The Yoga Store Murder (39 page)

Behind a mannequin and behind the front sales counter, police found signs of a robbery.

(Montgomery County Circuit Court)

Jayna Murray was attacked in a tight corner, near a yoga poster.

(Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office)

A diagram showing the crime scene. Brittany Norwood was on the floor of the second bathroom, and Jayna Murray was found in a rear hallway.

(Todd Lindeman)

Sergeant Craig Wittenberger (left) supervised two lead detectives on the case, Dimitry Ruvin (center) and Jim Drewry (right).

(Dan Morse)

When detectives entered the rear hallway, they saw that victim Jayna Murray appeared to have been savagely attacked. Near her body, detectives found a hammer, rope, wrench, toolbox, and box cutter knives.

(Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office)

Investigators measured blood spatter indicating Jayna Murray had been struck while standing. Later analysis of the lower, more concentrated blood spatter established that she was also struck repeatedly after she fell.

(Montgomery County Circuit Court)

Brittany Norwood was found bloodied and tied up on a bathroom floor and rushed to a hospital. Investigators marked a bloodstain near a rock.

(Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office)

Nurses didn’t wash the blood off of Brittany Norwood until police could take samples for evidence.

(Montgomery County Circuit Court)

From her hospital bed, Brittany told police that she and Jayna were attacked by two men dressed head to toe in dark clothing. That matched surveillance video that detectives later reviewed, taken behind the yoga store just after the murder.

(Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office)

Even after she got out of the hospital, the strain of the case showed on Brittany’s face.

(Montgomery County Police Department)

Jayna Murray’s body was taken to the Maryland Medical Examiner’s office, where Dr. Mary Ripple counted at least 331 wounds, including at least 152 to her head.

(University of Maryland Medical School)

Autopsy technician Mario Alston, who helped examine Jayna Murray’s body, called the case the most horrific murder he’d ever seen.

(Amanda McGinnis)