello wrote on X.

The bullets shown in court are labelled in manila envelopes as part of a murder case, according to NewsNation correspondent Alex Caprariello.

Some of the bullets have red and brownish stains, while another is bagged with a piece of hair.

Wilson’s parents are in the gallery and appear distraught.

Her brother has momentarily left the courtroom.

Witness Steven Aston, a forensic supervisor, takes the stand.

Mr Aston’s expertise is in the field of firearms. He tells the court that he was given three fired cartridge cases, two firearms, a magazine, a loader, and a pistol case to analyse in the Wilson case. Mr Aston carried out tests with the weapons with ammunition from his lab.

He fired each weapon twice with nickel cartridge cases, and twice again with brass.

Mr Aston wears gloves as he handles the cartridges and projectiles while on the stand.

Jill Zann, a friend of Ms Armstrong takes the stand.

Ms Zann said that she lived in the same apartment building as Ms Arsmtrong’s sister Christie Arsmtrogn and befriended both.

Ms Zann said she is comfortable around guns and fired at a range with Ms Arsmtrong after the latter purchased a gun.

Under cross-examination by the defence, Det Portnoy said that while GPS data pulled from Ms Arsmtrong’s Jeep has a margin of error, it is reliable.

The detective also said that he does not decide which devices are seized and that he merely works on extracting the data once the device has been handed to APD.

Det Portnoy said that an image of Moriah Wilson was stored in the cache of Kaitlin Armstrong’s phone. He explained earlier that information saved in the cache is not always stored purposely by the owner of the phone

A text on 7 November 2021 pulled from Ms Armstrong’s phone to one of her contacts read: “Well today is his birthday. He’s at home with a 24 year old who may or may not have moved to Austin. And I’m in Tulum solo. Mostly practicing sound healing.”