The blog is about the murder of Anna Moriah Wilson in Austin, TX on May 11, 2022.
You can read the entire affidavit for this case here.
The three main players in this story are Anna Moriah – she is generally referred to as ‘Mo’ in the media, Colin Strickland and Colin’s girlfriend, Kaitlin Armstrong.
Mo was brutally gunned down in Austin and police are currently searching for Kaitlin as their main suspect.
e will start with some background into the trio.
Mo was a 25 year old woman, who grew up in Vermont. She was born on May 18, 1996. Her family have said she was always exceptionally athletic. She excelled in cycling, alpine skiing and soccer at Burke Mountain Academy, according to her Dartmouth College athletics biography. Mo majored in engineering at Dartmouth and also participated in the Alpine Sky Racing Team.
“Moriah was an inspiration to our community, and her death at a moment when her athletic star seemed so assuredly ascendant only amplifies the deep sense of loss associated with a beautiful life that ended far too early,” the Burke Mountain Academy said in a statement.
Mo’s parents were Eric and Karen Wilson. They were also very sporty and had been members of the US Ski team. Mo’s father Eric, younger brother and aunt also went to Burke Mountain Academy. Eric also worked at the academy as a ski coach. Her aunt Laura was a nordic skier who competed in the Olympics.
There’s been a lot of talk already about Burke Mountain Academy. I looked it up for context.
Burke Mountain Academy is a full-year private college-preparatory school in the northeastern United States, located in East Burke, Vermont. It educates and trains alpine ski racing athletes on the slopes of adjacent Burke Mountain Ski Area.’
Mo had quit her job a few weeks prior to her murder, to focus on becoming a professional mountain bike and gravel racer. Her former workplace is ‘Specialized’ which is a bike and equipment company. The company said she had already won 10 events this year and her off-road racing career had just started to take off. Her last race, in San Diego, ended in a victory — with a 25-minute lead.
In an article published right around the times she died, Mo was described as “”the winningest woman in the American off-road scene.”
Gravel racing is a relatively new sport from what I have read. I looked up what it actually is and the website bikeradar says it “sits somewhere between road, cyclocross and mountain bike racing, and tends to take place on open gravel roads, dirt double tracks and snaking singletrack, often with some stretches of paved road to link off-road segment.”
Aside from her cycling career, her family have said that Mo enjoyed cooking, writing, and traveling. Her obituary says she especially loved Italy, Taco Tuesdays, maple creemees and playing Catan with her friends.
Some articles I have read say that Mo was living in San Francisco at the time of her death, but her obit says she had recently moved back to Vermont. She was working on creating a community space where bikers could gather throughout the day, feel welcome, share a good cup of coffee and a bite of locally sourced food.
Mo seemed like a lovely, friendly person. One of her high school friends, Dannica Ashnault said ““She was very supportive of anyone, no matter if you were competing directly against her or not. I’m sure that’s the way she was in biking as well.”
The other two players are Colin and Kaitlin. Colin is a 34 year old Dartmouth graduate who lives in Austin, TX. He is also a cyclist who is well known in his field. There is a bunch of info online about his cycling career, if you’re interested. He seemed to be very successful in that area.
This is an excerpt from an article by Red Bull about Colin (I believe Red Bull is his sponsor):
Riding out of a cloud of dust, Colin Strickland arrives in Emporia, exhausted but alone. People rush out from shops to pound the barriers and cheer him home, the first finisher ever to complete the 200-mile (321.8km) course in less than 10 hours.
“I just happen to love suffering and pushing my limits,” he says. “That’s not for everyone, but I get a lot from it.” For Strickland, he’s so far found that those limits are better challenged outside of the amorphous mass of the traditional road scene – partly because he wants to do more than win bike races. “For me it’s about setting an example, doing some advocacy, just getting more people out there on bikes. If I can win some races and meet some important people, that gives me a platform to do that.”
Colin was living in Austin with his girlfriend Kaitlin – she was 34 at the time of the murder. I have read that she was a yoga teacher and a realtor. I think she may have retrained as a realtor when covid hit. She apparently started work at Sotheby’s International Realty in Austin in December 2021. I believed she may have owned three rental properties which provided some income for her.
I have read some articles that say Kaitlin and Colin owned a company called Wheelhouse Mobile which is a vintage trailer refurbishment company. This info is from their website:
WE DESIGN AND BUILD VINTAGE TRAILERS
Our mission is to combine beauty and functionality in a mobile living space.
We are based in Lockhart, TX, just southeast of Austin. We arrived in this business through a desire to build comfortable accomodations for life on the road. Co-founder and Red Bull Athlete, Colin Strickland, set out to create something that he could not source: a comfortable, road worthy, apartment on wheels from which to base his training and racing in professional endurance gravel events.
Colin’s partner and financial guru, Kaitlin Armstrong, led him to realize they could build this into something much greater than a one-off passion project. Three years later, we are open for business in an antique warehouse in Lockhart, TX and fully equipped to fulfill your mobile lifestyle dreams.
Kaitlin had been dating Colin for around three years as of May 2022. They did break up in October 2021 for a period of a few weeks. I believe that around this time, Colin and Mo had a romantic relationship. I can’t find too many details about it – as in how they met etc, but they did seem to become romantically involved around that time. One article I have read said they became involved when Mo was visiting Austin.
Kaitlin and Colin reunited and resumed their relationship. Kaitlin did eventually find out about Colin and Mo’s relationship and she was big mad. Some media reports say that when she found out ‘Armstrong became furious and was shaking with anger. Armstrong told the caller Armstrong was so angry Armstrong wanted to kill Wilson.’
Colin has said since this all happened that he changed Mo’s name in his phone, so that Kaitlin would not see any messages that would come in from her. He has also said that he deleted all messages once he had read and replied, in an effort to hide it all from Kaitlin.
Kaitlin somehow tracked down Mo’s number anyway and had called her a number of times over the last few months. Mo ended up blocking her number. Kaitlin also started stalking Mo on social media, and followed her on Instagram. In one of the last times that Kaitlin spoke to Mo before she was blocked, she apparently told Mo that she was with Colin and that Mo needed to stay away.
So that is the basic background on the people involved. We will now go to Tuesday May 10, 2022. Mo flew into Austin, TX. Most reports I have seen said that she flew in from San Fran. Mo was picked up at the airport by her friend Caitlin Cash (no relation to the other Caitlin). We will refer to this person as Cait, just to distinguish between the two, so remember that. Kaitlin is Colin’s crazy girlfriend, Cait is Mo’s friend. She had traveled to Austin because she was planning to participate in the Gravel Locos race in Hico, TX. I went to the website for the race and both Colin and Mo are listed as participants for it.
It looks like there are four courses for the race – ranging from 32-155 miles. The 155 mile course is called La Loca and this is info about it from the website:
Timed and competitive. 6 aid stations
As its name implies, you’ve got to be a lil’ crazy to ride La Loca: 155.9 miles (112 miles of which are on gravel) and 8,200 feet of elevation gain. The GL150 features five wet crossings, the “Loco Hill” along with three of the biggest, baddest hills in Bosque County. All three are back to back and all three kick up into the 17-18% grade.
Just info to set the scene.
So anyway, Cait picked up Mo and took her back to her house, where Mo was planning to stay while in Texas.
The next day was May 11, 2022 and Mo texted Cait and said that she was going to meet up with a friend named Colin to go swimming.
I have read some reports that say that some of Mo’s friends knew of Mo’s relationship with Colin and they also knew crazy Kaitlin, and they had warned her off continuing to be involved with him. I believe that Cait may have gone back to her home after Mo sent the text, to talk to her about meeting up with Colin. Cait has said she last saw Mo alive at around 5.30pm.
Cait told police that she gave Mo a unique electronic code to lock the apartment. Cait got notifications when the code was used to both lock and unlock the house. Colin told police that he arrived to pick up Mo at around 5.45pm and Cait has corroborated this – she got a text saying the door was locked at 5.55pm.
Mo and Colin went swimming at Deep Eddy Pool and they went afterwards to a restaurant, Pool Burger. They travelled around on his motorcycle.
Colin has said he dropped Mo off at her friend’s place at around 8.35pm. Cait got a text saying the door had been unlocked at 8.36pm.
At around 8.37pm, a dark coloured SUV pulled up outside Cait’s home. The car parked there. No other cars were spotted on CCTV at this time.
After Colin left Mo, he sent Kaitlin a text. He had lied about where he had been, as he knew that Kaitlin would be insanely jealous. The text said:
”Hey! Are you out? Went to drop some flowers for Alison at her sons house up north and my phone died. Heading home unless you have another food suggestion.’
He then left the area and arrived back at his home at 8.43pm. When he got home, Kaitlin was not home and he started to prep some bicycle gear in the garage. He has said he sent a few other texts to Kaitlin and he recalls that she arrived home in her dark coloured Jeep at around 9.21pm.
Between 8.30 and 9.30pm, Cait’s landlord (who also lived on the property) said that he heard someone running down stairs towards an alley near the residence. He has said he saw someone cycling away from the residence at that time.
Cait returned to the residence at around 9.54pm. She noted that the door was unlocked when she got home. She entered the home and found Mo laying in the bathroom, covered in blood. She called 911 two minutes after she arrived home.
She began performing CPR on Mo, unsuccessfully. Police arrived at 10.10pm and Mo was pronounced dead.
Nobody else seemed to be in the home and Cait said that the only thing missing seemed to be Mo’s bicycle. The bike was found in bushes, around 70 feet away from the apartment.
Austin Police released the following statement at the time:
On Wednesday, May 11, 2022, at approximately 9:56 P.M., Austin Police Department (APD Officers) responded to an emergency call in the 1700 block of Maple Ave. A woman told 9-1-1 dispatch she returned home to find her friend bleeding and unconscious. Investigators arrived at the scene and discovered a 25-year-old female with multiple gunshot wounds. Officers and EMS performed life-saving measures. However, the victim died from her injuries. The victim is Anna Moriah Wilson. Wilson was pronounced deceased at 10:10 P.M. by Dr. Escott.
The investigation shows someone shot Wilson inside the home on Maple Ave. Detectives have identified a person of interest. There is no reason to suspect any threats to the public, and the shooting does not appear to be a random act.
On May 12, 2022, the Travis County Medical Examiner’s conducted an autopsy and determined the official cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds, and the manner of death was a homicide.
The following day, May 12, police in Austin took Kaitlin in for questioning. They had identified her Jeep as being the one caught on CCTV near Cait’s apartment, at the time of Mo’s murder.
Detective Richard Spitler has said that Kaitlin would not confirm or deny being in the area at the time of the murder, and that she terminated the interview.
It seems like police tried to detain her on another issue, but failed.
“Armstrong was mistakenly released from custody on [a] misdemeanor warrant, because her date of birth in our report management system did not match the date of birth on the warrant,” Detective Spitler said.
Around this time, an anonymous called contacted police with info. They said that Kaitlin had told them recently that she wanted to kill Mo. She told the informant that she had either recently purchased a gun or was going to.
Colin told police that he had recently purchased two 9mm guns for himself and Kaitlin.
Around this time, we started to learn more about the relationship between Mo and Colin. The same informant who gave the info about Kaitlin and the guns, also had info about the relationship. She said that Colin and Mo had been together multiple times and that their relationship was on-again/off-again.
Some reports say that based on texts found in Mo’s phone, she still believed that she was in a relationship with Colin.
According to the affidavit, Colin said that his relationship with Mo was not ongoing and was never long term. Mo’s family have made a statement that backs up his version of events:
‘While we will not elaborate about the ongoing investigation, we do feel it’s important to clarify that at the time of her death, those closest to her clearly understood, directly from Moriah, that she was not in a romantic relationship with anyone,’ the family wrote in the statement.
On May 14, 3 days after Mo’s murder, Kaitlin left town. She got a flight from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to Houston Hobby and then got on a connecting Southwest flight to LaGuardia in New York.
Police have released footage of her at the airport. She can be seen wearing a black mask covering her face, a denim jacket, a black shirt, white jeans and carrying a yoga mat.
Before she disappeared, she deleted all her social media accounts. Colin has told police that the last day he spoke to Kaitlin was May 13.
Texas Deputy US Marshal Brandon Filla told The New York Post that Kaitlin’s background in flipping houses may have provided her with “the funds to continue to hide.”
“[Armstrong’s escape] wasn’t something that was abrupt, this was something that was methodical, that was timed. She had somewhat of a plan,” he said.
On May 17, an arrest warrant was issued for Kaitlin Armstrong. Kaitlin is accused of the first-degree murder of Mo
On the same day, the guns found at the home of Colin and Kaitlin were test fired.
Police have determined it had significant potential’ that that gun could have been used in the crime.
On May 20, (not sure why it took so long), The U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force announced they were entering the search and “conducting a fugitive investigation and pursuing leads on Armstrong’s whereabouts.”
There have been some questions about how Kaitlin knew where Mo was staying. This may have to do with her Strava account. Both Colin and Mo used Strava – it’s basically a run tracking social app where cyclists and runners share routes with other users.
This is the definition of Strava:
Strava is an American internet service for tracking physical exercise which incorporates social network features. It is mostly used for cycling and running using GPS data.
After she arrived in Austin, Mo uploaded a cycle route that began and ended at Cait’s house, so anyone who was following her would have seen her location. Police believe that Kaitlin was following both Colin and Mo on Strava.
On May 28, 2022 some more info about Kaitlin’s criminal history was made public.
On March 6, 2018, Kaitlin received a $650 Botox treatment at a spa in Harris County, TX. She pulled out her MasterCard to pay, but then said she would prefer to use another card that was in her car. She left the MasterCard on the counter of the spa and walked out ‘to get the other card’ and she never returned.
Since Kaitlin has been on the run, Colin has gone into hiding. One of his friends spoke to the media and said:
“None of us can sleep. He’s staying out of sight until she’s caught. I do know where he is but I’m not mentioning where for his safety.
Colin has also issued a statement about the situation:
“There is no way to adequately express the regret and torture I feel about my proximity to this horrible crime. “I am sorry, and I simply cannot make sense of this unfathomable situation.”
Colin has been dropped by some sponsors following Mo’s murder.
Enve Composites, Specialized, Rapha and The Meteor Cafe all released statements to VeloNews concerning their business relationships with Colin, stating they are ending their partnerships with the cyclist.
Allied Cycle Works, another sponsor of Strickland, said in a statement he is not expected to represent Allied at future races, but his contract has not been officially severed according to a representative from Allied’s marketing and PR firm.
A man named David was an employee for Colin and Kaitlin’s company, Wheelhouse Media and he spoke about her:
“Before the murder, the person I knew was a really sweet and nice human that was trying to make her dream in this world, whatever that was.
“She always had goals she was after and just always kept busy. No red flags for anything that would result in an outcome like this that we were aware of.”
Referring to Wilson’s murder, he said: “After it happened, she [Armstrong] didn’t do what most soap operas would have had her do, which is go back home and kill the one thing you can’t have [Strickland]. It’s dark.
Kaitlin’s father Michael Armstrong has also spoken to the media and thinks she is innocent.
“I know her. I know how she thinks and I know what she believes, and I know she would not do something like this.”
In an article dated May 24, Michael said he last spoke to Kaitlin 5 days ago which would have been around 19 May – many days after she fled Austin.
“We love you [Kaitlin] and we are going to figure this out.”
SOURCE LIST
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22026476-d-1-dc-22-301129
https://www.redbull.com/int-en/theredbulletin/bike-racer-colin-strickland-interview
https://www.wheelhousemobile.com/about
https://road.cc/content/news/moriah-wilson-murder-colin-strickland-hiding-293121
https://www.fox7austin.com/news/colin-strickland-moriah-wilson-cyclist-murder-austin-texas
https://nypost.com/2022/05/28/inside-the-fatal-love-triangle-of-yoga-teacher-two-cyclists/
CLIPS USED IN THE PODCAST EPISODE
https://youtu.be/2HPELN48Mag
https://youtu.be/YPxWj9NertA
https://youtu.be/nvOkiQoZZDw
https://youtu.be/9oMI02rXKi8
https://youtu.be/3BHMJcCeh-Y