Woman convicted of killing co-worker at Bethesda yoga store

"The wallet was nonsense," McCarthy told jurors.

Alarm records confirmed that the two reentered the store at 10:05 p.m. A short time later, Apple employees began to hear screams and the sounds of something being hit or dragged.

"The killing begins almost immediately," he said.

McCarthy said that Norwood probably struck Murray in the back of the head. Taking out a key piece of evidence — a heavy, metal blood-stained peg that had been used to hold merchandise — McCarthy pounded it on a table. He projected an autopsy photo showing cracks in Murray's skull.

Forensic evidence suggested Murray staggered from the blow, lifted her hand to the bloody wound on the back of her head and fell into a wall, leaving behind a bloody print. Murray tried to make it to a rear exit, which also became smeared with her blood.

"This was her last mad dash to try to save her life," McCarthy said. "She's trying to flee. She's trying to save her life."

After the attack, Norwood staged the scene. She used size 14 Reebok sneakers to track bloody prints around the store, trying to make it appear as though a large man had been there. She staged a robbery and tossed mops, brooms and chairs around the store.

Prosecutors said Norwood's lies showed the cunning and guile of a killer who knew what she was doing. Defense lawyers said the lies should have been seen in the context of their absurdity: an illustration of just how out of control and delusional Norwood was.