Lululemon employee suspected of killing colleague

Laura Donovan Contributor
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UPDATE: Brittany Norwood, who at first appeared to be a survivor of Lululemon Athletica’s March 11 killing, is now suspected of murdering her colleague Jayna Murray, whose body was found inside the Bethesda, Md., shop, reports the Associated Press.

Lululemon Athletica was not the peaceful purveyor of yoga gear on March 11, when one worker at the Bethesda, Md., vendor was killed. Brittany Norwood said two men came into the shop and sexually assaulted her and co-worker Jayna Murray, who did not live through the incident. The following day, another Lululemon co-worker found Murray dead inside the store and Norwood wounded and bound.

Norwood claimed to have been sexually assaulted, but after nearly a week-long investigation, police speculate that neither woman was sexually assaulted and that Norwood murdered Murray after some sort of dispute, according to J. Thomas Manger, the Montgomery County police chief.

Bethesda is generally not a dangerous place, many say.

“This is an area I would never have expected this to happen. Period,” Kristie Donohue, manager of J. McLaughlin, a boutique across the street from Lululemon, told Bethesda Patch. “I just think we’ve always felt so safe, it’s something we’ve taken for granted. Maybe this is an eye-opener that we have to be more aware.”

“You’d probably consider this to be the safest place in the Metro area,” shopper Peter Berg, a Kensington resident who was visiting Bethesda Row over the weekend, told Bethesda Patch. “You’re surprised if you see a police car here.”

Police agree that downtown Bethesda does not typically experience this sort of crime, with such heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic.

This article has been updated to reflect the police investigation’s ongoing findings.