2011 Lululemon Murder: Author to Discuss Book in DC on Friday

By Laura L. Thornton

When journalist Peter Ross Range saw police cars outside the Lululemon Athletica store in Bethesda, Md., on March 12, 2011, he was curious to know what was going on. 

He'd just finished playing tennis and was startled to learn from reporters gathered outside the high-end athletic clothing store — where brown paper was just going up in the windows — that a body was inside.


"I was totally shocked at the end of the week to learn that (former store employee) Brittany Norwood was the accused murderer" of fellow Lululemon co-worker Jayna Murray, he told Patch.

Murray, 30, was an Arlington resident.

Range — a longtime magazine writer and DC-area resident — followed the trial in the media. Norwood was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole on Jan. 27, 2012. Range sent a proposal to Amazon Kindle singles to write a book about the case. Amazon gave him the green light.

Friday, Range will visit Politics and Prose at 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW — the famed independent bookstore in Chevy Chase, DC — to discuss and sign copies of his book, "Murder in the Yoga Store: The True Story of the Lululemon Killing."

The book, released in June, has been well received, Range said. Its Amazon.com page had more than 100 reader reviews as of Thursday afternoon, and the book was No. 1 on the Kindle nonfiction list for several weeks. The book is available on Amazon.com in paperback and as a Kindle single, at Barnes & Noble and at Politics and Prose.

This is the first time that Range — a former White House correspondent who has written for Time, U.S. News and World Report and other publications — has ventured into a solo book project about a high-profile crime. He enjoyed the research, which included digging through evidence boxes, and writing in a creative narrative nonfiction style.

"Range recreates the suspenseful investigation (of the case) and explores the lives of those involved," according to Politics and Prose's description of the book. 

"Norwood had been targeted as the probable pilferer of a bottle of expensive perfume and cash amounts of up to $200 from her fellow sales staff. They had made plans to try to apprehend her," according to a news release about the book.

"In a meeting at Lululemon just two days before Norwood murdered Murray and staged an elaborate cover-up that terrorized Bethesda for a week, the store’s leadership team debated how to nab Norwood, possibly with the use of a hidden camera," the news states.

As Norwood and Murray closed the Bethesda Lululemon shop on March 11, 2011, Murray was on the lookout for evidence that Norwood had stolen something from the store, Range wrote in his book. Murray discovered that Norwood had a pair of stolen yoga pants in her bag, which led Norwood to murder her, Range wrote.

"Jayna Murray was the one who, according to evidence gathered by the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, got the proof (that Norwood had stolen from the store). It cost her her life," the release states.

Range's appearance, at 7 p.m. Friday at the Politics and Prose bookstore, is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required.