Speaker 1: This episode may contain content of a graphic nature, including
Speaker 1: descriptions of physical and sexual violence against adults, children, and animals.
Speaker 1: Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 2: Hi everyone, I'm Tanya and I'm Tleah and we are
Speaker 2: Crimes and Consequences, a true crime podcast.
Speaker 3: Hey Shannon, Hey Tanya. How are you doing?
Speaker 2: I am doing great? How are you?
Speaker 3: I am doing pretty good.
Speaker 4: I was on YouTube this afternoon and going over some life.
Speaker 3: Choices I've made in these fifty four years.
Speaker 4: And I thought, you know what, I may have missed
Speaker 4: my calling on becoming a watercolor artist.
Speaker 3: I fucking love watching those water colors. I just want
Speaker 3: to pull out my paints. Everything else be damned. I'm painting,
Speaker 3: and you know, so I got to bring myself down. Yea,
Speaker 3: what do you do that? How is your day?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 2: It was good, busy at my new job. And you know,
Speaker 2: I have also been questioning every life choice ever made
Speaker 2: in my life. So it's been a it's been a
Speaker 2: depressing week, but quite heavy.
Speaker 3: Quite a heavy week, it is.
Speaker 2: I told you it's not like I have a bad life,
Speaker 2: because I don't.
Speaker 3: Yeah exactly, you know, just some choices.
Speaker 4: I shake an angry fist at the sky about you.
Speaker 2: Know, and I'm sure some of our listeners can relate.
Speaker 3: So absolutely, you're a good company.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're we're in a good company. But if you
Speaker 2: want to do a watercolor, I'd be happy to buy
Speaker 2: your first I'll be your first commission.
Speaker 3: Oh, thank you, you're inspiring me. I think it's not
Speaker 3: really good. Something in the pinks.
Speaker 2: Yes, Oh, she got what she.
Speaker 3: Got for us.
Speaker 2: Today, I have the Lulu Lemon murders today. Have you
Speaker 2: ever heard of the Lulu Lemon murders?
Speaker 3: I have not.
Speaker 2: Okay, well, this is one you all need to buckle
Speaker 2: up for. So and so. Yeah, you're in for quit
Speaker 2: the gruesome story. So first, I'm going to tell you
Speaker 2: about a woman named Jana Trexel Murray. She was born
Speaker 2: in Wichita, Kansas, November twenty second, nineteen eighty. So she
Speaker 2: is a Sagittarius.
Speaker 3: Ooh she is.
Speaker 2: And she was born to her very loving family. Soon
Speaker 2: after her birth, the Murray family moved to Houston, Texas.
Speaker 2: Gina had two older brothers named Hugh and Dirk. They
Speaker 2: were both married at the time of our story. He
Speaker 2: was married to a woman named Kate, and Dirk was
Speaker 2: married to a woman named April, and they had two
Speaker 2: boys together, Kasey and Jay. So she was an Ean. Yeah.
Speaker 2: The Murray parents, Jana's parents, they were David and Phyllis.
Speaker 2: They were just unbelievably proud of their three children and
Speaker 2: and you know they love their grandchildren. I mean, they
Speaker 2: were just a really tight knit family.
Speaker 3: Nice. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Jana's dad, David, was a special operations person who did
Speaker 2: two tours in Vietnam. And in the Murray family there
Speaker 2: was a strong sense of right versus wrong, all American
Speaker 2: values right quote unquote.
Speaker 3: Sure, and the military very black and white.
Speaker 2: Right. Jana being the youngest and the only girl, she
Speaker 2: really was the glue that held this family together. Her
Speaker 2: brothers and their wives loved her so much. As she's
Speaker 2: growing up and making a life for herself, the Murray
Speaker 2: family is seeing her thrive and they're really excited. So
Speaker 2: when Jana started college, she studied at Saint Louis University
Speaker 2: in Madrid, Spain for two years, before finishing her bachelor's
Speaker 2: degree at George Washington University in Washington, d C. In
Speaker 2: two thousand and three. See, that's another life choice I
Speaker 2: didn't make with studying abroad.
Speaker 4: So I exactly gotta scribble that one offer good.
Speaker 3: For your lifetime column.
Speaker 2: Good for you, Jana, I know, good for you. So
Speaker 2: during her undergraduate years, Jana also did a semester at
Speaker 2: c and I don't know what that entails, but it
Speaker 2: sounds fun, right does. And after graduation, Jana started working
Speaker 2: for a company called Halliburton, where she was a market
Speaker 2: rep for five years. We've all heard Halliburton, right, oh yeah.
Speaker 2: With a love of learning and goals to accomplish, Jana
Speaker 2: decided to continue her education at John Hopkins University. That's
Speaker 2: quite prestigious.
Speaker 3: I'm so impressive with education. I love that. I love
Speaker 3: it time. Everywhere she went, if she wanted it, she
Speaker 3: went after her.
Speaker 2: She went after it. She was working toward earning a
Speaker 2: dual master's in communication and a master's in Business administration.
Speaker 2: She left her job at Halliburton to focus on school
Speaker 2: and decided to take a part time job as a
Speaker 2: sales team leader at a local Lululemon store. This job
Speaker 2: really allowed her to feed her passions of dance, travel,
Speaker 2: and animals. She was also extensively involved in volunteering with
Speaker 2: various different groups and organizations, and working at Lululemon gave
Speaker 2: her networking opportunities and just like a positive energy around
Speaker 2: the work place. You know. I guess it was a
Speaker 2: really good place to work.
Speaker 3: Nice culture, good culture.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Lululemon franchise really spoke to her personally, and
Speaker 2: she planned to apply to the Lululemon corporate office in Vancouver,
Speaker 2: British Columbia. I didn't know based either. She was going
Speaker 2: to apply there after graduation, after she got her dual
Speaker 2: master's degree. So while Lululemon was originally a part time
Speaker 2: gig for Jana, she fell in love with the company
Speaker 2: and ended up dedicating all her studies toward the company
Speaker 2: and wrote her thesis about Lululemon.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, probably for her business administration degree.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Although Jana had finished her thesis, she continued to work
Speaker 2: at the store because she loved it, and by the
Speaker 2: end of it, she went from part time to truly
Speaker 2: part of the Lululemon family right, all while juggling her
Speaker 2: master's program and working at the Lulu Stupid or not,
Speaker 2: but yeah. Jana was also in a long distance relationship
Speaker 2: with her boyfriend. His name was Fraser Bosel, who was
Speaker 2: also a student at Washington State. Jana and Fraser had
Speaker 2: been together for a long time and they were starting
Speaker 2: to plan a future together. Fraser had actually asked David
Speaker 2: and Phyllis if he could have Jana's hand in marriage
Speaker 2: after they both graduated.
Speaker 3: Wow. I know.
Speaker 2: Her relationship with Fraser was also part of the reason
Speaker 2: she wanted to work in Vancouver. Fraser was living in
Speaker 2: Washington at the time. The state Washington State, not Washington, DC,
Speaker 2: so she would be in the corporate office was close
Speaker 2: and Fraser's living in Washington, so you know, it's kind
Speaker 2: of ideal, right. Jana was described as the girl who
Speaker 2: was incredibly ambitious and willing to approach change had on.
Speaker 2: What she didn't know was that her life, unfortunately, was
Speaker 2: about to tragically change and all of her goals and
Speaker 2: dreams would come crashing down.
Speaker 3: Oh boy.
Speaker 2: So on March eleventh, twenty eleven, Jana was working the
Speaker 2: closing shift at the Lululemons store in Bethesda, Maryland with
Speaker 2: her coworker, twenty eight year old Brittany Norwood. Jana was
Speaker 2: a very trusted store employee and was the only person
Speaker 2: working that night who had a key to the store. Seemingly,
Speaker 2: the night ended normally and both women went home safely However,
Speaker 2: the next morning, March twelfth, store manager Rachel arrived at
Speaker 2: eight am to reopen the store for the day, and
Speaker 2: when she arrived, she noticed the front door of the
Speaker 2: store was unlocked, which was very unusual, and Rachel figured, well,
Speaker 2: maybe Jana just forgot to lock it the night before.
Speaker 2: So Rachel goes into the store and she notices that
Speaker 2: something's wrong. There was a mannequin that was laying on
Speaker 2: the floor, clothes had been thrown about, and some clothing
Speaker 2: wracks had been tipped over. So Rachel immediately thought the
Speaker 2: store had been robbed, and she quickly exited the building.
Speaker 2: You know, she was planning to run to the nearby
Speaker 2: Apple store. It was right next door to the Lululemon
Speaker 2: in the Strip mall, and that's where she was going
Speaker 2: to call the police from. But that day, Apple was
Speaker 2: releasing the iPad two.
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, and.
Speaker 2: The line was already growing long outside of the store.
Speaker 2: People lined up to her on that new iPad, and
Speaker 2: one of the people in the line noticed Rachel because
Speaker 2: she was frantic, and that person jumped out of line
Speaker 2: to check on her, and after explaining what she had
Speaker 2: seen in the store, the person from the line his
Speaker 2: name was Ryan. He offered to walk her back into
Speaker 2: the store and check things out for her so that
Speaker 2: she would feel comfortable to start her day, you know,
Speaker 2: in the store.
Speaker 3: And yeah, the police arrived, right.
Speaker 2: You know, after all, if it's just a robbery, there's
Speaker 2: nobody it's just merchandise it's being stolen or from the
Speaker 2: cash register, like, there won't be there, shouldn't be anybody
Speaker 2: like a criminal still there.
Speaker 3: Hopefully not right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And in fact, if you go to Lululemon, they
Speaker 2: have a policy that if someone comes in and steals,
Speaker 2: they just let the person walk with whatever and they
Speaker 2: report it to the corporation and police only if necessary.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I'm not encouraging anybody to steal anything, but.
Speaker 3: What are we going to Lululemons?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know if they still have this policy,
Speaker 2: but at.
Speaker 3: The time, sure, yes.
Speaker 2: Rachel agreed with Ryan, and so the two of them
Speaker 2: headed back into the Lululemon store. The further they went
Speaker 2: into the store, the more damage. Though. They noticed the
Speaker 2: cash register had been opened and emptied, along with the
Speaker 2: safe that was inside the store. At this point, Ryan
Speaker 2: and Rachel they're convinced that this is just a robbery.
Speaker 2: It just has all the telltale signs.
Speaker 3: Yes. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Rachel headed to the back room, where she found shattered
Speaker 2: glass and a total disaster of merchandise. But what really
Speaker 2: alarmed her was that she found blood, and a lot
Speaker 2: of it. Looking further, there was a trail of blood
Speaker 2: that looked like someone had been dragged across the floor,
Speaker 2: and there were two sets of bloody footprints of different sizes.
Speaker 2: Upon this discovery, Rachel and Ryan literally ran back to
Speaker 2: the front of the store and immediately called the police.
Speaker 2: Rachel didn't feel comfortable going back into the store, but
Speaker 2: Ryan was concerned that maybe someone was there that needed help,
Speaker 2: so he went back inside on his own to investigate further.
Speaker 2: He went over to where the trail of blood was
Speaker 2: and he followed it further to the back of the store,
Speaker 2: and that's where he found a battered woman laying face
Speaker 2: down in a pool of blood with a rope tied
Speaker 2: around her neck. He knew right away that this woman
Speaker 2: was dead, of course, he was probably panicked, a little
Speaker 2: flustered whatever, and in shock when he heard a faint
Speaker 2: moaning sound coming from the employee bathroom. After what he
Speaker 2: just saw, Ryan wasn't completely sure he wanted to follow
Speaker 2: the sound, but he did. He braved it, and in
Speaker 2: the bathroom he found Britney bound at the ankles and wrists,
Speaker 2: arms above her head, covered in blood and barely breathing.
Speaker 2: This sent him running again to the sidewalk out front
Speaker 2: to tell Rachel what he found and say she needed
Speaker 2: to call nine one one again and raw immediate medical attention,
Speaker 2: not just the police.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: So, on the phone with nine one one the second time,
Speaker 2: Rachel frantically said that one person seemed dead but the
Speaker 2: other was breathing, and you know someone had tied up
Speaker 2: this woman, right, So, Brittany was covered in cuts all
Speaker 2: along her arms and legs. She had a large wound
Speaker 2: on her forehead, and there was a Lululemon shirt wrapped
Speaker 2: around her neck. The cratch of her leggings had a
Speaker 2: huge hole torn in them, leading police to believe that
Speaker 2: she'd been sexually assaulted. At the time, Brittany wasn't responding
Speaker 2: to like questions and stuff. She seemed to go in
Speaker 2: and out of consciousness. Ana, however, was the one that
Speaker 2: didn't and her body was just absolutely battered. An autopsy
Speaker 2: would later reveal that Jana had been stabbed at least
Speaker 2: get this three hundred and thirty one times.
Speaker 4: That is fucking diabolical, Right, that is unnecessary.
Speaker 2: Right, you know how long? I mean not that I've
Speaker 2: done it, but do you know how long it must
Speaker 2: have taken to stab her three hundred and thirty one times?
Speaker 4: I mean that is something that Yeah, usually I hear
Speaker 4: goes with crimes of passion. You gotta hate that motherfucker
Speaker 4: and go bind and rage.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: If that's not this, then it's this is overkilled sick.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's so sick. So it was clear that her
Speaker 2: death wasn't quick and that it was a slow and
Speaker 2: brutal attack. Police found various items around the store that
Speaker 2: were most likely used in the attack. They found a
Speaker 2: bloody hangar, a rock, wrenches, a hammer, a knife, and
Speaker 2: they found a peg that was normally used to stand
Speaker 2: the mannequins, like maybe like in the back of them
Speaker 2: or something. The police believed that these items were used
Speaker 2: to attack the women. With Brittany being alive, she was
Speaker 2: rushed to the hospital for medical treatment. She only ended
Speaker 2: up needing a few stitches, and they did do a
Speaker 2: rape kit at the hospital. Police were grateful that most
Speaker 2: of her wounds were superficial because for Jana, they now
Speaker 2: have this brutal murderer, whoever did this to her on
Speaker 2: the loose, and you know, they need to apprehend this
Speaker 2: person as soon as possible, and maybe Brittany can help
Speaker 2: them identify who did this as soon as she was able.
Speaker 2: Brittany told police what happened that night. She said it
Speaker 2: was like any other closing shift. She had only been
Speaker 2: hired six months prior, so she was relatively new to
Speaker 2: the store. After the final customer left around nine pm,
Speaker 2: she and Jana locked up the store and they started
Speaker 2: their closing duties. They counted the cash straw, they straightened
Speaker 2: things up, and they got everything ready for the next morning.
Speaker 2: All the women left together and Brittany watched Jana get
Speaker 2: into her car before Brittany walked over to the train station.
Speaker 2: When Brittany got to the train station, she realized she
Speaker 2: forgot her metro pass in the store and she wouldn't
Speaker 2: be able to get home. Since Jana was the only
Speaker 2: one with the key and Britney's knew she had to
Speaker 2: call the few contacts she had of other coworkers to
Speaker 2: see if they had Jana's number. She called her, you know,
Speaker 2: she gets it, and she calls Jana to ask if
Speaker 2: she could meet her back in the store so that
Speaker 2: she could get her metro pass. Being the awesome human
Speaker 2: being that she was, Jane, of course you know that
Speaker 2: she was going to meet her. It'd just be a
Speaker 2: few minutes, and then they met back at the store.
Speaker 2: Brittany recalled that Jana told her she had actually left
Speaker 2: her laptop at the store, so she really didn't mind
Speaker 2: turning around because she was going to grab that instead
Speaker 2: of having the store The next day, when Jaya arrived
Speaker 2: back at the store, Brittany said that she unlocked the
Speaker 2: door and the two women went inside, closing the door
Speaker 2: behind them but not locking it. Brittany told the police
Speaker 2: that while Jana grabbed her laptop right away, she couldn't
Speaker 2: find her metro pass where she thought it was, and
Speaker 2: Jana started to help her search for it. During their search,
Speaker 2: Brittany and Jana were ambushed by two men in black
Speaker 2: ski masks. Brittany recalled that a bigger man grabbed Jana
Speaker 2: and hit her over the head, knocking her to the floor.
Speaker 2: A smaller man grabbed her and dragged her by her
Speaker 2: hair to the employee bathroom and Brittany told police that
Speaker 2: this is the last time she actually saw Jana. The
Speaker 2: smaller man eventually brought her to the registers and the
Speaker 2: safe and forced her to open them and put all
Speaker 2: the cash into a black backpack that he had. Brittany
Speaker 2: was then taken to the back room, where she was
Speaker 2: zip tied and tortured by the smaller man. Brittany recalled
Speaker 2: the man holding her by the hair with a knife
Speaker 2: to her throat, threatening to slit her throat. Brittany told
Speaker 2: the police that the man raped her and was very
Speaker 2: careful to not inflict any wounds that would kill her,
Speaker 2: but have her begging for him to stop, so he
Speaker 2: don't you know, he's probably like slicing her and stuff like.
Speaker 3: That, Oh right.
Speaker 2: Brittany then said when he was done with her, he
Speaker 2: left her alone in the back room for a while,
Speaker 2: and when he came back, Brittany recalled that he sexually
Speaker 2: assaulted her again with a wooden storehannger.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Brittany then told the police that during her attack, she
Speaker 2: heard violent and horrible screams coming from Jana in the
Speaker 2: other room. Eventually, the screams went silent, and both men
Speaker 2: carried Brittany to the other room where Jana was. At
Speaker 2: this point, Brittany wasn't sure if Jana was alive, and
Speaker 2: she told police that the two men told her she
Speaker 2: was lucky that she got the better version of the
Speaker 2: attack because she was more fun to fuck, is what
Speaker 2: she said.
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, yeah, it's disgusting pigs.
Speaker 2: Right During her recount of the night to police, Brittany
Speaker 2: was absolutely distraught and she felt like this was all
Speaker 2: her fault because she was the one to call Jana
Speaker 2: and ask her to come back to the store so
Speaker 2: she could get her metro pass. Right after hearing Britney's story,
Speaker 2: the police were immediately getting to work to try and
Speaker 2: gather any information they could about these two masked men.
Speaker 2: Lucky for them, the Apple store that was located just
Speaker 2: next door had CCTV cameras that pointed at the Lululemon storefront.
Speaker 2: Apple was the only store on the strip that had
Speaker 2: cameras pointed there, so they were lucky. H On the
Speaker 2: security footage from Apple, they did find two white men
Speaker 2: who were dressed in all black with beanies on that
Speaker 2: walked past the store around the time Brittany claimed they
Speaker 2: were attacked. Not only did Apple provide the CCTV footage,
Speaker 2: but four employees that were working that night basically heard
Speaker 2: the entire thing at the Apple store.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2: The three employees and one secure regard stated that they
Speaker 2: started hearing screaming coming from the store like two women
Speaker 2: were fighting. They heard one woman saying, please talk to me,
Speaker 2: don't do this, talk to me, what's going on. The
Speaker 2: arguing was followed by wails, screaming, and crying until they
Speaker 2: heard a woman say, God, help me, Please help me. Unfortunately,
Speaker 2: the Apple employees didn't call the police at night, a
Speaker 2: choice that could have changed Jana's.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4: I don't even under I was just thinking, how do
Speaker 4: you fucking hear someone begging?
Speaker 3: Yeah, Hi, I'm over here.
Speaker 4: At the Apple store and I'm hearing the next door
Speaker 4: someone's screaming right right, easy, peasy, lemon squeezy.
Speaker 2: I can't tell you how many stories we've done where
Speaker 2: people see something, hear something, and don't call the police.
Speaker 2: And I always think I would call the police, right
Speaker 2: like I think I would.
Speaker 3: I would hope I think I would. When I hear it,
Speaker 3: I for her life.
Speaker 2: I think if I was in the next store next
Speaker 2: to it and I was at the time, fucking I'm
Speaker 2: calling the police right exactly, I don't know.
Speaker 4: Oh.
Speaker 2: One store employee actually said the screaming was so loud
Speaker 2: it sounded like whoever was screaming was actually in the
Speaker 2: Apple store and not next door.
Speaker 3: And still no call.
Speaker 2: It's still no call. No After all that noise, the
Speaker 2: store employees reported that then they heard some grunting sounds
Speaker 2: and it sounded like something big was being dragged or
Speaker 2: moved across the store. The Apple store manager told police
Speaker 2: that they felt like it was just some drama and
Speaker 2: it was none of their business.
Speaker 4: Maybe, I don't know, ye cowards will say something of
Speaker 4: that lane.
Speaker 3: Oh, I thought they were play acting. I thought it
Speaker 3: was some Shakespeare in the park, my bad.
Speaker 2: At the fucking Lululemon. Yet exactly. Not one of them
Speaker 2: who was working at Apple that night felt like they
Speaker 2: needed to least go check on whoever was there despite
Speaker 2: everything they heard through the walls. Oh, it's just unbelievable.
Speaker 2: Police were also able to use the store security system
Speaker 2: records to know when the alarm had been armed and disarmed.
Speaker 2: It was armed at nine forty five when the women
Speaker 2: first left the store, and then disarmed at ten five pm,
Speaker 2: assuming that this is when Brittany and Jana returned to
Speaker 2: the store to get the Metro pass and laptop. With
Speaker 2: a timeline coming into place, police were now starting to
Speaker 2: focus on Jana's car. Brittany had recalled it Jana parked
Speaker 2: in front of the store, but the next morning, Jana's
Speaker 2: car was nowhere to be found. Police were now thinking
Speaker 2: that the two masked men must have likely stolen Jana's
Speaker 2: car after the attack. Luckily for police, Jana had Texas
Speaker 2: plates and being in DC, it was most likely going
Speaker 2: to be you know, maybe easy to spotter. Yeah, there's
Speaker 2: like millions of people, but I don't know. Her car
Speaker 2: had actually been spotted the night of the murder. Around
Speaker 2: mid night, a few blocks from the store, a police
Speaker 2: officer drove past the parked vehicle and said the lights
Speaker 2: were on inside and there was one passenger. Two hours later,
Speaker 2: around two am, that same police officer drove by Jana's
Speaker 2: car again, and this time there was no light on
Speaker 2: and no passenger inside. Jana's car was still parked in
Speaker 2: that same spot, and police were able to take it
Speaker 2: in as evidence. Right while waiting for fingerprints, DNA and
Speaker 2: any other evidence, they could collect from the car. Police
Speaker 2: focused on finding the two men from the Apple CCTV footage.
Speaker 2: Although they did have them on video, the angle wasn't
Speaker 2: that great and even though it showed them, you really
Speaker 2: couldn't be a lot of information from it, right. A
Speaker 2: detective decided that he was going to do a stakeout
Speaker 2: on the storefront, hoping that the two men would return
Speaker 2: to the scene, and they did. Believe wow, When he
Speaker 2: saw two men he thought may have been the attackers,
Speaker 2: he walked up to them, showed them a photo of
Speaker 2: the CCTV footage and ask them if he recognized them.
Speaker 2: Both the men immediately told the detective that the guys
Speaker 2: in the picture were them and that they worked at
Speaker 2: a restaurant a few blocks away from Lululemon. The men
Speaker 2: often walk together because they lived in the same direction.
Speaker 2: They were wearing all black because that was the uniform
Speaker 2: in the restaurant. Okay, so detectives were able to quickly
Speaker 2: verify their alibi. None of the evidence that they had
Speaker 2: was now adding up, and detectives were starting to realize
Speaker 2: that maybe some of the details Britney told them wasn't
Speaker 2: adding up right. What was really getting at them was
Speaker 2: that Jana's attack was so much more brutal than Britney's. Yes,
Speaker 2: like stabbed three hundred and thirty one times and Britney's
Speaker 2: not stabbed once.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Brittany has a whole bunch of superficial razor blade
Speaker 4: or knife blade cuts that maybe Purel will sting.
Speaker 3: The fuck out of. But yeah, you still gets through life. Right.
Speaker 2: It was, you know, just unusual how different they were treated. Right,
Speaker 2: So let me tell you a little bit about Brittany Norwood. Okay,
Speaker 2: Brittany was born and raised in Washington State to a
Speaker 2: huge family. She was one of nine children, and her
Speaker 2: father ran a small business. The Norwood family didn't have much,
Speaker 2: but all of their children had goals and dreams. Brittany
Speaker 2: played soccer growing up, and she was being recruited all
Speaker 2: across America to play college soccer. She was apparently really
Speaker 2: good nice. She ended up signing with Stonybrook College to
Speaker 2: play college soccer on a scholarship, and this was her
Speaker 2: big break. She was able to move across the country
Speaker 2: and follow her dreams. Her college soccer career quickly ended
Speaker 2: when she left Stonybrook in two thousand and three after
Speaker 2: being accused of stealing from many different people, including teammates
Speaker 2: and roommates.
Speaker 3: Oh boy. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Brittany was even accused of stealing from random people on
Speaker 2: CA campus. While charges were never filed, this destroyed her
Speaker 2: soccer career and her educational pursuits. She was kicked off
Speaker 2: the team, she lost her scholarship, and she was thrown
Speaker 2: out of school. Wow, yeah, that's what happens. Fuck around
Speaker 2: to find out that's right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll keep you in. Don't touch other people's things.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, just don't don't steal shit?
Speaker 3: Right by that? Sound like a bitch here? Don't touch
Speaker 3: other people's shit, right? I mean?
Speaker 2: Good God? Any time to do some soul searching. Britney
Speaker 2: moved to Washington, d C, where she was able to
Speaker 2: be close to two of her sisters. Upon arriving in DC,
Speaker 2: Brittany got a job at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel and
Speaker 2: started to rebuild her life. She was successful at this job.
Speaker 2: She started at the front desk, but was soon promoted
Speaker 2: to VIP guest services. While it was a great job,
Speaker 2: she was feeling lost because this wasn't what she pictured
Speaker 2: for herself. She was probably also you know, questioning her
Speaker 2: life choices.
Speaker 3: Sure, sure, Brittany always.
Speaker 2: Had a dream of becoming a personal trainer. She was
Speaker 2: dedicated to her own physical fitness and the whole world
Speaker 2: of fitness in general. In her spare time, she was
Speaker 2: attending various workout classes and hoping to be able to
Speaker 2: immerse herself in that community, you know, in.
Speaker 3: Her news of that culture.
Speaker 2: Of that passion was what led Brittany to getting a
Speaker 2: job at Lululemon at the Georgetown store in twenty ten.
Speaker 2: In early twenty eleven, Brittany transferred to the Bethesda location
Speaker 2: of Lululemon, and she was almost a perfect salesperson. She
Speaker 2: was fit, outgoing and people were drawn to her. She
Speaker 2: really sold the Lululemon brand, you know, looks and all like.
Speaker 3: She's a perfect wocking model of it for sure.
Speaker 2: At the time of her transfer, it was only supposed
Speaker 2: to be temporary. Brittany was to expand her horizons and
Speaker 2: wanted to get a new job at a fitness center
Speaker 2: near the store. That was all before the night of
Speaker 2: March eleventh, twenty eleven, when Brittany seemed to have snapped.
Speaker 2: With this feeling that Brittany was possibly involved in the murder,
Speaker 2: police decided that they needed to look at the case
Speaker 2: from the start again. The first thing they noticed was
Speaker 2: that the supposed attackers didn't bring any of their own weapons.
Speaker 2: All the weapons used in the attack were things that
Speaker 2: were found in the store. Not only that, but if
Speaker 2: they didn't bring any weapons, how did they plan to
Speaker 2: get into the store. It was clear that the suspected
Speaker 2: robbery was supposed to happen after the store was closed. Also,
Speaker 2: you know, I mean, how are they going to get
Speaker 2: in if they didn't bring anything?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 2: Also, it's typical that after robbers get the job done,
Speaker 2: they leave the scene as soon as possible to lessen
Speaker 2: the chances of them getting caught. Right. According to Britney's story,
Speaker 2: emptying the registers in the safe was one of the
Speaker 2: first things they did. But then they started this attack on.
Speaker 3: Both Yeah, this timeline is all stinky.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so this really wasn't adding up to police, And
Speaker 2: there was more. The bloody footprints in the store were
Speaker 2: a big question mark. There were two different sets of
Speaker 2: footprints found at the scene, one men's size fourteen that
Speaker 2: was actually a rebock, and the other footprint was a
Speaker 2: much smaller woman's size. If there were really two attackers,
Speaker 2: there would have been three sets of footprints men and
Speaker 2: then Britney's since she was still alive. At the scene,
Speaker 2: one men's size fourteen shoe was found, and police assumed
Speaker 2: that maybe the attacker ditched it at the store before leaving,
Speaker 2: but the store manager, Rachel, debunked this theory immediately by
Speaker 2: telling police that the shoe was property of the store
Speaker 2: and they allowed customers to use it when trying on
Speaker 2: clothes to complete the look. Okay, yes, they got shoes there,
Speaker 2: you can try on.
Speaker 3: That is so crazy.
Speaker 2: Nice they have men's clothing at Lululemon.
Speaker 4: Yeah, if you want to complete the all sall. Yeah,
Speaker 4: we got some shoes you wear that you can't have lies. Yeah,
Speaker 4: you're gonna need a shoe.
Speaker 2: What was even more odd was that it appeared that
Speaker 2: the bigger bloody shoeprints were exactly on top of the
Speaker 2: smaller shoeprints. Either the attackers were quite literally following the
Speaker 2: exact same path, or these larger prints were meant to
Speaker 2: try and cover up the smaller ones.
Speaker 3: Oh.
Speaker 2: Going even further, the gash on Brittany's forehead didn't make sense.
Speaker 2: Why would the attacker aim for the middle of her
Speaker 2: forehead and not the side of her head. What made
Speaker 2: more sense with that injury is if Brittany was on
Speaker 2: top of Jana stabbing her, that she could have accidentally
Speaker 2: hit herself in the forehead right. Additionally, Britney told police
Speaker 2: that the zip ties that were used to tire up
Speaker 2: came from one of the men's backpacks when they actually
Speaker 2: belonged the store. Like that, She said the robbers brought
Speaker 2: the ball.
Speaker 3: From their own supplies that did not exist. Yes.
Speaker 2: Furthermore, the zip ties on her hands had teeth marks,
Speaker 2: indicating they were tightened up by teeth and not hands,
Speaker 2: which is something Brittany would have to do if she
Speaker 2: was tying herself up. Yes, the biggest discrepancy was simply
Speaker 2: the difference between the two attacks. All of Britney's injuries
Speaker 2: were superficial, and her rate kit revealed nothing. Brittany told
Speaker 2: police that the attackers had told her they knew her
Speaker 2: address and they were using Rachel slurs against her. Brittany
Speaker 2: painted the picture that she was potentially the original target,
Speaker 2: but it was clear the attack on Jana was personal
Speaker 2: like USA. This led police to believe that maybe Brittany
Speaker 2: was involved with the attackers and it was a robbery.
Speaker 2: Gone wrong. It wasn't until later in the investigation that Rachel,
Speaker 2: the store manager, told police that they were actually having
Speaker 2: problems with Brittany in the workplace. It seemed that she
Speaker 2: and Jana didn't really get along, and not only Jana,
Speaker 2: but other employees had problems with right well, they were
Speaker 2: suspicious that Brittany was stealing from the store and other coworkers.
Speaker 2: These suspicions went so far as there was actually a
Speaker 2: meeting held with store owners and managers to come up
Speaker 2: with a plan to attempt to prevent this. The protocol
Speaker 2: at the store was that whenever an employee brought a
Speaker 2: bag to work and was leaving after their shift, the
Speaker 2: manager at the store at the time would check their
Speaker 2: bag to make sure that no one paid items were
Speaker 2: in their bag.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: So this was not only for Brittany, but it was just,
Speaker 2: you know, regular protocol for all employees.
Speaker 4: So it wasn't well common practice. I remember working at
Speaker 4: some shop, same thing. If you're working with makeup, little things,
Speaker 4: big things, things that can be hidden, you know, right,
Speaker 4: I don't know, plushy legans that can easily roll up
Speaker 4: and hide in up part of your purse.
Speaker 2: Right, right, Yeah, they're not bulky at.
Speaker 3: All, Oh gosh, not at all.
Speaker 2: The day before the murder March tenth, twenty eleven, Jana
Speaker 2: went to do a routine bag check on Brittany before
Speaker 2: she left, and Brittany told Jana that another employee had
Speaker 2: already checked her bag. When Jana double checked with that employee,
Speaker 2: they said that they didn't actually check her bag. So
Speaker 2: Jana reported this to Rachel that you know, she was
Speaker 2: pretty sure Britney stole another pair of leggings, and now
Speaker 2: police are like, is this.
Speaker 3: Her motive against Jana.
Speaker 2: By March eighteenth, twenty eleven, Brittany was arrested for the murder.
Speaker 2: When police brought her in for interrogation, Brittany added more
Speaker 2: details to her story and it just was not adding
Speaker 2: up even more, police decided to take a more personal
Speaker 2: route and bring in Brittany's brother, Chris and sister Marissa.
Speaker 2: When the siblings were all inside the interrogation room, police
Speaker 2: ran through all the evidence they had against Brittany, and
Speaker 2: Marissa completely broke down, having to leave the room to
Speaker 2: attempt to calm herself. Yeah, police left Brittany alone in
Speaker 2: the room with her brother Chris, and Chris asked Brittany
Speaker 2: to tell him the truth so that they could get
Speaker 2: this worked out, to which Brittany replied she didn't want
Speaker 2: to talk about it there, So this personal approach.
Speaker 3: Had worked nice.
Speaker 2: It was now believed that Brittany became aware that her
Speaker 2: coworkers were onto her stealing, and she knew that she
Speaker 2: was going to be fired soon if she was caught again.
Speaker 2: Brittany was likely called Jana to meet her back of
Speaker 2: the store so that they could discuss the accusations Jana
Speaker 2: told Rachel. But once the conversation wasn't reaching a resolution,
Speaker 2: it turned violent because remember those Apple employees that there
Speaker 2: was women like arguing.
Speaker 3: We sounded like two women screaming at each other.
Speaker 2: Yes, So, Brittany's defense attorney claimed that this was absolutely
Speaker 2: not a premeditated murder, but an undiagnosed mental disorder. He
Speaker 2: claimed that it was clear that no one in their
Speaker 2: sound mind could commit the atrocities that Brittany did that night. Okay,
Speaker 2: but they were committed.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4: It committed so much that she was able to make
Speaker 4: herself look like she was a victim. That sounds like
Speaker 4: a very clever and planned and and survivalistic mode of
Speaker 4: horrible lying and there there it is there. I don't
Speaker 4: get like how three hundred and thirty one stab wounds
Speaker 4: that sound like mental illness? Okay, yeah for sure, especially
Speaker 4: because they're not like lovers or something that would that
Speaker 4: crime of passion that is you know in such cases.
Speaker 4: But this is just straight up rage and hey, this
Speaker 4: is we all know it's from her childhood.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, everything stems from your child.
Speaker 4: Everything stems is her stealing and what she was one
Speaker 4: of nine and nine. I don't have our stories of
Speaker 4: why we do what we do or why we think
Speaker 4: we're justified by circumstance.
Speaker 2: But exactly right, like yew. The trial lasted six days,
Speaker 2: and then Brittany was quickly sentenced to life in prison
Speaker 2: without the possibility of parole on January twenty seventh, twenty twelve.
Speaker 2: Brittany has never talked about what exactly happened that night
Speaker 2: between she and Jana right This trial and the entire
Speaker 2: situation was extremely difficult for Jana's family, the Murrays. This
Speaker 2: was especially because they originally felt horrible for Brittany, thinking
Speaker 2: that she too was a victim of this violent attack.
Speaker 2: After sentencing, Brittany gave a public apology to the Murray
Speaker 2: family in front of a packed courtroom. Brittany stated that
Speaker 2: prior to getting up there, she was unsure if she
Speaker 2: would even speak. Brittany told the courtroom and Jana's family
Speaker 2: that while she knows her statement will never take the
Speaker 2: pain away, she hopes that the family can one day
Speaker 2: find it in their hearts to forgive her. Brittany and
Speaker 2: her legal team were hoping that the judge would sentence
Speaker 2: her to life with the possibility of parole to give
Speaker 2: her some hope. But noop, no, no, Yeah. Judge Robert A.
Speaker 2: Greenberg said that after every single one of the three
Speaker 2: hundred and thirty one plus wounds she inflicted on Jana,
Speaker 2: she had an opportunity to think twice about what she
Speaker 2: was doing and stop, but she didn't. So. Judge Greenberg
Speaker 2: told Brittany that she was devious, in control in one
Speaker 2: hell of a liar.
Speaker 4: I agree, I agree, all three devious, one hell of
Speaker 4: a liar. Hmmm, I don't even really think. I don't
Speaker 4: believe she wants forgiveness. She just wants to be known
Speaker 4: that she said it. Yeah, that's what I don't Yeah,
Speaker 4: I don't really feel any kind of empathy or because
Speaker 4: if she's stealing and she doesn't care, and so she
Speaker 4: loses jobs, loses her scholarship, loses her athleticism, scholarship, everything,
Speaker 4: and so uh leper doesn't change its spots without a
Speaker 4: humongous miracle. And not that I don't believe in miracles,
Speaker 4: but it's really about the intent of the heart, you know,
Speaker 4: and I think her intent was very narcissistic.
Speaker 2: She suffered these consequences of you know, stealing shit from
Speaker 2: people at school, you know, like you said, lost your scholarship,
Speaker 2: lost her chance to finish her degree, be on the
Speaker 2: soccer team, do all this, and then she gets this
Speaker 2: job at Lululemon and she's doing the fucking same shit again.
Speaker 4: And then she's, yeah, so jealous of Jana because she
Speaker 4: is everything. She is knocking everything that is lands in
Speaker 4: her hands out of the park.
Speaker 2: Like she is going to school and like her life
Speaker 2: is on the right track. And yes, the manager.
Speaker 3: There her she's Lululemon.
Speaker 4: But you got someone like Brittany who's like me, me, me,
Speaker 4: It's got to be about me. I'm gonna I mean,
Speaker 4: how do you not get along with someone like Jane?
Speaker 4: That Jane sounds like some of the one that would
Speaker 4: be easy to get along with and inspiring.
Speaker 3: To be like Carrie, does she you hear what she
Speaker 3: gets done?
Speaker 2: Yeah, And don't tell me you didn't fucking plan it either.
Speaker 2: I don't for one second. Because she had the whole
Speaker 2: fucking ruse about the metro pass. She could have attacked
Speaker 2: Jana when they locked the door initially.
Speaker 3: Yeah, oh exactly.
Speaker 2: And and you know instead of like making this story
Speaker 2: about you know, having to go back and oh can
Speaker 2: you let me back in the store, and you know
Speaker 2: all of this. So I'm thinking, like it had to
Speaker 2: be planned. What I just dying to know, like what
Speaker 2: she stabber with? What was there? But I mean, because
Speaker 2: I think weird shit. But yeah, if you're using all
Speaker 2: the ship in the store and it's at a point
Speaker 2: where you know you can attack Jana and Jena can't
Speaker 2: run away, I think you've probably like looked at the
Speaker 2: ship in the store maybe briefly, right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, oh you know where to find stuff, right, you know?
Speaker 4: And fuck those Apple I mean, God bless them, but
Speaker 4: those Apple employees.
Speaker 3: I listen in to that shit.
Speaker 4: I have heard stuff and I know when I mean
Speaker 4: nothing to where I've needed to call the police.
Speaker 3: But I am an X nine one one operator, so.
Speaker 4: I kind of know I got a little edge, and
Speaker 4: as a human being, the edge of I think someone's
Speaker 4: gonna get hurt, right, the screaming is of at least
Speaker 4: get Like the screaming would have me something like that
Speaker 4: might happen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and somebody, I mean if God know, please know,
Speaker 2: I mean.
Speaker 3: Yeah, God no, please no? And then dead silent.
Speaker 2: That would make me super suspicious, like maybe them fighting,
Speaker 2: you know, the screaming like maybe that wouldn't necessarily like
Speaker 2: like you said, like I don't know if I would
Speaker 2: feel like they were in danger, like yeah, but then
Speaker 2: when the screaming turned to somebody sounding like they're begging
Speaker 2: for their life, yeah, or begging for something to stop,
Speaker 2: that would really give me pause.
Speaker 4: I would just be like, yeah, you know, just do
Speaker 4: even a window check, like just come out and take
Speaker 4: a look, because something is fucking amiss.
Speaker 3: And you know they were all scared to leave, oh
Speaker 3: yeah for sure?
Speaker 2: Or not on the wall, Hey is everybody okay in there?
Speaker 3: If you would have scared the ship out of Brittany.
Speaker 4: Right, I would have been like, hey, guys, I think
Speaker 4: all the blood would have drained out of my body.
Speaker 3: Oh, I would just when not bring you to ye
Speaker 3: out of your mental but I'm.
Speaker 4: Oh, yeah, God bless Janea and our family, Brittany and hers.
Speaker 4: I mean, her life is gone. Her family sounds very
Speaker 4: supportive as a big family.
Speaker 2: Now, I know everyone these stories, it's not just the victims,
Speaker 2: like it's just no lateral damage of their families and exactly.
Speaker 2: You know, I think about we did that story about
Speaker 2: Jacob Wetterling a few weeks ago. Yeah, I think about
Speaker 2: like his parents actually stayed together and they even though
Speaker 2: I think they probably had a time where their marriage
Speaker 2: hit like a rough patch. I can only imagine the
Speaker 2: pain and suffering that they went through. And let alone
Speaker 2: every other family who's had you know, somebody, it can
Speaker 2: be generational damage. Yes, I just think about some of them.
Speaker 2: You know, some of these people had children, have children,
Speaker 2: and then their children grow up without a parent or
Speaker 2: maybe like mom kills dad or dad kills mom, and
Speaker 2: so now you have no parents and it's just.
Speaker 4: It's and then you're known as the you know, oh
Speaker 4: my mom killed my dad or my vice versa that.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I know.
Speaker 2: Dad, it's just sad that, you.
Speaker 4: Know, just so how do you get out from under there.
Speaker 3: But then that's like the riddle of life, you know, exactly.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you Shannon for the Oh.
Speaker 3: Thank you for bringing this story. I'd never heard of it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, this was a brutal one, like Jana really went
Speaker 2: through it. I feel bad. I feel really too.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and probably even see how do you think in
Speaker 4: that culture of Lululemon, you do not see that kind
Speaker 4: of behavior coming?
Speaker 2: No, sure, you like to just remind everyone to hit subscribe,
Speaker 2: follow whatever app you're listening to. Yes, forgot to mention
Speaker 2: that at the beginning, but that's okay. And if you
Speaker 2: all are interested in hearing more episodes from Shannon and
Speaker 2: I and you just can't get enough and you want
Speaker 2: another episode every week, you can subscribe through the Apple app,
Speaker 2: or you can go to Patreon dot com, Slash Tea
Speaker 2: and Tea Crimes Crimes. Yeah, we do one extra episode
Speaker 2: a week if you subscribe to the top tier Apple.
Speaker 2: It's just one tier, so you do get all the
Speaker 2: episodes on Apple. Yes, and we have a website, Crimes
Speaker 2: and Consequences dot com. We have some merch and Shannon's
Speaker 2: going to be helping to get that caught up.
Speaker 3: Yes, I'm on it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're on it, so bless your little heart. I
Speaker 2: would just like thank everyone again, and everyone seems very
Speaker 2: welcoming to Shannon.
Speaker 4: Yes, guys, I love you and I love just spending
Speaker 4: time with you, and I love spending time with Tanya.
Speaker 4: So you guys always give me an opportunity to do both.
Speaker 3: You fucking love it.
Speaker 2: I know we get to catch up before I do.
Speaker 4: I love it and bring Taro to the table, and
Speaker 4: some I just love knowing, like the little bits of
Speaker 4: the story.
Speaker 3: What was his sign? Yikes a libra whoa. We love
Speaker 3: you libras so right.
Speaker 4: But until next time, Tany, you take care and I
Speaker 4: love you and you too.
Speaker 3: You too.
Speaker 2: I'll see you next time.
Speaker 3: Bye, I'll see you. Bye.