Armed with an arsenal of relaxing stretches and deep breathing techniques, a yoga instructor might seem like the least likely person to commit first degree murder. But that is exactly what happens in Lifetime's new movie "Yoga Teacher Killer: The Kaitlin Armstrong Story," and the true story that inspired it.
In November 2023, Texas-based yoga instructor Kaitlin Armstrong was convicted for the 2022 murder of Anna Moriah "Mo" Wilson, an elite cyclist.
Armstrong had been in a romantic relationship with another professional cyclist, Colin Strickland, for three years before they went on a break, Strickland told police according to an arrest affidavit. Strickland said it was during this break when he met and briefly dated Wilson, the murdered cyclist, while still living with Armstrong. On May 11, 2022, the day of the murder, Strickland spent time with Wilson and lied to Armstrong about his whereabouts, according to the affidavit.
"You have this seemingly really normal woman who just completely loses it," actor Caity Lotz, who plays a fictionalized version of Armstrong in the film, tells TODAY.com. "How does one get there? And I think it's scary to kind of see how slippery that slope can be."
Where is Kaitlin Armstrong now?
Armstrong led authorities on an international manhunt in the weeks after Wilson's murder, using her sister's passport to escape to Costa Rica and undergoing plastic surgery. The U.S. Marshals Lone Star Task Force took her into custody in June 2022 and she was brought back to the U.S. to face charges.
A month before her conviction, Armstrong attempted to escape police custody as she was being escorted out from a doctor’s appointment, a Travis County sheriff’s spokesperson said at the time. Armstrong received an additional charge of “escape causing bodily injury,” but the Travis County DA's office eventually dropped the charge after consulting with police and Wilson's family, Austin's KVUE reported.
After a two-week trial, the jury on Nov. 16, 2023, convicted Armstrong of first-degree murder, and she was later sentenced to 90 years in prison.
In December, Armstrong's lawyer filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that a witness on the prosecution's side was not qualified to describe how Armstrong's DNA appeared on Wilson's bicycle, according to court documents obtained the local newspaper Austin American-Statesman. The motion also states that Armstrong had been pregnant twice, one of which was around the time of her arrest, although it does not include further details on the outcome of the pregnancy, the paper reported. That appeal process is ongoing.
According to KVUE, Armstrong in January was moved to a prison in Central Texas — the Dr. Lane Murray Unit, a women's prison in Gatesville. Her release is projected for 2112, but she will be eligible for parole in 2052.
In May, Wilson's parents, Karen and Eric Wilson, sued Armstrong for over $1 million in a wrongful death lawsuit, which states that the damages would cover funeral costs and emotional pain caused by Wilson's murder.
“Many of the elements of damage, including the loss society and companionship representing the positive benefits flowing from the love, comfort, companionship and society cannot be determined with mathematical precision,” the lawsuit read, according to CBS News.
"The moment you're living in is a blip in like the grand scheme of your life," actor Larissa Dias, who plays a fictionalized version of Wilson in the film, tells TODAY.com. "In this situation, (the relationship between Strickland and Wilson) most definitely wasn't the end of the world and no one needed to be hurt because of that."
Meanwhile, at Kingdom Trails in northern Vermont, where Wilson grew up, members of the community have named a trail in her honor — "Moriah's Ascent."
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