True Crime with Kendall Rae - Mo Wilson’s Killer CAUGHT After Changing Her Appearance & Fleeing the Country
Episode Date: December 21, 2023Moriah “Mo” Wilson was a 25-year-old cycling prodigy, and was quickly becoming one of the most famous female cyclists of her time. She was the “up and coming” star of that world, and in May of... 2022, was planning on attending a race in Texas where she was expected to win. However, just days before the race, Mo was shot and killed inside a friend’s house. Investigators would quickly learn that Mo had spent the day with Colin Strickland, a guy she dated for about 2 weeks the previous October. Within the first 24 hours they had their suspect, and it was Colin’s on-again / off-again girlfriend, Kaitlin Armstrong. Surveillance cameras place her car circling the place of the murder the hour leading up to the shooting, her gun matched the shell casings found around Mo’s body, and much more. All the evidence pointed to Kaitlin. But before police could make an arrest, she fled to Costa Rica using her sister’s passport. It took over 40 days to locate her, but once they did, she was arrested and charged with 1st-degree murder. While in custody, she made a failed escape attempt too, but in the end, she was ultimately sentenced to 90 years in prison. Cash & Karen Wilson's Testimony The Moriah Wilson Foundation *Trigger Warning - Mo's final moments clip From now until the end of the year I am matching donations to NCMEC! See our progress, make a donation, and track my contributions here: https://give.missingkids.org/campaign... Shop my Merch! https://kendallrae.shop This episode is sponsored by: Huggies Quince Rocket Money Check out Kendall's other podcasts: The Sesh & Mile Higher Follow Kendall! YouTube Twitter Instagram Facebook Mile Higher Zoo REQUESTS: General case suggestion form: https://bit.ly/32kwPly Form for people directly related/ close to the victim: https://bit.ly/3KqMZLj Discord: https://discord.com/invite/an4stY9BCN CONTACT: For Business Inquiries - kendall@INFAgency.com
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Kicca's on sale now at de flippant journey 2024 dot com. Hello everyone and welcome back to True Crime with Kendall Ray.
I am so happy to have you here joining me to discuss yet another case. And if you
are new, then welcome. So really quick before we jump in here, I just wanted to remind you guys that
I'm currently matching donations for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. You can
donate any amount on my campaign page. It will be linked below and I will match it. And I will be
doing that from now until the end of the year. So you have until December 31st to make
those donations. And thank you and advanced to all of you who have already donated. And
if you would like to, I also have of course our NeckMit collection with a new hoodie available
at KendallRay.shop and 100% of the proceeds from that collection also goes to NeckMit.
Anyway, thanks for being patient with me. Let's go ahead and jump into this case. Now,
this was one that my friend told me about.
She is a cyclist and lived in Vermont at the time
and she told me to check out this case
and I have been following it since then.
And recently, trial has wrapped up
and I wanted to cover it now
because we really have a full picture
of everything that has unfolded
and it is truly mind-blowing.
So let's start by talking about the victim in this case, Anna Mariah Wilson, or Moe,
which is what most people know her as.
She was born on May 18th, 1996, and little to New Hampshire to her parents, Eric, and
Karen.
She had one brother named Matthew, and with that their family of four was complete.
However, despite being born in New
Hampshire, Mo and her brother were raised in Vermont. Now everyone in the Wilson family was athletic,
and that definitely did not skip Mo. From a young age, Mo participated in a handful of sports,
but the two that quickly became her favorites were cycling and skiing, which doesn't shock me
considering Vermont is an incredible place for both of these things. And in addition to her passion for sports, Moe was also incredibly smart. After graduating from
Burke Mountain Academy in 2014, she went on to get her bachelor's degree in engineering from
Dartmouth College. And like most graduates, when Moe finished college, she decided to start her
career in the field that she got her degree in, which in her case was engineering, but she quickly realized that she didn't want to do that forever. And because skiing and
cycling were such big passions of hers, and she had the talent and skill to go pro and either,
she ended up becoming a professional cyclist and was well on her way to being at the top of her
industry. Her athleticism paired with her hard work ethic and drive for success,
not only made her a threat to the competition, but also a threat to herself. And I do mean that
positively. She was just the kind of person that worked incredibly hard and put everything she
had into everything she did, and it definitely paid off for her. In the last few years of her life,
Moe had already earned her way up to the top in her industry and was already beating records and making a name for herself.
In fact, in November of 2020, she biked Moeab's white rim trail, which is a 100 mile loop
that she completed in under 7 hours, which set a record for female cyclists and is extremely
impressive.
So it's safe to say that if you are in the cycling community, a lot of you out there
probably knew the name Mo Wilson.
And not just for her insane talent, but also her kindness, her warmth.
She was a very genuine and loving person that left a huge impact on so many people.
And in September of 2021, fellow professional cyclist, Colin Strickland became one of those
people who knew Mo's name.
That month, during a three-day gravel race in Idaho, Colin was introduced to Mo, and he was
immediately blown away by her talent. They quickly became friends, and he had hoped that he could
potentially find her some sponsors. And then after meeting for the first time, they met again,
this time in Bentonville, Arkansas, where Mo was competing in a race that Collins girlfriend also happened to be competing in.
Now, the thing is, Collins girlfriend, Caitlin Armstrong, who we will be talking about a lot today, was nowhere near as talented as Mo.
And that's something that many people believe sparked her initial jealousy.
And this weekend, where the three of them were together, seems to have been the beginning
of the end.
Because while they were in Bentonville, Kaitlin and Colin ended up getting into a huge
argument, and they ended up breaking up over it for a few weeks.
Now, according to Colin, the reason the two of them got in this big fight was because
he ended up going on a bike ride with a few other cyclists while they were there and
Caitlin wasn't invited and it's not even clear if
Mo was one of the cyclists that was invited on this bike ride
But whether she was or not doesn't really matter because that wasn't the reason why Caitlin wasn't invited
Colin says that Caitlin wasn't invited because she didn't have the experience
to keep up with the group.
He says that she was extremely angry about this
and that he ended up breaking up with her over it.
But what made this breakup extra tricky
is the fact that Colin and Caitlin were living together
at his home in Austin, Texas.
Colin and Caitlin met on a dating app back in 2019.
And they ended up moving in together,
even though Colin wasn't ready and said he did not want
to move in with her.
But he felt bad because there was a winter storm
that caused damage to her home and she needed a place to stay.
So he decided to let her stay with him.
And from what I can tell, this breakup in Bentonville was not the first time that they broke up.
He has called their relationship to mulch-ois on many occasions, and the term on again
off again has also been used to describe them.
But at this point in time, they were off again, so Colin was single, and only five to six
days later, he saw Mo again.
And I'm sure you can probably guess where this is going, but when they saw each other again,
they became romantically involved, but not for long. From what I can tell, they continued
being romantically involved for the next two weeks after this. But it ended because
Colin and Kaitlyn ended up getting back together, So they're on again. Now this whole love triangle saga has been pretty contested in the media.
There's a lot of debate back and forth.
But according to Colin, there was never any overlap in the relationships.
He says that he and Mo never officially defined their relationship in any official capacity
and also that he never cheated on Caitlyn.
And once he and Caitlyn got back together, he says that yes, he remained friends with Mo,
but that's all they ever were, just friends.
And even Mo's family and friends have said that in the weeks leading up to her death,
Mo was not in a relationship.
Caitlyn, though, on the other hand, would probably disagree.
Kaitlyn, though, on the other hand, would probably disagree.
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We got you baby. In fact, when Colin and Moe were in that romantically involved period for those two weeks,
Kaitlyn figured out Moe's phone number and actually contacted her on a few occasions.
And some would say that her contact with her was more like her ass mint, and I can't
say that I disagree. Even though she and Colin were not together during this time, she texted Mo and told her that
Colin was her boyfriend and to stay away from him. And Mo even told Colin about what Caitlin was
doing, because not only was it weird, it was also scary, and she wanted to have him tell her to stop.
However, like I said, Colin and Caitlyn
end up getting back together in early November. Now why he would want to get back together, especially
after she was harassing his beyond me? You know, you don't know what goes on in people's relationships,
though, and for some reason they get back together. It doesn't really matter why, but they did.
So they get back together, and for the next several months things seem to be fine
with them, at least from the outside looking in. On the inside though, Colin was dealing with
Caitlin's extreme jealousy. Like I get the jealousy, you and your boyfriend break up for two weeks,
and in that time he meets someone who is not only younger than you, but also more talented than you,
and then after you get back together, they remain friends.
I can see how that would build jealousy.
But let me be extremely clear when saying that jealousy
is not an excuse for what Caitlin Armstrong did.
And that is murder, Anna Mariah Wilson.
So let me explain how all of that unfolded.
At the time, Moe was living in San Francisco, but she flew to Austin
on May 10th, 2022 for the 150-mile gravel locose race in Haiko, Texas. Not only was she competing
in the race, but she was expected to win. Luckily for Moe, she had a good friend that lived in Austin,
just two hours outside of Haiko, and she was more than welcome to let her stay at her place.
Now, this friend goes by Cash, which is her last name, and we will talk more about her later.
But Mo flew into Austin on the 10th, and by the 11th, she was texting Colin to make plans
to hang out just as friends.
On the 11th, they texted one another back and forth to solidify some type of plan, and
by 4.49pm, she sent him the address of where he could pick her up.
Less than an hour later, at 5.43pm, Colin he could pick her up. Less than an hour later,
at 543 PM, Colin arrives to pick her up on his motorcycle. And the two of them went to deep
eddy swimming pool, where they went swimming, of course. And after swimming, they went to
Poolburger, which is a restaurant across the street, and at 836 PM, Mo was dropped off back
at her friend's house. Now, I've given you guys three very specific times, 449, 543, and 836. And I'm obviously not just making up these times or giving you
estimations. Now we know these specific times because the house that Mo was staying at with
her friend had one of those electronic locks on it. Not only does it internally record every
time the door is locked and unlocked, but it would also send her friend a text message,
saying that Mo's unique door code had been used. And for anyone not familiar with these kind of locks, you can basically either give someone
who's staying with you the code that you use or you can make them their own unique code
for while they're staying with you.
So in this case, Mo had her own unique code to get in and out of the house.
Now this technology ended up being extremely helpful in the investigation.
It made it easy to establish a timeline for that evening and not surprisingly, it was
technology in general that made this case that much easier to solve.
So getting back to the timeline, we know that at 836, Mo arrived back at her friend's
house.
And data from her phone shows that she spent the next 37 minutes or so on her phone. A final text from her phone was sent at 9.13 p.m. And then
just two minutes later, audio from a nearby security camera picked up sounds of screaming
and then gunshots. The first two were back to back and then the third and final gunshot was
just a few seconds
later.
Now, the audio from her final moments has been released to the public.
And there are plenty of places to hear it.
I will link it in the description box, but after careful consideration, I didn't think
it was necessary to play on this channel.
It's very upsetting, and it doesn't change the fact that Mo lost her life.
I figured some of you probably aren't comfortable listening to it, and change the fact that Mo lost her life. I figured some of you probably
aren't comfortable listening to it and for the sake of her family, I didn't think we needed to
include it. And for more than 30 minutes, Mo was left alone bleeding out on the floor of her friend's
house. Her friend Cash came home that night at 10 p.m. and had no idea the scene that she was about to walk into. She goes into her house
and finds Mo lying in a pool of her own blood on the bathroom floor. As you can imagine,
this was an absolute nightmare for her and she talked a little bit about it in court. So,
of course, she calls 911 and she spends the next 10 minutes on the phone with a dispatch
on speaker as she's trying to give Mo chest compressions
and save her life. But unfortunately, what she and the dispatcher didn't know is that it was
already too late. Mo was gone and was officially pronounced dead by first responders at 10-10 PM.
Mo suffered two gunshot wounds to the head and then one additional gunshot wound to her heart.
Now, I've already made it clear that Caitlyn was the one who killed Mariah, but how did
she do it and how did investigators find out?
Well, the truth is their job wasn't that heart.
With investigators on scene, a few things were taking place.
Number one, the scene was being photographed and evidence was being collected, including
the shell casings that were found around Mo's body. And two, the neighborhood was being canvased for surveillance cameras, as well as Mo's bike,
which appeared to have been stolen. Her bike was quickly recovered, 68 feet from the house,
but had clearly been abandoned by whoever took it. Now, when it came to surveillance cameras,
investigators just got lucky. They realized that a neighbor had a security camera that was facing the front of
Cache's house and what they found on the camera ended up being a huge piece of evidence at 8.37 p.m.
Just one minute after Mover turned home a black Jeep Grand Cherokee with a bike rack on the hitch of the car
And a luggage rack on the roof was seen circling the neighborhood several times. And while the camera didn't capture a clear image of
the car's license plate, it didn't take investigators long to identify it as
Caitlin Armstrong's vehicle. And that night when speaking to investigators,
Cash told them what she knew about Mo's day. And that of course,
included details of her evening with Collins Strickland.
And so, investigators obviously contact him and want to speak to him right away.
So they were able to pull Collins' information and find his address, and by the next day,
May 12th officers with a lone star fugitive task force went to his house to question him.
And by then, they'd also obtained a search warrant.
It turns out that two of Caitlin's closest
friends independently contacted the Austin Police Department telling them that they needed to look into
Caitlin Armstrong in connection with the murder. And these friends shared information with authorities
that led them to believe there was a high possibility that Caitlin was responsible. Now, I will share
more details of this information later on, but they felt like the chances were pretty high that she was involved.
So with that information, and the fact that the last person Mo was with was Colin Strickland, the man who lived with Kaitlyn,
investigators went to their house on the 12th to speak with them, and also to issue the search warrant.
And right off the bat, guess what they noticed. In the driveway was a black Jeep Grand Cherokee with a bike rack on the hitch and a luggage
rack on the roof, an exact match to the car scene circling right before Moe was murdered.
And that wasn't all that they found.
During the execution of the warrant, they also found two firearms, as well as shell casings,
shell casings that also matched the shell casings
that were found around Moe's body that belonged to Caitlyn's firearm.
Now this search took place while Colin and Caitlyn were being separately interviewed,
and I'm going to tell you about the conversations that authorities had with the two of them,
starting with Colin.
On the 12th, Colin voluntarily followed investigators back to the police department where he
answered questions for several hours. Of course, he was asked about his
relationship with Kaitlyn. He was asked about his relationship with Mo and he
explained to them pretty much everything I've explained to you. He tells them
that his relationship with Kaitlyn was rocky. And at times they broke up, got
back together, and one of those times being when he and Moe
became romantically involved.
He even told investigators about how Caitlin
had contacted Moe while they were together
and how that freaked her out and get this.
He also tells investigators that in order to contact Moe
as friends and communicate with her,
he had to change her name in his phone,
so that Caitlin wouldn't find out. And not only that, he also tells them, he had to change her name in his phone. So that Caitlin wouldn't find out.
And not only that, he also tells them how he had to delete any conversations he had with
Mo after they were done speaking.
Now I already know a lot of you are going to be wondering, you know, why did he feel the
need to delete these messages and change her name in his phone if they weren't romantically
involved.
They're just friends.
And there's a lot of speculation over whether there was more, but it really doesn't matter.
I don't want to lose sight of what we're talking about.
And that is that Mo was murdered.
Even if Colin was cheating on Caitlin with Mo,
and I'm not saying he was because we just don't know, it doesn't change anything.
And it doesn't justify what happened
at all. But anyway, Colin tells investigators everything that he and Mo did the day before
and gave them a timeline to the best of his ability. And part of that timeline was what he did
after he dropped Mo off. According to Colin, and this was corroborated later by GPS and cell data. He drops Mo off and then he takes his motorcycle
and stops in an alleyway and then text Katelyn.
And that text reads, hey, are you out?
I went to drops and flowers for Allison
at her son's house up north and my phone died.
Heading home unless you have another food suggestion.
Now, obviously this was a lie and he admitted to police that this was a lie
and that he lied because he didn't want Caitlin to know that he was with Mo. But it didn't matter
because Caitlin knew exactly where Colin was and who he was with. And also in this interview,
Colin positively identified the Jeep as belonging to Caitlin and he said that on the night of the murder, Caitlin came home driving that car, her and her alone.
And lastly, he shared that he was the one to purchase the two firearms,
one in December of 2021 and one in January of 2022,
but confirmed that the 9-millimeter was Caitlin's and registered in her name.
So if it wasn't already clear, he is very compliant and forthcoming with information.
Now let's talk about Caitlin being questioned because the circumstances were very different. They
ended up getting her in for questioning because she was arrested, but not for the murder for something
else. When investigators looked into Caitlin before officially confronting her, they found out she had a class B felony arrest warrant
out in her name.
And she had this class B felony arrest warrant
because Caitlin had gotten Botox done
at a med spa or something like that.
And it's an expensive service.
Botox can be very pricey.
And when she was done,
Caitlin didn't want to pay for the Botox.
So they called the police,
but all of this ended up being sort of a good thing
because Caitlin now had to go with investigators
whether or not she wanted to.
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But once they arrived at the station, detectives found out that,
unfortunately, Kaitlyn's arrest warrant was no longer valid because her birthday was listed incorrectly.
So she was free to go. But even though she was
free to go, she decides to stay and answer a few questions. So Caitlin sat with a detective and she
was asked some pretty basic questions like if she knew what happened. And according to an arrest
affidavit that was issued later on, Caitlin said that she knew that a girl in the cycling community
had died, but that's about as much as she shared. And that same affidavit says that Caitlyn sat very still while being interviewed, and that
she rolled her eyes angrily when she was asked if she knew that Colin and Mo were romantically
involved.
And after rolling her eyes, she said that she didn't know that Colin had seen or even
went out with this girl as of recently.
And then they bring up the fact that her car was seen outside of Cash's house the night
that Moe was murdered and she didn't have an explanation for this. She simply nodded her head
in agreement when investigators said maybe you were upset and just in the area. But after this,
Caitlin requested to leave and they had
to let her go home, and keep in mind by this point and it had only been one day since
the murder and things were already ramping up. Even if they didn't have all the evidence
they needed yet to arrest her, they were pretty confident that she was their prime suspect,
so they continued their investigation and worked to get an arrest warrant as quick as they
could. But in the meantime, on May 13th,
Caitlin was already planning her first escape.
That day, she sells her Jeep for $12,200
to a CarMax in South Austin.
And then the following day,
she was seen on surveillance
at Austin International Bergstrom Airport
wearing white pants, a blue sweater,
and carrying what appeared to be a yoga mat.
And it would later be revealed that Caitlin took a flight from Austin to LaGuaria with a stop in
Houston. However, her final destination was a complete mystery. But meanwhile, back in Austin,
investigators are doing everything they can to confirm what they already know. And an anonymous
call came in from someone claiming to be Caitlin's friend and it ended up being a big help. According to this caller,
Caitlyn found out that Mo and Colin were still texting each other in January of 2022. And when she
found out she was shaking with anger. And not just that, the caller also says that Caitlyn was so
angry that she wanted to kill Mo, and that she had either already purchased
a gun or was planning to.
So yeah, as you can imagine, investigators' confidence that Caitlin is their girl is through the roof.
And by May 17th, less than a week after the murder, a warrant was issued for Caitlin's
arrest.
But what do you know?
Caitlin is nowhere to be found when investigators go to her house to make the arrest.
Because as we already know,
Caitlin was in New York,
planning to board a flight to Costa Rica.
On May 18th,
Caitlin used her sister's name and passport to board a flight
from Newark Airport to San Jose, Costa Rica,
where she would end up hiding out and evading arrest for 43 days.
Now obviously this information is available to us now, but at the time investigators had
no idea where she was.
Yes, they had surveillance footage placing her at three different airports in a matter of
days, but after coming through flight records, her name was nowhere to be found.
So for just over six weeks, Caitlin was out living her best life as a free woman in Santa
Teresa.
Now Santa Teresa, which is only a three hour drive and a two hour ferry ride from the
San Jose airport seemed like the perfect place for Caitlin.
Not just because it's beautiful and remote, but because it's summer where she could practice
and teach yoga.
One thing about Caitlin that I haven't shared with you yet is that she was a yoga enthusiast.
So much so back in 2018, she actually went to Bali and did a month-long intensive teaching
course.
And some of the people who were there with her in Bali say that something was just off
about Caitlyn.
But with her past aside, Santa Teresa, is where she thought she could
get her fresh start. I mean, it was a tiny little beach town where she hoped she would never
be recognized. And this is where it gets even more insane because Caitlin took steps to alter
her identity. She changed her name to Ari Martin, cut and died her hair, and even went as far as
getting a nose job. For six weeks, she has just lived her best in Costa Rica, chilling on the beach, teaching
yoga, getting plastic surgery.
And meanwhile, most friends and family are devastated and scared wondering what is going
to happen.
How are they going to get justice?
Where is Caitlin?
And she was staying at Don John's surf and yoga lounge for less than $20
a night. It's a hostel. And according to people who are there, she could often be found doing
or teaching yoga, sitting on her laptop in the lounge's common area, or having a drink with
locals. And to her, this new life of hers was just beginning, but the reality was, is it was
coming to an end. Because of course, back at home, US marshals are working tooth and nail
to try and locate her. And on May 25th authorities announced that not only was Caitlin wanted for
first degree murder, but an additional charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. They worked
with international authorities to disseminate her photo, and finally after 43 days, Caitlin Armstrong was captured. On June 29th, she was just
sitting at the Hostel's patio table when she was arrested by US Marshals. Her arrest was announced
the following day and with that, the extradition process began. And there are photos of Caitlin being
extradited back to Texas where she was facing the charge of first-degree murder and unlawful flight
to avoid prosecution.
And at the time, it was believed that she would be held on a $3.5 million bail.
And that did end up being the case, rightfully deserved.
And obviously, that amount was so high because Homegirl is a flight risk.
Newt's tonight, the woman accused of killing pro cyclist Mo Wilson in Austin is back in the US.
Caitlin Armstrong arrived in Houston this evening at around 5.
Photo show at least 5 guards is
scoring her through the airport.
Armstrong was on the run for 43 days
until authorities arrested her this past Wednesday
in Costa Rica.
She'll appear before a judge in Houston
before she's transferred to Travis County
where she faces a three and a half million dollar bail.
And Caitlin was officially extra-dited back to the US on July 4th, 2022.
And I remember this so clearly.
I remember hearing about it while laying in bed.
I was very, very pregnant and depressed.
It was raining. It was 4th of July.
And I remember being so fascinated by all this going on.
And happy that they had finally caught her.
And just 16 days later, she appeared in court where she pleaded not guilty, of course,
on all charges.
And from this point forward, the state began building their case against her.
And let me tell you, it was a strong one.
So there were a few delays with the trial.
At first, it was supposed to be October of 2022.
And then it was pushed to June of 2023,
and then again from June 2023 to very recently, October 2023.
But even though the date had changed a few times, the circumstances certainly did not.
34-year-old Caitlin Marie Armstrong was facing up to 99 years in prison for the first degree murder
of Mariah Wilson. And not only that, she was also facing an additional 20 years for Get This, Escape Causing
Bodily Injury.
Yes, this case gets even crazier.
Caitlin literally tried to escape again.
On October 11, 2023, after leaving a doctor's visit in South Austin, Caitlin temporarily escaped police custody, which led to a very brief one-mile chase.
So these days, it feels like there is a subscription
for everything, and it feels that way because there is.
It's honestly insane how many subscriptions
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I had no idea how many active subscriptions I had
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New at noon, there was a new video from a KXAN viewer
showing accused killer
Caitlin Armstrong trying to outrun corrections officers in South Austin,
even scaling a wall at one point. New video from this viewer shows what appears
to be Armstrong trying to outrun those corrections officers. The Travis County
Sheriff's Office says this happened yesterday morning when Armstrong was leaving
a medical center near South first and been white. She already slipped out of the country once
before when she fled to Costa Rica.
And obviously she was captured, but I can't think what did she think she was
going to do? Where did she think she was going to go back to Costa Rica?
Be so fucking for real. Anyway, without out of the way, let's get into the trial.
So jury selection took place on October 30th. And by the end of the day, it's get into the trial. So jury selection took place on October 30.
And by the end of the day, it was decided that Caitlin would face a jury of eight women and six men.
The next day, Judge Brenda Kennedy ruled that Caitlin's escape attempt would be admitted
because there was some looming question over whether or not it would be admissible.
And with that, opening statements began.
For the prosecution, Travis County prosecutor,
Ricky Jones opened things up with a long but very powerful statement
where he explained how and why Caitlin Armstrong should be found guilty of murder.
He talked about what evidence would be presented and how it undeniably,
irrefutably, links the defendant to Mos murder. And when we present this nowadays to you, go to these party witnesses here.
We're going to ask you to find Kate Langedon guilty of murdering Mo Wilson.
And as for the motive, I'm sure that's pretty obvious by now.
Caitlin was a very jealous, bitter woman who instead of just talking to Mariah, woman to woman, like a real
person, she did the cowardly thing and killed her.
Now, some of the key witnesses that would testify for the prosecution would be Colin
Strickland, of course, as well as two of Caitlin's friends, which I'll tell you about shortly,
and the prosecution would end up calling nearly 40 witnesses.
And while I wish I could play footage from the testimony,
cameras were not allowed in the courtroom during that time. I will, however, tell you about the
most important details that came to light. Now, as for the defense, let me explain what their tactics
were and how they were going to explain away all of this evidence. They sort of had two main
arguments. And the first was that investigators failed
to consider anyone else besides Caitlin.
They argued that they set their sights on her immediately
and that they didn't do a proper investigation
to rule out other possibilities.
And their second main argument was that no one actually
saw Caitlin pull the trigger.
Yes, a car matching the description of her car
was seen on surveillance footage, circling
the house an hour before the murder, but Caitlin herself wasn't seen on surveillance footage
entering or exiting the home.
And these arguments were driven home by the defense time and time again.
You won't hear, and you didn't hear, about any camera footage showing Caitlin Armstrong at the scene of this shooting.
Despite there being tons of cameras in the air, and you heard opening statements about all the cameras
that were in the immediate vicinity of the scene of that shooting,
not one captures Caitlin Armstrong at that scene because there isn't any.
You did not hear about any direct evidence showing Caitlin Armstrong is responsible for this
crime because there isn't any.
Now you will hear at the time Caitlin left Austin to go to New York and then to Costa Rica,
she would have no reason to know about 84.
That was President in this case.
At the Austin Police Department told her she was free to go.
She was free to go.
That's what she will hear.
You will hear that Kate is passionate about traveling.
She's passionate about yoga. And you're going to hear that she was totally comfortable
traveling to far off locations that intrigued her at the drop of the hat on a moment's note.
But obviously know the evidence stacked against Caitlin is way too strong, so let's go over that. First and foremost, the Jeep.
We know and saw the surveillance footage placed a Jeep matching the exact description
of Caitlin's Jeep at the scene of the murder.
Sure, Caitlin wasn't seen entering or exiting the car, but no one else was either.
And it's funny because the prosecution say that they don't think Caitlin even had some
master plan to avoid being seen.
And if she did, she wouldn't have been driving around so carelessly.
They say that it was entirely a coincidence that Caitlin was not seen getting in or out
of the car because whenever she did that, there just happened to not be a camera there
to catch it.
However that clearly doesn't mean it wasn't her driving.
The Jeep was not only an exact match to her vehicle, but Colin also testified that she
wasn't home during the murder and that she got home after a loan in the Jeep.
And next, of course, we have the firearm.
Caitlin's firearm, a 9mm handgun, was collected as evidence and after being test-fired, an
expert confirmed and testified that
it matched the weapon used to kill Mo. got two mangle to compare. So they got those two guns that they got from the
searchman. How it's done?
Caillan's six-hour P365 9mm. They test fire those guns and compared those test-fired casings to those five found at the scene.
From that chair, the ballistics guys don't tell you how that's going to explain. Well, I did it by the result for sure that those cases, test cases, were identified as being
the same inspired from that company.
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And then there's the DNA on the bike. Remember how I explained that Mo's bike appeared
to have been stolen and then was found abandoned 68 feet from where she was murdered? Well,
they found DNA on the bike, and it belonged to Caitlin, of course. But there was also foreign DNA found on the bike.
And so of course, the defense made the argument
that police failed to truly investigate that DNA.
But explaining away how Caitlin's DNA was on the bike
was going to be pretty hard to do.
And that other DNA could have belonged to anyone
who had worked on the bike or transported
the bike, things like that.
So next we have the digital evidence.
First and foremost, GPS data from Caitlin's Jeep was extracted and it placed her car, her
Jeep, near the site of the murder.
And I mean, that alone, and I think we can all agree, is a slam dunk.
And early on in the trial, the defense tried to argue
that you don't know for sure that it was Caitlin's Jeep,
but by the end of the trial, they were saying,
you don't know for certain that Caitlin was the one
driving her Jeep.
And if it wasn't already clear,
that was an admission from the defense,
that it was, in fact, Caitlin's Jeep
that was seen on surveillance.
But how did the prosecution make the connection
that it was Caitlin in fact driving the Jeep?
Well, once they looked at her phone data,
it was clear that her phone was moving in tandem
with the movements of the Jeep.
Unless you wanna try and argue that someone stole her phone
and her car, which would just be a terrible coincidence,
I mean, come on.
This was a coincidence that the prosecution
was just not convinced happened.
And there was other digital evidence too.
It turns out that on Caitlin's iCloud account,
investigators found a deleted screenshot of Google Maps,
and let me just have you guess
where the location was set to.
It was to where Mo was staying, her friend cashes house.
But how would she have known where Mo was staying. Her friend cashes house. But how would she have known where
Mo was staying? Well, the prosecution argued that Caitlin had access to Colin's iPad and laptop,
where she easily could have accessed his text messages. And that means that she not only knew
where Mo was staying, but she also knew that Colin and Mo had spent the day together the day that she killed her.
The evidence even suggests that Caitlyn had followed Moe and Colin around up,
for at least part of the day that they had spent together on top of circling her house.
And we're not even done with digital evidence if you can believe it.
It turns out Caitlyn used Strava, which is an exercise tracking app,
and she was able to look up Mariah's profile,
and she did it six times on the day of the murder.
Six.
By looking up her profile, she would be able to see Mariah's most recent movements.
Caitlin's internet searches while she was in Costa Rica showed that she looked up her
own name, and then she also looked up if pineapples could burn off fingerprints.
It's giving guilty. I was so confused by this and I
started looking it up and I guess it is a myth that pineapples can burn off fingerprints and there's
some reports that people that work in pineapple plants like over time have their fingerprints burned
off. And I'm not sure if any of that is true, but my guess is she had heard about that while she was down there and thought, could that
be an option for me?
Plus in court, they considered the fact that Caitlyn left the country and used her sister's
passport to do so.
And the defense would say that Caitlyn leaving the country was totally legal.
And maybe it was.
She was technically free to go when she was questioned on May 12th.
And when she fled the country, she wasn't actually aware that a warrant for her arrest had been
issued. They also argued that Caitlyn just loved to travel and just happened to do it then because
she loved taking long trips out of the country. And it's like, okay, maybe you could make that argument
if she didn't also use her sister's passport, change her appearance and her name.
I mean, come on.
So obviously, the prosecution
pointed to all of that as suspicious behavior.
Okay, so let's talk about some of the testimony
that the jury heard, starting with Collins.
Collins took the stand and shared that on May 13th,
he stopped all communication with Caitlin
and hadn't talked to her since.
He talked about his relationship with Caitlin,
his relationship with Mo, and the timeline of events from the day of the murder.
And from what I gathered, his testimony didn't really bring anything new to light that we didn't
already know, but it was still helpful. And I also mentioned earlier that Caitlyn's friends
took the stand, and one of these friends was named Nicole. Nicole's testimony was crucial,
because she said that back in October of 2021, when Mo and
Colin first started being romantically involved, that she, when this Caitlin become visibly
angry when she saw the two of them enter a bar together.
And Nicole said that she even asked Caitlin what she would do if Colin began dating anyone
else seriously.
And Caitlin responded, I would kill her.
I would kill her. I would kill her.
And another friend of Caitlin's name, Jacqueline, took the stand and testified that she saw
Caitlin shaking with anger, talking about Colin and Mo.
And she told her that she had recently got a gun.
So both Jacqueline and Nicole say that they heard Caitlin saying she wanted to kill Mo.
And a few detectives were also brought to the stand to talk about the defense's argument that
they had rushed to conclusions with Caitlyn, but they said they stood by their work and thought it
was the right call. And like I said, there were nearly 40 witnesses that the jury got to hear
speak, but they never got to hear from Caitlyn. She did not testify in her own defense, and honestly, that doesn't surprise me in the slightest,
and it probably was the right call.
In closing statements, prosecutor Ricky Jones asked the jury
not to go down the rabbit holes that the defense
was trying to present.
He pointed to every piece of evidence
I've just shared with you and reminded the jury
that just 19 days before trial began,
Kaitlyn tried to escape.
We picked this jury on October 30th.
We started our evidence on November the 1st,
the day of the day of the day of November the 1st.
It's a day that the Mexican American culture
celebrate those who have gone before them.
We started his evidence on the date of the day.
So you see from this video here? You see here? She's not just running from the sheriff's department.
No sir. That's 19 days before this trial. She's running from you and you and you and you and you
and you and you and you and she's running from all of you on the back row,
because you are a jury of her peers.
Everybody deserves their day in court,
and she got her.
And you can see from this video, she didn't want to face you.
And so based on the evidence presented, they were asked to find Caitlin Armstrong guilty
of murder.
The state has met its burden of proof beyond a reason without.
I think we climbed past every mountain and climbed Mount Everest.
Overwhelmed.
Now, if I had to get up here and send you down a bunch of rabbit holes, I actually do
me one favor.
The tools of her prodigy, she's about to set the world on fire.
So don't do me a favor.
Do more Wilson a favor.
And I got one last thing to say to you.
Get your note pad.
Write a line down the middle of it.
You don't have a note pad, use a note pad in your brain.
And when they get up here, do something for me,
but do it for a moment.
When they say something and seein' out a rabbit hole, write it on the left side.
If it's proven from the evidence here, pursuant to paragraph 12 of your charge, write it on
the right side of your paper.
And we've been here a long time, but we haven't got to stay much longer
because when you get to the back I submit you that when you separate the left side of the paper
from the right side of the paper it's gonna be blank and we can get out here pretty quickly
and find her guilty of shooting Mo Wilson in the heart and in a head and taking away this
prophecy at the age of 25.
And luckily, that's exactly what they did.
And it didn't take them long.
On November 16, 2023, Caitlin was found guilty of murder after less than three hours of deliberation.
And the sentencing phase began just a day after, and a handful of people were able to speak
before a decision was made.
Now, I want to play two clips from you from these moments that are extremely powerful.
I want you to hear from those friend Cash, who experienced unbelievable trauma, finding
her friend in that condition and trying to save her life.
Caitlin, I want you to know that I fought for Mo with everything I had that night.
From the moment that I got home, I started doing chest compressions, which was the longest
10 minutes of my entire life.
I remember feeling so relieved when the police arrived that help was finally there.
People who really knew what they were doing and who could
help me care for her.
I fought for her afterwards when I was pulled from my home by
police and taken downstairs. I initially refused to my home by police and taken down stairs. I
initially refused to go to the police station that night because I didn't want
her to be alone. In one of the body cam videos I say something along the lines
of I can't leave her. I'm the only one she has here. I couldn't understand why
they weren't bringing her downstairs to the ambulance
so that they could rush her to the hospital. I asked one of the officers why they weren't
bringing her down. And that's when he told me that Shen fortunately didn't make it.
That was the first moment that night when I realized that there was no coming back from
this.
I think I had just assumed that as soon as she was taken to a hospital that she was going
to be okay.
It never actually crossed my mind in the chaos of that night that she wouldn't be alive,
that she would die, that she was already dead when I arrived home.
I thought she did such an incredible job looking Caitlin directly in the eye.
That could not have been easy, that whole experience.
She was just so strong and I only played you a bit of it, but I want to link the full
version below so you can check out the entire thing for yourself.
Now the next clip I'm'm gonna play is also very powerful
and difficult to watch.
It's Mo's mom who seems like a wonderful person
and I cannot imagine being in her shoes
and she speaks about how incredibly smart, talented,
beautiful and kind her daughter was.
She was, I'm sure.
I'm not sure if my words can penetrate your heart, but I'm going to try. I hate what you did to my beautiful daughter.
It was very self-fulshed and cowardly, but by a Latin act on the 11th, it was cowardly because he never chose to face her woman
to a man in a civil conversation.
She would have listened.
She was an amazing listener.
She would have cared about your feelings.
She was a caring and empathetic person.
If you allowed yourself to actually know her, you never, ever wanted to hurt her.
This never would have happened.
You and Colin could have had a beautiful life together.
You destroyed that.
You were willing to your life. Your family's lives are lives and crushed the hearts of many more. When you've shot Mariah in the heart,
you shot me in my heart. You shot Eric and Matt in their hearts. You shot Marais, cousins, and
aunts and uncles, and all the people who loved her. Peers to their hearts. You will
have to live with your choices and its consequences just like all of us do on
this planet.
I will also link her entire statement below if you would like to give that a watch as well.
Now in the end of all this, Caitlin Armstrong was sentenced to 90 years in prison.
A sentence that I personally think is incredibly fair.
Mariah Wilson was only 25 years old when her life was stolen from her and she was stolen from all of her friends and family by a jealous selfish, soulless person. Her parents lost a
child, her brother lost a sibling, and the world lost an incredible person who
was destined to achieve so many great things. As I said earlier in her honor I
want to make a donation to the Mariah Wilson Foundation. This foundation was created by her family to help honor Mo's legacy by supporting the very
causes that she was passionate about.
Mo intended to spend her life giving back to the community that shaped her, and this foundation
will make it so that she can still do just that.
I will have a link below if you would like to make a donation as well.
I'm sure her family would really appreciate that, and it's a really wonderful way to honor her life. I'm just so blown away by her family being able to pull this
together in their time of tragedy so quickly. I think it's amazing how they've continued to honor
Mo's legacy and her wishes. I'm so glad that in the end Mo got justice, but it doesn't change the fact that her life was stolen
from her when she was so young and for no reason. I mean, this was so unnecessary. But that's
all I have on this case. I of course really want to hear your thoughts on everything that
we went over today.
That is going to be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode.
And make sure you follow the show on
Spotify and Apple podcasts. It really does help me out if you want to watch the video version of this show
You can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked or you can just search Kendal Ray
I will be back with another episode soon, but until then stay safe out there
you