Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson was a 25-year-old professional gravel cyclist at the absolute height of her powers when she was shot and killed in Austin, Texas, on May 11, 2022.
Her death, the result of romantic jealousy, shocked the tight-knit world of professional cycling and became one of the most widely covered true crime stories in recent American history.
The Netflix documentary The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson, released on April 3, 2026, has renewed global attention to her extraordinary life and her tragic, untimely death.
Profile
| Full Name | Anna Moriah Wilson |
| Born | May 18, 1996 |
| Birthplace | Littleton, New Hampshire, USA |
| Grew up | Kirby, Vermont, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Professional Gravel and Mountain Bike Cyclist |
| Parents | Eric Wilson (father), Karen Wilson (mother) |
| Siblings | Matt Wilson (brother) |
| Date of Death | May 11, 2022 (aged 25) |
| Place of Death | Austin, Texas, USA |
| Cause of Death | Multiple gunshot wounds, homicide |
| Perpetrator | Kaitlin Armstrong (convicted, sentenced to 90 years in prison) |
Early Life
Anna Moriah Wilson was born on May 18, 1996, in Littleton, New Hampshire, to Eric and Karen Wilson. She grew up in Kirby, Vermont, in the rural Northeast, where she fell in love with cycling at a very young age. From childhood, her family described her as boundlessly energetic, deeply passionate about the outdoors, and possessed of a natural athleticism that was extraordinary. Her brother Matt Wilson attended Middlebury College, graduating in 2022, the same year Moriah was killed.
Education
Moriah attended the prestigious Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont, an elite ski and cycling academy that prepares young athletes for national and international competition, before earning a Bachelor of Arts in Engineering from Dartmouth College in 2019. Her academic achievement at one of America’s most selective universities, combined with her athletic excellence, marked her as an unusually complete individual.
Career
After graduating from Dartmouth in 2019, Moriah committed to professional cycling full time. She competed in gravel racing and mountain bike racing, quickly establishing herself as one of the most exciting emerging talents in both disciplines. In early 2022, the last year of her life, she achieved breakthrough victories at the Sea Otter Classic Fuego 80K and the Belgian Waffle Ride California, among other races. She was on a trajectory that her peers and coaches described as potentially making her one of the greatest gravel cyclists of all time. Her colleagues in the racing world recalled her with phrases like: “She made everyone better, everyone try a bit more. I feel we were all watching her star ascend.”
Murder
On May 10, 2022, Moriah traveled to Austin, Texas, to compete in a race in the nearby town of Hico. She was staying at the home of her friend Caitlin Cash. On the afternoon of May 11, 2022, she met fellow cyclist Colin Strickland — with whom she had briefly dated in the fall of 2021, before their relationship became platonic, for a swim at Deep Eddy Pool and dinner. Strickland drove her back to Cash’s house and left. That evening, Cash returned home to find Moriah shot dead in the bathroom. She had been shot three times, the final shot through her heart.
Investigators rapidly identified Kaitlin Armstrong — Strickland’s girlfriend, a yoga instructor, as the prime suspect, based on surveillance footage placing her car outside Cash’s house and evidence that she had been using the fitness app Strava to track Moriah’s movements. Armstrong fled the country, leading to a 43-day international manhunt. She was ultimately found at a hostel in Costa Rica on June 29, 2022, after federal marshals placed a fake job advertisement for a yoga instructor. She had altered her appearance with facial bandages but was identified by her eyes. She was returned to Texas and tried for first-degree murder. On November 16, 2023, a jury found her guilty and sentenced her to 90 years in state prison. In January 2026, the Texas Third Court of Appeals upheld her conviction.
Legacy
Moriah Wilson’s death left an irreplaceable void in the world of professional cycling. The community she left behind established races and annual events in her memory. The Netflix documentary The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson, directed by Emmy Award winner Marina Zenovich and produced by Academy Award winner Evan Hayes, was released on April 3, 2026, and introduced her story and her extraordinary life to a global audience. Her parents, Eric and Karen, and her brother Matt attended the SXSW world premiere in March 2026.
Conclusion
Moriah Wilson was 25 years old when she was killed, not by a rival on a racing course but by jealousy, cruelty, and the senseless logic of obsession. She was a Dartmouth-educated engineer, a world-class athlete, and a genuinely beloved member of a community that still mourns her deeply. Her story deserves to be told not primarily as a crime story, but as the story it truly is: the story of a remarkable young woman whose star was rising fast, and who was robbed of the opportunity to show the world just how high she could climb.