April 14, 2026 • 42 mins
Moriah Wilson was a 25-year-old professional cyclist with a promising future ahead of her. But, in 2022, she was shot and killed by a woman that let jealously overcome her.
Kaitlin Armstrong was convicted of Moriah’s murder, but it wasn’t an easy feat. Kaitlin managed to flee the country and evade capture for 43 days before they found her in Costa Rica. To top it off, she attempted to run away a second time after this…
Emily and Shane are diving into all of it, including the sentencing of Kaitlin Armstrong, the aftermath of Moriah’s death and the new Netflix documentary that came out about her this month.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi, guys, welcome to an episode of Legally Brunette. I
will be your host today Emily Simpson with my co.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Host Shane Shane.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Okay, before we get started on this episode, which, by
the way, we are going to talk about the murder
of Mariah Wilson. I don't know if you guys have
seen it. It is new on Netflix. I couldn't wait
for it to come out. I actually, you know how
on Netflix you can do like the reminders, because I
kept seeing advertise on Netflix and I wanted to watch it,
so I had to do a reminder. So I watched
(00:30):
it like as soon as it came out. So interesting
and intriguing. Can't wait to talk about it. But before
we get into it, I just wanted to ask you,
has Megan Markle done anything recently that has angered you?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
No. I have not read any headlines yet for Mega.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Mark Okay, and I would have to say that the
majority of dms I get now are people agreeing with
how much they dislike he along with you. Yeah. So anyway,
if you have any other updates.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
On an eye out.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Okay, all right, so let's go into this Anna Mariah,
she goes by Moe to her close friends and family.
Wilson was a twenty five year old professional cyclist who
was fatally shot on May eleventh of twenty twenty two
at a friend's home in Austin, Texas. Investigators determined that
Caitlyn Armstrong, who was a yoga instructor and realtor, followed
(01:21):
Wilson home and shot her three times. Her motives were
rooted in jealousy over Mariah's romantic involvement with Caitlyn's boyfriend
and fellow cyclist, Colin Strickland. The case drew widespread attention,
considering Mariah's promising career in cycling and the circumstances of
her death. Netflix released a documentary about her case. It
(01:43):
was just released I think it was just a couple
of days ago, in twenty twenty six, titled The Truth
and Tragedy of Mariah Wilson. Had you heard about this
case before, No, not until you mentioned it to me.
All right, So we're going to get into it. We're
going to go through a little bit of a timeline,
go back in time. So let's go back to the nineties, which,
by the way, is my favorite decade. Do you have
(02:04):
a favorite.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Decade of all of your five, all of.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
My five decades the.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Nineties, that's the number one.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Yes, I would like to go back. So. Anna Mariah
goes By Moe was born on May eighteenth and nineteen
ninety six in Littleton, New Hampshire, and she grew up
in Kirby, Vermont. She was born into a very athletic family.
Her dad was one spot away from competing in the
Olympics for skiing when he was younger. Anne Mariah attended
(02:32):
Burke Mountain Academy, which was a specialized school for skiers,
and later Dartmouth College, graduating with an engineering degree in
twenty nineteen. I do know originally she wanted to become
a professional skier. I think that's why most of those
kids go to this like elite ski school. But she
had several injuries I believe, and even had some torn
acl or something like that, so ended up giving up
(02:53):
on a skiing career. But she ends up becoming a
professional gravel and mountain bike racer.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
That's so funny. One it's like, oh, I'll just have
to set aside a potential skiing career and I'll just
be a pro biker.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Well that just means she's just I know she's athletic,
supremely athletic. I didn't know exactly what gravel biking meant,
and I meant to look it up, but I assume
it just means not mountain biking. It means road gravel.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Well probably or not asphalt.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
She gained national recognition and won major events such as
the Sea Otter Classic and Belgian Waffle Ride. That sounds that.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Sounds It's not what you think. It sounds very delicious,
the Belgium, the.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Belgian Waffle Ride, Yes, and the sea Otter Classic. She
had a brief romantic relationship in late twenty twenty one
with another professional cyclist. His name was Colin Strickland, and
he also he's a part of this Netflix documentary, but
I don't know if he's like wants to be a
(04:00):
part of it, because he is in it, but not reluctant. Well,
I just think based upon everything that happens, which we'll
get into, I think he emotionally, psychology psychologically, has a
lot of issues with his role in all of this,
and so they show him in it, but he's he
seems aloof and distant, but we'll get into that. So
(04:23):
she ends up having this on again off again relationship,
not with him. She has a brief romantic relationship with
Colin in late twenty twenty one. I guess they meet
at some kind of race, and she's very well known.
She's been winning a lot of things lately, so I
think he's on her radar. I think he asks her
to go to lunch or something, and he says, like
(04:43):
the first time they meet up, it's very platonic. They
just talk about her career and things like that. But
he has a girlfriend at home named Caitlyn Armstrong, and
I think they have kind.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Of did she know they were going to meet?
Speaker 1 (04:55):
I doubt she had any idea about it, but they
end up they meet, he says. When they initially meet,
they're just talking about, you know, Mariah's career and where
she wants to go and all these things and how
he can help her. But he does have a girlfriend
at home, so Colin circling and Kaitlyn Armstrong. They let
later reconcile, but Caitlyn allegedly became very very jealous of Mariah,
(05:18):
worrying about her friendship with Colin, so Colin even changed
Mariah's name in his phone in case Kitlyn. Ever looked
through it.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Have you changed he changed it to to like changed
had he changed.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Any names in your phone?
Speaker 2 (05:32):
No?
Speaker 1 (05:33):
No, no, so you don't have like like John Smith.
But it's really some some girl. It's so easy to
do that, Like you could just change someone's name to
just a male name.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
God, the kids. We're watching Darman the other day, Like
those YouTube videos are like kind of produced videos. Name,
you should have a good moral, Like right, I liked
Darman and he learned. Yeah, like fifteen minute videos with
actors because it's fifteen minutes. They get straight to the point, right,
and yeah, it's kind of cheesy.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Right, Well, they're targeting kids, so they have to keep
it at fifteen minutes.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yeah, and so I just because anyway, So this is
guy he's cheating on his wife and he gets she
picks up his phone because it beeps when he gets
home from work or whatever. Yeah, she looks at it
and had all these hearts, and it was like, hi,
my love. You know, lunch was so romantigble or whatever.
But it was the name of the contact was the office? Yeah,
(06:33):
it was the office. Yeah. She's like, why is the
office sending you hearts? Like that was the best he
could come up with the office.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
The office. I like that one. Do you have any
contacts that you're called the office? No?
Speaker 2 (06:46):
I don't, all right.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
According to law enforcement, Caitlyn express violent sentiments about Mariah beforehand,
telling one of her friends that if she ever found
out Colin was talking to another girl, she'd quote kill them,
you know, I don't know. They interview a friend of Caitlyn,
and Kaitlyn's friend in this documentary says that she had
a conversation with Caitlyn at some point where Kaitlyn had
(07:10):
made reference to Colin. If Colin ever cheated on her,
she would kill them or whatever. I don't know. I
don't know if that predetermines that you would actually do that,
because I feel like that's something that women would say,
Like if someone said to you, what would you do
if you found out Shane was cheating on you, I'd
say I'd kill him. Yeah, But that doesn't mean that
I would actually thinks I guess, But I mean, I
(07:30):
don't know what woman wouldn't say something like that if
they found out that their spouse or boyfriend was cheating
on them. All right, let's get to May of twenty
twenty two. So Mariah is in Austin, Texas, preparing for
an upcoming race. She has a close friend named Cash,
who is also in the documentary, and she she's actually
a large part of it because she was very integrated
(07:52):
into this whole scenario. So so Mariah goes and stays
at Cash's house. She meets Colin earlier that same day,
and they swam together and have dinner. There's actually they
show in the documentary. They show footage, security footage of
them together at a restaurant, you know, an outdoor restaurant.
(08:13):
They're sharing a meal. I guess they went swimming earlier
in the day. Then Mariah goes back to Cash's house afterwards.
That's where she's saying. Police later determined that Mariah is
shot three times, twice in the head and once in
the chest and dies from her wounds at Cash's home.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Do we know what number encountering this was? They met once?
I saw two.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
I think they only met maybe twice, and I think
maybe there were some text messages between the two of them.
It wasn't what I would call a relationship, but a date. Yeah,
I would say it was. I would say they went
on a date, but Colin was living with Caitlin at
the time and did not tell Caitlyn. He lied to
Caitlin and said that he was going out to run errands,
but he ended up meeting up with Mariah having launched
(08:59):
going swimming together. And then he's the one that dropped
Mariah back off at Cash's house. So he drops Mariah
off at Cash's house. I think it was like around
eight forty five PM or something like that. I don't
remember the exact time, but by I think it was
like nine to fifteen PM is when she was shot.
(09:19):
And they know exactly when she was shot because the
house next door has a security system on it that
picks up the gunshots and her screams, so you can
actually hear.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Did they play that in the documentary audio?
Speaker 1 (09:35):
No, they showed video of Caitlin's car circling Cash's house
because she she looped many, many, many times, so they
caught her car on surveillance, like over and over repeatedly,
they could actually you know, track it.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
She had no business being there.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Right, So the police know that Colin Strickland was the
last person to see or hear from Mariah before her death,
so obviously they're going to go to him and start
questioning him because they with her. He had dinner with
(10:13):
her right and they went swimming, so they have that
on surveillance video. They know he was the last person
to see her. He's also the one that drops her
off right before she's murdered. All right, They bring Kaitlin
into the police station for questioning, but she asked to
leave and they do not have enough evidence to hold
her there.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
How were they quickly? How did they what made them?
I know Caitlin circled and everything the house. How did
they connect her? Like? What was the first connection? They
had to reach out to her.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Because they knew Colin was with Mariah. They know that
Colin dates Caitlin. They know that at Colin's house, Caitlyn
lives there and she drives like this black suv. I
think it's like a like a jeep Cherokee or something.
They pulled the surveillance video of Cash's house and they
that there's a black suv.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
That quickly they pulled her in for questioning after the murder.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
I think it was within days, like they put this.
They put this all together pretty quickly. Okay, So they
see that when they go talk to Colin they see
I think they bring Collin in, but they think they
also go to his house. And when they go to
his house, they see that there's a black jeep Cherokee
or something there. Then they connect he says that's his
girlfriend's car. Then they have all this. They pull all
the surveillance video of the neighborhood and they see that
(11:28):
car circling around Cash's house.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Well, he's still not at this point. I'm sure he's
not ruled out as a suspect because he's could have
taken her car purposefully right to go kill his uh.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
But they bring Kitlyn into the police station. I think
it's interesting because they show they actually show the video
of bringing Kitlyn into the interrogation room. This is where
I was actually bothered by the police officer because she
starts asking her questions and Caitlyn sits there and says nothing.
She doesn't answer, she doesn't say a word. M Then
(12:01):
she keeps asking her more questions. She's like, you just
have to give us our side of the story, and
they did that whole It wasn't bad cop, good cop,
but it was like bad guy good guy, where they're like,
we're talking to Colin right now, over here.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I think I hate the absolute most that cops say
because I think it's I think it's actually dumb for
them to say it. But is when they say I'm
just trying to figure out what's going on here, Yeah,
because I'd be like, well, I don't give a crap,
go figure it out on your own, Like I'm not
here to help you with your puzzled thoughts.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Yeah, well, this is exactly they say that.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
It drives me nuts. Yes, they should say, there's allegations
against you, and unless you want to say your side
of the story, we're just going to go with the allegations.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Well that's basically what she says. So she basically tells Caitlin, Hey,
we have Colin and he's in another room and he's
telling us one story, so you should talk because you
need to tell us your side of the story.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
It's a little bit better.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
But she says nothing. Then she said I need an
attorney or something that I don't know the exact verbige.
I wish I went back and actually let me.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
I think I remember seeing some of the scenes when
you were watching. She did not say like I want
an attorney, and that's typically what you need to say
I want my attorney. I want a attorney.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
She said something to the effect of like I think
I need an attorney, or I should an attorney.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
That's like questioning it, like should I call an attorney?
I don't know, do you have anything to hide? The
thing is, though, I'm just trying to figure out what's
going on here, I know.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
But then the police officer continues questioning her after she
says that, and in my mind, I'm thinking, if you
have a really good defense attorney, and she says anything
after that, you can argue that she unequivalently asked for
an attorney, and then everything that she says beyond that
point could be dismissed. So it wasn't smart for the
police officer to continue to.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Question because I waited the police officer didn't respond to her,
like throwing out the idea of an attorney. They shouldn't
say like well, I don't know do you need one?
Well I don't know, do you want to call one? Well,
you know, shouldn't say anything. She just went into a
question after that, like she almost didn't know what to say.
And that's different because now you're not even addressing it.
Now you're like giving them the impression that they can't
(14:22):
get one because you're not even responding to one.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Yeah, I just kept thinking, probably not smart to continue questioning.
So she answers anything that defense attorney is going to
get the video of this and then they're going to
try to have it all thrown out anyway, So she
ends up leaving basically not answering any questions. She does
allude to needing an attorney. She gets up, she walks out,
so they get nothing from Caitlin. Surveillance footage from a
(14:45):
neighbor's house identified Kitln's black cheeps circling the house before
coming to a stop. You can hear yelling coming from
inside the house, and finally you hear the three gunshots
are heard. So you can hear Mariah scream.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
But you don't know what's being said, right, No.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
I believe she was shot in a bathroom in the
back of the house, like in a bathroom, so.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Kitlyn close to the front door.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
So yeah, so she was She had been in the
home for like twenty thirty minutes, so she was probably
doing her nighttime. Yeah, she came.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Home, Mariah had yes, yes, okay, yeah, so then.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
I came home from the date was in the house,
she was in the bathroom. She was probably getting ready
for bed or something. I'm assuming because it doesn't look
like there was any kind of break in that the
door was probably on the lost.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
My next question, so she just but she just got
in herself. Yeah, so she got lucky if the door
was open. I mean, obviously she didn't plan on that.
So you're saying it seems like she walked in herself, Caitlin,
and then went all the way to where Mariah was
in the bathroom.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Yeah, I mean, there's no video of what actually happened.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
I thought maybe it was like she chased her into
the bathroom after answering the door.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
I don't think so, because I don't think you can
hear any of that. I think you just hear the
three shots and screams. So I think she just walked
into the house until she found her.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Front door in the evening, Like you come home and
you know.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
I don't know because I grew up in Ohio and
I'm telling you we never locked our doors.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Yeah, we're also a kid. I'm talking like an adult. No,
my mom never locked our doors. Our house was never
mom I'm talking about I'm talking about Middle America.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
I don't know, this is Texas. I don't know. Maybe
she just came home and I don't know. Maybe it's
not her house, so maybe it wasn't her normal routinely.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
I don't people don't lock their doors. I get it.
I'm just saying, like to me, that seems like a
normal thing. You would lock your doors because she live alone.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
So police analyzed phone records and the GPS timeline data.
This is on Caitlin's car, So I guess I don't
know a lot, but I guess you with with cars
that have GPS, you can actually pull where the mapping
of where the car has gone. Probably, So really, if
you're going to commit crimes, you shouldn't you need to
use an old car. You need a burner carr, don't
(16:52):
need one of these high tech cars with GPS systems
and all this black box info that can say like
how fast you were going and are exactly you need
a burner car. So the police they analyzed the GPS.
They actually in the trial it shows for the jury
they draw like a map and it shows how many
(17:14):
times around around. Yeah, it's they basically refer to her
as like stalking her bekaind of like she.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Just drove down this way and then went to seven
to eleven and then back. It's like she wasn't going
around and around around exactly.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
She she circled the home numerous times until she finally
parked like I think in an alley or something back
behind the house. So it showed the whole GPS tracking showed,
you know, on a map, all the circles that she
made around the house. They noticed that she essentially stalked
Mariah and Colin, circling Maria's neighborhood multiple times until he
(17:48):
dropped her off. Police recovered firearms from Caitlin.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
And Collins circling before she got home too, like she
was waiting, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Like lying in wait, like she knew where she was
coming home to. She knew he was going to drop
her off there. Eventually she was circling.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Okay, your female answer this question? What you'r a female?
This question? Why would she kill her and not him?
Because she's obsessed with him to keep him.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
They lived together, They had a As far as I
can tell, it seemed like they kind of had a
volatile relationship with a lot of breakups and get back
together type of situations. But they had a business together
and he refurbished trailers and she did all the financial work.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
So they were kind of tied together that way.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Yes, and he actually gave her forty thousand dollars to
invest into that business, which we'll get to later. But
so I think, and I mean, she's she's obviously obsessed
with him and the relationship business with a person to
go into business.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
He's not a person to go So you should have
done a background check.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
On her, Yeah, but nothing would have come up. She
hadn't murdered anybody before. What's going to come up on
a background chat question?
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Would you kill someone if you found them cheating?
Speaker 1 (19:05):
So police recovered firearms from Kaitlyn and Collins home. Caitlyn
had a nine millimeter handguns. Then it significantly matched the
spent casing found at the crime scene. So there's another
thing she was not. She she did not plan very.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Well because she didn't even she's not a suspect she
did it.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
She didn't even pick up the shell casings. She just
walks in the front door, walks to the bathroom, shoots
the girl three times, leaves the shell casings behind, gets
in the car that she drove around a million times
that she got on surveillance and then that has the
whole GPS tracking system show sure.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
On May seventeenth of twenty twenty two, a first degree
murder warrant is officially issued for Kaitlin Armstrong and connection
with Moe Wilson's killing. All right, So after the warrant
is issued, authorities are unable to locate Katelyn, and this
is when the story gets really interesting, so they issue
a warrant out for her arrest, but they later realize
(20:07):
that they can't find her.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
She has disappeared, so I now remember this.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Yeah, they do really se that she flew to Newark,
New Jersey, which is where her sister lives, So they
think that she flies there to find her sister or
to hang out with her sister to be with.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
That's flying to her sister's hometown, yes.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
But then she's not there and they can't find her
anywhere else. So what she's done is she used her
sister's passport to fly out of the country and though
I guess she flies through multiple states before finally flying
on to Costa Rica, So I guess they track her
sister's passport to finally figure out that she that she
(20:49):
traveled to So they're.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Like, there was documentation of her flying to her sister's
home town or state, and then there's documentation of her
sister leaving the state. So they're putting that together, so like, Okay,
we can't see her, but we see her sister.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
So I guess the sister was not charged with anything
because she claimed that she did not know that her
sister was going to take the passport and leave the country.
But I wish they would have talked more about the
sister and the documentary. I felt like that was a
large missing piece of.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Information, whether she's involved or not. Of course she's gonna
say I'm not involved.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
No I know, and I get that, but I wish
they would have. I just wish they would have gone
into a little bit more detail about the sister and
her role and if she wasn't charged, why she wasn't.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Yeah, no, I hear they did this saying the fact
that they didn't, that's not enough for me. The questions
are still there. Was she involved? I mean, yeah, I
get it, she said she wasn't, but right, come on.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
So Caitlin spends forty three days on the run primarily
in Costa Rica using false identities. I thought it was
interesting that they so they send like a task force
to Costa Rica. They know she's in Costa Rica, but
they can't find her.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Volunteers are like, i'll go, I'll go, I'll go.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
So there's people. So there's this whole force in Costa
Rica looking for her, and they almost give up. They
cannot find her in Costa Rica.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
It is walk up and down the streets a woman.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
I don't know, I would think so, But while she
is in Costa Rica, I thought this was really interesting.
She undergoes plastic surgery surgery in Costa Rica to alter
her appearance and look more like her sister.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
And I guess that's why it maybe, in other words,
more like her passport, more likesport her new passport.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Right, So, I don't understand why she undergoes surgery to
look more like her sister, because I'm sure she knows
at this point that they know she sold her sister's passport. No,
how would she think that because she's hiding in Costa Rica.
I'm sure that she knows that they're probably English. She
thought she outsmarted them. So you don't think she has
any idea that there's anybody in Costa Rica looking for her?
(22:52):
Oh all right, well would she because she's hiding there.
It's not like she's openly walking around Costa Rica. I
mean she they they're in Cooaster Rebia because they couldn't
find her. You think she was hiding even further? Yeah, No,
I think it's hard. It was laning in the country
and there's just walking around saying we've seen this woman.
Her surgeon is doctor Jorge Badilla, and he actually was
(23:13):
on an episode of Dateline and he said that Caitlin
underwent and estimated six thousand dollars worth of plastic surgery,
including lip fillers, rhino plastic, and a brow lift.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
So her sister has bigger lips and a smaller nose.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yes, okay, First of all, six thousand dollars worth of
surgery is not a lot. I feel like that's a
very minimal amount of money to do.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Like, that's a lot of classic surgery on your face.
Slip filler is just lip filler, right, like this inject it? Yeah,
and then.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
But a but a browlift.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
The browlift was the surgeon.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
And a nose job of six thousand dollars. That's a deal. Yeah,
that's a deal. But I don't know. I don't know.
I anyway, I don't know if she the lipfiller kills
me though. That's the funny part. She's like, I want
to look like my sister because I have to elude
the police. But please make sure right if you fill
my lips. Us Marshals are finally able to locate Caitlin
(24:09):
after placing an undercover ad seeking a yoga instructor. I
thought that was hilarious.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
That's part like, wait, how long is she in Costa Rica?
Speaker 1 (24:16):
She's there for like forty three days and they can't
find her. But she has this background as a yoga instructor.
So they make a false advertisement at a yoga studio.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
I guess.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
So they make a false ad at a yoga studio
that says looking for a yoga instructor, and she comes
and applies for the job, and that's how they catch her.
I mean, this woman's been.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Hiding of a task force.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Well that's the part where I'm like, Okay, so she
eluded the police. She ends up in Costa Rica. She
has plastic surgery. No one catches her while she has
plastic surgery. No, but then she shows up for a
yoga instructor job and they nab her. So that's how
they find her. On June twenty ninth of twenty twenty two,
(25:06):
Caitlin is arrested at a hostel in Santa Teresa, Costa
Rica and later extradited back to Texas. Then we get
to July twenty first of twenty twenty two.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
So she was going to work in Costa Rica. Yeah,
I guess she was just going to be like she
was going to just stay there as a resident.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
And be a yoga and story.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Then why I look like her sister?
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Because then she doesn't look like herself.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
I don't know she is in Costa Rica.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
I don't know what her long term goal is here.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Do we know that she was trying to look like
your sister or she just want to live fill her
I know it. I don't know, but oh, I'm serious.
So you don't know she used her passport in order
to leave the country and it worked, yes, but do
you know we don't know that she was trying to
look like her sister and come back, well not come back.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I think maybe she was just trying to look like
her sister, so she doesn't look like herself.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Oh, I guess, well she's also like, so she goes
down to Costa Rica and she's like, I changed my looks, yeah,
and I might as well get some lip filler while
I'm out right. And then she's like, and I might
as well look like this passport that I have here, right,
because other wayse I have no identity, right, Okay, So
it wasn't like so, yeah, she was trying to look
like her sister.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
I don't I guess I don't, hope. So again, so
she used the six thousand dollars, but the six thousand
dollars came from the forty thousand dollars that Colin had
given her to invest in the business that they had together.
So I believe I think she took all the forty
thousand and that's when she ran. So she had that
access to that money.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah, and she spent sixty six thousand of it. Yeah
on plastic surgery.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Yes. So she's arraigned. This is in July twenty first.
At twenty twenty two, she is arraigned in Travis County,
Texas on a charge of first degree murder and pleads
not guilty Her trial begins October thirtieth of twenty twenty three,
So prosecutors argue that jealousy over Mariah's connection with Colin
Strickland is her motive. Caitlin's defense team focused on challengelenging
(27:00):
the prosecution's evidence and narrative, though they did not present
an alternate suspect.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Wait, wait a minute, So if she's going to live
in Costa Rica, you're still we are back in Ti.
She's gonna live in Costa Rica?
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (27:14):
I mean, was she not going to be with her boyfriend? Like,
what was the plan there with that relationship?
Speaker 1 (27:19):
No? I think she took the forty thousand and left.
I mean she just murdered someone earlier. I asked, why
did she kill her instead of her boyfriend?
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Right? I mean she shouldn't kill anyone anyway, But why
she You think if she's mad and she doesn't like
this affair, she's killed the boyfriend and then go to
Costa Rica Because maybe she says she killed the girl,
that let's the boy live and then she flees to
Costa Rica.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Yes, because she can have plastic surgery, teach yoga for
a while, and then she can reach out to him
and ask him to join her in Costa Rica and
they could live happily ever after.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
That.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yeah, and you know, I know why she left the
three cases behind. Why because she's like, I'm going to
Costa Rica. I don't I'm gonna get lip filler exactly.
They'll never catch me. Doctor Lora is next week.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Yes, so the prosecution's key evidence and arguments. They presented
evidence linking Armstrong's registered firearm to the same shell, casings
from the scene and ballistic matches supported the conclusion that Yeah,
and I think Colin bought it for her, and I
don't know how long they had it. I think he
(28:26):
had a gun and she had gone because I do
remember in the documentary he says that they have two guns.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Was Texas?
Speaker 1 (28:32):
It is Texas. Digital evidence the GPS and phone data
were used to track Armstrong's movements on the day of
the killing. There was also the surveillance video we talked
about that the footage placing Armstrong's vehicle near the crime
scene around the time of the shooting was shown to
the jury, and then the audio and the crime scene
reconstruction was shown to the jury. In some quurt does.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
She make any effort other than go to Costa Rica.
She probably thought she had this full proof plan just
her her go to Costa Rica. Yeah, and that's the
movie Fletch show you Chase remember that. Yeah, he he
was hired to kill Yes. But anyways, but the guy
(29:14):
that says I want you to kill me because I
have cancer and I'm dying. Oh yeah, he really is
a plan where no, actually, when you come and come
at night to kill me, I'm going to kill you
Fletch and burn your body and take your passport and
flee the country. Oh and he was going to take
his someone that had a similar build to him. Oh yeah,
(29:36):
Well she watched that episode.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Well maybe I don't know where Costa Rica comes in
in the lip filler.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
But well, because she took someone's passport and she was
going to be like, I'm going to be this person.
That guy took Fletch's passport and said I'm going to
be this person.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
In some courtroom presentations, prosecutors played audio from surveillance that
included the sound of the gunshots and evidence about the
sequence and proximity of the shots.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
I mean, basically, you.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Could just do a whole reconstruction for the jury, you
put all the timeline together of where she's on surveillance
with Colin at launch and swimming, and then that shows
him drop her off. At this time, it shows Kitlin
circling the house.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
So her whole plan was, I don't need to do
anything to try to cover up my crime because I'm
just gonna go to coastreak right.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Friends, law enforcement officials, forensic experts, and cycling community members
provided testimony about Mariah Wilson's life, her relationship with Colin Strickland,
and Kitlyn Armstrong's behavior before and after the shooting. The
defense attempted to suppress certain evidence, including statements made by police,
by arguing they were obtained without proper miranda warnings. These
(30:40):
motions were rejected, and the defense questioned the interpretation of
the evidence and suggested there were gaps in the case,
but no compelling alternate theory of the crime was effectively
offered to the jury.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
They could even come up with them.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
I know, I feel like she should have just like
tried to.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Her defense streams probably insulted. They're like do you even try?
I know, like, how do we even give you know?
Speaker 1 (31:04):
They did bring her her bicycle into court, which I
think was I think it was very emotional for her
friends and family to see her bike done.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Just bring some element of well.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
It's because it was part of the evidence that was
that was presented because I guess after Caitlyn shot her,
she grabbed her bike, took it out of the house,
and threw it in some bushes, and yeah, I think
it was just I think, yeah, I think, yeah, I
think she just hated this girl so much and was
like so bothered that she had anything to do with
(31:39):
her man that she killed her and then grabbed the
thing that she loves the most in life, her bike,
and threw it into the bushes. So basically, they extracted
DNA from the bike and it had her her DNA
on the bike, but they brought the bike into the
courtroom as evidence, and then I remember the defense attorney
was arguing that, like, there was no DNA from his
(32:03):
client found on like the center of the bike where
you would have picked it up. I mean, that was
the best argument he could come up with. So after spot, yeah,
it wasn't where someone would normally pick up the bike.
So I was like, wow, why did she take a
plea deal or something? I don't like, I mean try
(32:24):
to you know, to go from first degree down to
I don't know, manslaughter or something, but said she wants
a trial. After hearing the evidence and arguments, the twelve
person jury deliberated for only a few hours before reaching
a verdict. They probably just sat around for a few
hours because they were like, we can't just like, we
can't just go back out, so let's just like, let's
just hang out here for a little bit. A jury
(32:46):
finds Caitlin Armstrong guilty of first degree murder after deliberating
for several hours. You know, the first degree murder, it's
which is premeditated. It's so easy to look at the premeditation.
There was the gun, it was the dry around. I
mean it was it was planned. You know, there were
multiple times where she could have.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Handled plastic surgery before she even killed this lady.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
You think, yeah, you think she called a doctor and
in Costa Rica and scheduled the plastic surgery before she
shot her.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
What do you think You think it was a walk in? Yeah,
just went to Costa Rica and then walked into plastursion.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
She was there for forty something days.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
She could have did she have the surgery.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
I don't know what day she had a consultation. I
don't know what day she had the surgery. But I'm
just saying she I doubt that she pre planned the
surgery that much.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Oh you're gonna okay, you're gonna give her credit.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Well, that just seems like she I don't know.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
So you think, Okay, do you think she pre planned
to go to Costa Rica before she pulled the trigger?
Speaker 1 (33:44):
No? I think she pulled the trigger because she hated
this girl so much and she couldn't think about anything else.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
So then she thought, oh crap, I better go to
Costa Rica.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
No, she thought, oh crap, I better leave the country.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
But you don't think you're saying that you believe she
thought of leaving the country after she committed the crime.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Yes, because I don't think she thought she would get caught.
I don't think she understood how easy it would be
to catch her. So I think after they brought her
in and questioned her so soon, and she said I
think I need an attorney or I want an attorney
or whatever, and she left, that's when she had to
hatch a plan to leave the country.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Kaylan Armstrong, this matters, By the way, but.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
We're just clarious. Kaylan Armstrong is sentenced to ninety years
in prison, eligible for parole after thirty years. I don't
even think she should be eligible for parole. I'm sorry
that will someone when you can't deal premeditated she was
convicted of, yes, but she's eligible for parole after thirty years,
which I disagree with. She just she has been in
prison for life. Yeah, because you tell me that you're
(34:50):
the kind of person that can't deal with some jealousy.
That that's how, that's how you take matters into your
own hand. You can't deal with jealousy. You murder someone, right,
and then remeditate it premeditated murder, and then you leave
the country and you elude police for as long as
possible to live a different life, and then you should
be eligible for pearol and thirty years. I disagree with that.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
I strongly disagree with that. They should premeditate her. You know, death,
what put her to? Put her down?
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Put her down?
Speaker 2 (35:20):
She had a dog, You don't think so you don't
think she should get the death penalty.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
No, I said she should either get the death penalty
or life without pearol. An that's what I'm saying, anyone
who cannot deal with jealousy in a relationship and stalk
someone and so easily and circles their house and then
walks into their home and fires a gun three times
(35:45):
at their face, well twice in her head and once
in her chest, and then calmly walks out and goes
the bike out and tosses the bike in the bushes,
and then goes into the police station and sits there
and doesn't say a word.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Hatches a plan put her down like a dog.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
In twenty twenty four, Mariah's family files a wrongful death
lawsuit against Caitlyn Armstrong. A judge awards them fifteen million
in damages to cover emotional distress and to prevent Armstrong
from profiting off of her crime. You know, I don't
I understand why you would want to file a wrongful
death lawsuit just because you are hurt and angry. But
(36:27):
when you get a judgment for fifteen million in damages,
you're not How are you going to get fifteen million
dollars from this girl? I mean, that's never going to happen,
and she.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Was already sent I don't think homicides covered a homeowner's
insurance policy.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
There's no money, no, I mean she had forty thousand,
she spent six because classic surgery.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
There might be personal reasons too, just maybe principle and
because you can. It's probably such an easy win, right
because you already have a criminal conviction, so to go
get a civil conviction or a civil judgment is pretty
easily done. And maybe if there's right or things later
down the road, or should she buy a lottery ticket
or something or inherent something.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
I guess she can't ever tell her story or do interview.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
If you can't anyway, you can't profit off crying. But
I don't know how that works.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
But no. The family also forms the Mariah Wilson Foundation
to support cycling and youth sports causes. You know, her
her mom in the trial, it showed her mom. I
guess it was probably at the sentin same phase where
her mom went up, you know, because you could do
a victim impact statement. Her mom spoke. It was it's
so emotional to see family members and how they're affected.
(37:33):
It's so sad when a young life is taken. So,
I mean, this girl was just riding her bike. She
was such a nice person. It really, they'd really just
talk about how kind she was, and she was just
so into sports, and she was athletic, and all she
did was go to lunch with this guy. I think
there was some text messages, and I'm sure she was
maybe interested in him. But you know. In April of
(37:56):
twenty twenty six, the documentary which is what we've been
talking about, The Truth and Tragedy of Mariah Wilson, It
premiered on Netflix, exploring her life, career, and the events
surrounding her murder. The case remains one of the most
widely discussed murders in recent years, given its connection to
the cycling community and the dramatic manhunt that followed. You know,
(38:16):
also at the end of the documentary, they do show
Colin Strickland. He doesn't talk much, but he does. They
show him kind of tinkering around in his garage and
he does he doesn't cycle anymore, he abandoned that and
he says something.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Of that related to this.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
Yeah. Absolutely, you can tell he's not emotionally or mentally. Oh,
that was another thing I was going to talk about.
He did testify in court and he you could tell
he did not want to be there. He like his
head was low. He didn't want to talk. It was
I think it was hard for him to answer questions.
(38:56):
But I think it was just because from my perspective,
it seemed like the internal guilt that he had over
the whole situation was eating him alive. Because he says
at the end of this documentary. He doesn't say a lot,
but he does say something to the effect of, if
he could go back in time, he would have never cycled.
He would have never like, there were so many things
(39:16):
that he would have never done because.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
He's probably going on a date while he's with his
lady living.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
Right, well, right, I mean, I think he holds so
much guilt within himself because even though he didn't pull
the trigger, and I mean, yeah it was.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
He be It's like survivor's guilt. That's like, you didn't
do anything wrong, but you certainly don't well argue. I mean,
he was kind of a he wasn't He certainly had
no reason to foresee murder, right other than the fact
that his living girlfriend said she would kill and she
ever cheated.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
She was crazy and they had a volatile relationship. But
I don't know if it was actually instruction, well, I
don't know if it was ever to the extreme that
he actually I don't think he was ever on any
kind of notice that she would do what she did.
He obviously knew she was jealous because he was changing
the name in his phone and he was lying to her.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
So he was no, no, no, yea, he was no,
not because she was jealous. A guy would do that
because he's being secretive and cheating. Yeah, it's not a
matter of like, my girlfriend's cool with me hanging out
with other girls. I don't need to change the name
in my phone. That's on him. That's on him. Yes,
I was doing something wrong.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
I'm saying he's a douchebag, but he's only guilty of
it being a douchebag, not a murder not a murderer.
But anyway, at the end of the documentary, he basically
like he just it seems like he pulled away from
life like it didn't seem like he was very social.
I don't think he of friends. He doesn't cycle.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
Anymore because he has some moral character on like Caitlin.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Yeah, I think he's.
Speaker 2 (40:49):
He feels awful for the tragedy exactly. Okay, I looked
it up quickly. Okay, what date was Mariah murdered. Do
we remember the date.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
I have to go back and look at the time.
Speaker 2 (41:00):
Actually, it's May eleventh, I have right here in front
of me. All right, it's quizzing you. It says that
she it's very quickly after the murder, she sold her vehicle,
and she withdrew money, and she used cash only, and
she obtained obviously the passport, then flew to Puerto Rican,
(41:20):
Puerto Rican, corduroy Rico, Costa Rica, Costa Rica. Yeah, so
it was believed that she whether she planted in her head,
I don't know, but she definitely took all the steps
necessary after the murder to flee to Costa Rica and
buy like a passport or a ticket beforehand.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
No, that's what I'm saying. I don't think she thought
she was going to be caught coffee, Yeah, because I'm
telling you, I think she was such she had she
was such a narcissist and has such an.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
Ego sozoned in on the murder instead of anything else.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 2 (41:46):
And then when they pulled her in a couple days
and they probably pressed her pretty hard, She's like, I
want an attorney. Yeah, she probably went to an attorney.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
I doubt it. I think no, I think her plan.
I think once they pulled her into that interrogation room
and she was a suspect, she began to I think
she and she said, I'm not answering any questions and
I need an attorney or whatever it was that she said,
and she left. I think the minute she left is
when her head was spending and she was like, how
do I gotta get money and I gotta get out
of the country and how am I going to do that?
And that's what she did. Yeah, all right, guys, thank
(42:14):
you so much for listening to Legally Brunette. We appreciate
it as always. I love it when you guys send
dms to me on my Instagram so that you can
tell me what cases you would love for us to
talk about. And also I love your feedback and please
be sure to follow legally Brunette wherever you listen to podcasts,
and we appreciate you listening. Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
Thank you,
Hi, guys, welcome to an episode of Legally Brunette. I
will be your host today Emily Simpson with my co.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Host Shane Shane.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Okay, before we get started on this episode, which, by
the way, we are going to talk about the murder
of Mariah Wilson. I don't know if you guys have
seen it. It is new on Netflix. I couldn't wait
for it to come out. I actually, you know how
on Netflix you can do like the reminders, because I
kept seeing advertise on Netflix and I wanted to watch it,
so I had to do a reminder. So I watched
(00:30):
it like as soon as it came out. So interesting
and intriguing. Can't wait to talk about it. But before
we get into it, I just wanted to ask you,
has Megan Markle done anything recently that has angered you?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
No. I have not read any headlines yet for Mega.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Mark Okay, and I would have to say that the
majority of dms I get now are people agreeing with
how much they dislike he along with you. Yeah. So anyway,
if you have any other updates.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
On an eye out.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Okay, all right, so let's go into this Anna Mariah,
she goes by Moe to her close friends and family.
Wilson was a twenty five year old professional cyclist who
was fatally shot on May eleventh of twenty twenty two
at a friend's home in Austin, Texas. Investigators determined that
Caitlyn Armstrong, who was a yoga instructor and realtor, followed
(01:21):
Wilson home and shot her three times. Her motives were
rooted in jealousy over Mariah's romantic involvement with Caitlyn's boyfriend
and fellow cyclist, Colin Strickland. The case drew widespread attention,
considering Mariah's promising career in cycling and the circumstances of
her death. Netflix released a documentary about her case. It
(01:43):
was just released I think it was just a couple
of days ago, in twenty twenty six, titled The Truth
and Tragedy of Mariah Wilson. Had you heard about this
case before, No, not until you mentioned it to me.
All right, So we're going to get into it. We're
going to go through a little bit of a timeline,
go back in time. So let's go back to the nineties, which,
by the way, is my favorite decade. Do you have
(02:04):
a favorite.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Decade of all of your five, all of.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
My five decades the.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Nineties, that's the number one.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Yes, I would like to go back. So. Anna Mariah
goes By Moe was born on May eighteenth and nineteen
ninety six in Littleton, New Hampshire, and she grew up
in Kirby, Vermont. She was born into a very athletic family.
Her dad was one spot away from competing in the
Olympics for skiing when he was younger. Anne Mariah attended
(02:32):
Burke Mountain Academy, which was a specialized school for skiers,
and later Dartmouth College, graduating with an engineering degree in
twenty nineteen. I do know originally she wanted to become
a professional skier. I think that's why most of those
kids go to this like elite ski school. But she
had several injuries I believe, and even had some torn
acl or something like that, so ended up giving up
(02:53):
on a skiing career. But she ends up becoming a
professional gravel and mountain bike racer.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
That's so funny. One it's like, oh, I'll just have
to set aside a potential skiing career and I'll just
be a pro biker.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Well that just means she's just I know she's athletic,
supremely athletic. I didn't know exactly what gravel biking meant,
and I meant to look it up, but I assume
it just means not mountain biking. It means road gravel.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Well probably or not asphalt.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
She gained national recognition and won major events such as
the Sea Otter Classic and Belgian Waffle Ride. That sounds that.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Sounds It's not what you think. It sounds very delicious,
the Belgium, the.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Belgian Waffle Ride, Yes, and the sea Otter Classic. She
had a brief romantic relationship in late twenty twenty one
with another professional cyclist. His name was Colin Strickland, and
he also he's a part of this Netflix documentary, but
I don't know if he's like wants to be a
(04:00):
part of it, because he is in it, but not reluctant. Well,
I just think based upon everything that happens, which we'll
get into, I think he emotionally, psychology psychologically, has a
lot of issues with his role in all of this,
and so they show him in it, but he's he
seems aloof and distant, but we'll get into that. So
(04:23):
she ends up having this on again off again relationship,
not with him. She has a brief romantic relationship with
Colin in late twenty twenty one. I guess they meet
at some kind of race, and she's very well known.
She's been winning a lot of things lately, so I
think he's on her radar. I think he asks her
to go to lunch or something, and he says, like
(04:43):
the first time they meet up, it's very platonic. They
just talk about her career and things like that. But
he has a girlfriend at home named Caitlyn Armstrong, and
I think they have kind.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Of did she know they were going to meet?
Speaker 1 (04:55):
I doubt she had any idea about it, but they
end up they meet, he says. When they initially meet,
they're just talking about, you know, Mariah's career and where
she wants to go and all these things and how
he can help her. But he does have a girlfriend
at home, so Colin circling and Kaitlyn Armstrong. They let
later reconcile, but Caitlyn allegedly became very very jealous of Mariah,
(05:18):
worrying about her friendship with Colin, so Colin even changed
Mariah's name in his phone in case Kitlyn. Ever looked
through it.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Have you changed he changed it to to like changed
had he changed.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Any names in your phone?
Speaker 2 (05:32):
No?
Speaker 1 (05:33):
No, no, so you don't have like like John Smith.
But it's really some some girl. It's so easy to
do that, Like you could just change someone's name to
just a male name.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
God, the kids. We're watching Darman the other day, Like
those YouTube videos are like kind of produced videos. Name,
you should have a good moral, Like right, I liked
Darman and he learned. Yeah, like fifteen minute videos with
actors because it's fifteen minutes. They get straight to the point, right,
and yeah, it's kind of cheesy.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Right, Well, they're targeting kids, so they have to keep
it at fifteen minutes.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yeah, and so I just because anyway, So this is
guy he's cheating on his wife and he gets she
picks up his phone because it beeps when he gets
home from work or whatever. Yeah, she looks at it
and had all these hearts, and it was like, hi,
my love. You know, lunch was so romantigble or whatever.
But it was the name of the contact was the office? Yeah,
(06:33):
it was the office. Yeah. She's like, why is the
office sending you hearts? Like that was the best he
could come up with the office.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
The office. I like that one. Do you have any
contacts that you're called the office? No?
Speaker 2 (06:46):
I don't, all right.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
According to law enforcement, Caitlyn express violent sentiments about Mariah beforehand,
telling one of her friends that if she ever found
out Colin was talking to another girl, she'd quote kill them,
you know, I don't know. They interview a friend of Caitlyn,
and Kaitlyn's friend in this documentary says that she had
a conversation with Caitlyn at some point where Kaitlyn had
(07:10):
made reference to Colin. If Colin ever cheated on her,
she would kill them or whatever. I don't know. I
don't know if that predetermines that you would actually do that,
because I feel like that's something that women would say,
Like if someone said to you, what would you do
if you found out Shane was cheating on you, I'd
say I'd kill him. Yeah, But that doesn't mean that
I would actually thinks I guess, But I mean, I
(07:30):
don't know what woman wouldn't say something like that if
they found out that their spouse or boyfriend was cheating
on them. All right, let's get to May of twenty
twenty two. So Mariah is in Austin, Texas, preparing for
an upcoming race. She has a close friend named Cash,
who is also in the documentary, and she she's actually
a large part of it because she was very integrated
(07:52):
into this whole scenario. So so Mariah goes and stays
at Cash's house. She meets Colin earlier that same day,
and they swam together and have dinner. There's actually they
show in the documentary. They show footage, security footage of
them together at a restaurant, you know, an outdoor restaurant.
(08:13):
They're sharing a meal. I guess they went swimming earlier
in the day. Then Mariah goes back to Cash's house afterwards.
That's where she's saying. Police later determined that Mariah is
shot three times, twice in the head and once in
the chest and dies from her wounds at Cash's home.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Do we know what number encountering this was? They met once?
I saw two.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
I think they only met maybe twice, and I think
maybe there were some text messages between the two of them.
It wasn't what I would call a relationship, but a date. Yeah,
I would say it was. I would say they went
on a date, but Colin was living with Caitlin at
the time and did not tell Caitlyn. He lied to
Caitlin and said that he was going out to run errands,
but he ended up meeting up with Mariah having launched
(08:59):
going swimming together. And then he's the one that dropped
Mariah back off at Cash's house. So he drops Mariah
off at Cash's house. I think it was like around
eight forty five PM or something like that. I don't
remember the exact time, but by I think it was
like nine to fifteen PM is when she was shot.
(09:19):
And they know exactly when she was shot because the
house next door has a security system on it that
picks up the gunshots and her screams, so you can
actually hear.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Did they play that in the documentary audio?
Speaker 1 (09:35):
No, they showed video of Caitlin's car circling Cash's house
because she she looped many, many, many times, so they
caught her car on surveillance, like over and over repeatedly,
they could actually you know, track it.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
She had no business being there.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Right, So the police know that Colin Strickland was the
last person to see or hear from Mariah before her death,
so obviously they're going to go to him and start
questioning him because they with her. He had dinner with
(10:13):
her right and they went swimming, so they have that
on surveillance video. They know he was the last person
to see her. He's also the one that drops her
off right before she's murdered. All right, They bring Kaitlin
into the police station for questioning, but she asked to
leave and they do not have enough evidence to hold
her there.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
How were they quickly? How did they what made them?
I know Caitlin circled and everything the house. How did
they connect her? Like? What was the first connection? They
had to reach out to her.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Because they knew Colin was with Mariah. They know that
Colin dates Caitlin. They know that at Colin's house, Caitlyn
lives there and she drives like this black suv. I
think it's like a like a jeep Cherokee or something.
They pulled the surveillance video of Cash's house and they
that there's a black suv.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
That quickly they pulled her in for questioning after the murder.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
I think it was within days, like they put this.
They put this all together pretty quickly. Okay, So they
see that when they go talk to Colin they see
I think they bring Collin in, but they think they
also go to his house. And when they go to
his house, they see that there's a black jeep Cherokee
or something there. Then they connect he says that's his
girlfriend's car. Then they have all this. They pull all
the surveillance video of the neighborhood and they see that
(11:28):
car circling around Cash's house.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Well, he's still not at this point. I'm sure he's
not ruled out as a suspect because he's could have
taken her car purposefully right to go kill his uh.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
But they bring Kitlyn into the police station. I think
it's interesting because they show they actually show the video
of bringing Kitlyn into the interrogation room. This is where
I was actually bothered by the police officer because she
starts asking her questions and Caitlyn sits there and says nothing.
She doesn't answer, she doesn't say a word. M Then
(12:01):
she keeps asking her more questions. She's like, you just
have to give us our side of the story, and
they did that whole It wasn't bad cop, good cop,
but it was like bad guy good guy, where they're like,
we're talking to Colin right now, over here.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I think I hate the absolute most that cops say
because I think it's I think it's actually dumb for
them to say it. But is when they say I'm
just trying to figure out what's going on here, Yeah,
because I'd be like, well, I don't give a crap,
go figure it out on your own, Like I'm not
here to help you with your puzzled thoughts.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Yeah, well, this is exactly they say that.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
It drives me nuts. Yes, they should say, there's allegations
against you, and unless you want to say your side
of the story, we're just going to go with the allegations.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Well that's basically what she says. So she basically tells Caitlin, Hey,
we have Colin and he's in another room and he's
telling us one story, so you should talk because you
need to tell us your side of the story.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
It's a little bit better.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
But she says nothing. Then she said I need an
attorney or something that I don't know the exact verbige.
I wish I went back and actually let me.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
I think I remember seeing some of the scenes when
you were watching. She did not say like I want
an attorney, and that's typically what you need to say
I want my attorney. I want a attorney.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
She said something to the effect of like I think
I need an attorney, or I should an attorney.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
That's like questioning it, like should I call an attorney?
I don't know, do you have anything to hide? The
thing is, though, I'm just trying to figure out what's
going on here, I know.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
But then the police officer continues questioning her after she
says that, and in my mind, I'm thinking, if you
have a really good defense attorney, and she says anything
after that, you can argue that she unequivalently asked for
an attorney, and then everything that she says beyond that
point could be dismissed. So it wasn't smart for the
police officer to continue to.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Question because I waited the police officer didn't respond to her,
like throwing out the idea of an attorney. They shouldn't
say like well, I don't know do you need one?
Well I don't know, do you want to call one? Well,
you know, shouldn't say anything. She just went into a
question after that, like she almost didn't know what to say.
And that's different because now you're not even addressing it.
Now you're like giving them the impression that they can't
(14:22):
get one because you're not even responding to one.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Yeah, I just kept thinking, probably not smart to continue questioning.
So she answers anything that defense attorney is going to
get the video of this and then they're going to
try to have it all thrown out anyway, So she
ends up leaving basically not answering any questions. She does
allude to needing an attorney. She gets up, she walks out,
so they get nothing from Caitlin. Surveillance footage from a
(14:45):
neighbor's house identified Kitln's black cheeps circling the house before
coming to a stop. You can hear yelling coming from
inside the house, and finally you hear the three gunshots
are heard. So you can hear Mariah scream.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
But you don't know what's being said, right, No.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
I believe she was shot in a bathroom in the
back of the house, like in a bathroom, so.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Kitlyn close to the front door.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
So yeah, so she was She had been in the
home for like twenty thirty minutes, so she was probably
doing her nighttime. Yeah, she came.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Home, Mariah had yes, yes, okay, yeah, so then.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
I came home from the date was in the house,
she was in the bathroom. She was probably getting ready
for bed or something. I'm assuming because it doesn't look
like there was any kind of break in that the
door was probably on the lost.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
My next question, so she just but she just got
in herself. Yeah, so she got lucky if the door
was open. I mean, obviously she didn't plan on that.
So you're saying it seems like she walked in herself, Caitlin,
and then went all the way to where Mariah was
in the bathroom.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Yeah, I mean, there's no video of what actually happened.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
I thought maybe it was like she chased her into
the bathroom after answering the door.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
I don't think so, because I don't think you can
hear any of that. I think you just hear the
three shots and screams. So I think she just walked
into the house until she found her.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Front door in the evening, Like you come home and
you know.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
I don't know because I grew up in Ohio and
I'm telling you we never locked our doors.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Yeah, we're also a kid. I'm talking like an adult. No,
my mom never locked our doors. Our house was never
mom I'm talking about I'm talking about Middle America.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
I don't know, this is Texas. I don't know. Maybe
she just came home and I don't know. Maybe it's
not her house, so maybe it wasn't her normal routinely.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
I don't people don't lock their doors. I get it.
I'm just saying, like to me, that seems like a
normal thing. You would lock your doors because she live alone.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
So police analyzed phone records and the GPS timeline data.
This is on Caitlin's car, So I guess I don't
know a lot, but I guess you with with cars
that have GPS, you can actually pull where the mapping
of where the car has gone. Probably, So really, if
you're going to commit crimes, you shouldn't you need to
use an old car. You need a burner carr, don't
(16:52):
need one of these high tech cars with GPS systems
and all this black box info that can say like
how fast you were going and are exactly you need
a burner car. So the police they analyzed the GPS.
They actually in the trial it shows for the jury
they draw like a map and it shows how many
(17:14):
times around around. Yeah, it's they basically refer to her
as like stalking her bekaind of like she.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Just drove down this way and then went to seven
to eleven and then back. It's like she wasn't going
around and around around exactly.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
She she circled the home numerous times until she finally
parked like I think in an alley or something back
behind the house. So it showed the whole GPS tracking showed,
you know, on a map, all the circles that she
made around the house. They noticed that she essentially stalked
Mariah and Colin, circling Maria's neighborhood multiple times until he
(17:48):
dropped her off. Police recovered firearms from Caitlin.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
And Collins circling before she got home too, like she
was waiting, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Like lying in wait, like she knew where she was
coming home to. She knew he was going to drop
her off there. Eventually she was circling.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Okay, your female answer this question? What you'r a female?
This question? Why would she kill her and not him?
Because she's obsessed with him to keep him.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
They lived together, They had a As far as I
can tell, it seemed like they kind of had a
volatile relationship with a lot of breakups and get back
together type of situations. But they had a business together
and he refurbished trailers and she did all the financial work.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
So they were kind of tied together that way.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Yes, and he actually gave her forty thousand dollars to
invest into that business, which we'll get to later. But
so I think, and I mean, she's she's obviously obsessed
with him and the relationship business with a person to
go into business.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
He's not a person to go So you should have
done a background check.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
On her, Yeah, but nothing would have come up. She
hadn't murdered anybody before. What's going to come up on
a background chat question?
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Would you kill someone if you found them cheating?
Speaker 1 (19:05):
So police recovered firearms from Kaitlyn and Collins home. Caitlyn
had a nine millimeter handguns. Then it significantly matched the
spent casing found at the crime scene. So there's another
thing she was not. She she did not plan very.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Well because she didn't even she's not a suspect she
did it.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
She didn't even pick up the shell casings. She just
walks in the front door, walks to the bathroom, shoots
the girl three times, leaves the shell casings behind, gets
in the car that she drove around a million times
that she got on surveillance and then that has the
whole GPS tracking system show sure.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
On May seventeenth of twenty twenty two, a first degree
murder warrant is officially issued for Kaitlin Armstrong and connection
with Moe Wilson's killing. All right, So after the warrant
is issued, authorities are unable to locate Katelyn, and this
is when the story gets really interesting, so they issue
a warrant out for her arrest, but they later realize
(20:07):
that they can't find her.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
She has disappeared, so I now remember this.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Yeah, they do really se that she flew to Newark,
New Jersey, which is where her sister lives, So they
think that she flies there to find her sister or
to hang out with her sister to be with.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
That's flying to her sister's hometown, yes.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
But then she's not there and they can't find her
anywhere else. So what she's done is she used her
sister's passport to fly out of the country and though
I guess she flies through multiple states before finally flying
on to Costa Rica, So I guess they track her
sister's passport to finally figure out that she that she
(20:49):
traveled to So they're.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Like, there was documentation of her flying to her sister's
home town or state, and then there's documentation of her
sister leaving the state. So they're putting that together, so like, Okay,
we can't see her, but we see her sister.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
So I guess the sister was not charged with anything
because she claimed that she did not know that her
sister was going to take the passport and leave the country.
But I wish they would have talked more about the
sister and the documentary. I felt like that was a
large missing piece of.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Information, whether she's involved or not. Of course she's gonna
say I'm not involved.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
No I know, and I get that, but I wish
they would have. I just wish they would have gone
into a little bit more detail about the sister and
her role and if she wasn't charged, why she wasn't.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Yeah, no, I hear they did this saying the fact
that they didn't, that's not enough for me. The questions
are still there. Was she involved? I mean, yeah, I
get it, she said she wasn't, but right, come on.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
So Caitlin spends forty three days on the run primarily
in Costa Rica using false identities. I thought it was
interesting that they so they send like a task force
to Costa Rica. They know she's in Costa Rica, but
they can't find her.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Volunteers are like, i'll go, I'll go, I'll go.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
So there's people. So there's this whole force in Costa
Rica looking for her, and they almost give up. They
cannot find her in Costa Rica.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
It is walk up and down the streets a woman.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
I don't know, I would think so, But while she
is in Costa Rica, I thought this was really interesting.
She undergoes plastic surgery surgery in Costa Rica to alter
her appearance and look more like her sister.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
And I guess that's why it maybe, in other words,
more like her passport, more likesport her new passport.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Right, So, I don't understand why she undergoes surgery to
look more like her sister, because I'm sure she knows
at this point that they know she sold her sister's passport. No,
how would she think that because she's hiding in Costa Rica.
I'm sure that she knows that they're probably English. She
thought she outsmarted them. So you don't think she has
any idea that there's anybody in Costa Rica looking for her?
(22:52):
Oh all right, well would she because she's hiding there.
It's not like she's openly walking around Costa Rica. I
mean she they they're in Cooaster Rebia because they couldn't
find her. You think she was hiding even further? Yeah, No,
I think it's hard. It was laning in the country
and there's just walking around saying we've seen this woman.
Her surgeon is doctor Jorge Badilla, and he actually was
(23:13):
on an episode of Dateline and he said that Caitlin
underwent and estimated six thousand dollars worth of plastic surgery,
including lip fillers, rhino plastic, and a brow lift.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
So her sister has bigger lips and a smaller nose.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yes, okay, First of all, six thousand dollars worth of
surgery is not a lot. I feel like that's a
very minimal amount of money to do.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Like, that's a lot of classic surgery on your face.
Slip filler is just lip filler, right, like this inject it? Yeah,
and then.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
But a but a browlift.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
The browlift was the surgeon.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
And a nose job of six thousand dollars. That's a deal. Yeah,
that's a deal. But I don't know. I don't know.
I anyway, I don't know if she the lipfiller kills
me though. That's the funny part. She's like, I want
to look like my sister because I have to elude
the police. But please make sure right if you fill
my lips. Us Marshals are finally able to locate Caitlin
(24:09):
after placing an undercover ad seeking a yoga instructor. I
thought that was hilarious.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
That's part like, wait, how long is she in Costa Rica?
Speaker 1 (24:16):
She's there for like forty three days and they can't
find her. But she has this background as a yoga instructor.
So they make a false advertisement at a yoga studio.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
I guess.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
So they make a false ad at a yoga studio
that says looking for a yoga instructor, and she comes
and applies for the job, and that's how they catch her.
I mean, this woman's been.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Hiding of a task force.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Well that's the part where I'm like, Okay, so she
eluded the police. She ends up in Costa Rica. She
has plastic surgery. No one catches her while she has
plastic surgery. No, but then she shows up for a
yoga instructor job and they nab her. So that's how
they find her. On June twenty ninth of twenty twenty two,
(25:06):
Caitlin is arrested at a hostel in Santa Teresa, Costa
Rica and later extradited back to Texas. Then we get
to July twenty first of twenty twenty two.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
So she was going to work in Costa Rica. Yeah,
I guess she was just going to be like she
was going to just stay there as a resident.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
And be a yoga and story.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Then why I look like her sister?
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Because then she doesn't look like herself.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
I don't know she is in Costa Rica.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
I don't know what her long term goal is here.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Do we know that she was trying to look like
your sister or she just want to live fill her
I know it. I don't know, but oh, I'm serious.
So you don't know she used her passport in order
to leave the country and it worked, yes, but do
you know we don't know that she was trying to
look like her sister and come back, well not come back.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I think maybe she was just trying to look like
her sister, so she doesn't look like herself.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Oh, I guess, well she's also like, so she goes
down to Costa Rica and she's like, I changed my looks, yeah,
and I might as well get some lip filler while
I'm out right. And then she's like, and I might
as well look like this passport that I have here, right,
because other wayse I have no identity, right, Okay, So
it wasn't like so, yeah, she was trying to look
like her sister.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
I don't I guess I don't, hope. So again, so
she used the six thousand dollars, but the six thousand
dollars came from the forty thousand dollars that Colin had
given her to invest in the business that they had together.
So I believe I think she took all the forty
thousand and that's when she ran. So she had that
access to that money.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah, and she spent sixty six thousand of it. Yeah
on plastic surgery.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Yes. So she's arraigned. This is in July twenty first.
At twenty twenty two, she is arraigned in Travis County,
Texas on a charge of first degree murder and pleads
not guilty Her trial begins October thirtieth of twenty twenty three,
So prosecutors argue that jealousy over Mariah's connection with Colin
Strickland is her motive. Caitlin's defense team focused on challengelenging
(27:00):
the prosecution's evidence and narrative, though they did not present
an alternate suspect.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Wait, wait a minute, So if she's going to live
in Costa Rica, you're still we are back in Ti.
She's gonna live in Costa Rica?
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (27:14):
I mean, was she not going to be with her boyfriend? Like,
what was the plan there with that relationship?
Speaker 1 (27:19):
No? I think she took the forty thousand and left.
I mean she just murdered someone earlier. I asked, why
did she kill her instead of her boyfriend?
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Right? I mean she shouldn't kill anyone anyway, But why
she You think if she's mad and she doesn't like
this affair, she's killed the boyfriend and then go to
Costa Rica Because maybe she says she killed the girl,
that let's the boy live and then she flees to
Costa Rica.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Yes, because she can have plastic surgery, teach yoga for
a while, and then she can reach out to him
and ask him to join her in Costa Rica and
they could live happily ever after.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
That.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yeah, and you know, I know why she left the
three cases behind. Why because she's like, I'm going to
Costa Rica. I don't I'm gonna get lip filler exactly.
They'll never catch me. Doctor Lora is next week.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Yes, so the prosecution's key evidence and arguments. They presented
evidence linking Armstrong's registered firearm to the same shell, casings
from the scene and ballistic matches supported the conclusion that Yeah,
and I think Colin bought it for her, and I
don't know how long they had it. I think he
(28:26):
had a gun and she had gone because I do
remember in the documentary he says that they have two guns.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Was Texas?
Speaker 1 (28:32):
It is Texas. Digital evidence the GPS and phone data
were used to track Armstrong's movements on the day of
the killing. There was also the surveillance video we talked
about that the footage placing Armstrong's vehicle near the crime
scene around the time of the shooting was shown to
the jury, and then the audio and the crime scene
reconstruction was shown to the jury. In some quurt does.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
She make any effort other than go to Costa Rica.
She probably thought she had this full proof plan just
her her go to Costa Rica. Yeah, and that's the
movie Fletch show you Chase remember that. Yeah, he he
was hired to kill Yes. But anyways, but the guy
(29:14):
that says I want you to kill me because I
have cancer and I'm dying. Oh yeah, he really is
a plan where no, actually, when you come and come
at night to kill me, I'm going to kill you
Fletch and burn your body and take your passport and
flee the country. Oh and he was going to take
his someone that had a similar build to him. Oh yeah,
(29:36):
Well she watched that episode.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Well maybe I don't know where Costa Rica comes in
in the lip filler.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
But well, because she took someone's passport and she was
going to be like, I'm going to be this person.
That guy took Fletch's passport and said I'm going to
be this person.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
In some courtroom presentations, prosecutors played audio from surveillance that
included the sound of the gunshots and evidence about the
sequence and proximity of the shots.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
I mean, basically, you.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Could just do a whole reconstruction for the jury, you
put all the timeline together of where she's on surveillance
with Colin at launch and swimming, and then that shows
him drop her off. At this time, it shows Kitlin
circling the house.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
So her whole plan was, I don't need to do
anything to try to cover up my crime because I'm
just gonna go to coastreak right.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Friends, law enforcement officials, forensic experts, and cycling community members
provided testimony about Mariah Wilson's life, her relationship with Colin Strickland,
and Kitlyn Armstrong's behavior before and after the shooting. The
defense attempted to suppress certain evidence, including statements made by police,
by arguing they were obtained without proper miranda warnings. These
(30:40):
motions were rejected, and the defense questioned the interpretation of
the evidence and suggested there were gaps in the case,
but no compelling alternate theory of the crime was effectively
offered to the jury.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
They could even come up with them.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
I know, I feel like she should have just like
tried to.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Her defense streams probably insulted. They're like do you even try?
I know, like, how do we even give you know?
Speaker 1 (31:04):
They did bring her her bicycle into court, which I
think was I think it was very emotional for her
friends and family to see her bike done.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Just bring some element of well.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
It's because it was part of the evidence that was
that was presented because I guess after Caitlyn shot her,
she grabbed her bike, took it out of the house,
and threw it in some bushes, and yeah, I think
it was just I think, yeah, I think, yeah, I
think she just hated this girl so much and was
like so bothered that she had anything to do with
(31:39):
her man that she killed her and then grabbed the
thing that she loves the most in life, her bike,
and threw it into the bushes. So basically, they extracted
DNA from the bike and it had her her DNA
on the bike, but they brought the bike into the
courtroom as evidence, and then I remember the defense attorney
was arguing that, like, there was no DNA from his
(32:03):
client found on like the center of the bike where
you would have picked it up. I mean, that was
the best argument he could come up with. So after spot, yeah,
it wasn't where someone would normally pick up the bike.
So I was like, wow, why did she take a
plea deal or something? I don't like, I mean try
(32:24):
to you know, to go from first degree down to
I don't know, manslaughter or something, but said she wants
a trial. After hearing the evidence and arguments, the twelve
person jury deliberated for only a few hours before reaching
a verdict. They probably just sat around for a few
hours because they were like, we can't just like, we
can't just go back out, so let's just like, let's
just hang out here for a little bit. A jury
(32:46):
finds Caitlin Armstrong guilty of first degree murder after deliberating
for several hours. You know, the first degree murder, it's
which is premeditated. It's so easy to look at the premeditation.
There was the gun, it was the dry around. I
mean it was it was planned. You know, there were
multiple times where she could have.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Handled plastic surgery before she even killed this lady.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
You think, yeah, you think she called a doctor and
in Costa Rica and scheduled the plastic surgery before she
shot her.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
What do you think You think it was a walk in? Yeah,
just went to Costa Rica and then walked into plastursion.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
She was there for forty something days.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
She could have did she have the surgery.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
I don't know what day she had a consultation. I
don't know what day she had the surgery. But I'm
just saying she I doubt that she pre planned the
surgery that much.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Oh you're gonna okay, you're gonna give her credit.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Well, that just seems like she I don't know.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
So you think, Okay, do you think she pre planned
to go to Costa Rica before she pulled the trigger?
Speaker 1 (33:44):
No? I think she pulled the trigger because she hated
this girl so much and she couldn't think about anything else.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
So then she thought, oh crap, I better go to
Costa Rica.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
No, she thought, oh crap, I better leave the country.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
But you don't think you're saying that you believe she
thought of leaving the country after she committed the crime.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Yes, because I don't think she thought she would get caught.
I don't think she understood how easy it would be
to catch her. So I think after they brought her
in and questioned her so soon, and she said I
think I need an attorney or I want an attorney
or whatever, and she left, that's when she had to
hatch a plan to leave the country.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Kaylan Armstrong, this matters, By the way, but.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
We're just clarious. Kaylan Armstrong is sentenced to ninety years
in prison, eligible for parole after thirty years. I don't
even think she should be eligible for parole. I'm sorry
that will someone when you can't deal premeditated she was
convicted of, yes, but she's eligible for parole after thirty years,
which I disagree with. She just she has been in
prison for life. Yeah, because you tell me that you're
(34:50):
the kind of person that can't deal with some jealousy.
That that's how, that's how you take matters into your
own hand. You can't deal with jealousy. You murder someone, right,
and then remeditate it premeditated murder, and then you leave
the country and you elude police for as long as
possible to live a different life, and then you should
be eligible for pearol and thirty years. I disagree with that.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
I strongly disagree with that. They should premeditate her. You know, death,
what put her to? Put her down?
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Put her down?
Speaker 2 (35:20):
She had a dog, You don't think so you don't
think she should get the death penalty.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
No, I said she should either get the death penalty
or life without pearol. An that's what I'm saying, anyone
who cannot deal with jealousy in a relationship and stalk
someone and so easily and circles their house and then
walks into their home and fires a gun three times
(35:45):
at their face, well twice in her head and once
in her chest, and then calmly walks out and goes
the bike out and tosses the bike in the bushes,
and then goes into the police station and sits there
and doesn't say a word.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Hatches a plan put her down like a dog.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
In twenty twenty four, Mariah's family files a wrongful death
lawsuit against Caitlyn Armstrong. A judge awards them fifteen million
in damages to cover emotional distress and to prevent Armstrong
from profiting off of her crime. You know, I don't
I understand why you would want to file a wrongful
death lawsuit just because you are hurt and angry. But
(36:27):
when you get a judgment for fifteen million in damages,
you're not How are you going to get fifteen million
dollars from this girl? I mean, that's never going to happen,
and she.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Was already sent I don't think homicides covered a homeowner's
insurance policy.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
There's no money, no, I mean she had forty thousand,
she spent six because classic surgery.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
There might be personal reasons too, just maybe principle and
because you can. It's probably such an easy win, right
because you already have a criminal conviction, so to go
get a civil conviction or a civil judgment is pretty
easily done. And maybe if there's right or things later
down the road, or should she buy a lottery ticket
or something or inherent something.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
I guess she can't ever tell her story or do interview.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
If you can't anyway, you can't profit off crying. But
I don't know how that works.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
But no. The family also forms the Mariah Wilson Foundation
to support cycling and youth sports causes. You know, her
her mom in the trial, it showed her mom. I
guess it was probably at the sentin same phase where
her mom went up, you know, because you could do
a victim impact statement. Her mom spoke. It was it's
so emotional to see family members and how they're affected.
(37:33):
It's so sad when a young life is taken. So,
I mean, this girl was just riding her bike. She
was such a nice person. It really, they'd really just
talk about how kind she was, and she was just
so into sports, and she was athletic, and all she
did was go to lunch with this guy. I think
there was some text messages, and I'm sure she was
maybe interested in him. But you know. In April of
(37:56):
twenty twenty six, the documentary which is what we've been
talking about, The Truth and Tragedy of Mariah Wilson, It
premiered on Netflix, exploring her life, career, and the events
surrounding her murder. The case remains one of the most
widely discussed murders in recent years, given its connection to
the cycling community and the dramatic manhunt that followed. You know,
(38:16):
also at the end of the documentary, they do show
Colin Strickland. He doesn't talk much, but he does. They
show him kind of tinkering around in his garage and
he does he doesn't cycle anymore, he abandoned that and
he says something.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Of that related to this.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
Yeah. Absolutely, you can tell he's not emotionally or mentally. Oh,
that was another thing I was going to talk about.
He did testify in court and he you could tell
he did not want to be there. He like his
head was low. He didn't want to talk. It was
I think it was hard for him to answer questions.
(38:56):
But I think it was just because from my perspective,
it seemed like the internal guilt that he had over
the whole situation was eating him alive. Because he says
at the end of this documentary. He doesn't say a lot,
but he does say something to the effect of, if
he could go back in time, he would have never cycled.
He would have never like, there were so many things
(39:16):
that he would have never done because.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
He's probably going on a date while he's with his
lady living.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
Right, well, right, I mean, I think he holds so
much guilt within himself because even though he didn't pull
the trigger, and I mean, yeah it was.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
He be It's like survivor's guilt. That's like, you didn't
do anything wrong, but you certainly don't well argue. I mean,
he was kind of a he wasn't He certainly had
no reason to foresee murder, right other than the fact
that his living girlfriend said she would kill and she
ever cheated.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
She was crazy and they had a volatile relationship. But
I don't know if it was actually instruction, well, I
don't know if it was ever to the extreme that
he actually I don't think he was ever on any
kind of notice that she would do what she did.
He obviously knew she was jealous because he was changing
the name in his phone and he was lying to her.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
So he was no, no, no, yea, he was no,
not because she was jealous. A guy would do that
because he's being secretive and cheating. Yeah, it's not a
matter of like, my girlfriend's cool with me hanging out
with other girls. I don't need to change the name
in my phone. That's on him. That's on him. Yes,
I was doing something wrong.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
I'm saying he's a douchebag, but he's only guilty of
it being a douchebag, not a murder not a murderer.
But anyway, at the end of the documentary, he basically
like he just it seems like he pulled away from
life like it didn't seem like he was very social.
I don't think he of friends. He doesn't cycle.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
Anymore because he has some moral character on like Caitlin.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Yeah, I think he's.
Speaker 2 (40:49):
He feels awful for the tragedy exactly. Okay, I looked
it up quickly. Okay, what date was Mariah murdered. Do
we remember the date.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
I have to go back and look at the time.
Speaker 2 (41:00):
Actually, it's May eleventh, I have right here in front
of me. All right, it's quizzing you. It says that
she it's very quickly after the murder, she sold her vehicle,
and she withdrew money, and she used cash only, and
she obtained obviously the passport, then flew to Puerto Rican,
(41:20):
Puerto Rican, corduroy Rico, Costa Rica, Costa Rica. Yeah, so
it was believed that she whether she planted in her head,
I don't know, but she definitely took all the steps
necessary after the murder to flee to Costa Rica and
buy like a passport or a ticket beforehand.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
No, that's what I'm saying. I don't think she thought
she was going to be caught coffee, Yeah, because I'm
telling you, I think she was such she had she
was such a narcissist and has such an.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
Ego sozoned in on the murder instead of anything else.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 2 (41:46):
And then when they pulled her in a couple days
and they probably pressed her pretty hard, She's like, I
want an attorney. Yeah, she probably went to an attorney.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
I doubt it. I think no, I think her plan.
I think once they pulled her into that interrogation room
and she was a suspect, she began to I think
she and she said, I'm not answering any questions and
I need an attorney or whatever it was that she said,
and she left. I think the minute she left is
when her head was spending and she was like, how
do I gotta get money and I gotta get out
of the country and how am I going to do that?
And that's what she did. Yeah, all right, guys, thank
(42:14):
you so much for listening to Legally Brunette. We appreciate
it as always. I love it when you guys send
dms to me on my Instagram so that you can
tell me what cases you would love for us to
talk about. And also I love your feedback and please
be sure to follow legally Brunette wherever you listen to podcasts,
and we appreciate you listening. Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
Thank you,
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Betrayal Season 5
Saskia Inwood woke up one morning, knowing her life would never be the same. The night before, she learned the unimaginable – that the husband she knew in the light of day was a different person after dark. This season unpacks Saskia’s discovery of her husband’s secret life and her fight to bring him to justice. Along the way, we expose a crime that is just coming to light. This is also a story about the myth of the “perfect victim:” who gets believed, who gets doubted, and why. We follow Saskia as she works to reclaim her body, her voice, and her life. If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal Team, email us at betrayalpod@gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.