First Witnesses Called in Lululemon Trial

The Lululemon Bethesda store manager, a Montgomery County police officer and corporal, an EMT, and a bystander who found Arlington resident Jayna Murray's body were the first witnesses to take the stand in the ongoing Lululemon homicide trial.

Brittany Norwood, 29, is on trial for the murder of Murray, her co-worker, at Bethesda's Lululemon store in March. Prosecutors are arguing the killing was pre-meditated, while the defense will seek to prove  and killed Murray during a fight without pre-meditation.

Many of the witnesses described encountering the bloody and distrubing crime scene at the store. Murray's body was face-down in a pool of blood in a narrow hallway at the back of the shop, witnesses testified, and Norwood was lying bound on the floor of a restroom, moaning.

The first witness to take the stand was Rachel Oertli, the manager at Lululemon. Oertli testified she came to open the store around 8 a.m. Saturday, March 12, to open up. There, she found the door unlocked, the store in disarray, and the lights on at the back of the store.

She called 911 and asked a bystander, Ryan Haugh, who was waiting outside for the next door Apple Store to open, for help. Haugh, who also took the stand, said he discovered Murray's body in the hallway, blocking the door so it could only be opened slightly. Haugh testified that he tapped the body and didn't get a response.

After discovering Murray's body, he saw Norwood bound in the restroom. "She made a slight moan when she breathed, like you would hear an injured person," Haugh said.

He told Oertli to call 911, which she did for a second time. In court, prosecutors played the 911 tapes. "I'm so scared one of my girls is hurt," Oertli said on the tape, crying.

Next to testify were a Montgomery County police officer and corporal who responded to the scene. Officer Christin Knuth, the first to respond to the scene, said she saw blood and Murray's body in the hallway but wasn't able to open the door.

Knuth then discovered Norwood and asked if she was all right, but Norwood didn't respond to her. Knuth said Norwood flinched when she touched her. "All I could think was she was traumatized," Knuth said. "This was such a traumatic experience that just the touch of a hand could cause this reaction."

Later, at Suburban Hospital, Knuth testified she noticed the bottom of Norwood's socks were "completely saturated in blood."

Cpl. Russ Rankin of Montgomery County police, who also testified Wednesday, also responded to the scene and was able to squeeze through the door. He and Knuth checked for a pulse.

"I felt nothing. There was no pulse. She was cold. She was stiff," Knuth testified.

Items including a toolbox, box cutters, and a rope were discovered near Norwood's head. Jurors were shown images of Murray's injured skull and the items found near her head.

Rankin testified blood was found on the bar of the emergency door exit near where Murray's body was found.

A responder with the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad, James Hamilton, testified Norwood "opened her eyes and moaned but didn't speak" as she was examined.

He said Norwood appeared to be breathing quickly or hyperventilating.

More witnesses are expected to take the stand Thursday.