Who Is Kaitlin Armstrong & Where Is She Now? 2025 Update & Background
Kaitlin Marie Armstrong was born on November 21, 1987, and raised in Livonia, Michigan. She graduated from Stevenson High School in 2005 and went on to attend Schoolcraft College and Eastern Michigan University. Prior to her arrest, Armstrong was known as a yoga instructor and licensed realtor. Friends and acquaintances described her as quiet and health-conscious, with a focus on wellness and fitness. She lived in Austin, Texas, where she shared a home with professional cyclist Colin Strickland.
Armstrong’s relationship with Strickland was reportedly tumultuous. The couple had briefly separated in late 2021, during which time Strickland had a short romantic relationship with Moriah Wilson, a rising gravel cyclist. Although Armstrong and Strickland later reconciled, text messages, testimony, and witness statements revealed that Armstrong remained suspicious and resentful about his continued contact with Wilson.
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Contents
The Murder of Moriah Wilson
On May 11, 2022, 25-year-old Moriah Wilson was shot and killed in a friend’s home in Austin. Investigators quickly identified Armstrong as the prime suspect. Surveillance footage showed her Jeep Grand Cherokee near the residence around the time of the murder. Forensic evidence later confirmed that a shell casing found at the scene matched a gun registered to Armstrong. Police also discovered that Armstrong had recently visited a shooting range and expressed disturbing thoughts about Wilson to others.
After being briefly detained by police on an unrelated warrant, Armstrong was released due to a technical error in the paperwork. Within two days, she had fled Texas.
International Flight and Capture
Armstrong eluded authorities for 43 days, using her sister’s passport to fly from New Jersey to Costa Rica. She drastically altered her appearance, cutting and dyeing her hair, and reportedly underwent plastic surgery. Using aliases, she attempted to blend in by teaching yoga in a remote beach town.
U.S. Marshals ultimately tracked her down through a creative tactic—posting a fake yoga instructor ad on a local Facebook group. When someone responded, agents were able to identify Armstrong and arrested her at a hostel in Santa Teresa on June 29, 2022. A receipt for plastic surgery confirmed she had tried to change her identity while in hiding.
Trial, Conviction, and Where She Is Now
After her extradition back to Texas, Armstrong was indicted on charges of first-degree murder and misuse of a passport. She pleaded not guilty. Her trial began in October 2023, and despite an attempted escape from custody just weeks before the proceedings, the case moved forward. The trial lasted two weeks and included emotional testimony, surveillance footage, GPS data, and extensive forensic evidence. Armstrong was found guilty on November 16, 2023.
She was sentenced to 90 years in prison with eligibility for parole after 30 years. In June 2024, she was also ordered to pay $15 million in a civil wrongful death lawsuit brought by Wilson’s family. Additional legal action followed after she was found to have transferred her financial assets to relatives and to Colin Strickland following the murder.
As of now, Kaitlin Armstrong is serving her sentence at the Dr. Lane Murray Unit, a women’s prison in Gatesville, Texas. She remains in custody with no parole expected before 2053, and her criminal conviction stands following the denial of her appeal. Her fall from a seemingly ordinary life to infamy remains one of the most chilling and closely followed true crime cases in recent memory.
