Vanessa Richardson (0:00)

On the crime House original podcast Serial killers and murderous minds, we're diving into the psychology of the world's most complex murder cases.

Dr. Tristan Ingalls (0:09)

From serial killers to cult leaders, deadly exes and spree killers, we're examining not just how they killed, but why.

Vanessa Richardson (0:17)

Is it uncontrollable rage? Overwhelming fear? Or is it something deeper? Serial killers and murderous minds is a Crime House Studios original new episodes drop every Monday and Thursday Friday. Follow wherever you get your podcasts.

Katie Ring (0:42)

This is Crime house. When Caitlin Armstrong fled the country, she truly thought she could disappear forever by changing her name, her face and her entire life. And she almost did. But she would make one mistake that ended it all. Foreign. Welcome to night watch on Crime House 24 7. I'm your host Katie Ring and together we'll be following the cases making headlines now where justice is still unfolding. Follow us wherever you are listening and if you want ad free episodes, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple podcasts plus subscribe to our YouTube channel at Night Watch pod this episode discusses an active criminal case. The information we share is based on what's publicly available at the time of recording and may change as new evidence comes to life. Fight. We aim to inform, not to decide guilt or innocence. So everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Tonight we're finishing our three part series deep dive on Caitlin Armstrong, the Austin based yoga instructor whose on again, off again relationship spiraled into the murder of Mariah Mo Wilson. In our last episode, we saw the extreme lengths Caitlyn took to avoid getting caught. Caught. But as she was recovering from her plastic surgery in Costa Rica, the U. S. Marshals were tracking her down. After working with local officials in Santa Teresa, interviewing people she may have come across, reviewing surveillance videos and even recruiting a female agent to attend yoga classes, they had no luck finding Caitlyn. She had seemingly disappeared. But before leaving Santa Teresa, they made one last ditch effort to find her. They knew she was a big yogi and had gone on instructor trips. So they posted an ad on Facebook seeking a yoga instructor, hoping to lure Caitlin out of hiding. But they still had no luck. What they didn't know was that they had just missed her. After they released her wanted poster, she realized that dyeing and cutting her hair wasn't going to be enough to hide her identity. She really needed to make some drastic changes. So she scheduled an appointment at a plastic surgery office and and traveled back to get the procedure done. The surgeries had successfully changed Caitlin's appearance, but they had also burned a hole in her pocket. So when she returned to Santa Teresa, she knew she needed to find a job. So she started browsing online and came across the perfect opportunity. It was a Facebook ad for a yoga instructor. The same ad the Marshalls had set. And she fell straight into their trap. Agents Perez and Fernandez had already left Santa Teresa and were traveling back to San Jose to fly back to the States when they saw that someone had responded to their ad. The person suggested they meet at a hostel in Santa Teresa, so the agents rushed back. This could be her. They weren't positive, but this moment was the most hopeful they had been throughout this entire manhunt. They set up a meeting with a woman who responded to the ad and planned to meet at the hostel like she suggested. They entered the hostel lobby and saw a woman in the corner scrolling on her laptop and chatting with another guest. The woman looked like Kaitlin, but they couldn't tell for sure if it was her. Agent Fernandez didn't want to spook her, so he approached her and asked her a question in Spanish. Kaitlin fumbled with her phone, then held it up to ask him to speak into the translation app. When Fernandez leaned in, he noticed the woman had bloody nostrils and a bandage on her nose. Then he saw her eyes. And at that moment, he knew knew he was staring into the eyes of Kaitlin Armstrong. Fernandez excused himself, then stepped outside to call the local police. When they got there, they took Caitlyn into custody and searched her room at the hostel. In a lockbox, they found a receipt for the plastic surgery procedures, totaling $6,350 under the name Allison Page. They also found her sister Christie's passport, which she used to travel into Costa Rica undetected. Yet she still denied all of the allegations. At the station, she gave a fake name before refusing to speak altogether. But the marshals had enough evidence to fly Kaitlyn back to Texas. When she landed Back in the U.S. cameras were waiting. And the moment she walked off the plane, reporters started shouting questions. But Kaitlin Armstrong did not say a word. She kept her head down, showed little emotion, and walked past reporters without reacting. For all the running she had done, she was now right back where she started. Now in custody, it was looking like Caitlyn was finally going to face justice. But authorities were not prepared for what was about to happen next. On June 29, 2022, 34 year old Caitlin Armstrong was arrested in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica for the murder of 25 year old Mo Wilson. Just over a month earlier, Caitlin was flown back to the US and her face, now altered by plastic surgery, was plastered all over headlines and filled the news cycles. Mo's family released a statement that they were relieved that the hunt was over. After landing in Texas, Caitlin was booked into the Travis county jail on July 5, 2022. When detectives questioned Caitlyn, she mostly refused to engage. She did not offer a statement, did not answer any questions, and did not try and explain her whereabouts. But one thing investigators noted was that when they mentioned that Colin and Mo had been together before Mo was discovered dead, she turned her head away and rolled her eyes, reacting with visible irritation. But despite the physical reaction, she remained quiet, offering nothing further before being released and never confessed to the crime. A couple weeks later, on July 21, 2022, Caitlyn appeared in court for her father formal arraignment. In the courtroom, she sat motionless and appeared detached. The prosecution laid out their case, describing how and why they believed Caitlyn murdered Mo. Ultimately, they alleged that Kaitlin had waited outside of the apartment where Mo was staying. And once Colin dropped Mo off, Kaitlin followed her inside and shot her multiple times. During the entire presentation, Kaitlyn's face remained blank and she only spoke to enter her plea of not guilty. The court set her bond at $3.5 million. Caitlyn didn't have that kind of money, so she remained in custody. Over the next few months while prosecutors continued to build their case against her. But what prosecutors didn't know was that Caitlyn was preparing for something as well. While in jail, she started working out incessantly. She ran in place, lifted weights and of course, practiced yoga. She created a regimented strength building program for herself, all while planning her escape. Almost a year later, In October of 2023, about a month until her trial was set to begin, Caitlyn put her plan into action. She told officials that her leg was injured and made it sound serious enough that the jail arranged for her to receive medical attention. On October 12, 2023, 35 year old Caitlyn was driven from jail to a doctor's office. During the transport, she wore the standard stripe prison uniform and handcuffs. But because of her injured leg, her lower body was unshackled, giving her some freedom to move. After her appointment, she walked out of the medical office and saw her chance. Kaitlin bolted across the parking lot. The two corrections officers escorting her shouted, but she just kept on running. As she got further away, Kaitlin was able to wiggle one hand from the restraints around her wrist. She then ran up a small hill beside the Fenced in parking lot while an officer closed in behind her. But the officer tripped and fell, allowing Kaitlin to scale the fence and keep running. The officers radioed for backup. A chase ensued, and after running for a mile, authorities finally caught up to her. But she didn't surrender without a fight. She struggled with the officers as she tried to break free, but they ended up overpowering her. When Caitlyn was returned to custody, she had acquired some minor injuries during the pursuit that actually required real medical attention. Honestly, if this girl hadn't committed such a heinous crime and took the life of an amazing young woman who had such a bright future, and all for a guy who didn't even care about her, I would almost be impressed. But despite her efforts, Caitlyn's grand plan had failed once again, and she was back in custody to face the music foreign. Armstrong's escape attempt not only was a failure, it also led to more charges against her felony escape leading to bodily injury. It also reinforced the prosecution's portrayal of Caitlyn as someone unwilling to accept accountability. According to an affidavit later filed by investigators, Caitlyn Armstrong's escape attempt was not a spontaneous decision made in a moment of panic. It was something she had been quietly preparing for over the course of months. On the day of her escape attempt, she reportedly wore thermal pants underneath her jail issued clothing, allowing her to shed layers as she ran. After the failed escape attempt and the fact that Kaitlin once again tried to run away from accountability, any chances of leniency evaporated. Kaitlin Armstrong's trial for the murder of Mo Wilson began on November 1, 2023. In the courtroom, Caitlyn maintained a blank expression as Mo's friends and family tried to catch her gaze. But she ignored them, letting their presence wash over her. She was at the center of attention, yet completely detached. In their opening statements, prosecutors said the evidence would show that on May 11, 2022, Kaitlin Armstrong tracked Mo Wilson's location and drove to the apartment where Mo was staying. They pointed to the facts that Caitlin's black Jeep was caught on surveillance footage near the apartment. The shell casings used to murder Mo that were found at the scene matched the gun authorities recovered from Caitlyn's home. Her fingerprints were found on Mo's bike. She had been tracking Mo's social media activity as well as her GPS location On the Strava app. There was footage from neighborhood cameras that captured screams followed by the sound of gunfire. They had statements from Caitlin's own friends about how she said she wanted to kill Mo. They said that her phone didn't connect to any cell towers that night, which means she most likely turned it off, which they say usually only really happens when you're trying to hide something. They also alleged that Caitlin had access to Colin's email and Instagram accounts and that she knew he was still in touch with Mo tracking messages on a shared iPad. Prosecutors also pointed to evidence that Caitlyn didn't just own the gun, she knew how to use it. They introduced records and testimony showing she visited a shooting range with her sister Christy specifically to practice with a firearm, undercutting any claim of inexperience or accident. And of course, they talked about all of the lengths she went to to try and escape. Stealing her sister's passport, getting plastic surgery, and then trying to escape again. Prosecutors said this evidence proved that Caitlyn had followed Mo into the apartment, shot her twice, and then stood over her body and shot her one more time through the heart. As prosecutors laid out their case, they were careful to emphasize that no single piece of evidence existed in isolation. And that was the point. This was not a case built on one dramatic reveal, but on a sequence of actions that, when placed in order, told a coherent story. Jurors were asked to consider the totality, how all of these events aligned with the same narrow window pointing in one direction. The state's argument was simple, but forceful. Coincidence collapses when every piece fits the same timeline. Finally, they explained that Kaitlin did all of this out of pure jealousy. Caitlin Cash and some of Mo's other friends testified against her, and they all described Kaitlin's obsession with Mo. Then, on the fourth day of the trial, Kaitlin's now ex boyfriend, Colin, was called to the stand. It was the first time that Kaitlin had seen him since their lawyers had told them to separate during the investigation over a month prior. When Colin entered the courtroom, he didn't look at Kaitlin. He walked to the witness stand with his shoulders slumped forward and his eyes fixed on the floor. Even before he spoke, his discomfort filled the room. Kaitlin sat straight at the defense table, hands folded and eyes straightforward, as Colin recounted the years they had spent together, the turbulence of their relationship, and Caitlyn's intense jealousy. As Colin spoke, prosecutors projected photos and messages onto the screen, the two of them smiling at races, the text they'd exchanged, and a video of Caitlyn firing the gun Colin had bought her. Caitlyn watched as fragments of her old life flashed before her. Colin testified for eight hours over two days. As his testimony came to a close, the prosecutors asked him if he he had loved Kaitlin. He said that he thought he had, but also said that he wasn't sure if he actually knew her. By the time he stepped down, Collins seemed completely drained, and Kaitlin still showed no signs of emotion. With all of the incriminating evidence prosecution presented, Kaitlin's attorneys went with the argument that there was no hard proof and that investigators only had circumstantial evidence. They also argued that she was not a jealous girlfriend, but rather a frustrated partner who had been repeatedly lied to. They even went so far as to claim that Kaitlyn fled the country out of fear that the real killer would target her next. Before the defense rested, Kaitlyn was offered a chance to testify, but she declined. After deliberating for just two hours on Thursday, November 16, the jury returned its verdict, guilty of first degree murder. Most friends and family broke into tears while Kaitlyn sat completely still, staring straight ahead. As the case moved into sentencing, prosecutors urged the court to look beyond the moment of the killing itself. They described the murder as calculated, arguing that Caitlin didn't act in a sudden burst of emotion but made a series of deliberate choices, tracking Moe's movements, bringing a loaded gun, fleeing the country, and repeatedly attempting to escape accountability. They told the court this wasn't a crime of panic, but one of intention. During sentencing, the court also heard from Mo Wilson's family and the friend whose apartment she was staying at that night. Caitlin Cash, Mo's father, spoke about who his daughter was not as a headline or a victim, but as a person whose life revolved around love, competition and joy. He described a future that would now never happen and a grief that didn't end with a verdict. The sentence, he said, could not return Mo, but it could acknowledge what was taken. Mo's mom and her friend Caitlin Cash also gave heartbreaking witness statements before sentencing. The defense also presented mitigation witnesses, including Caitlyn's father and sister, who asked the court to consider her background and mental state. Their testimony was not about disputing the verdict, but about shaping the sentence. In the end, the court weighed those pleas against the totality of the evidence and the harm done. But it didn't work, and Kaitlin Armstrong was sentenced to 90 years in prison. Ten days after her sentencing, Caitlyn filed an appeal, claiming inadequate representation and an alleged pregnancy at the time of arrest. The claim was not introduced during the trial, was not presented to the jury, and was never supported with publicly disclosed medical records. No details were provided about gestation, paternity or how the pregnancy allegedly ended. Defense attorneys cited it only as potential mitigating information in appeals, arguing it should have been considered at sentencing. However, no other information was provided about the pregnancy and her appeal was ultimately denied. In September of 2024, Kaitlin's lawyers tried again. They claimed there was new evidence in the case. They also raised issues with the DNA evidence found at the scene and again pointed to Caitlyn's alleged pregnancy. The courts upheld the conviction, but the appeals process dragged on. Then, In January of 2026, the Texas Third Court of Appeals upheld Caitlyn's conviction. Although her lawyers could still seek a rehearing or discretionary review by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the jury's verdict and sentence remained firmly in place. For now. Caitlyn's earliest chance at Parole is in 2052, when she is 64 years old.