MURDER IN BETHESDA

The police have been diligently investigating this recent murder at the Lululemon retail shop. According to radio accounts, police suspect that the crime was opportunistic, involving two men who were prepared to rob something or someone. They may have had one or two targets in mind as possibilities. Then, apparently, they saw two young women enter a darkened or dimmed shop and quickly followed them into it.

Once inside the shop, things got violent. One woman was sexually assaulted and murdered by blunt force. The other woman was sexually assaulted, battered (apparently), and tied up. Whether these two men actually stole anything was not clear from the police reports mentioned over the radio.

Is this not passing strange for a crime scenario?

Firstly, according to the report over the radio, the two men wore masks and gloves. They appeared to have prepared for a theft or robbery event. Preparation and some level of experience in these sorts of crime may be inferred. However, attacking the women seemed to be the primary event. This was not consistent with a robbery preparation. This was especially so due to the prominent location, the level of people walking and driving about Friday night in the 9 pm - 12 am time slot. An Apple Store was next door and had attracted a large crowd to view the new ipad.

Given the objective scenario at the time, a quick robbery would appear to be called for. Else, the women would be secured in the backroom somewhere until human traffic outside had become scarce. Then the robbers would scram with their loot. So what happened?

There was a possibility that Jayna Murray exposed the face of one of the men, resulting in an "eliminate the witness" scenario. If so, why was not the other woman killed for the same reason. It was possible that the two women had been taken to different areas of the store where visual contact was not possible. The reason for the latter event may have been twin rapes. One woman fought, exposing the face of her attacker, and the other did not fight.

However, the rape scenario doesn't seem valid under the circumstances, assuming two men prepared with masks and gloves entered an upscale shop. The risk-reward benefit doesn't favor rape as a primary mission.

What if murder was their primary mission? What if Jayna Murray had been the target all along? What if the other woman had a grudge against Ms. Murray? What if she arranged with the two "masked men" to meet her as she was rendezvousing with Ms. Murray. She had called Ms. Murray at her home to explain that she had left something inside the shop that she needed to retrieve. When Ms. Murray agreed, the other woman could have contacted the two men that the "hit was on."

There is the possibility that one of the two men had a personal relationship with the other woman. The alleged rape of this woman may have been by a regular sex-partner. On the alternate side if she had a third-party boyfriend who knew some men who might do the "hit," he may have called them after his girlfriend called to say that Ms. Murray had agreed to return.

Additionally, if Ms. Murray knew the other woman's boyfriend, however remotely, she might have recognized him, either by ripping away his mask or by guessing his voice. Then the witness was eliminated.

Usually, in an "eliminate the witness" scenario one would expect that both women would have been killed. They can't hang you twice. The two men did not appear to be pressured to "hurry up."

There may be some new revelation soon by the police. For the moment there seem to be valid reasons to be suspicious of the other woman's role in this despicable crime.