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Moriah Wilson; Kaitlin Armstrong.
Credit: Courtesy of Netflix; City of Austin Police Department
NEED TO KNOW
- Moriah Wilson was a rising star in the gravel cycling community who befriended fellow cyclist Colin Strickland
- Strickland's girlfriend, Kaitlin Armstrong, allegedly became increasingly jealous of their friendship
- On May 11, 2022, Armstrong fatally shot Wilson and was apprehended over a month later after fleeing to Costa Rica
Anna Moriah "Mo" Wilson was a dedicated cyclist whose life was tragically cut short.
On May 11, 2022, Wilson was spending time with her ex-boyfriend-turned-friend Colin Strickland when, unbeknownst to her, his girlfriend, Kaitlin Armstrong, was growing increasingly jealous.
After spending time with Strickland, Wilson returned to her friend's apartment in Austin, Texas. Shortly after, Armstrong gained access to the home and fatally shot her three times.
Armstrong wasn't initially a suspect, but that quickly changed after authorities uncovered footage of her car near the crime scene and subsequent GPS data pinning her car there. A warrant was issued for her arrest less than a week later, but Armstrong had already fled the country.
It took 43 days for authorities to locate her and finally apprehend her in Costa Rica. When Armstrong was found, her appearance had been drastically altered by several plastic surgery procedures. She ultimately stood trial for Wilson's murder and was sentenced to 90 years in prison.
Wilson's life and her tragic death have since been shared in the Netflix documentary The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson, which hit the streamer on April 3. Several of her friends, colleagues and family members were interviewed for the emotional project.
Here's everything to know about Moriah Wilson's murder and her killer's motive.
Who was Moriah Wilson?
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Moriah Wilson in The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson.
Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
Wilson, who went by "Mo," was raised alongside her brother in Vermont. Her dad was a former skier who taught both of his children how to ski, and Wilson excelled in the sport. She attended a school that equally divided education with ski lessons.
"One of the main requirements for going here is that you aspire to be an Olympic level athlete," her brother, Matt, said in the Netflix doc. "She had that dream from the beginning."
However, Wilson started to fall behind after getting seriously injured multiple times and had to pause on her skiing dreams. Despite the setback, Wilson still loved being outdoors and started to develop a passion for cycling. She quickly became a standout in the fields of gravel and mountain biking.
"I had spent a lot of time riding bikes with my family, and then I discovered that gravel cycling was a thing and ended up buying a gravel bike," she said in a resurfaced interview featured in the doc.
Prior to her death, Wilson had won several races and was traveling across the country competing.https://people-app.onelink.me/HNIa/kz7l4cuf
Who is Colin Strickland and how did Wilson know him?
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Moriah Wilson; Colin Strickland.
Credit: Courtesy of Netflix (2)
Strickland was also a professional cyclist.
When he wasn't competing, Strickland ran a trailer restoration business with his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Armstrong. She rarely joined Strickland for his races, and he later called their relationship "tumultuous," per CBS Austin.
In September 2021, he was competing in a gravel race in Idaho when he met the up-and-coming Wilson. The two grabbed drinks after the race, but he said that at the time it was strictly platonic.
"I had a girlfriend," he said in a 2022 interview that was resurfaced in the doc. "We didn’t have any romantic conversations at all. We just talked about her future career."
Around a month after they met, Strickland and Wilson "effectively started dating" for about a week, while Strickland and Armstrong were in one of their broken up phases.
"Being with Colin, I noticed myself gravitating towards his words of affection," Wilson wrote in her journal, as shown in the doc. "They made me feel safe, like I mattered and had value. I think I like him more than I've wanted to admit out of major fear that he doesn’t feel the same way."
However, Strickland was still navigating his feelings with Armstrong, and Wilson was also traveling across the country. By February 2022, Wilson wrote that their romance had fizzled out after they realized they "weren't on the same page."
Despite putting an end to their romantic relationship, they remained friends.
Did Wilson know Kaitlin Armstrong?
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Moriah Wilson; Kaitlin Armstrong.
Credit: Courtesy of Netflix; U.S. Department of Justice
Strickland then reconnected romantically with Armstrong, who was allegedly suspicious of Wilson.
One of Wilson's friends claimed in the documentary that Armstrong would randomly call Wilson and let her know that she was back together with Strickland. Wilson's mom also remembered her daughter telling her that Strickland's girlfriend didn't like her.
Amid Armstrong's growing concern over Wilson, Strickland changed Wilson's contact information in his phone, so Armstrong wouldn't be able to tell that they were still in touch.
However, Armstrong allegedly only continued getting more and more jealous — especially when she discovered that Strickland had disguised Wilson's contact in his phone.
What did Armstrong do to Wilson?
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Kaitlin Armstrong during her murder trial on Nov. 16, 2023, in Austin, Texas.
Credit: Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman/AP
On May 11, 2022, Wilson was in Austin to compete in a race and staying at a friend's apartment. Earlier in the day, she asked Strickland if he wanted to catch up, and he suggested they go for a swim and grab a bite to eat. Restaurant surveillance video showed the two of them casually chatting.
Armstrong's jealousy escalated when she found out the two were hanging out after Strickland told her he was alone running errands. She tracked his phone and followed them in her car to the restaurant, according to GPS records.
Strickland drove Wilson to her friend's home and dropped her off at 8:36 p.m. Just one minute later, Armstrong's black car was caught driving around the same neighborhood.
Around 9:15 p.m., Wilson's friend's security footage captured three gunshot noises. Wilson's friend returned to her home around a half hour later, but it was too late, she was already dead.
How did Armstrong evade authorities before she was caught?
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Katilin Armstrong.
Credit: AP/Shutterstock; City of Austin Police Department
When Wilson's friend called the police, she told them that Strickland was the last person the cyclist had been with. Police interviewed Strickland, who appeared both confused and quiet, and confirmed that the car seen on the surveillance footage was Armstrong's.
Police brought Armstrong in for questioning, but they didn't have enough to press charges, and she refused to answer any questions. She left the station, but within a few days, authorities uncovered her car's GPS data that placed her at the scene of the crime and learned that Strickland had bought a gun matching the one that was used to kill Wilson.
On May 17, authorities issued a warrant for Armstrong's arrest. However, they were unable to locate her and later learned that she had flown across the country to see her sister, took her sister's passport and got on a plane to Costa Rica. During her time there, she met with a plastic surgeon and underwent an estimated $6,000 worth of plastic surgery — including lip fillers, rhinoplasty and a brow lift — as her surgeon Dr. Jorge Badilla said on Dateline in 2024.
Authorities honed in on the village they believed Armstrong was staying in, but they needed a way to get her out in public and identify her. Since Armstrong was a former yoga instructor, they created a fake yoga instructor application and she was arrested after responding to the job posting.
On June 29, 2022, Armstrong was extradited to the United States and charged with first-degree murder and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Just a few days before her trial was scheduled to begin, Armstrong attempted to escape after she sought medical attention at a facility outside of the prison, KXAN reported at the time. She ran out of the office and tried to jump a fence for 10 minutes before she was caught.
What happened to Armstrong?
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Kaitlin Armstrong leaves the courtroom on November 17, 2023.
Credit: Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman/AP
Armstrong pleaded not guilty to Wilson's murder, and her trial began on Nov. 1, 2023. Prosecutors used Armstrong's GPS data and DNA at the scene of the crime to prove her culpability.
In addition, Strickland also testified about Armstrong's jealousy. On Nov. 16, 2023, she was found guilty of first-degree murder.
Armstrong was sentenced to 90 years in prison and is serving her sentence at the Dr. Lane Murray Unit Texas state prison for women in Gatesville, Texas.
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