A CHAMPION cyclist at the center of an alleged love triangle murder has told how he has been left “shell shocked” since his fugitive girlfriend gunned down her love rival and went on the lam.
Colin Strickland, 35, was speaking directly to a media outlet for the first time since his partner Kaitlin Armstrong allegedly murdered professional cyclist Moriah Wilson, 25, on May 11.
Exclusive pics obtained by The Sun show him working on a car in front of the home he used to share with yoga teacher Armstrong and riding his bike.
This week it was revealed Armstrong, 34, may have used her younger sister’s identity to evade capture by US Marshals for over a month.
It is thought she may have been hiding out in rural New York state.
Strickland admits he had a fling with Wilson but says it took place after he had briefly broken up with Armstrong in October 2021.
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Wilson was killed shortly after meeting Strickland at a local swimming pool while she was in Austin for a race last month.
But he vehemently insists that after getting back together with Armstrong his relationship with Wilson was strictly platonic.
And he told The Sun: “I’m just in shell-shocked grieving mode.”
Asked how he has been coping since Wilson’s death and Armstrong’s escape, Colin said: “I’m not doing well. Why not? Drama and catastrophe.
“I’m just focusing on things I have right in front of my face that I have control of as I try to put the pieces of my life back together.”
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Given the chance to set the record straight, Strickland added: “I don’t think it’s time for that.
“I think it’s still time to grieve this horrific event.”
Strickland was speaking after a private investigator exclusively told The Sun earlier this week that Armstrong may have been using her younger sister Christine Armstrong’s identity to hide out in rural New York state.
She went on the run after police brought her in for questioning on May 12 but released her on a technicality.
Armstrong was last seen on May 14 leaving LaGuardia airport in New York, three days before a warrant was issued for her arrest.
Strickland said it was “pretty obvious” that she should surrender but added: “I’m not really thinking about Kaitlin, that’s outside my realm of control.
“Obviously she’s not going to be the same human that I knew.
“I would say she is one of the least volatile people I have ever met and that’s why it’s so absolutely shocking.
“She had sides to her personality that I don’t think she shared with anybody.
“I had no indication of anything like that.”
Asked if he believes the claims that Armstrong may be posing as her sister Christine, Strickland said: “How is that relevant to me?
“I am working on f*****g cars all day, that’s what I’m doing.
“I’m not following the f*****g news, it’s not in my realm of control.
“There’s nothing I can do except drive myself crazy. That’s really it.
“My heart goes out to everyone who was more deeply traumatized by this than I was.”
After news broke of Wilson’s death, former gravel racing champion Strickland was dropped by sponsors.
He says he is now only using a commuter bike to attend therapy sessions.
Strickland said: “I’m not cycling at all. I’ve not ridden a bike in six weeks.
“I’ve ridden a commuter bike about to go to therapy appointments and that’s really it.
“I’m hoping therapy will help with the situation, I’m really just getting started. It’s a lot to process.
“I’m hoping it will help me find meaning in my life again at some point. I’ve been living in a state of shell shock.
“I need the required time to mourn and grieve, pretty much everybody does.
“There’s no explanation for it currently.
“It’s going to take some time and retrospection, some serious contemplation and retrospection to get any kind of perspective on it.”
Asked about his reaction to being dropped by sponsors, he said: “Everyone just wants to distance themselves from this event, which I completely understand.
“They’re reacting to the public’s anger, which I also completely understand.
“I’m just in the position of f*** my life, there’s nothing really to say. It is what it is.
“I’ve never done anything to harm anybody yet that’s just the position I’m in and there’s no way to change that, unfortunately.
“I wouldn’t fight anybody on the impulse to distance themselves from this because it’s just a foul situation.
“I’m not reading a lot on the internet right now because I think it would further my emotional distress, so I’m not sure who the public are angry at. I can’t speak to that.”
Strickland confirmed that Armstrong and Wilson had come face to face with each other at a cycling event held in Arkansas in January this year.
According to the police report, Wilson texted Strickland after the event to say: “This weekend was strange for me and I just want to know what's going on.
“If you just want to be friends (seems to be the case) then that's cool, but I'd like to talk about it cause honestly my mind has been going in circles and I don't know what to think."
On May 14 an anonymous call contacted Austin Police Department saying they had information about Wilson’s murder.
The caller told cops that she was with Armstrong in January this year when she had “just discovered Strickland was having a romantic relationship with Wilson”.
The police report then states: “Armstrong told the caller Armstrong was so angry Armstrong wanted to kill Wilson.”
Strickland refused to elaborate further on the two women’s meeting in January or what Wilson had meant with her message.
But he said: “I would like to say that Moriah and I had seen each other at no less than four events in this 2022 and we had a completely platonic relationship and friendship.
“It’s unfortunate how that has been skewed out to be a salacious aspect to this story when it really wasn’t the case.
“It’s just unfortunate for her memory that it’s been skewed that way.
“I don’t feel like my words are really powerful right now so I don’t feel the need to try to set the record straight.
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“I would tell you that Mo was an intelligent person and she was not under the impression that we were in a romantic relationship.
“If we were in romantic relationship we would have been romantic at these bicycle races that we were seeing each other at, we would have found private space and that was not happening in any way.”
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