Two days before professional cyclist Moriah Wilson was shot to death by Kaitlin Armstrong, Outside writer Betsy Welch interviewed her for almost an hour. The Q&A was posted online just hours before Wilson's death. That kind of proximity reverberates throughout "This Is the Story of a Murder Trial," Welch's lengthy new piece about the experience of sitting through the 11-day trial with Wilson's family and close friends and spending pockets of time with them in the hours outside of it. One of the most wrenching moments Welch recounts came during Caitlin Cash's impact statement.
Hers was the Austin house Wilson was staying in, the place where she was murdered. Cash recounted she and Wilson were so excited to see each other when Wilson arrived they forgot to retrieve Wilson's suitcase from baggage claim. On May 11, the day Wilson would be killed, Cash texted Wilson's mom, Karen. She sent a photo of Wilson building up her bike in the living room with this accompanying message: "Your girl is safe with me in Austin." Welch writes of the guilt Cash has wrestled with since, for the words and for "the feeling that she somehow hadn't done enough to save her." The piece is full of other moments where the pain of those closest to Wilson is visceral, and where Welch's nearness to the family—she recounts Karen, 62, doing a backflip while swimming with relatives who were attending the trial with her—is evident. (Read it in full.)
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