The woman accused of killing her Lululemon Athletica co-worker and staging the crime scene was found in possession of stolen goods on the day of the slaying, authorities said.

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The suspect, Brittany Norwood, 28, appeared in court Monday afternoon.

During the court hearing, new details emerged about the alleged attack: The struggle may have lasted more than 20 minutes. In addition, the blows to slaying victim Jayna Murray's head were too numerous to count. Her skull was fractured and spinal cord severed by a wound that extended through her neck.

When Norwood was asked by her brother in a conversation taped by police, "why did you fight that girl?" Her response was "I don't know," according to Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy.

Norwood was arrested Friday and charged with first-degree murder in the death of 30-year-old Murray, her co-worker at the Lululemon Athletica shop.

For the first time publicly, McCarthy suggested a motive: He said that on the day of the slaying, at her manager’s request, Murray looked in Norwood’s personal bag and found stolen merchandise.

“What was stated in open court was that Jayna called her manager with her suspicions after she closed the store,” he said.

On Monday, she was ordered held without bond.

Norwood initially told police two masked men beat and sexually assaulted them after entering the store on the night of March 11. But police said she lied and that Norwood murdered Murray during a dispute. A report says the dispute was possibly over stolen merchandise.

According to the police affidavit, there was no evidence of sexual assault and Norwood's injuries appeared to be self-inflicted. Norwood was found in the store with her hands and feet tied up, but police said she had posed herself in that position. Authorities also found evidence that someone tried to clean up the murder scene.

Police said workers at the next-door Apple store reported hearing two women arguing.

Several Lululemon Athletica employees attended the court hearing but declined to comment.

Montgomery County Police Chief Tom Manger said there was a toolbox in the store, but could not speak about specifics as to the murder weapon. Police are continuing to try to put together a timeline of events and are searching for someone who may have seen Norwood in Murray's car.

In the early part of investigation, police said they had a person of interest after several community tips pointed them toward a homeless man in Bethesda.

However, there is no indication of an accomplice in the case, ABC7 reports.

Brad Garrett, a former FBI profiler and consultant to ABC, said that the evidence indicated it was a crime of rage.

”That’s a personal homicide, that’s a close stabbing, blunt force trauma,” Garrett said. “She was angry, majorly angry.”

Murray's parents said on ABC's "Good Morning America" Monday morning that the main message they have for Norwood is that they will let the justice system prevail.

David Murray said Monday that he and his wife, Phyllis, believe "very, very strongly in the U.S. justice system."

Murray’s parents said Jayna was adventuresome and fearless. They spoke of her loving and free spirit.

Murray's brother, an army lawyer was in Iraq when he found out.

“They told me they'd been raped and I believed them,” he said.