Olympic hopeful killed by friend’s jealous girlfriend in horror death | US | News

He was celebrated in the cycling world as a rising talent, a true athlete with a bright future ahead of him; until he is brutally murdered by his friend’s unstable girlfriend.

Moriah Wilson was a 25-year-old cycling prodigy from Vermont with a devoted family and a close-knit circle of friends who was well on her way to an Olympic career.

Everyone who knew him was in great shock when they learned that he had been murdered. Who would want to harm such a caring and gentle young woman?

Kaitlin Armstrong was a calculating businesswoman with a terrible motive and a determination to evade justice.

On May 11, 2022, Wilson was spending the evening with his friend Colin Strickland when his girlfriend Armstrong, whom he did not know, began to become jealous.

The two had fun together for a while, reconnecting in Austin, Texas, before she got on the back of his scooter and he dropped her off at the friend’s house where she was staying.

In the pages of her diary, which was revealed after his death, Moriah wrote: “When I was with Colin, I found myself drawn to his loving words. Those words made me feel safe, like I was important and valued. I think I love him more than I want to admit because of a great fear that he doesn’t feel the same way.”

At the time, Strickland was in a complicated relationship with Armstrong, and although he was attracted to Moriah and eager to make a connection, he was aware of her burgeoning cycling career and was reluctant to jeopardize it.

When Wilson said goodbye, he had no idea it would be the last time, because Armstrong was lurking around the corner in his vehicle. The angry girlfriend then broke into the house where the biker was staying and shot him three times.

The jealous ex-girlfriend ran out of the house without even the slightest sign of remorse, leaving the promising athlete alone on the floor covered in blood.

He only became a suspect in the case after police uncovered footage of his car in the area, but by the time a warrant was issued for his arrest he had disappeared without a trace.

It took authorities 43 days to find Armstrong, eventually finding her in Costa Rica, where she taught yoga and looked strikingly different. The killer had undergone extensive facial reconstruction surgery to resemble his sister, whose passport he used to travel.

His plastic surgeon, Dr., who will later introduce himself on Dateline in 2024. According to Jorge Badilla, the job included lip fillers, rhinoplasty and eyebrow lifts. The cost of the procedures was estimated at approximately $6,000.

The evidence was overwhelming and he was formally taken into police custody, but Armstrong remained convinced he would be released.

Just days before his trial was to begin, he made a desperate and ill-fated attempt to escape from prison while receiving medical treatment and was caught trying to scale the fence.

Fortunately, he was caught and brought to trial on November 1, 2023; where he pleaded not guilty to the murder of Moriah Wilson.

However, GPS data confirming his location on the night of the murder and the discovery of his compelling DNA evidence at the scene of the crime revealed that the weight of the evidence against him was overwhelming.

After an emotionally charged trial, Armstrong was ultimately sentenced to 90 years behind bars and is currently serving her sentence at the Texas State Prison for Women in Gatesville, Texas.

Moriah Wilson’s remarkable life and tragic death are chronicled in a Netflix documentary in which her family and closest friends describe the harrowing events that irrevocably changed the course of their lives.

Following the verdict, Moriah’s mother gave a powerful victim impact statement to her daughter’s killer, telling her: “When you shot Moriah in the heart, you shot me in the heart.”