On May 11, 2022, yoga teacher Kaitlin Armstrong murdered professional cyclist Moriah "Mo" Wilson at her friend's home in Austin, Texas — after allegedly tracking her victim's movements on a fitness app.
Personal PhotoKaitlin Armstrong, pictured shortly before the murder of Moriah Wilson.
On May 11, 2022, 25-year-old Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson was found murdered on the floor of a friend’s home in Austin, Texas. The professional cyclist had been fatally shot just days before she was set to compete in a cycling race. Before long, authorities began to suspect that a 34-year-old yoga instructor named Kaitlin Armstrong was responsible.
Armstrong, who was in an on-again, off-again relationship with a man named Colin Strickland, was furious to learn that Strickland had briefly dated Wilson during a break in the relationship. And as it turned out, Strickland and Wilson had met up earlier on the day that Wilson was killed.
Following forensic clues and damning statements from people who knew Armstrong, authorities closed in on her — and soon resorted to unusual tactics after she fled to Costa Rica and tried to start a new life.
This is the chilling story of Kaitlin Armstrong.
Who Is Kaitlin Armstrong?
U.S. Marshals Service via AP, FileAn undated photo of Kaitlin Armstrong, released by the U.S. Marshals after her murder of Moriah “Mo” Wilson.
Kaitlin Marie Armstrong was born on November 21, 1987, and grew up in Livonia, Michigan. Her parents divorced when she was a child, and her mother later struggled with alcoholism. According to a childhood friend, Armstrong was also the victim of “sexual violence” as a child.
Armstrong graduated from high school in 2005 and then attended Eastern Michigan University. She eventually became a licensed realtor, though her biggest passion was teaching yoga. In 2018, Armstrong even attended a four-week yoga teacher training course in Bali, Indonesia.
According to other attendees, Armstrong appeared to be a bit reserved.
“You could tell that some people weren’t really happy with their current situation back at home — and she was one of them,” one anonymous attendee told The U.S. Sun in an interview.
At one point during the trip, the attendee claimed that Armstrong overreacted to a minor allergic reaction in the middle of a group dinner.
“She had some sort of minor panic attack because she was having a small allergic reaction to some of the food… she really overreacted,” they stated.
Many at the retreat likely saw Armstrong as a reclusive and highly anxious person who didn’t care much to mingle with other people. However, none of them could have guessed that she would be capable of murder.
Who Was Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson?
Mo Wilson/InstagramAnna Moriah “Mo” Wilson was a professional cyclist before her murder.
Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson was born on May 18, 1996, in Littleton, New Hampshire. Raised in Vermont, Wilson seemed destined to become an impressive athlete. She regularly cycled and skied with her family members, and she eventually went on to become a nationally-ranked junior skier.
While attending Dartmouth College, Wilson majored in engineering and participated in the university’s alpine ski racing team. After she graduated, she worked as a demand planner for a bicycle manufacturer before entering the world of professional cycling. Wilson quickly excelled.
Amazingly, at the 2022 Sea Otter Classic, Wilson won the Fuego 80K race — beating out an Olympic cyclist and countless other talented athletes.
The win earned Wilson a spot in the remainder of the Life Time Grand Prix series, a total of seven races culminating in a $250,000 grand prize for the winner. After the Sea Otter Classic, Wilson prepared to compete in the 200-mile UNBOUND Gravel race in Kansas, the second race of the series.
Naturally, her rising star in the cycling community had led to new connections and relationships. And at some point back in 2021, Wilson had met Colin Strickland, another competitive cyclist.
Colin Strickland/InstagramColin Strickland, Kaitlin Armstrong’s on-again, off-again boyfriend.
Bonding over their shared love for cycling, Strickland and Wilson eventually began seeing each other, and while it may have seemed like an exciting start to a new relationship, a threat loomed just around the corner.
As it turned out, Strickland had recently separated from his girlfriend Kaitlin Armstrong, whom he had shared an on-again, off-again relationship with since 2019. And though Strickland’s romance with Wilson was reportedly brief, it was apparently more than the yoga instructor could handle.
Inside The Brutal Murder Of Moriah Wilson
On the night of May 11, 2022, a woman named Caitlin Cash called authorities to report that she had found her friend unresponsive and lying in a pool of blood in her bathroom at her home in Austin, Texas.
At the gruesome scene, authorities identified that unresponsive friend as Moriah “Mo” Wilson. It was later learned that Wilson was temporarily staying with Cash in Austin for the 150-mile Gravel Locos race.
Less than an hour before 10 p.m. that night, an intruder had apparently entered Cash’s home and fatally shot Wilson three times. A neighbor’s Ring camera captured audio of Wilson screaming as the gunshots went off.
Immediately, investigators reviewed surveillance footage from a neighbor’s home. The camera pointed toward the street, and investigators wondered if it could have captured the suspect approaching the home.
Although the footage did not show the perpetrator sneaking up to the residence or scaling the home’s walls, it did capture a black Jeep with a bike rack driving by shortly after Wilson was dropped off at Cash’s home.
FOXSurveillance footage from outside the Austin home, showing Kaitlin Armstrong’s Jeep driving by before the murder.
Authorities began their investigation by asking Cash about Wilson’s routine that day. Cash told police that Wilson had spent the day with Colin Strickland, so investigators reached out to him for an interview.
At the time, Strickland was living with Armstrong, and when investigators went to the couple’s home in Austin to interview them, they noticed a black Jeep with a bike rack in the driveway that looked identical to the one seen in the surveillance footage of Wilson returning to Cash’s home.
Investigators also gathered other evidence at the Strickland-Armstrong home, including two firearms, one of which was later linked to spent casing found at the crime scene. Meanwhile, Strickland opened up about his relationship with Armstrong and his prior romance with Wilson — whom he claimed he only shared a “platonic and professional” relationship with now.
Though authorities were initially most interested in Strickland, it didn’t take long before they shifted gears to focus on Armstrong instead.
The Police Closed In On Kaitlin Armstrong — And Then She Went On The Run
Aside from physical evidence, authorities eventually received worrying statements from people who knew Kaitlin Armstrong.
Reportedly, Armstrong had made disturbing statements to her friends, claiming that if any woman tried to date Strickland, she would “kill her,” according to the Daily Mail. When her friends dismissed her threats, she allegedly said she was serious: “No you don’t understand, I bought a gun.”
During Strickland’s interview with police, he told investigators that Armstrong was a very jealous woman, and when he remained in contact with Wilson, his former fling, he had to tip-toe around his girlfriend.
Armstrong reportedly monitored Strickland’s phone closely to keep tabs on his conversations with Wilson and even contacted Wilson herself on multiple occasions, warning her to stay away from Strickland.
Despite this, Strickland continued to maintain his friendship with Wilson and fatefully met up with her on the day of her murder.
That day, Strickland went for a swim with Wilson and ate a meal at a restaurant with her. During their hangout, he purposely ignored Armstrong’s calls, telling her later that his phone died. It was later learned that Armstrong knew this was a lie, as she had secretly followed the pair that day.
Travis County District Attorney’s OfficeJust one day after Mo Wilson’s murder, Kaitlin Armstrong was brought in for police questioning.
“She couldn’t get over the fact that Colin and Moriah were still in contact with each other,” Austin Police Detective Richard Spitler told A&E. “It was shocking the amount of evidence we were able to get on Kaitlin.”
On May 12, 2022, police used Armstrong’s old outstanding warrant for failing to pay for a Botox treatment to ask her about Wilson’s murder. Armstrong was reportedly quiet and uncooperative throughout the entire interrogation and repeatedly told investigators, “I would like to leave.”
“There was no emotion at all,” Spitler said. “We are telling her that her car is at the scene of this murder and she just nods her head. She doesn’t even try to deny it.” However, since Armstrong wasn’t officially a suspect yet — and her old arrest warrant had an incorrect birthdate — she was released.
On May 17, 2022, police were finally able to issue a homicide warrant for Armstrong, following the ballistics report confirming that Armstrong’s gun was most likely the same gun used to kill Wilson. However, when authorities showed up to arrest Armstrong, they discovered that she had already fled.
The Case Sparked A 43-Day Manhunt
U.S. MarshalsAirport surveillance footage showing Kaitlin Armstrong before she fled the country.
On May 14, 2022, Kaitlin Armstrong left Austin, Texas, shortly after selling her Jeep. She first flew to New York, where she briefly met up with her sister. While in New York, she stole her sister’s passport and booked a May 18th flight from Newark, New Jersey to San José, Costa Rica.
After her arrival in Costa Rica, she underwent plastic surgery in an attempt to change her appearance and dyed her hair. But she apparently remained passionate as ever about yoga — as she also tried to set up a yoga-teaching business. She eventually made her way to a hostel in Santa Teresa Beach in Provincia de Puntarenas, in an apparent attempt to start a new life.
Back in the United States, authorities viewed footage of Kaitlin Armstrong at the airports she flew out of, but they could not figure out her final destination. They searched San José but could find no sign of her there.
U.S. Marshals ultimately discovered her probable location after putting out fake advertisements looking for yoga instructors. A person believed to be Armstrong responded to one of those ads, proving to be a valuable clue.
U.S. MarshalsKaitlin Armstrong’s time on the run later inspired the Lifetime movie Yoga Teacher Killer: The Kaitlin Armstrong Story.
Agents determined that she had likely traveled to Santa Teresa Beach, and was possibly staying at a hostel called Don Jon’s. But finding her wouldn’t be easy. In Santa Teresa, there were a lot of tourists, and a lot of young women who happened to look similar to Armstrong. And to make matters more complicated, many of these women were also taking yoga classes.
To track Armstrong down, authorities resorted to unusual tactics. One female agent ended up taking three different yoga classes in the area in the hopes of finding her, while other officers befriended locals, convincing them to send photos that may have had Armstrong in the background.
“In fact, people had seen Armstrong at local spots in Santa Teresa, but they didn’t realize who she was. Armstrong was hiding in plain sight using different names,” Deputy U.S. Marshal Damien Fernandez later said.
But it took another Deputy U.S. Marshal, Emir Perez, posing as a Mexican tourist, to finally locate Armstrong. After spotting the young woman at a patio at Don Jon’s, Perez asked her about the place in Spanish, taking a close look at her as she used Google Translate to respond to him.
He then told his fellow agents, “100 percent, that’s her. She’s in there.'” By the time she was finally arrested, she’d been on the run for 43 days.
Kaitlin Armstrong’s Trial For Murder
Police HandoutKaitlin Armstrong’s mugshot after her capture in Costa Rica, showing her change in appearance.
While awaiting her trial, Kaitlin Armstrong attempted to flee again during a medical appointment on October 12, 2023, but she was unsuccessful.
During her trial, the prosecution outlined how Armstrong committed the murder on the night of May 11, 2022, claiming that she used a fitness app to track Moriah Wilson’s movements while she was staying in Austin.
“She had downloaded and saved photos of Moriah on her phone,” Detective Spitler stated. “Based on the GPS data from [the fitness app] Strava, she was able to see exactly where Moriah was staying by viewing her bike rides. She was stalking Moriah hours before the murder.”
Along with Strava data, Armstrong likely also kept tabs on Wilson via social media. Considering how closely she was monitoring Strickland’s phone, she probably picked up clues from there about where the two would be, so she could follow them and sneak up on Wilson after she was alone.
After an emotional trial, Armstrong was convicted of murder on November 16, 2023. She was sentenced to 90 years in prison, and she is currently attempting to get a new trial and a notice of appeal.
In June 2024, Armstrong was ordered to pay $15 million to the family of Wilson following a wrongful death lawsuit. As for how the Wilson family is managing the loss, they try to remember the goodness of their beloved family member amidst their emotional pain and grief.
Moriah Wilson’s grieving brother Matt Wilson said, “My sister had her life taken from her. For no reason at all. She’ll never ride a bike again. She’ll never take a 20-minute break from work to bake banana bread in her kitchen. She’ll never get married.” And her mother Karen Wilson said, “She had power in her… She lived every day as if it was her last.”
After reading about the brutal crimes of Kaitlin Armstrong, dive into the chilling story of Jodi Arias, the woman who fatally stabbed her ex-boyfriend 27 times. Then, discover the disturbing story of Rachel Barber, the teenage dancer who was murdered by her jealous babysitter.
