The biggest news that’s happened lately around my neck of the woods–Chevy Chase and Bethesda–is what may have become known as the Lululemon murder. Not that I’ve actually discussed it with that many people, but I’ve been following the story like a hawk, and I’m sure others have as well. The verdict in the trial came down yesterday, and today it’s on the front page of the Post.
For those of you outside the area, some background: one morning last March, a 30-year-old woman named Jayna Murray was found, brutally murdered, inside the Lululemon Athletica store on Bethesda Avenue, where she worked. Also discovered there was her co-worker, 29-year-old Brittany Norwood, bound and gagged.
Norwood’s story was that two masked men had entered the store just at closing time, raped both women, and murdered Murray. As the news broke, fear and disbelief gripped the community.
You have to understand what this block is like: there’s a Barnes and Noble at one corner, and the Apple Store is at the other end, next door to the store where the murder occurred. In between are high-end boutiques and restaurants, including an Aveda and a Sweet Green. Like many others, I go to this block frequently for one reason or another. The only thing I’ve ever been afraid of there is not finding a good parking place.
But then Norwood’s story began to unravel. It was full of holes and oddities, and after a while it became clear that there were no masked men. It was Norwood herself who had killed Murray, apparently after Murray had discovered a stolen pair of yoga pants in Norwood’s bag.
In a way, this news was reassuring: there were no murderers and rapists on the prowl in cozy downtown Bethesda. But at the same time, the idea that Norwood had committed the crime was even more unsettling.
As was revealed during the trial, Norwood attacked Murray savagely and repeatedly, leaving 331 wounds on her body. She apparently used anything that came to hand: a hammer, a knife, a wrench, a rope, and even a metal peg used to hold a mannequin. Then, in a cover-up attempt, she used a pair of size 14 Reebok sneakers, drenched in blood, to create large bloody footprints, so it would look as though male intruders had been there. She then bound and gagged herself (although not very well), and feigned grave concern for her “friend” Murray in the hospital the next day, where she was recovering from her “ordeal.”
Why have I been so fascinated by this story? Part of it certainly has to do with the fact that it occurred in a place so familiar to me–and, frankly, in a place where violent crimes are virtually unknown. It goes without saying that murders are tragedies wherever they take place. But, as with the archetypal “man bites dog” story, things that are unexpected are more likely to get people’s attention.
The murder is also a reminder that evil really does lurk in the hearts of men–or, as in this case, women. I never went into the Lululemon store, but I certainly could have. And I could have been waited on by a smiling Brittany Norwood, without having any idea that she was capable of brutal murder. I’m struck by the fact that the merchandise she apparently stole was a pair of yoga pants. I suppose I have a certain image of what a murderer is like, and I just don’t see that person in the lotus position, concentrating on her breath, or even holding Warrior Two.
The incongruity between the attack and the rest of Norwood’s apparently normal life was her only defense. Her lawyers called no witnesses, and they didn’t dispute the fact that Norwood had killed Murray. They just said she’d “lost it,” hoping to convince the jury to convict her on a lesser charge–2nd degree murder–rather than 1st degree murder, which requires evidence of premeditation. The very flimsiness of Norwood’s cover-up story, they said, shows she wasn’t thinking clearly.
The jury didn’t buy it. It took them less than an hour to convict Norwood of 1st degree murder. Since Maryland law doesn’t require much time for premeditation–only a few seconds is sufficient–and since the attack went on for probably 15 minutes or so, Norwood’s argument was a hard one to make. As one of the jurors said, “How do you hit someone 300 times and not think that you’re going to kill them?”
I have to agree–although at the same time, I’d have to say that in a sense Norwood did “lose it.” Something in her–something lying dormant through her years in college, her days waiting on Lululemon customers, perhaps even her hours spent in yoga classes–just snapped. And which is scarier, the idea that a savage murderer goes around looking wild-eyed and threatening all the time? Or the idea that she can look pretty much like the rest of us–until she snaps?
I think it will take a long time before I can go past that Lululemon store–which I do once or twice a month–without feeling a shudder. It’s now a silent reminder that nothing–not high-end stores and restaurants, not college degrees or yoga–is a guarantee of safety.