Details have begun to emerge about alleged Lululemon murderer Brittany Norwood, revealing suspicious behavior and past financial failings.
Last week, after allegedly concocting a terrifying tale of robbery, abuse and rape at the Bethesda yoga store, Norwood’s story began to fall apart, according to police, who charged her with first degree murder in a case that has captivated the Washington region.
Pieces of Norwood’s story have emerged in court documents prepared for her bond hearing Monday at the Circuit Court of Montgomery County in Rockville. Police now call her initial story, along with other elements of Norwood’s recounting of the incident, “unbelievable.”
One of her first missteps was to tell police that she had not been inside the car of victim Jayna Murray on the night of March 12, even though blood evidence showed that she had, said Montgomery County Police Capt. Paul Starks. Norwood, 27, then backpedaled, saying she had in fact moved the car, but only after the supposed perpetrators told her to. She said they told her to return in 10 minutes, or they’d kill her.
“As the week went by, her stories and inconsistencies were not matching up to the evidence we had,” Starks said.
Other elements involved Norwood’s wounds, which were superficial and had the appearance of being self-inflicted; her zip-tie bindings appeared to be self-secured. The morning after the crime, she was found in Lululemon’s restroom with arms outstretched above her head, though positioned such that she would have been able to pull her arms back to her body and potentially remove the bindings.
Despite Norwood’s claims to the contrary, medical examinations revealed no signs of sexual assault on either woman.
Police have said little about a motive for the brutal killing, but they are investigating if it stemmed from a workplace dispute.
One source who spoke with the Washington Post said the dispute was at least in part over stolen merchandise.
Public records show that Norwood had previously experienced financial problems including a nearly $20,000 lien against her by New York’s higher education agency, according to the Washington Post. In 2008, a landlord attempted to evict Norwood and her roommate from a Columbia Heights apartment for failure to pay rent, according to ABC 7.
