In May 2022, Kaitlin Armstrong killed Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson in a fit of intense rage and jealousy over Anna’s relationship with Colin Strickland, Kaitlin’s on-and-off-again boyfriend.
Afterward, Kaitlin fled to Costa Rica and underwent plastic surgery to disguise herself. In June 2022, she was caught and arrested. She was convicted of first-degree murder in November 2023. She was sentenced to 90 years in prison. She attempted to escape from jail in 2023.
Kaitlin Armstrong was born on November 21, 1987. She has a finance background and enjoyed traveling. She became a certified yoga instructor in Indonesia. She met Colin Strickland in 2019, and they bonded over cycling, even participating in amateur races.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, they bought a house together and moved in with each other. They also went into a trailer restoration business together. They were in an on-and-off-again relationship for about three years before splitting up briefly in the fall of 2021.
Colin entered a week-long romantic relationship with Anna, a fellow cyclist, during their break. He stayed friends with Anna after he and Kaitlin got back together.
He kept Anna under a different contact name in his phone because Kaitlin had a history of going through his phone, and he just wanted to avoid the drama. For a long time, Kaitlin was reportedly jealous of Colin and Anna’s friendship.
In January 2022, Colin bought two firearms for himself and Kaitlin. She found out about Colin and Anna’s romantic fling around the same time. On May 11, 2022, Kaitlin arrived at a friend’s house in Austin, Texas. She planned to stay over for an upcoming bike race.
Colin and Anna texted each other that same afternoon and made plans to meet. Meanwhile, Kaitlin looked Anna up on a fitness app, which has a GPS feature. While he was out with Anna, Colin told Kaitlin that he was running errands and his phone died.
Anna returned home at around 8:36 p.m. A minute later, Kaitlin’s vehicle appeared on cameras in Anna’s neighborhood. At 9:45 p.m., a friend of Anna’s found her dead on the bathroom floor, lying in a pool of her own blood. She had been shot three times.
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Police traced the vehicle to Kaitlin and Colin, and then got a warrant to search their home. They found a gun under Kaitlin’s name that matched shell casings from the crime scene.
On May 12, 2022, Kaitlin was arrested for an outstanding misdemeanor theft warrant from when she allegedly left a spa in Austin without paying.
Police questioned her, but had to let her go after they realized the birthdate on her warrant was wrong. The next day, Kaitlin sold her car for $12,000 at a dealership.
On May 14, 2022, she flew from Austin to Houston to New York, where her sister lived. Then, she used her sister’s passport to fly to San Jose and Costa Rica. There, she cut and dyed her hair from long, red curls to a shorter, straighter and dark brown style. She went by the name Allison Page and spent $6,000 on plastic surgery to alter her appearance.
The plastic surgeon, Dr. Jorge Badilla, reported that Kaitlin had gotten upset when he asked to take a “before” photo of her. It was a standard procedure that he practiced with all his patients.
Kaitlin got rhinoplasty, a brow lift, and lip fillers. She finally let the surgeon take a photo of her, but only with her own phone. Days later, staff at the plastic surgery clinic were watching the news when they saw that Kaitlin had been arrested for murder.
“I was totally surprised,” said Dr. Badilla. “Things began to add up in the puzzle, and then I began to realize why she didn’t want pictures.”
Authorities searched for Kaitlin throughout hostels in Costa Rica. They received a tip that she had been hiding out in a village called Santa Teresa. They set up a fake job posting for a yoga instructor to lure her in. Kaitlin ended up reaching out and asked to meet at the hostel she was staying.
She was arrested on June 29, 2022, and taken to jail in Costa Rica. She was later transported back to the United States, where she was charged with first-degree murder and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
On October 11, 2023, correction officers escorted Kaitlin to a medical appointment outside of the jail. That was when she tried to make a run for it on foot. The pursuit lasted 10 minutes before they caught up to her.
She pleaded not guilty to all the charges. On November 1, 2023, her case went to trial. She was found guilty on November 16, 2023. She is currently serving time at the Dr. Lane Murray Unit, Texas State Prison for Women in Gatesville, Texas.
Anna’s parents launched a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Kaitlin in May 2024 for the funeral, burial, and emotional costs.
The lawsuit also stated that Kaitlin will not be able to benefit in any way from Anna’s death, including profits from book/movie deals. A judge ruled in their favor on June 17, 2024, and ordered Kaitlin to pay $15 million.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
