Lululemon murder

Last updated

Lululemon murder
DateMarch 11, 2011 (2011-03-11)
Location4856 Bethesda Ave, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
CauseMultiple injuries
ParticipantsBrittany Norwood
OutcomeConvicted of first-degree murder
DeathsJayna Troxel Murray

The Lululemon murder occurred on March 11, 2011, at a Lululemon Athletica store located in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, when Brittany Norwood, a store employee, murdered her coworker Jayna Troxel Murray. The case received widespread media coverage and was commonly referred to as the "Lululemon murder." [1] In January 2012, Norwood was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Contents

Murder

On March 12, 2011, a manager arrived in the morning to find the door unlocked, merchandise strewn across the floor, and mannequins in disarray. [2] She could hear someone moaning near the back of the store. Frightened, she asked a man outside to help her search the store. [2] He found Jayna Murray lying dead in a back hallway, face down in a pool of blood, with a ligature around her neck. Brittany Norwood was found in the bathroom, apparently semi-conscious, with zipties binding her wrists and ankles and blood on her face. [1] [3] Bloody footprints were tracked through the store. [4] [5]

Norwood told police that after she and Murray had closed the store the previous evening, she realized that she had forgotten her wallet and called Murray to let her back into the store. [6] Alarm records showed that the door was unlocked at 10:05 pm. [7] Then, according to Norwood, two men wearing dark clothing and ski masks entered the store, attacked them, and sexually assaulted them. [1] [7] While police initially treated Norwood as a victim, it soon became clear that the evidence did not support her account. [7] Murray had been savagely attacked, sustaining at least 331 wounds from at least five different weapons, including a knife and a hammer, which may have come from a toolbox in the store. [3] [8] [9] Norwood's injuries were relatively minor, and appeared to be consistent with self-inflicted wounds. [10] A forensic expert at the trial testified that the blood on her face, from a cut on her forehead, had dripped straight down, suggesting that she had been upright most of the night, not lying on the bathroom floor where she was found. [11] The bloody footprints in the store came from two pairs of shoes—a pair of men's size 14 Reebok sneakers, which were found inside the store, and Norwood's own shoes. [7] [12] It was discovered that the tracks ended before either exit from the store. [13] Additionally, investigators did not find evidence that either woman had been sexually assaulted, although Norwood had cut a hole in Murray's pants to make it appear that she had been. [3]

During the investigation, it came to light that an employee and a manager at the Apple Store next door had heard an altercation through the wall the previous evening; surveillance footage from inside the Apple Store shows them standing next to the shared wall, then walking away, while a security guard sits nearby listening to music on an iPod. The employee testified at Norwood's trial that she heard women arguing, one saying "Talk to me. Don't do this. Talk to me. What's going on?", followed by screams, sounds of something or someone being hit or dragged, and a weak voice saying "God help me...please help me." The manager testified that he thought the noise was "just drama." [6] [14]

Police also found blood in Murray's car, which was identified at the trial as a mix of Norwood's blood and Murray's. [11] When they asked Norwood whether she had moved the car, which was found at a farmer's market three blocks away, [3] she admitted that she had. She claimed the men inside had ordered her to, and told her that if she didn't come back in 10 minutes, they would kill her. She also said that she had seen a police officer while she was moving the vehicle, but hadn't spoken to him. [10]

Norwood was arrested a week after the slaying, and charged with first-degree murder. [7] Statements by police officials and testimony during the trial indicated that on the evening of the murder, Murray and Norwood checked each others' bags for unpaid merchandise, a routine security procedure at Lululemon and other retail stores. [13] Murray found a pair of pants in Norwood's bag, and called their manager after she left the store. [8] The manager said she would deal with it in the morning. [13] A few minutes later, Norwood called Murray to say she'd forgotten something, and asked Murray to return to the store and let her in. [3] When Murray arrived, Norwood attacked her, moved her car, then staged the scene to look like a robbery. Norwood put on a pair of men's shoes to track blood across the floor; tossing mops, broom, and chairs around the store; and finally cut herself, binding her own wrists and ankles with zipties. [3] [6]

On January 27, 2012, Norwood was sentenced to life in prison for first degree murder. [8] She is now at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women.

In the media

The murder has been covered in a number of true crime podcasts, including Morbid [15] and Generation Why. [16] It was also the subject of a 2012 episode of Snapped , [17] a 2014 episode of Redrum, [18] a 2023 episode of Autopsy, a 2023 episode of Forensic Files II, [19] a 2023 episode of Murder in the 21st. [20] and a 2024 episode of Twenty Two Crime. [21]

In 2013, Washington Post police reporter Dan Morse published the book, The Yoga Store Murder: The Shocking True Account of the Lululemon Athletica Killing. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Chandra Levy</span> 2001 homicide in the United States

Chandra Ann Levy was an American intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington, D.C., who disappeared in May 2001. She was presumed murdered after her skeletal remains were found in Rock Creek Park in May 2002. The case attracted attention from the American news media for several years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D.C. sniper attacks</span> 2002 series of coordinated shootings in the Washington, D.C. area

The D.C. sniper attacks were a series of coordinated shootings that occurred during three weeks in October 2002 throughout the Washington metropolitan area, consisting of the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, and preliminary shootings, that consisted of murders and robberies in several states, and lasted for six months starting in February 2002. Seven people were killed, and seven others were injured in the preliminary shootings, and ten people were killed and three others were critically wounded in the October shootings. In total, the snipers killed 17 people and wounded 10 others in a 10-month span.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claremont serial killings</span> 1990s serial murders in Western Australia

The Claremont serial killings is the name given by the media to a case involving the disappearance of an Australian woman, aged 18, and the killings of two others, aged 23 and 27, in 1996–1997. After attending night spots in Claremont, a wealthy western suburb of Perth, Western Australia, all three women disappeared in similar circumstances leading police to suspect that an unidentified serial killer was the offender. The case was described as the state's biggest, longest running, and most expensive investigation.

Jayna is a female given name. It may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lululemon Athletica</span> Multinational athletic apparel retailer

Lululemon athletica inc., commonly known as lululemon, is an American-Canadian multinational premium athletic apparel retailer headquartered in British Columbia and incorporated in Delaware, United States. It was founded in 1998 as a retailer of yoga pants and other yoga wear, and has expanded to also sell athletic wear, lifestyle apparel, accessories, and personal care products. The company has 711 stores and sells online.

Bevin Anne Prince is an American actress and fitness instructor best known for her role as Bevin Mirskey on The CW's hit series One Tree Hill.

Elisabeth Anne Broderick is an American woman who murdered her ex-husband, Daniel T. Broderick III, and his second wife, Linda Broderick, on November 5, 1989. At a second trial that began on December 11, 1991, she was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder and later sentenced to 32-years-to-life in prison. The case received extensive media attention. Several books were written on the Broderick case, and a TV movie was televised in two parts. In 2020, an 8-episode miniseries was produced and aired about Broderick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Elyse Pahler</span> American murder victim

Elyse Marie Pahler was a 15-year-old Arroyo Grande High School freshman who was murdered on July 22, 1995 by three teenage boys, Royce Casey, Jacob Delashmutt, and Joseph Fiorella.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Markel</span> American lawyer, academic, and murder victim (1972–2014)

Daniel Eric Markel was a Canadian-born attorney and a law professor, who wrote various works on retribution in criminal law and sentencing, with a focus on the role of punishment in the criminal justice system. A native of Toronto, he earned a J.D. degree from Harvard University in 2001 and after working as a law clerk to a federal judge and as an associate at a law firm, joined the faculty of Florida State University in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Phillips (murderer)</span> American murderer

Joshua Earl Patrick Phillips is an American man who was convicted of murder as a child. In November 1998, when he was 14 years old, Phillips killed Madelyn Rae Clifton, his 8-year-old friend and neighbor. The following year, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Phillips stated that he killed Clifton to stop her from crying after she was accidentally struck with a baseball while they were playing, and that he feared punishment from his abusive father. Although elements of Phillips's story are disputed, officials who were involved in his prosecution have subsequently expressed contrition over the severity of his sentence. In 2017, Phillips was re-sentenced to life in prison on appeal, but he has been eligible for re-sentencing as of 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dr. Lane Murray Unit</span> Prison in Texas, U.S.

Dr. Lane Murray Unit is a women's prison of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice located in Gatesville, Texas. The prison is located on Texas State Highway 36, between Farm to Market Road 215 and Farm to Market Road 929. The 1,317 acres (533 ha) unit, which opened in November 1995, is co-located with the Christina Crain Unit, the Hilltop Unit, the Patrick O'Daniel Unit, and the Woodman Unit. The unit is named after Lane Murray, who was the first superintendent of the Windham School District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Will Blunderfield</span> Musical artist

Mark William Kent Blunderfield is a Canadian singer-songwriter and yoga teacher. He is signed to Nettwerk Records/Sony Music (WMG) with music released through Spirit Voyage Records. Xtra identified Blunderfield as an activist for diversity and social equality in schools. His fame reached mainstream proportions in Japan in 2012, where he embarked on extensive tours and achieved success on radio with the single "Long Time Sun," featured on the international version of his album. Blunderfield has also gained attention as an internet sensation, credited for his contributions to the male rewilding movement, which explores alternative perspectives on modern masculinity.

Dennis J. "Chip" Wilson is an American-born Canadian businessman, investor, and philanthropist who has founded several retail apparel companies, most notably the yoga-inspired athletic apparel company Lululemon Athletica Inc. Wilson is widely regarded as the progenitor and a pioneering figure of the athleisure phenomenon, in which the trend has permeated mainstream North American society since its emergence in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoga pants</span> Non-binding stretch pants originally worn as athletic or leisurewear

Yoga pants are high-denier hosiery reaching from ankle to waist, originally designed for yoga as exercise and first sold in 1998 by Lululemon, a company founded for that purpose. They were initially made of a mix of nylon and Lycra; more specialised fabrics have been introduced to provide moisture-wicking, compression, and odour reduction.

Christine M. Day is a Canadian retail executive. She has been the CEO of the Vancouver-based food company Luvo Inc. since January 2014. From 2008 through December 2013, she was the CEO of the Canadian clothing company Lululemon Athletica. Prior to taking her post at Lululemon she worked for Starbucks' Asia-Pacific division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Hae Min Lee</span> Unsolved 1999 homicide in Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Hae Min Lee was a Korean-American high school student who went missing on January 13, 1999, in Baltimore County, Maryland, before turning up dead on February 9, 1999, when her corpse was discovered in Leakin Park, Baltimore. Her autopsy revealed that she had been killed by way of manual strangulation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Botham Jean</span> 2018 murder case in Texas

On the night of September 6, 2018, 26-year-old accountant Botham Jean was murdered in Dallas, Texas, by off-duty Dallas Police Department patrol officer Amber Guyger, who entered Jean's apartment and fatally shot him. Guyger, who said that she had entered Jean's apartment believing it was her own and believed Jean to be a burglar, was initially charged with manslaughter. The absence of a murder charge led to protests and accusations of racial bias because Jean—an unarmed black man—was killed in his own home by a white off-duty officer who had apparently disregarded police protocols. On November 30, 2018, Guyger was indicted on a charge of murder. On October 1, 2019, she was found guilty of murder, and was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment the following day. The ruling was upheld on appeal in 2021.

April Rose Wilkens is an American woman serving a life sentence at Mabel Bassett Correctional Center after her conviction for the murder of Terry Carlton and the subject of the podcast series Panic Button: The April Wilkens Case. She was one of the first women to use battered woman syndrome in an Oklahoma trial, and claimed to have acted in self defense, but it did not work in her favor and she was still found guilty by a jury. Local Tulsa news stations still to this day are hesitant to cover her case due to Carlton's family owning and operating dealerships which buy ad time from them. Her case caused an "outcry from those who say she acted because of battered woman syndrome." As of 2022, she was going into her 25th year of incarceration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Ralston</span> American serial killer and rapist

Larry M. Ralston is an American serial killer and rapist who kidnapped and killed between four and five girls and young women in Ohio from 1975 to 1977. Originally sentenced to die in the electric chair, Ralston's sentence was later commuted to four life sentences with a chance of parole, although all of his applications have been denied.

In the early hours of November 13, 2022, four University of Idaho students were fatally stabbed in an off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho. On December 30, 28-year-old Bryan Christopher Kohberger was arrested in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. A trial is currently scheduled for June 2, 2025.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Morse, Dan (October 23, 2011). "Lululemon killing trial begins Monday". The Washington Post . Retrieved September 19, 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Defense lawyer: Yoga shop killing defendant 'lost it' after fight". Maryland Daily Record. Associated Press. October 26, 2011. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Morse, Dan; Hedgpeth, Dana; The Washington Post (March 21, 2011). "A chilling portrait of killing in yoga store". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Stashower, Daniel (November 29, 2013). "'The Yoga Store Murder: The Shocking True Account of the Lululemon Athletica Killing' by Dan Morse". The Washington Post . Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Co-worker arrested in bizarre Lululemon slaying". thestar.com. March 19, 2011. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 Morse, Dan; Zapana, Victor (November 2, 2011). "Brittany Norwood convicted of killing Lululemon co-worker Jayna Murray". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Morse, Dan (March 18, 2011). "Lululemon Bethesda slaying arrest announced: Brittany Norwood being charged with murder". Washington Post. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 "Woman who killed coworker at Bethesda yoga shop gets life sentence". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  9. ↑ Rosenwald, Michael S. (November 2, 2011). "Inside the courtroom: The words hanging over the Lululemon trial". Washington Post. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  10. 1 2 Morse, Dan; Hedgpeth, and Dana (March 19, 2011). "Motive sought in Bethesda yoga shop slaying". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  11. 1 2 "Second Week of Testimony in Lululemon Murder Trial". NBC4 Washington. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  12. ↑ Group, Sinclair Broadcast (March 18, 2011). "Brittany Norwood arrested in Lululemon murder case (photo)". WJLA. Retrieved November 19, 2022.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  13. 1 2 3 Morse, Dan; Hedgpeth, Dana (April 17, 2011). "Nothing in Lululemon suspect's past suggests she could have done what police allege". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  14. ↑ Bell, Brad (February 14, 2012). "Lululemon murder: Apple Store employees listen to slaying". WJLA. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Morbid: The LuLuLemon Murder Part 1 on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  16. ↑ "The Generation Why Podcast: Lululemon Murder on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  17. ↑ Brittany Norwood, Snapped, October 14, 2012, retrieved November 19, 2022
  18. ↑ Glazer, Tony (February 25, 2014), The Yoga Shop Murder, Redrum, retrieved November 19, 2022
  19. ↑ ""Forensic Files II" Men in Black".
  20. ↑ The Brutal Truth, Murder in the 21st, Jayna Murray, Brittany Norwood, Dimitry Ruvin, October 20, 2023, retrieved May 15, 2024{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  21. ↑ "The Dark Secrets Behind the Lululemon Murder #truecrimepodcast #truecrimecommunity #truecrimestories". August 16, 2024. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.