Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson was a rising star in gravel and mountain biking whose life was ended in a jealous rage linked to a complicated love triangle involving fellow cyclist Colin Strickland and his girlfriend, Kaitlin Armstrong.
Who was Moriah Wilson?
- Mo Wilson grew up in Vermont with her brother, learning to ski from her father, a former racer, and attending a school that combined academics with elite‑level ski training.
- After repeated injuries derailed her skiing ambitions, she shifted to cycling and quickly became a standout in gravel and mountain‑bike racing, traveling across the U.S. to compete before her death in 2022.
How Wilson, Strickland, and Armstrong were connected
- Colin Strickland is also a professional cyclist and at the time ran a trailer‑restoration business with Armstrong, his on‑again, off‑again girlfriend whose relationship he described as “tumultuous.”
- Wilson met Strickland at a gravel race in Idaho in September 2021; they briefly dated for about a week while Strickland and Armstrong were broken up, then phased into a continued friendship even after their romance fizzled by early 2022.
Jealousy and Armstrong’s motive
- Armstrong reportedly did not trust Wilson and allegedly called her out of the blue to declare she was back with Strickland; Wilson’s mother and friends in the documentary say Armstrong clearly disliked Wilson.
- When Strickland hid Wilson’s contact in his phone, Armstrong grew more suspicious and jealous, especially after learning he had disguised her number.
The night of the murder
- On May 11, 2022, Wilson was in Austin, Texas, preparing for a race and staying at a friend’s apartment. Earlier that day she met Strickland for a swim and dinner, captured on restaurant video.
- After Strickland dropped her off at 8:36 p.m., Armstrong tracked his phone and followed them; GPS shows her black SUV circling the neighborhood almost immediately.
- Around 9:15 p.m., the friend’s security footage recorded three gunshots; when the friend returned roughly 30 minutes later, Wilson had been shot three times and was already dead.
How Armstrong was caught and sentenced
- Initially not a suspect, Armstrong became a target after police tied her car to the area via surveillance and GPS; she fled the U.S. before a warrant was issued, only to be arrested 43 days later in Costa Rica, where she had altered her appearance with plastic surgery.
- She was later convicted and given a 90‑year prison sentence for Wilson’s murder, with the case now widely known from the Netflix documentary The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson.
