Dan Morse and Dana Hedgpeth of the Washington Post are highlighting the fact that accused murderer Brittany Norwood does not fit the typical profile of someone capable of a violent crime like the bludgeoning of her co-worker Jayna Murray. You may remember the national headlines of Norwood being accused of viciously murdering her co-worker at a posh yoga store in Bethesday, Md. Norwood is accused of stabbing and pummeling Murray with "objects" and then attempting to cover up the crime scene to make it look as if an intruder had done it.
Even those who encountered both women on the day of the murder said that there were no signs pointing to such a heinous event. The police are stumped on what might have caused the conflict. Morse and Hedgpeth write, "What exactly went wrong, and why, is puzzling even to longtime detectives. Friends and former co-workers described Norwood as athletic, funny and engaging. Neither they nor police were aware of any past violence or mental illness. Police also said they did not know of any animosity between Norwood and Murray."
Police have two theories. Murray had allegedly found stolen merchandise in Norwood's purse and phoned the store manager. When Murray confronted Norwood about it, Norwood used the purse to lure Murray into the backroom, murdering her, not knowing that Murray had already reported Norwood to the manager. The second theory is that Norwood snapped after learning that Murray had informed the manager about the stolen merchandise.
Whatever happened resulted in a screaming match so loud that is could be heard next door in the Apple store. Norwood's father and many that know her insist that his daughter isn't capable of doing what she is accused of doing: viciously attacking her co-worker to the point of severing her spinal cord.
Some have said that race plays a part in Norwood's arrest, while others say it is what it is: a young woman murdered over nothing. The fact that relatives or police officers can't find anything suggesting that Norwood would have brutally murdered Murray doesn't give either family much peace. Two young lives are over, and does that really need an explanation?
Read more at the Washington Post.
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