Thread by @alcaprari23

🧵KAITLING ARMSTRONG MURDER TRIAL🧵
Good morning, everyone. Yesterday, we saw Kaitlin Armstrong's search history from Costa Rica. Two friends testified that they remember her saying she wanted to kill Mo Wilson out of jealousy. The defense called for a mistrial, but the motion was denied.
Live tweeting continues below. #KaitlinArmstrong

We begin this morning with Mr. Brian Bell, VP of Global communications from Strava. He was testifying yesterday and sharing data from the days up to and on the murder. He said there was data that showed Kaitlin Armstrong checking in and watching Mo Wilson's activity.

Defense doing a good job at adding uncertainty to the Strava data. Bell has contradicted himself a few times on the stand and the data is not totally reliable/easy to comprehend. Bell ends his testimony by saying he trusts the data and Strava is reliable.
Witness dismissed.

Next Witness: Katy Conner, APD, assigned to homicide unit.

Conner was not the #1 or #2 detective on the case, but she was involved. Conner says at least 6 detectives working on this case at one time. She says it it typical collaboration.

On 5/12, she came into work. She learned that Strickland was being interrogated at APD. She watched the interview from a TV in a safe space at HQ. Conner started to reach out to other units to help out with video canvassing.
New info helped the detectives realize that they needed to speak to Armstrong right away. They learned she had a warrant for a separate issue, and so detectives went to pick her up.

Kaitlin Armstrong was brought in to APD. Spitler was interrogating Strickland, so Conner offered to interrogate Armstrong.
We are about to watch that interrogation video. Defense objects to the publication of this video. Judge overrules the objection and video gets put up on the big screen.

Prosecution is going to play the interview in its entirety and then will go back and ask Conner some follow-up questions.

Video: You can see Armstrong from above in the interrogation room. She is wearing a green athletic tank top and leggings. She walks in handcuffed. She asks for a water. She sits in the bottom left corner. There is a circular wooden table to her right. The space appears small and well-lit. The date shows 5/12 @ ~12:46pm.
Conner walks in and introduces herself. She instructs a fellow officer to remove her handcuffs. They hand her a water.
"We'll get through this really fast," Conner says to Armstrong.

Armstrong sits back in the chair and massages her wrists from where the handcuffs were. She hasn't touched her water. She seems calm with her legs crossed casually.
Inside the courtroom, Armstrong does not appear to be watching the video very closely. She keeps her eyes trained on the desk in front of her. Each member of the jury is looking at the screens in front of them.

Video: Conner enters the room and explains that she is at APD for a "theft of service warrant," something that Conner tells Armstrong is minor.
Armstrong isn't clear what theft of service is or what she is accused of. Her voice sounds a little shaky. She asks if she needs an attorney present. Conner explains that there are two separate issues: the warrant and needing information about "a separate incident."
Conner explains she's going to need to read her her rights which confuses Armstrong more. Conner leaves the room after a loud knock at the door is heard.

Video paraphrase: Well, good news, Conner says. That warrant has the DOB wrong, so you are no longer under arrest. But Conner says that she would still like her to stay so she can answer some questions...
Kaitlin again says she would like an attorney present. Conner says that you are free to leave at any point since you are not under arrest.
"Everything we say here is consensual at this point. The door is open, you can leave at any point," Conner says.

Armstrong tells Conner that Colin told her that "someone in the cycling community has passed away."
Conner says that she believes there is a lot more to it. She wants to hear Armstrong's side. She says there's almost always a lot more and that's why she wants to hear both sides.

Conner says it sounds like "Colin went out with this girl" and "you might have been upset about it."
"It's not accurate," Armstrong replies.

Conner asks what you were doing yesterday. Armstrong says she would like to leave. Conner says that's your choice, but then we only have one side of the story to go on. Tries to convince her to tell her side of the story.

"I would like to leave. I don't actually know [about if Colin hung out with Wilson], and I would like to leave," Armstrong says more forcefully.

Conner reveals that Armstrong's car was seen near the crime scene and she wants to hear her side of the story.

"I would like to leave if I am free to leave," Armstrong says. "I would like to leave if I am free to leave," Armstrong repeats.

Back in the courtroom, Conner says her goal was "to find the truth." She wanted an explanation about why Armstrong's Jeep was at the scene, but she wasn't a suspect yet. Just a person of interest.

Conner being asked to examine Armstrong's body language in this video: When Armstrong is first told that she can leave, Armstrong asks to leave, but doesn't shift her body or move to the door. She stays virtually still except for a head nod.

At one point, Armstrong agrees with Conner that it would be good to share her side of the story. But she never does.
When trying to convince Armstrong to spill, Conner is actively trying to pin Strickland against her. Insinuating that Strickland is "revealing all" in the other interrogation room, so it would be wise for her to tell-all. Armstrong doesn't bite.
Conner admits to the courtroom that "she wasn't showing any emotion."

Conner explains there's a back-and-forth to interrogations. It's a push-and-pull between the interviewer and interviewee trying to get information from each other.
Conner states it's her opinion that since Armstrong was asking to leave but not moving from her seat, she was trying to also gain additional information from Conner about what APD knew about her possible involvement.

Q: "Was he talking to this girl?"
A: "I would like to leave. I don't actually know. I would like to leave."
Q: "Okay, that's totally your choice and the door is open, you are welcome to leave. But again, that limits us to where we only have one side of the story. Your vehicle was seen next to the house and we need to talk about that, okay... Maybe you were just upset and you were in the area or something? I don't know since I don't have your story."
*Kaitlin nods her head in agreement*

That was the totality of the interview. Conner arranged a transport for her to go home.
Conner's suspicions were raised after this interview. She felt flagged by her body language, the lack-of-denial Armstrong offered.

Conner says she ended up writing a DNA search warrant for Strickland/Armstrong. Neither were at the residence when served. Spitler coordinated with Colin to do the DNA warrant at another time. They were unable to locate Armstrong.

On 7/2, Armstrong was picked up from Costa Rica and brought to Houston, TX. She was transported to HPD homicide unit for a 2nd interview. Detective Conner went down to interview her.

We are now looking at a series of photographs.
First picture is the property that Armstrong had when transported to Houston. Includes one black roller bag and a brown zippered bag. The bag had various papers and items in it.
Inside is a piece of paper with a receipt for cosmetic surgery. The amount shows $6,350 dated 6/23/22. The name on the receipt is "Allison Paige."
There is also a United boarding pass from EWR to SJO. The name shows Christie Armstrong. The date shows 5/18/22.
Another picture shows a wallet with various cards: Healthcare cards, three drivers licenses, a social security card, credit card and a AAA card.
More credit cards mostly belonging to Kaitlin Armstrong but one credit card belonging to Colin Strickland.
A picture showing a piece of paper with "debit card numbers."
A picture of paper with a phone number and two different names: "Brian Roark" and "Jason Snoll." Conner says Roark is a defense attorney.
A picture of the passport for Christine Elizabeth Armstrong. Inside the passport is a stamp from Costa Rica dated 5/18/22.
A picture of Kaitlin Armstrong's passport. There is no Costa Rica stamp from customs.
Various medications found inside the bag. A phone, two SIM cards, two Walmart reciepts from the Ben White location in Austin. Looks like she loaded up $500 to a debit card. The other transaction is a cellphone.

More Photos:
A handful of cash. USD, pesos and currency from Costa Rica.
Opened suitcase. There is still the airline tag that shows from AUS to IAH (Austin to Houston).

Conner has now donned a pair of black surgical gloves. The state has brought her an evidence envelope and has asked her to open it.
Inside is a passport belonging to Kaitlin Armstrong. Conner is asked to flip through to the page where a Costa Rica stamp would be, but there is none.
Also inside is a passport for Christine Armstrong. Conner identifies the Costa Rican stamp and the assistant district attorney walks the passport around for the jury to see with their own eyes.

No more questions from the State. Defense's turn.

On 5/12/22, Conner says she had been a homicide detective for about a year. She had been a cop for 9 years before that. Defense asking about APD's policies and procedures, which is a handbook given to each APD officer.

Defense asking about whether or not policies and procedures were followed. Asking about the interrogation process, seat placement, whether or not Armstrong had her phone. Conner clarifies that her time with Armstrong at APD was an interview, not an interrogation.

If you are curious about reading APD's policies and procedures, you can find it below. It's an 800-page document. Have fun! austintexas.gov/sites/default/…

Conner says she had planned to read Armstrong her Miranda Rights, but since she learned she was no longer under arrest, she never did.
Conner says someone has to be clear and unequivocal when they demand an attorney for an interview/interrogation to stop.
Defense is pushing Conner to answer whether or not Armstrong invoked her right to an attorney, which was not granted. State objects, saying this issue has been litigated before the trial began.

Conner admits that the warrant was good all along. Since Conner never verified her DOB, she never realized that the warrant was still active.
Essentially, APD let Armstrong, their eventual murder suspect who had an active warrant for her arrest, free after less than a 30-minute interview.

Defense questioning if APD/Conner truly was allowing her to leave if that was her right.
Conner says no one told her to stay in Austin or remain in Texas. APD never instructed her not to travel. Conner agrees that on 5/12, she was free to travel anywhere she wanted.

State redirect:
Conner says that at no point did APD instruct Armstrong to get her sister's passport and leave the country.

No further questions. Witness excused.

We are now taking a 15 minute recess.

We're back.

Next Witness: Michael Allen, United States Secret Service, 3.5 years experience. He is the lab manager for their forensics lab. He started training in digital forensics in 2009.

APD contacted Allen for assistance in recovering data from a locked iPhone 11. APD didn't have the right tools and software to access the data. The Secret Service has this capability and often assists local law enforcement, including testifying at criminal trials.

We are now looking at a forensics report the Secret Service generated using GrayKey software. The report shows that this iPhone 11 Pro belongs to Kaitlin Armstrong. Passcode: 0427.

Allen says "brute force" was initiated on the phone, meaning approximately 100,000 four-digit number combos was used on the phone to get it to open. Once the passcode was recovered, all possible data was extracted.

Another document: Certification of Unlock by US Secret Service Forensics Lab. It is a sworn copy of the process Allen took to infiltrate the locked phone and extract the data. No further questions. Defense's turn.

Allen can't recall if pictures were taken of the phone or if it was just extracted. Allen says the extraction isn't physical. The phone is plugged into a data port and a program runs. Allen says APD didn't try to perform an extraction because they didn't have the tools needed.

Defense trying to test the expertise and credibility of the witness. Asking about his certifications, his procedures for extraction, whether he has experience of extracting from other technological devices. State objects over relevance, overruled.

No further questions. Witness dismissed.

Next witness: Emir Perez, Deputy, US Marshals Service. On 5/18, Perez says APD contacted US Marshals for assistance searching for Armstrong around Austin.

US Marshals then concentrated their efforts on Costa Rica. Perez flew their to help with immigration authorities to locate her.

Perez says you have to rely on local resources when conducting international investigations. He said it took "old-fashioned police work." He asked questions, interviewed people, looked around.
He began to focus on Santa Teresa, a seaside beach town on the coast of the Costa Rican peninsula. It is small, touristy, with only one paved road.

Perez met with the local authorities and interviewed others in the service industry: waiters, bartenders, hostel owners, management staff. He conducted beach surveillance, looking for Armstrong.
"Quite a lot of people matched her demographic," Perez says.

On 6/29, Perez says he got information that she may have been staying at a hostel. He concentrated his surveillance efforts on the hostel. It was at this point he encountered Armstrong. He walked in, noticing Armstrong and a man sitting together on a patio. He said he didn't recognize her at first, but upon getting closer and talking to her, he realized it was her.
"It appeared she had a bandage on her nose and her lips looked a bit swollen. The hair we were looking for was lighter, so I wasn't exactly sure."

Perez began to speak to her in Spanish. When she couldn't respond without a translator, he recognized her based on her eyes. Perez left and alerted the local authorities, who are the ones who needed to make the arrest.

Perez spoke to her under the guise that he was asking for information about the hostel.
Perez was watching from a car as local authorities arrested Armstrong. She was then transported to the local jail a block away.

Perez never asked her her name. His partner did. She said her name was Kaitlin Armstrong. Perez says he learned that she was using at least 3-4 different aliases in Costa Rica.

A legal document in Spanish from Costa Rica is being presented to the jury. Perez is being asked to translate it. It says that Armstrong entered Costa Rica illegally, a hearing was held and she was being deported.
Perez and Armstrong boarded a plane in San Jose and landed in Houston, Texas. Armstrong was turned over to Customs and Border Protection officials.

No further questions. Defense's turn.

Perez confirms he had a personal conversation with Kaitlin. Perez says Kaitlin was polite and friendly. At the local police station, Kaitlin hesitated to give her name, but eventually coughed it up.

Defense asking about the chain-of-custody of Armstrong's belongings found in Costa Rica. Defense wonders how he can be sure that the property handed to him to transported back to the US is truly Kaitlin Armstrong's.
"I could have looked a little closer into it, but since it had her name and image on it, I confirmed it to be hers," Perez says about the documents/ID/clothes found in the bag.

Perez says that Costa Rica was a great place for the defendant to hide because there were so many American tourists in Santa Teresa.

No further questions. Witness dismissed. We will now break for lunch.

Sadly, that also means an end to my live tweets today. Happily, I am heading back home to attend my niece's baptism. No court tomorrow due to the holiday. I expect to be back in the courtroom on Monday.