Woman Gets Life in Prison for Yoga Shop Murder

(NewsCore) - A 29-year-old woman on Friday was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole in the beating death of her co-worker at the upscale yoga boutique Lululemon in Bethesda, Md., The Washington Post reported.

A Montgomery County, Md., jury convicted Brittany Norwood in November for carrying out the attack and trying to cover it up by posing as a victim.

Norwood was accused of stabbing, beating, and strangling her 30-year-old co-worker, Jayna Murray, during a heated argument at a branch of the store in Bethesda, just outside Washington, D.C.

The attack on March 11 of last year was apparently sparked after Murray found what might have been stolen Lululemon merchandise in Norwood's bag, attorneys said.

Murray's injuries included a fractured skull and a severed spine. Prosecutors said at least five weapons were used in the attack -- a knife, a hammer, a wrench, a rope and a box cutter.

Along with Murray's dead body, police discovered Norwood the next morning tied up in the store's bathroom with blood on her face.

Norwood initially told police that she and her co-worker were both attacked and sexually assaulted by two masked men when they returned to the store after closing to retrieve a forgotten wallet.

Norwood was at first considered a victim, but police then determined neither had been sexually assaulted and that the evidence showed Norwood staged her own injuries after murdering Murray.

Read more: Washington Post