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Brittany Norwood’s Childhood

Brittany Norwood was born on May 19th, 1982. She grew up in a two-parent household in Kent, Washington, with four brothers and four sisters.

As a child, Norwood dreamed of playing for the US Women’s National Team, and her parents wanted to ensure she received the best possible soccer training.

In 2000, Norwood graduated from Decatur High School in Federal Way, Washington, and she earned an athletic scholarship to attend Stony Brook University in Long Island.

She was a skilled player on the field and, in 2003, earned her team’s Defensive Player of the Year award.

Off the field, she was known as a kleptomaniac who stole money and clothes from roommates and teammates.

At some point after her junior year, she was expelled from Stony Brook for theft, but was not prosecuted for the crime.

Murder of Jayna Murray

By 2011, the 28-year-old was working at a Lululemon store in Bethesda, Maryland.

One of her coworkers was 30-year-old Jayna Murray. Murray was working on obtaining her master’s degree in communications and business administration.

She was hoping to move into a corporate position with Lululemon after graduation. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t get the chance.

On March 11th, 2011, Norwood and Murray closed the store around 9 pm. One of the closing procedures was to do bag checks to ensure no one was stealing.

Murray saw some leggings in Norwood’s bag that she thought might have been stolen.

Once Murray left the store and got into her vehicle, she called the store manager to report what she had seen. The manager told Murray she would deal with it the next day.

At 10 pm, Norwood contacted Murray, telling her that she had left her wallet at the store. Since Norwood didn’t have a key, she needed Murray to let her.

A short time after the two arrived back at Lululemon, employees at a nearby Apple store heard two women arguing. Eventually, the arguing turned to screams and the sound of someone being hit or falling to the ground.

At some point, the workers next door hear someone say, “God help me. Please help me.”

Many of the workers at the Apple store ignored the commotion and went about their night, thinking it was everyday drama between coworkers.

However, one person reported to security that she heard strange noises and screaming next door, but security did not investigate.

The following day, the Lululemon manager entered the store and found it in disarray.

She searched the store with a customer and found Norwood in a bathroom. Her wrists and ankles had zip ties on them, and she was bloody but still alive.

Murray was dead, lying face-first in a pool of blood with a garrote tied around her neck.

Investigation

Authorities were called in to investigate. Norwood told them two men wearing ski masks followed her and Murray into the store. She claimed the men physically and sexually violated her and Murray during the attack.

Authorities initially believed the story, but things changed once forensic evidence began to emerge.

They learned that Murray’s body had 331 wounds on them, with nearly a third being defensive woods. They discovered she had seven blunt-force wounds, including one that crushed her skull. A brutal final stab to her neck severed her spine.

Norwood, on the other hand, had barely been touched outside of a small scratch on her forehead and some blood on her face and hands.

They also determined bloody shoe prints at the scene were made by a shoe that was taken off the store shelf.

All the weapons used in the attack were from a toolbox inside the store.

On March 15th, 2011, detectives found Murray’s car three blocks away from the store, and it had blood in it.

When they asked Norwood if she had ever been in the car, she said no.

Detectives continued investigating and learned that witnesses in the area saw Norwood move Murray’s car on the night of the murder and spend over an hour sitting in it, likely contemplating how to get away with the murder she had just committed.

A few days later, forensic analysts declared the blood inside the vehicle was a mixture of Murray’s and Norwood’s.

The final nail in the coffin for Norwood was when authorities confirmed that neither lady was sexually violated, as she had claimed.

With the evidence piling up, Norwood confessed that she was behind her coworker’s death. She was charged with first-degree murder.

Trial

Norwood took the case to trial, hoping for a second-degree murder conviction.

Her attorneys claimed the crime was not preplanned and was done in the heat of the moment.

They cited her success on the soccer field and her clean criminal record as representations of her true character.

The jury didn’t fall for it, and they convicted her of first-degree murder in November 2011.

On January 27th, 2012, Norwood returned to court to learn her sentence. She spoke to the Murray family, saying, “Before I go to prison, I needed you to hear how deeply sorry I am.”

She also asked the judge for a chance at parole, saying, ‘I don’t even ask this for myself.’ I truly ask this for my family, especially my mom and dad.’

One of her brothers spoke on her behalf, saying, “There’s another side to Brittany that was not brought out at the trial.”

He continued, “At least leave her some hope.” “If you leave her with hope, you, in turn, leave our family with hope.”

Judge Robert Greensberg spoke and referred to Norwood as “cold-blooded, brutal, calculated, deliberate, devious, and malicious.”

He also called her “deeply troubled” and “one hell of a liar” before he sentenced her to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

She is locked up in the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women.