Naman Shrestha
The talented professional cyclist, Moriah Wilson, had a bright career and future ahead of her. So, when she was shot to death in May 2022, just a few days before a cycling competition in Austin, Texas, the cycling community was shocked and devastated to have lost a rising star. The investigators initially suspected the involvement of her former boyfriend, Colin Strickland, but as the investigation intensified, the detectives zeroed in on Colin’s jealous girlfriend, Kaitlin Armstrong. ABC’s ’20/20: Three Shots in the Dark’ provides a detailed account of the entire case and how Kaitlin managed to prevent her arrest for several days.
Kaitlin Armstrong Killed Moriah Wilson in a Fit of Jealousy
Kaitlin Armstrong was raised right outside of Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 5, her parents got divorced because her father, Mike Armstrong, was having an extramarital affair. Kaitlin and her two siblings were then taken care of by their mother, who allegedly turned to alcohol. She was also allegedly subjected to multiple instances of sexual violence in her childhood. After moving around different states, Kaitlin and her family settled in Austin, Texas, where she built a life for herself. Not only did she work in the finance industry, but she was also a yoga instructor, the certification for which she earned in Bali, Thailand. In 2019, Kaitlin crossed paths with Colin Strickland, a talented cyclist with whom she was smitten instantaneously.
As they started dating, she also found a new passion in cycling. Eventually, the couple moved in together and even started a business called Wheelhouse, where they renovated and restored vintage trailers. However, a couple of years into their relationship, they hit a rough patch in late 2021. It soon became an on-again, off-again relationship, during which Colin briefly had a fling with a fellow cyclist named Anna Moriah Wilson AKA Mo. Around the same time, Kaitlin claimed that she was scared for her safety, so Colin purchased handguns for her personal security. When a storm made her apartment uninhabitable, she temporarily moved back in with Colin. Kaitlin was enraged about his relationship and the constant back-and-forth with Moriah.
So, in a fit of jealousy, on the fateful evening of May 11, 2022, she went over to Moriah’s friend’s apartment where she had been staying and shot the 25-year-old cyclist to death. When the detectives spotted a black SUV driving in the vicinity of the house where the murder took place in the surveillance footage of the area, they linked it to Colin, who then told them that it belonged to Kaitlin. In order to question her, the police arrested her on an outstanding misdemeanor warrant, which turned out to have a discrepancy in the middle of the interview. Although she was allowed to leave at any moment, the detective questioned her about Moriah, but she denied knowing anything about her murder. When asked why her SUV was near the apartment at the time of the murder, she neither denied that the vehicle was hers nor did she provide any explanation for the same.
Kaitlin Armstrong Went on the Run and Moved to Costa Rica to Avoid Arrest
Without enough evidence to charge her with murder, Kaitlin Armstrong was allowed to leave. However, in the following days, the authorities received multiple tips that hinted at jealousy being a possible motive for her to kill the cyclist. On top of that, a ballistic analysis also indicated that the gun used to commit the murder was a Sig Sauer, which was found in her possession. Thus, the authorities managed to obtain an arrest warrant for her on May 17, 2022. But by the time they tried to reach out to Kaitlin, she had already fled to New York City. From there, she left the country and traveled to Costa Rica, where she used multiple aliases to stay at different hotels. For a while, she also took a couple of yoga classes in the small town of Jaco, located near San Jose.
Her next place of stay was in the town of Santa Teresa. When she came across a job posting on a Santa Teresa Facebook page, she responded to the ad, hoping to get the job of a yoga instructor. The meeting was scheduled for June 29, but she ended up canceling the appointment. However, she had revealed that she was staying at Don Jon’s at the time. It turned out that the ad was a bait set by the authorities, and now they knew where to find her. Finally, after being on the run for more than 40 days, Kaitlin was apprehended on June 29 and deported to the US on July 2 while she faced a murder charge and a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. While she was held at the Travis County awaiting trial, she tried to escape as she was taken to a doctor’s appointment. Fortunately, she was caught within a few minutes.
Kaitlin Armstrong is Currently Incarcerated at a Texas Prison Facility
In 2022, Kaitlin Armstrong pleaded not guilty to the murder charge against her and decided to take her chances in court. In November 2023, her trial began, and the prosecution called her former boyfriend, Colin Strickland, to the stand to testify against her. They presented evidence that indicated that she killed Moriah Wilson because of jealousy. Meanwhile, the defense argued that the authorities did not thoroughly examine evidence or look at other potential suspects. On November 16, the jury reached a verdict, and Kaitlin was convicted of first-degree murder of the professional cyclist. The following day, she was sentenced to 90 years in prison for her crimes and also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
Ten days later, she filed an appeal and asked for a new trial. She claimed that she was pregnant at the time of her arrest, and her attorneys didn’t present enough character witnesses in front of the jury. A few months later, in May 2024, Moriah’s parents filed a civil lawsuit against Kaitlin, who was ordered to pay them $15 million on June 17. When the Wilson family sued her the following month, she reportedly transferred her assets instead of paying money. Meanwhile, her appeals were denied by the Texas Third Circuit Court of Appeals a couple of times. As of today, Kaitlin Armstrong is serving her sentence at Dr. Lane Murray Unit in Gatesville, Texas, with her parole eligibility date scheduled for 2052.
Read More: Where is Colin Strickland Now? Update on Kaitlin Armstrong’s Ex-Boyfriend
