35: Go Deeper Than Netflix: Love Triangle, Manhunt, & Plastic Surgery | The Tragedy of Moriah Wilson

I'm usually on these ways to say this, so apparently last time she passed away. My trip is staying with me, and I just walked in, and she's laying on the bathroom floor, and there's blood. If I am in a existing world, and that you don't know what it's about, do I need an attorney here? I don't really like talking to you because I'm like, there are some issues between you and this girl. You can't miss one. On the night of May 11th, 2022, a phone call came into the local authorities in Austin, Texas, and they were requesting immediate emergency assistance. Now the reason for this call, 25-year-old Mariah Wilson was found unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds, two to her head and one to her chest. And I walked in, and she's laying on the bathroom floor, and there's blood everywhere. So there might be a police officer coming in soon, and that's okay. Don't leave her alone, and don't stop. Don't stop CPR, and let that officer take over for you, okay? Keep the line open for me when they come in. When first responders arrived, it unfortunately was already too late. Mariah was gone. I just 25 years old. Now from the very beginning, there wasn't really any sort of question about what had happened here. Investigators were confident right away that this was obviously a homicide. So naturally, the question became, "Who would want to do this to her?" Was this random? Was it something personal? Because as it turns out, Mariah, her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Colin Strickland, were all tied together in this messy, toxic, love triangle. And this part really matters because it starts to explain the dynamics that we're at play here. As more came out about the relationship and everything leading up to that night, it became a lot. But back when this case first made headlines, we covered it pretty much at every single angle in real time as the updates were happening. We talked about Mariah's life, the relationship that she had with Colin, the relationship between Colin and Caitlin, I mean really all of it. But since 2022, a lot more information has come out. And so, because of that, it only makes sense to come back and give this case another look. Now for those of you who aren't familiar, in these reopened episodes, I revisit our original deep dive and then layer in every major development along the way that has happened since. So you may notice some differences in the audio from my earlier recordings when I had different equipment. But the goal is to give you the full story, start to finish with all the new updates and sometimes some new perspectives. So hey guys, I'm Annie Elise, hit that subscribe button, hit the follow button, hit the like button because today we are reopening the case of Mariah Wilson. Let's jump right in. Mariah Wilson is a 25 year old accomplished athlete touted as the winningest woman and had everything in her life going for her. Her mother Karen Wilson is a cycling instructor. Her father Eric Wilson was on the 1977 US ski team from Burke Mountain Academy. I mean just a family of athletes. Mariah also attended Burke, the same academy as her father, where he was actually a ski coach at the time that she was there. She and her brother took up the family baton and became accomplished skiers themselves, just a huge family of athletes. And the intensely driven Mariah was not only a division one skier but also the captain of her soccer team and more recently an amazing gravel racer. It wasn't long that she was actually on the gravel racing scene and that she began to really make a name for herself, competitively racing and winning at an astounding rate in a relatively short amount of time in this sport. But a sport that once brought her extreme joy, confidence and praise ultimately led her down the path of an untimely death. Mariah decided in 2019 after graduating from Dartmouth with an engineering degree that she wanted to pursue professional racing as a cyclist. In just two short years she was working her way up the ladder, sharing the podium with established leaders in the sport and really just doing incredibly well. She even ended up quitting her job and turning to a cycling full time. She found sponsors and made lots of friends through this new cycling community. And by being completely immersed in this new community, it led her to me a man by the name of Colin Strickland. And Colin is 35 years old and was another accomplished cyclist who happened to share a sponsor with Mariah. Colin would later say that the way that he and Mariah met wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Given the field that he was in, he was always meeting new people, both male and female. Which you know, it helps to have connections whether those connections are platonic and just that work friends essentially or if they end up turning into actual meaningful relationships. In October of 2021, Mariah was visiting Austin, Texas where Colin also lives and they started a very brief relationship, both freshly out of these previous relationships that they had been in. And this relationship was very short lived, however, and only lasted until the beginning of November of 2021. So really, just a few weeks, Colin would later say that he and Mariah never even really defined what their relationship was, that it was so short lived that in his mind, it didn't even need a label. And when you hear that, especially knowing that they had both just come out of other relationships, it kind of gives you a sense of where things were at. It seemed more casual, like they were just spending time together, enjoying it for what it was without putting any sort of pressure on it. And I mean, I think a lot of people can relate to that. Sometimes you end up in those situations where it doesn't really feel serious enough to sit down, have some big conversation and try to define it and figure out what you are, it's better to just kind of go with the flow, have fun until you either figure it out or you're not having fun anymore. After that, Mariah returned home to California, and then the following month, in December, Colin ended up rekindling his three-year living relationship with a woman by the name of Caitlin Armstrong, who is a 34-year-old yoga instructor. Colin and Mariah still were friendly and in this same community together, so they did continue having a friendship and a platonic relationship after he and Caitlin had rekindled. Unfortunately, this would ultimately spell disaster for Mariah, because Caitlin wasn't a fan of their friendship between Colin and Mariah, not at all. She didn't understand how they were so close or why they were so close, as she also had no idea that they were once romantically involved. And it was so uncomfortable for her that it got to the point where she actually was blocking calls and text messages that were coming in from Mariah to Colin's phone. And this eventually led Colin to actually hiding Mariah's phone number under a different name on his phone. Colin has tried to defend himself, especially when it comes to the fling, relationship, whatever you want to call it with Mariah. During that time period, he said that he apparently made it known to Caitlin that he was seeing someone, even though they weren't still together, and he claims that Caitlin said the same. But basically, both Colin and Caitlin were broken up, and they were hooking up with other people, which no big deal, consenting adults, right? And I can see that being fine at the time, again, they were broken up, but the sketchiness, once they got back together, is definitely a whole different layer that gets added in, and that's where it starts getting messy. I have been saying since day one that I did not agree with Colin changing Mariah's name in his phone. I think that is just something that most people wouldn't be cool with, especially saying your partner doing that in general. It looks shady. It looks like you have something to hide, and that's how I felt about it as well. So this year, in January of 2022, at a cycling event in Arkansas, Mariah and Caitlin came face to face, and this was extremely uncomfortable because Mariah, just 25 years old, Caitlin almost 10 years older than her. There was also this weird dynamic and energy because of Colin, so it just was not good. And following that event, Mariah texted Colin saying, this weekend was strange for me, and I just want to know what's going on. If you just want to be friends, which it seems like that's the case, then that's totally cool. But I'd like to talk about it because honestly, my mind has just been going in circles, and I don't know what to think. Now this text message to me does not seem like they were quite platonic, or they really just platonic friends as Colin had been saying to Caitlin this whole time since rekindling, or were they still ongoing? Was he trying to have his cake and eat it too, leading both of these women on because they lived in different areas? It's worth mentioning that even now, all these years later, Colin still claims that it was platonic. He said that it was strictly professional and strictly platonic, and that he and Mariah would text maybe once or twice every month, whenever it had to do with a cycling event or some upcoming event, and Colin also claimed that the affidavit in this case made he and Mariah's relationship seem way more sketchy than it really was. I think his exact quote was, "Mo and I communicated about twice a month, and I think that it was skewed in a very misleading way in the affidavit." So who knows if we will ever really get more information on that aspect of things? Colin claims that they were platonic, so that's what we have to go off of. It's unclear if it was on that trip itself, or not, but in January, Caitlin learned of the romance that had happened during she and Colin's brief break in their relationship just a few months prior, and according to friends, Caitlin was extremely in rage. when she found out. So much so that she was physically shaking with anger and she also told her friend that she wanted to kill Mariah. So now it was all becoming clear. She was now understanding why they were so close, why Colin wouldn't just drop her as a friend, why she had to block the calls because it was romantic. At one point maybe not anymore but that's what the deeper connection was between the two of them. It wasn't as though Caitlyn felt she was over reacting and going crazy as so many men will often cast slight women into thinking. But now there was a route that she could identify. They had been together romantically. They were still talking. He said they were plutonic. Mariah said they weren't. This is getting very, very messy. Now as Caitlyn is coming to terms with all of this new information she learned and as she's kind of, you know, getting her arms around it a few months past. And on May 10th, Mariah arrived back in Austin, Texas to participate in a race called Gravel Locos and she was staying with a friend while she was in town. But remember this is where Colin lives and also where Caitlyn lives. On the night of May 11th Colin made plans with Mariah to go swimming together after 5.30 p.m. Still hanging out with her despite Caitlyn clearly not being okay with it and now having known the truth about their relationship for over six months now. But being the dirty dog in my opinion, pick Colin is he lied to Caitlyn about what his plans were that night. Because surely he wasn't going to selfishly cut Mariah off. He still wanted her and his life regardless of how his partner of three years felt about it. Colin picked up Mariah at the friend's house where she was staying on his motorcycle. And the two of them eat dinner together at a place called Poolburger after swimming at a deep eddy pool. After they ate, Colin dropped Mariah off back at the friend's house where she was staying before her next race. But when he dropped her off, Colin didn't wait to see if Mariah got in safely and just assumed that she had. He also then texted Caitlyn at 8.36 p.m. that he had been dropping flowers off at a friend's house and his phone had died, but he was now on his way home. So after he left, which was one minute after Mariah arrived home, a 2012 Black Jeep Grand Cherokee with a bike rack, the same model as Caitlyn's vehicle, drove by the house and was captured by a neighboring security camera. Mariah entered the home of her friend at the exact same time that Colin sent that text to Caitlyn. And this was confirmed by the personalized code that was given to Mariah for the smart lock on her friend's house to get inside. But when we first covered this case, there were a lot of questions about how Caitlyn even knew where Mariah was staying. Because remember, this wasn't Mariah's permanent home. She was staying at a friend's house. And at the time, there were rumors that Caitlyn had been tracking Mariah through an app called Strava, which if you're not familiar with it, let me break it down. It's basically like a social media app for athletes. My husband has one, my cousin has one. It's where they track things. People will log their runs, their bike rides, it shows the route, the distance, the times, the PRs, all of that. Then sometimes nowadays they'll post it to their stories too after they complete a workout. And it's, you know, something in the fitness community. And I even remember seeing someone describe it as Facebook for athletes, which honestly feels pretty accurate. But what's important here is that those rumors did end up being confirmed as true. There was some early confusion about whether Caitlyn was tracking Colin's account or Mariah's. But now we know that she was watching Mariah's. And that detail, it really changes how you look at everything leading up to this. Since I first covered this case, some of the interrogation footage of Caitlyn at the police station has actually been released. And I do want to take a minute to just walk through some of those clips with you, because there are a few things that really stand out. Later that evening, the friend that Mariah had been staying with called 911. To report that Mariah was on the floor of the bathroom unconscious and bleeding from several gunshot wounds to her torso. First responders responded to the home at the 1700 block of Maple and attempted to perform CPR. However, it was too late. And Mariah, just 25 years old, was pronounced dead. Her brilliant life had been senselessly snuffed out in a jealous rage. Mariah's bike was also missing from the scene and was quickly found nearby in a thick area of Bamboo. And it appeared to have been possibly staged to make this crime look more like a robbery rather than a murder. A day later on May 12, the police found that Caitlyn had had an outstanding class B warrant out for her. This was foreign arrest on an unrelated larceny charge that she had. She had apparently skipped out on a Botox procedure back in 2018, giving them her credit card and then claiming that she had another one that she would rather use that was in her car. So she left the scene without paying. And the total was about $650. So Caitlyn was apprehended and brought to the Austin Police Department homicide unit. And she was asked what had happened in the past 24 hours. When she was questioned about the death of Mariah, Caitlyn suddenly became very still and unresponsive. She was reportedly confronted with video evidence after that car that appeared to be hers was caught on security footage around the time that Mariah was murdered. Cops observed that she failed to explain why the vehicle was in the area, despite several opportunities to explain herself. Caitlyn ended up rolling her eyes in an angry way during this interview as police then began asking about the love triangle between the three of them. And she told police, "I don't have any idea that he even saw that girl or even went out with this girl as of recently and was getting very very heated about this." Investigators then posed whether she was upset when trying to explain why the vehicle was in the area and she began to knock her head in agreement. But then she asked to leave. And due to a technical error on the warrant and the database not having the correct birthday listed, she was actually free to leave. And this is important because interrogation footage often gives you a very different perspective compared to what's presented in court or in the summaries of the case. You're seeing the actual interaction in real time. So as we go through the footage, pay attention to how she responds and what she chooses to say, and just as importantly, what she doesn't say. Because those small details can really end up being extremely telling when you're trying to understand the bigger picture of what investigators were dealing with. The entire time Caitlyn is very calm. I mean noticeably calm. She's not panicking. She's not trying to immediately clear her name. She's not even really questioning why she's there. She just seems completely at ease, which is actually the complete opposite of what you would expect in a situation like that. And I'm sorry. If I have been a existing warrant and you don't know what it's about, do I need an attorney here? Did you hear about what's happened over the past 24 hours? I long walked in the house and said one involvement in the second community passed away. It sounds like there are some some issues between you and this girl. Okay. I'm not sure exactly what. Maybe he went out with this girl the other day. And maybe it sounds like from what he's saying that you were a little upset about it. We're hearing like, yeah, there was some jealousy stuff going on. Like that doesn't sound very good. Caitlyn was told multiple times during this interrogation that she was free to leave. And to be honest, I feel like the investigators thought that she would still stay and cooperate even though they said that. They I think they were just trying to make her comfortable being like, you could leave it anytime. We just want to get some information. But instead, Caitlyn did the exact opposite of that. I don't actually know and I would like to leave. Your vehicle was seen next to her house. It's when he's saying this stuff and then your vehicle is seen. Like, I want to be able to explain. Okay, there's a logical explanation for this. Maybe you were upset and you were just in the area or something. Like, I don't know because I don't have your story. When I can't explain that and all I see is that your vehicle's over there, that that kind of makes it look not too good, right? When we're talking to Colin and we're hearing like, yeah, there was some jealousy stuff going on. I would like to leave if I'm free to leave. Okay, okay. I think that that's one reason why this case blew up the way that it did because it wasn't a typical case where it takes weeks and weeks of silence from the investigators who are working behind the scenes to come up with potential suspects. It just happened quickly. Caitlyn was a suspect from day one and the investigators made that very clear. I mean, yes, she was a free woman at this time, yet her name and her face were all over the news channels. It was truly just very different than a lot of cases had how they go traditionally and she seems to have worked very quickly after that. She booked a flight from Texas to New York. She deactivated her social media and she completely disappeared. When investigators reviewed the surveillance footage, they saw that Caitlyn arrived at the Austin International Airport on May 14th, around 12.30 p.m., where she boarded a flight to Houston and then later boarded a connecting Southwest flight to New York at La Guardia Airport, almost as if she was trying to skip around on all of these little flights to confuse people or to somehow lose her track somehow. So five days after her initial interview, a homicide warrant for Caitlyn was issued by the US Marshals, but at this point, she was already in the wind. Shortly after her rival in New York. New York, an ID was issued under the name of Kaitlin's sister, Christine Armstrong, and it seems extremely suspicious that her sister, whose last known address was in California, would now suddenly apply for a New York ID on May 17th, the same day that that warrant was issued for Kaitlin's arrest. And only shortly after she happened to flee Texas to New York, not a real thought-out mastermind plan, in my opinion, because this is something that the government can track in that officials can trace. On May 19th, just two days later, after getting her new ID after this warrant was issued, she was charged with first-degree murder. A private investigator echoed the same suspicion that the police had, that Kaitlin was now living under her sister, Christine's identity, which would probably fly under the radar for a little bit, because they shared a strikingly similar resemblance. The address listed on the ID was that of Camp Haven, it's a campground in Livingston, Manor, New York. Now fast forward, almost a month, because on June 15th, there were reports that Kaitlin had been spotted at Camp Haven at that campground in New York a month prior, which is right around the same time that she first arrived in New York. According to an anonymous camper, Kaitlin's sister, Christine, works at the camp and had been a resident there as well, too. The camper also stated that Christine had been interviewed by US Marshals, who confirmed that the camp location was part of their manhunt. Now during the time that they were searching for Kaitlin, they shut down the entire campground, and they even put up a no-pressed passing sign in the area, which I've been saying for years that Kaitlin's entire plan was one that was going to get her caught up eventually, but I also won't lie, choosing that campground specifically was decently smart. Now prior to all of this, the campground was literally marketed on their websites as being "entirely off the grid", which I mean, what better place for a murderer on the run to go hide out until they figure out their next step. Even if you look at pictures of the campground, it's not what you would probably imagine. There are trees everywhere, it's almost like you're being surrounded in a very dense forest, it would be difficult to find someone, and it seems like it's a smart move, in my opinion. Now in case you're not convinced, that Kaitlin was the one who killed Mariah. Even after the video surveillance, even after she quite literally went on the run, the investigators found even more damning evidence, all while still searching for Kaitlin. Ballistic evidence linked to the murder weapon that was used on Mariah was linked to a nine-millimeter handgun that was purchased by Colin for Kaitlin back in January as a gift, and the gun was found in the home that the couple shared. For a little over six whole weeks, Kaitlin was on the run. Was it something that would've and could've lasted forever? I don't personally think so, but still six weeks is six weeks, and I'll give her that. The U.S. Marshall's Office of International Operations, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, say that five times fast, was working with authorities in Costa Rica, and they located and arrested Kaitlin on June 29th at a hostel on Santa Teresa Beach in Provincia de Puntaneras, and I hope I'm saying that right, but I'm probably not. So authorities discovered that Kaitlin had been using a fraudulent passport that back when she went into New York, remember we saw her going from New York to New York, all of these things she had boarded, a United Airlines flight from Newark on May 18th at approximately 8.30pm, and then she arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica. Now when I first covered this case, we really didn't know much about the whole passport situation. It was just kind of described as fraudulent, and that was that. But now we do have a much clearer picture of how she actually managed to leave the country. In the beginning, investigators were, of course, watching closely, basically waiting for any activity on Kaitlin's passport, because in theory, that's how they would find her, or at the very least, see where she was headed, but that moment never came. And so that's when they started thinking, "Okay, if she did leave the country, how did she do it without using her own passport?" And around that same time, Kaitlin's sister Christy told the investigators that her passport was missing. And at that point, it's pretty easy to connect the dots, in my opinion, Stagator started to suspect that Kaitlin may have used Christy's passport to get out of the country. So they, of course, check records, and sure enough, Christy's passport shows that it was used to board a one-way flight from Newark to Costa Rica, problem being Christy herself was still in the United States, at that exact same time, actively speaking with investigators, which Christy maintains that she never gave Kaitlin her passport. She said she did not help her leave, did not assist in any way. As of today, she's never been charged with anything either, so, I mean, whatever investigators found along the way, it seems like they ultimately believed her. Now again, when we first covered this, there were all kinds of rumors floating around that Kaitlin had gotten plastic surgery, so that she could basically start over, start a new life, and live this new life in Costa Rica. But now, we actually know exactly what she had done. And honestly, in my opinion, it wasn't really enough. In my opinion, it looked good, but it wasn't enough to make her look like a completely different person. Before she even got to Costa Rica, we know that she had already cut and died her hair. Then, once she arrived, she got in contact with a doctor named Dr. Jorge Badea. And when Dr. Badea later spoke to investigators, he said that when he met her, she didn't even introduce herself as Kaitlin. She was going by an alias, the name Allison Pave. So right there, she's already now creating this fake identity. Then, on the day of her surgery, which included lip fillers, a rhinoplasty, and a brow lift, Dr. Padea said that she showed up wearing a hoodie with the hood all the way up, and then a mask covering her face. Which I'm assuming it's one of those masks that we all wore during the pandemic, the one that covers like half your face, because remember, this was early 2020s, after all. And not 2020, the year, but like, you know, within a couple of years of the pandemic still being relatively fresh, but he said that that was a red flag for him. But the bigger red flags that came up was when he asked to take a before photo, which is pretty standard for any kind of cosmetic procedure. You take a before picture, you have the after picture, it helps highlight your work, it shows people what you're capable of, but Kaitlin did not like that. And she really started pushing back. She keeps saying she doesn't want her picture taken, she doesn't want it, she doesn't want to participate, but he explains that it's not optional. It's part of the process for pre and post op documentation, so eventually, she agrees. But only on the condition that the photo is taken on her phone. Now I'm sure looking back now, the doctor is probably thinking like, okay, well, that all makes sense. It all came together because, I mean, really, how much more suspicious could it have been right? However, because of those photos, because they do exist, we do have a before and after. And like I said, there definitely are some differences. You can absolutely see that. It's not like she suddenly looked like a completely different person. And that really stood out to me, because if the goal was to completely just disappear, go under the radar, fly under the radar, create a new identity and start over. This wasn't exactly a drastic transformation, but one thing does feel pretty clear. Kaitlin wasn't planning on coming back to the US anytime soon. Before Kaitlin fled, she started selling some of her very big ticket items, things like her Jeep that was pretty much the number one thing that actually got her caught up in this murder to begin with. She went to a local carmax in Austin on May 13th, just one day after she was questioned and released by Texas authorities in connection with Mariah's murder. And she sold it to them. And they paid her approximately $12,000 for this vehicle. We know that the plastic surgeon had charged her $6,000. So there goes half of what she was paid for her Jeep, which I believe she even sold under market value. Now I want to shift gears for a minute and talk about Colin. For years, people have speculated whether or not Colin could have been involved in Mariah's death, which I don't think that at any point it was ever super crazy to believe that maybe Kaitlin hadn't been working alone, but it had a lot of people questioning it. Colin hasn't always been the epitome of a stand-up, transparent, truthful guy, because we know that he had a long history, which he self-admitted to, of deleting text messages with Mariah, changing her name and his phone, lying about seeing her, all of these things. When I first covered this case, a lot of people were focused on the text message that Colin sent Kaitlin after dropping off Mariah at her friend's house. Because the exact text was, "Hey, are you out?" I went to drop some flowers for Allison at her son's house up north, and my phone died, heading home unless you have another food suggestion. So people thought that this could be code. But many suspect that was code for the target is at the house. And before we go further into that, and before you start saying, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, relax." You know, you got your tinfoil hat on, like, chill for a second. Let me just talk about this other piece of information. Colin also, after all of this came out, he said that he and Kaitlin did in fact break up the weeks before I believe it was, this murder occurred. And he even said that Kaitlin was okay with it, and she was dating other people. Now I touched on it before, but if that's the case, and if that's really true, that they broke up weeks before there was no animosity, she was dating other people. Why would she have such an axe to grind with someone that he was friends with? If she had moved on, and not only an axe to grind, but such a grind that she would go all the way to murdering this person. And also, if they were broken up, and she was dating and moved on, why did he have to lie about where he was going that day, and who he was seeing, or about delivering the flowers about all of that? Why lie if you guys were broken up and. you know, she had no hard feelings and was dating other people. It just doesn't make sense. So people are questioning if any of what he is saying is true. And I'll just say this. I don't know that I see any motive for Collins involvement in this at all. However, just playing devil's advocate here, he has admittedly lied and hidden things before. So you never really do know. But my biggest question with all of that would be what did he have to gain by Mariah dying, a somebody who was his friend who he once dated. And many suspect that he may have set it up and just had Caitlin execute it and possibly set it up because he owned businesses with Caitlin, which we know he did. So people are speculating that if they were breaking up or had broken up and then the potential business was in jeopardy as far as the partnerships splitting the assets. However, that worked with one business, two businesses, however many they shared. Could that be a motive as to wanting to appease Caitlin, keep her happy. So she didn't take anything away from him, monetarily speaking or business speaking. And so he helped her execute this crime. It's one of those things where, sure, I guess anything is possible. But those are just some random rumors and talk on Reddit that people have been going down the rabbit hole about for literal years at this point. So it's worth mentioning. It also didn't help his case at all when the body cam footage came out in 2024 when he learned of Mariah's murder. I mean, I don't think his reaction was necessarily bad by any means. You're kind of damned if you do, damned if you don't when it comes to any kind of reaction in these true crime cases. But it got people talking. And as we know, people will pick apart your reaction regardless of what the truth is. And just to clarify, before we watch this next body cam clip, if you're watching the video version of this episode, when investigators ask Colin if he knows, quote, Anna, they're actually talking about Mariah. Because Anna was actually her first name, but she went by Mariah or Mo. She is right now. It's a bit of an investigation, but it is being investigated as a homicide. So that was one clip that a lot of people really tore apart. And then there's another one. The interrogation video of Colin that also got released. And in that one, a lot of people felt like he was almost defending Caitlin or at least speaking really positively about her. And that definitely caught people's attention because given everything going on, it just felt a little off to some people. A person makes his own choice. And it doesn't make sense. No, in Caitlin's vehicles there, what do you think took place? I know both these people. I think this is so far beyond the realm of reality that I live in. As far as I thought, well, that's perhaps really asking what do you think? Is your cable great, things like that? I think it's capable of doing this. So the answer is no. I don't believe it. Was that the truth? Or was that all said in the hopes that Caitlin wouldn't end up the prime suspect? But same as Caitlin's sister, Colin has never been charged with any kind of involvement in Mariah's death to this day, which is something that a lot of people have struggled with. The idea of her managing to completely evade the authorities and flee the country all on her own is just something that I guess is really difficult for people to grasp. And I mean, I just wonder how the authorities could really say either way. If let's say Caitlin and her sister were together somewhere private. And then Christie say handed her passport over to Caitlin, I'm not really sure how the investigators would be able to confirm or deny that. If Christie said she didn't do it, and Caitlin never snitched on her, we would never know the difference, right? So I don't know, who knows, maybe there was some help and some involvement in smaller ways like that, which I mean, that's not a small way that's pretty big way, but you get what I mean. I mean, whether that help was from Christie or Colin, maybe there was something and we never will know the truth. As soon as Caitlin was arrested, we began to get more and more information, much needed information, to really start putting some of the missing puzzle pieces of this case together. The US Marshalls hosted an incredible press conference where they announced the capture of Caitlin Armstrong. And the press conference gave so much detail and answered most of everybody's questions on everybody's mind. Brandon Fila, the public affairs officer for the US Marshalls went over the case and how they were able to capture Caitlin Armstrong in great detail. US Marshalls immediately communicated with the Department of State Diplomatic Security Systems and continued investigative efforts where communication was then established with Costa Rica officials. US Marshalls deployed two marshals to the US Embassy to assist the Department of State and foreign officials with intelligence on the possible whereabouts of Caitlin. And what they learned was that Caitlin had traveled to multiple locations that included San Jose, Haco Beach, and Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, where she was ultimately found. She also used multiple names and aliases that included the name Beth Martin, Liz, and Ari Martin. And she used these names at different yoga studios and hostels that she frequented. Officials involved in the investigation conducted old-fashioned law enforcement techniques of going door to door and conducting multiple interviews. And they visited all of the yoga studios and all of the hostels that she had stayed at. This paved the way where Caitlin was eventually going to be detained by authorities on Santa Teresa Beach. She was transported back to San Jose, which is about a six-hour drive, where Caitlin finally confessed to her true identity. According to foreign officials, she altered her physical appearance again by dying her hair, cutting its shoulder length, and then also having, she had a bandage and bruising on her nose, which looked like it was from plastic surgery and a nose job, which we later see receipt for. But she tried to claim that it was from a surfboard incident just days prior. She was deported back to the US. And on July 7th, she arrived at the BCIA in Houston, where she was received by the Gulf Coast Violent Offender's Task Force and then transported and booked into Harris County, jail. The US marshals answered questions following their statement. One reporter asked if the owner of the passport that was used by Caitlin will be facing any criminal charges, in which the agent stated that it was currently an active investigation. As we now know, that person whose passport she used was Christie. And like I said, she was never charged with anything. The agent stated that the documents found in her hostel were pretty unique. Caitlin had kept her documents in a lock box and when confronted by authorities, she stated that she didn't have the key to it anymore. But when Caitlin was taken away, a news affiliate had gotten in contact with the owner of the hostel. And that's when the owner voluntarily recovered the documents, the passport, and the $6,000 receipt from the plastic surgery facility. It appears that Caitlin was trying very hard to create a life there in Costa Rica, working at yoga studios, going under different names. And so much so that she apparently even was dating a little bit. Well, Caitlin, I know her is Ari, don't really know Caitlin, but more of the face, like the scene on like a Caitlin. Ari was a strange person, but I met her right out to side the tattoo shop. Good life tattoos. And her friends are getting tattoos, so she was waiting out there in the bench, and I was out there having a beer and the lounge and came to the parent to me that she was trying to have a conversation, trying to get to know them. So then I started talking there more and more, and then we ended up sharing numbers, and we're going to hang out later, and we ended up hanging out a bunch of times later. We went on a couple dates, but she said that she had just been through a real traumatizing breakup, and she hadn't healed from it yet, and wasn't ready to get close at all. So we were just being friends. She wanted to go out to different places. We went out to a bunch of different spots, but most of the time she wanted to kind of be a secluded spot, not a lot of people. And I didn't put any of it together. You wouldn't imagine it, but after it all happened, by, and I hear what she was really doing and running from it made sense why she like didn't want to be seen, why she wanted to go to a real secluded places, and it all kind of made a little more sense. Which I just want to say, guys, she was apprehended 43 days after being on the run. If you are so fueled with jealousy and anger, because you love somebody so much that you feel like your only option is to murder the paramour that you suspect is dividing your relationship and breaking it up, how are you whole enough and healed enough to start dating 43 days later? If you were so distraught and heartbroken that you murdered somebody, how on earth are you like, now I'm going to start dating? Unless it was all a facade, which it could have very well been. In July, once back in the United States, Caitlin attended her first Zoom court hearing addressed in black and white stripes. Her her charges. included felony first-degree murder with a bond of 3.5 million, and theft of service with a bond of 3,500, Kaitlyn pled not guilty to the first-degree murder charges. So the last time that we talked about this case, Kaitlyn's trial was set for October 2022. But even then, we knew that things were going to get pushed back. Her defense team was going to go through all of the legal hoops they could filing as many motions as possible. At one point, they were arguing that Kaitlyn wasn't even red her Miranda rights by the Austin police department the first time that she was taken into custody, before ultimately going on the run and fleeing. Another time her attorneys were claiming that the APD wrote down inaccurate information when she was questioned and also wrote it, quote, "out of chronological order." Now, even though Kaitlyn had gone on the run once and was now in custody, she must have thought that her defense team had no real chance because right before her trial, she made a run for it again. And I mean that very literally. Kaitlyn saw her chance at potential freedom and she took the opportunity. She seized it fully. Here's where this case takes another crazy turn. Because on the morning of October 11, 2023, Kaitlyn is taken to a doctor's appointment in South Austin. And at one point, she literally tries to escape from custody. If you're watching the video version of this episode in the clip, you can see her trying to jump over a fence, but it doesn't go the way that she planned. The officer pulls her down and they both end up hitting the ground. And what's kind of wild is that she doesn't just stop there and give up, she actually gets back up and tries to run off again. So this time, two officers step in and they bring her down. And according to reports, both of those officers were injured during the struggle, though the exact details of those injuries aren't really clear. But after that, she was obviously taken back to jail in custody and investigators learn that this wasn't something that she just decided to do in the spur of a moment because the opportunity presented itself. It looked like she had planned this because she was even wearing thermal pants underneath her jail uniform, almost like she was preparing to be outside for a little while, trying to figure out her next move. And people at the jail also said that she had been working out pretty intensely in the weeks leading up to that appointment. So makes you wonder, was she preparing for something like this? The entire time. Did she already know what that area looked like? Like maybe she had been to that doctor's office before or knew about the fence or just knew the area so well and was the plan to just always run and fight her way out. It's hard to say exactly, but either way, I mean, it's not a good look for her, especially when you see her try to take off not once, but twice after already going out on the run. By the time things finally move forward after all of the delays, the trial officially began in November of 2023. And right from the start, one of the key issues from the pretrial hearings had already been decided that all of the evidence that her defense team had tried to suppress, it was going to be allowed. It was in. And that's a big deal because that evidence was clearly something that her defense did not want presented to a jury. I don't think that many people walked into this trial believing that Caitlin was innocent, but what's interesting is how the case did unfold once the testimony actually started, because as the days went on, more evidence was presented, more witnesses took the stand, and instead of raising doubt, it seemed to do the opposite. With each passing day in that courtroom, the picture being painted, it wasn't getting any clearer in her favor. I mean, if anything, it was reinforcing what a lot of people already suspected. The more information that came out, the more difficult it became to see this as anything other than what it appeared to be. One of the most jarring things that we saw during Caitlin's trial was camera footage of Mariah's final moments. You can hear her screaming in this footage, then it's followed by gunshot. It's a pretty quick clip and there's nothing graphic about it. All we see is the neighbor's front porch, where this camera seemed to be, but it's haunting. And I want to warn you, regardless of whether or not it's graphic, it is still very difficult to hear. Of course, as hard as some of that was to hear, none of it actually proved that Caitlin was the one holding the gun. But when it came to trial, the prosecution brought in some really strong witnesses, and one thing that stood out the most to me was Caitlin's best friend, Nicole. While she was on the stand, she talked about how she and Caitlin would have a lot of conversations about Caitlin's relationship with Colin. And remember, that relationship was pretty rocky. They were constantly breaking up and getting back together, and Nicole shared that there was this one moment where she asked Caitlin what she would do if Colin ever ended up with another woman. In Caitlin's response, quote, "I would kill her." And hearing that, in a courtroom, at your own murder trial, I mean, that is not something that you can really walk back. I can only imagine what that moment felt like hearing it out loud. Colin also took the stand, and I have to say, this didn't do much for how people viewed him. His testimony lasted around five hours, and both during and after, he comes across as defensive and pretty agitated. And it makes you wonder if part of that is because he knows that even after all of these years, people are still questioning him and his potential involvement. When he was leaving the courtroom, he actually even shoved one of the cameras that someone was holding, which, look, I get being annoyed and being pissed off that people are in your business and asking you questions after a long day. But to me, it does just show a little bit about his character as a person, in my opinion. During Colin's testimony, we also heard about he and Caitlin's relationship through his eyes, which he definitely downplayed. He claimed that at one time he loved her, and she loved him, but that he apparently was, quote, "apprehensive" about forming a long-term relationship with her, which is kind of funny, since they were on and off for about two and a half years and owned a business together at the time that Mariah had been murdered. That's definitely beginning to go into long-term territory. And at one point, when Colin was asked if he knew Caitlin pretty well, he said, "No, I don't." But then later, when he was asked again, he said, "Well, yeah, I thought so, yes." So his whole testimony was just a lot of back and forth combined with his annoyed attitude, like he just could not wait to be out of that courtroom and never have to talk about Caitlin or Mariah ever again. In total, the state called about 40 different witnesses to testify, and a lot of them bring in really strong points that piece by piece start building the bigger picture. On the other side, though, Caitlin's defense team, it didn't really quite land the same. They argued that there were other possible suspects, people that the investigators may have looked into before at focusing primarily on Caitlin. They also pushed the idea that most of the prosecution's case is circumstantial. But once closing arguments wrapped up and the jury went back to deliberate, they reached a verdict within two hours. "The defendant will please rise. In cost number D-1-D-C-2-2-3-0-1-2-9, the state of Texas versus Caitlin Armstrong, verdict of the jury. We, the jury, found the defendant, Caitlin Armstrong, guilty of the offense of murder as alleged in the indictment, signed by the presiding juror on today's day 214 P.M." During the penalty phase of the trial, Mariah's family was given the chance to read their victim impact statements in the courtroom. And this part is truly heartbreaking, because when her mom speaks, you can't help but feel it. "When you shot Mariah in the heart, you shot me in my heart." And after that, the judge then sentenced Caitlin to 90 years in prison with an opportunity for parole in 30 years. Mariah's family said that they were extremely happy with the outcome. And you can of course understand why it felt like they can now finally start the healing process. Maybe even find a little bit of peace. Just knowing that the person responsible for her murder was behind bars and very likely would be behind bars for the rest of her life. "Self-ass manipulation, jealousy, and hatred never lead to positive outcomes." Unfortunately, this wouldn't be the last time that we would hear about Caitlin Armstrong, though. Because if you've been here for a while, or honestly, if you follow true crime at all, then you probably already know that after someone is found guilty, their defense team will usually file motions asking for a new trial. And most of the time, it's pretty standard stuff, and it usually gets declined. But in this case, Caitlin's team took an entirely different approach. In December of 2023, they filed a motion for a new trial. And one of the reasons they listed is something that really makes you pause. They list in alleged pregnancy at the time of her arrest. And I say alleged because the motion never actually explains what happened after that. There's no clear follow-up, no details, and as we know, Caitlin never had a beat. So it kind of leaves a lot of unanswered questions. It's definitely implied that she may have miscarried, but again, it's never actually directly addressed. I don't know if she was dating while she was in Costa Rica. I mean, I guess it's possible that she could have been pregnant when she was arrested. But from what I've seen, people are pretty split on whether they even believe that she was pregnant in the first place. And what's interesting here is that they weren't arguing that something happened to her in custody that caused a miscarriage or anything like that. But instead, their argument was that if the judge had known that she was pregnant, the sentencing might have been more lenient. And I really don't know how I feel about her team's tactic because at the end of the day, pregnant or not, she was found guilty of murdering someone. In May of 2024, Mariah's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Caitlin. And just one month later, a judge awarded them $15 million. But then, in July of 2024, they took it a step further, and they sued her again. This time, arguing that Caitlyn had transferred her assets so that she wouldn't have to pay them. Also, around this time, in 2024, Lifetime released a movie about this case, and they called it, what was the title, is Yoga Teacher Kills, the Caitlyn Armstrong story, which to be honest, I don't love that title because it puts all of the focus on her instead of her victim, Mariah, but that being said, Netflix also released a documentary called The Truth and Tragedy of Mariah Wilson, which aired on April 3, 2026. So, where does everything stand now? I mean, I really don't see Caitlyn ever getting out of prison, even when she's eventually eligible for parole. And I have to think that her escape attempt right before the trial is also something that may be brought up again and again for years to come. And honestly, looking at where things are now, I'm just glad that there has been some form of justice. Because when we first sat down and talked about this case, there were some real moments where it felt like she might not be found, that she might have just escaped, went off the grid into another country, and that her phantom rise family may never get answers or the accountability that they deserved. Which now, as we know, luckily was not the case, but Caitlyn went to the ends of the earth to try to evade. Plastic surgery, fleeing the country using her own sister's passport, whether or not you think her sister truly helped her is up for you to decide. Then, to be arrested, be in custody, try to make an attempt to flee again. Like, that takes some balls, some real courage. And I don't know if it's one of those things where it's like the entitlement and the audacity, or just like, she scared shitless now that she got caught because it really was a moment of like a crime of passion and she couldn't see straight and she had this blind rage. But it also feels, and to me, at least very premeditated, when you think about her Jeep passing in front of that house multiple times, casing the area, tracking Mariah's whereabouts on the app. Having the gun, I mean, it feels selling the Jeep, it feels very strategic to me. But I don't know, have you watched the documentary on Netflix? Have you heard of this case before? Do you think that the sister helped out? Do you think Colin was responsible at all? Do you think he helped Caitlyn evade? What do you believe? The big point, though, at the end of the day is that this beautiful, young girl, Mariah, Anna, Mo Wilson, was in her 20s, had her whole life ahead of her, a fucking thriving career ahead of her. And it was stripped away because of jealousy. And in part, look, I'm gonna say it indirectly, in part, because I think Colin was acting like a little bit of a fuckboy, putting her name as something else in his phone, secretly hanging out with her and not telling Caitlyn about it. Caitlyn's responsible for her own actions, 1000%, but he did fuel the insecurity and the jealousy because he didn't have the courage to just break up with her like a man. And like we always say in these cases where it's spouse on spouse violence, just get a divorce, just as easily, you can say, just break up, right? If you want to go date around or do whatever and be shady and flirt, go break up. Don't be in a relationship. It's as simple as that. And I get sometimes it gets more complicated when you have a business together or you're living together or whatever's going on, but like just be a man, be a man. Maybe that needs to be the new like sign out tagline. I don't even know. But let me know in the comments section what you think about this case. And if you think that Caitlyn received help, whether from family or Colin while on the run, thank you so much for tuning into another episode of 10 to life reopened. I'm so happy that Mariah's family got the justice that they deserve. And if there are any updates in the future, I certainly will keep you posted. I'll be back with you next Tuesday with an all new case. So make sure to subscribe on YouTube if you're watching. Follow the podcast if you're listening and stay tuned for that new episode next week. Until then, stay safe. Bye.