Community Corner

Shoeprint Analyst: Lululemon Crime Scene Showed 'Likelihood of Staging'

Analyst testifies that two sets of footprints were discovered inside the Lululemon crime scene.

A shoeprint analyst with the Montgomery County Police Department's forensic unit said during his testimony Tuesday that the crime scene at Lululemon was likely staged.

David McGill told the court that two sets of footprints were discovered at Lululemon following the March 11 crime. But given the initial information that there had been two victims and two suspects, McGill said he spent a significant amount of time searching for more shoeprint tracks, expecting to find more.

He never did.

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McGill testified during the ongoing trial of Brittany Norwood, the woman accused of killing her co-worker Jayna Murray at Bethesda's Lululemon shop. Prosecutors have said she lied to police, telling them the women were attacked by two men, and staged the crime scene to make it appear as though an attack had taken place.

On the stand, McGill said two pairs of footprints were found at the shop -- a New Balance size 7 1/2 and a Reebok size 14. Both sets of prints were recovered in the store; however, the Reebok prints were likely placed following the New Balance prints, McGill said.

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The Reebok prints stopped suddenly and didn't trail off, indicating the shoe may have been cleaned, McGill testified. Throughout the store, marks from bloody shoelaces -- which belonged to the pair of New Balances, according to McGill -- were discovered without the associated shoeprint, indicating those shoes may also have been cleaned, McGill said.

There were multiple impressions in blood near the sink, McGill said.

In addition, the Reebok prints appeared to show unnatural movement, according to McGill. "When people walk, generally speaking, they are not thinking about what they're doing," McGill said. "If you are thinking about how your shoes are hitting the ground, that can cause you to have very erratic shoe placement."

Patch is reporting live from the Montgomery County Courthouse in Rockville. Follow us on Twitter for updates.


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