Mo Wilson: Murder, Manhunt, and 90-Year Sentence

Professional cyclist Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson was shot and killed on May 11, 2022, inside a friend’s apartment in Austin, Texas. Her killer was Kaitlin Armstrong, the girlfriend of cyclist Colin Strickland, with whom Wilson had briefly been romantically involved months earlier. The Mo Wilson murder set off a 43-day international manhunt that ended with Armstrong’s capture in Costa Rica, and in November 2023 a Travis County jury convicted her of first-degree murder and sentenced her to 90 years in prison.¹

Who Mo Wilson Was

Wilson was 25 years old and widely regarded as the top female gravel racer in the United States. She grew up in East Burke, Vermont, competed as a ski racer at Burke Mountain Academy, and studied engineering at Dartmouth College, graduating in 2019.² Two torn ACLs ended her skiing ambitions and pushed her toward cycling. In under three years she had won the Big Sugar Gravel, The Mid South, the Belgian Waffle Ride, and the Sea Otter Classic Fuego 80K, among others.³ At the time of her death, she led the women’s standings in the Life Time Grand Prix series and had traveled to Austin to compete in the Gravel Locos race scheduled for May 14.

The Night of the Murder

Wilson was staying at the Austin apartment of her friend Caitlin Cash. On the afternoon and evening of May 11, she went swimming with Colin Strickland, then returned to Cash’s home.

Phone records introduced at trial showed Armstrong called Strickland twice around 6:24 p.m. The calls went unanswered. Shortly after a follow-up text, her phone’s location data went dark.⁴ GPS data placed Armstrong’s black Jeep Grand Cherokee near Cash’s apartment by 8:00 p.m., and neighborhood cameras captured a matching vehicle circling the block.¹

Wilson sent her last text at 9:13 p.m. Two minutes later, a neighbor’s security camera recorded screams and gunshots. Cash’s landlord, David Harris, testified that he heard someone rush down the stairs and a bicycle “whisking off” into the night.⁵ Cash found Wilson’s body on the floor when she came home. Wilson died of multiple gunshot wounds. Her bicycle was later recovered in a grassy area a couple hundred yards from the apartment, and DNA evidence placed Armstrong at the scene.⁶

Why Armstrong Killed Her

Armstrong and Strickland had been dating in Austin since 2019 in what Strickland described at trial as a relationship “tumultuous at times, and extremely comfortable and loving at others.”⁷ During a breakup in the fall of 2021, Strickland and Wilson met at a gravel race in Idaho and became briefly involved. They decided to remain friends, and Strickland reconciled with Armstrong.⁶

Armstrong stayed suspicious. She had access to Strickland’s finances, email, and social media passwords and monitored his communications on a shared iPad. Strickland saved Wilson’s contact under an alias to avoid what he called “constant strife.” Armstrong had already called Wilson once to tell her to “stay away” from Strickland.⁸ A friend of Armstrong’s, Nicole Mertz, testified that when asked what she would do if Strickland dated someone else seriously, Armstrong replied, “I would kill her.”⁹

Prosecutors showed that in January 2022, after learning the details of Strickland’s history with Wilson, Armstrong obtained a Sig Sauer P365 pistol Strickland had purchased. Shell casings from the crime scene were later matched to that gun, which investigators found in Armstrong’s home the day after the murder.⁶ The state also presented evidence that Armstrong used the fitness tracking app Strava to follow Wilson’s movements.¹

The 43-Day Manhunt

Austin police questioned Armstrong on May 12 about an unrelated warrant and released her when it turned out to be invalid due to an incorrect date of birth.⁸ The mistake gave her a head start.

On May 13, she sold her Jeep to a south Austin CarMax for $12,200. The next day she flew from Austin to Houston and on to LaGuardia in New York. On May 18, using her sister’s passport, she boarded a flight from Newark to San José, Costa Rica.¹⁰ Austin police had issued a homicide warrant the day before. On May 25, federal authorities in the Western District of Texas obtained a warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, and the U.S. Marshals elevated the case to major status.

In Costa Rica, Armstrong drifted between hostels and yoga studios in the beach town of Santa Teresa under the aliases “Liz Martin,” “Beth Martin,” and “Ari Martin.”¹¹ She spent $6,425 on plastic surgery to alter her appearance, including lip fillers, a nose job, and a brow lift.¹ Working with Homeland Security Investigations, the State Department, and Costa Rican authorities, U.S. Marshals posted a fake Facebook ad seeking a yoga instructor at a local hostel. After nearly a week, Armstrong responded. Deputy U.S. Marshal Emir Perez identified her by her eyes despite her surgical bandages. She was arrested June 29, 2022, at the Don Jon’s Surf and Yoga Lodge in Santa Teresa.¹² She was deported and booked into Travis County Jail on July 5, 2022.

The Escape Attempt Before Trial

On October 11, 2023, about three weeks before her murder trial was set to begin, Armstrong slipped away from two Travis County corrections officers escorting her from a medical appointment in south Austin. She ran through a nearby neighborhood for roughly ten minutes and was caught trying to scale a six-foot fence. During the chase she shed her jail-striped pants to reveal thermal pants underneath.¹³

Investigators later concluded the attempt was planned. Surveillance footage from the jail showed her exercising vigorously for months. A cell search turned up a metal pen and dental floss that officials said could be used to remove handcuffs. She had also used a complaint about an injury to secure the outside appointment and asked not to be placed in leg restraints.¹³ She was charged with felony escape causing bodily injury and held on a $3.5 million bond. The Travis County District Attorney’s Office dismissed the escape charge on November 30, 2023, after consulting law enforcement and Wilson’s family.¹⁴

Conviction and 90-Year Sentence

Armstrong’s trial began November 1, 2023, at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin, with Judge Brenda Kennedy presiding.¹⁵ The state’s case rested on circumstantial and forensic evidence: GPS data placing Armstrong’s Jeep at the scene, surveillance footage, ballistics matching the gun from her home to the shell casings, DNA tying her to the apartment, phone records showing the calls and texts around the shooting, and Strava data showing she tracked Wilson’s location. Strickland testified about Armstrong’s jealousy and the volatile relationship. The defense argued that circumstantial evidence could not prove Armstrong was the person operating the phone or driving the Jeep.⁴

On November 16, 2023, a 12-person jury found Armstrong guilty of first-degree murder. The following day she was sentenced to 90 years in prison and fined $10,000.¹ Wilson’s father Eric told the court “justice has been served.” Her mother Karen said she “would have done anything to stand in the way of that bullet.” Her brother Matthew called Wilson his “closest confidant” and said she “had her life taken from her for no reason at all.”¹⁶

Armstrong is serving her sentence at the Dr. Lane Murray Unit in Gatesville, Texas.⁶

Appeal and $15 Million Wrongful Death Judgment

Armstrong filed a motion for a new trial in July 2024, claiming ineffective assistance of counsel, newly discovered evidence, and false evidence.¹⁷ On January 23, 2026, the Texas Third Court of Appeals denied the motion and affirmed her conviction, finding “no reversible error in the trial court’s judgment of conviction.”¹⁸

Wilson’s parents also filed a wrongful death suit in Travis County. On June 17, 2024, State District Judge Daniella DeSeta Lyttle entered a $15 million default judgment against Armstrong after she failed to respond, breaking down as $5 million to each parent for mental anguish and $2.5 million to each in exemplary damages.¹⁹ The family’s attorney, Randy Howry, said the judgment was structured to keep Armstrong from profiting off any future book or media deals: “If there is ever any financial benefit afforded to Kaitlin Armstrong, my clients stand in front of her.”²⁰

What Wilson Left Behind

Wilson’s family established the Moriah Wilson Foundation, a Vermont-based 501(c)(3) incorporated on October 2, 2023, to fund youth recreation and education programs. The family also created the Moriah Wilson ’14 Legacy Fund at Burke Mountain Academy with a $100,000 donation, which helps young athletes in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont cover training and racing costs.²¹ Within the sport, the 2022 Unbound Gravel race distributed “Ride Like Mo” stickers to all 4,000 riders, Life Time retired women’s plate number one for the season, and Gravel Locos held a two-wheeled funeral procession for the first eight miles of its race in Hico, Texas.²² The case also prompted broader discussion among women cyclists about the risks of publicly sharing their locations on fitness apps.

On April 3, 2026, Netflix released The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson, a documentary directed by Marina Zenovich and produced by Evan Hayes. Drawing on family footage and Wilson’s own journals, the film focuses on her life rather than the crime. Her brother Matthew said the family took part to offer a “fuller picture” of who Wilson was beyond the love-triangle framing that dominated earlier coverage.²³

1
ABC News. Kaitlin Armstrong Murder Trial Sentence
2
Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. Moriah “Mo” Wilson ’19
3
Bicycling. Tragic Story of Moriah Wilson
4
Fox 7 Austin. Prosecution’s Witness Presents Timeline of the Day Moriah Wilson Was Killed
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Fox 7 Austin. Kaitlin Armstrong Trial Day 2
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People. Where Is Kaitlin Armstrong Now
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CBS Austin. Key Witness Colin Strickland Describes Tumultuous Relationship With Kaitlin Armstrong in Trial
8
CNN. Timeline of Cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson Homicide
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Biography. Where Is Kaitlin Armstrong Now
10
U.S. Marshals Service. Kaitlin Armstrong Captured in Costa Rica
11
Fox 7 Austin. Kaitlin Armstrong Used Several Aliases in Costa Rica
12
The Guardian. Texas Cyclist Killer Caught by Yoga Ad in Costa Rica
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Fox 7 Austin. Kaitlin Armstrong Escape Court Documents
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Fox 7 Austin. Kaitlin Armstrong Escape Charges Dismissed
15
CBS Austin. Kaitlin Armstrong Murder Trial Begins Today
16
CBS News. Kaitlin Armstrong Sentenced for Murder of Anna Moriah Mo Wilson
17
CBS Austin. Kaitlin Armstrong Files Motion for Evidentiary Hearing, Claims Unfair Trial
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CBS Austin. Texas Appeals Court Denies New Trial for Kaitlin Armstrong in Mo Wilson Murder Case
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KXAN. Judge Orders Kaitlin Armstrong to Pay $15 Million to Family of Murder Victim Moriah Wilson
20
Austin American-Statesman. Kaitlin Armstrong Wrongful Death Lawsuit
21
Velo. The Moriah Wilson Foundation Is Already Having an Impact
22
GearJunkie. Life Time Mo Wilson Tribute Ride at Unbound Gravel
23
The Dartmouth. Moriah Documentary