Tracking the Truth (George Young)

Summary

Anatomy of Murder: Tracking the Truth (George Young) – Detailed Summary

Release Date: June 10, 2025
Hosted by Anna-Sigga Nicolasi and Scott Weinberger

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Introduction

In the gripping episode titled "Tracking the Truth," hosts Anna-Sigga Nicolasi and Scott Weinberger delve deep into the tragic murder of George Young, a devoted husband, father, and security professional from Buford, Georgia. This episode meticulously dissects the layers of the case, unraveling the complexities of the crime, investigation, and the underlying motives that led to George's untimely death.

The Victim: George Young

George Young was a 43-year-old family man residing in Beaufort, a quiet area near Atlanta in Gwinnett County. Known for his dedication to his family and community, George balanced multiple jobs, including owning a security systems company and working part-time as a security guard. His commitment to safety extended both personally and professionally, making his murder all the more shocking.

Notable Quote:

"George Young worked a couple jobs. The one that he was coming home from that night was a private security job from one of the malls in downtown Atlanta."
— Scott Weinberger [06:46]

The Crime: A Shattered Safe Haven

On November 16, 2017, George Young was fatally shot on the front porch of his suburban home. The incident occurred late at night, around 11:18 PM, leaving his wife, Tia Young, and their three young sons in a state of utter disbelief and fear. The initial response by first responders, including Gwinnett County Detective Chris Smith, revealed a crime scene devoid of immediate motives or suspects.

Notable Quote:

"And that's why when violence invades our homes, the very place we're meant to feel the safest, it shatters more than lives. It fractures our sense of refuge."
— Anasiga Nicolasi [02:26]

The Investigation Begins

Detective Chris Smith, with 15 years of experience in the Gwinnett County Police Department, took the lead in investigating George's murder. The absence of obvious motives complicated the initial phases of the investigation. The presence of a single shell casing at the scene, despite two gunshots being fired, raised immediate questions about the nature of the crime.

Notable Quote:

"We found a shell casing that was next to George's body... but we never found a second shell casing, even though we know two shots were fired."
— Chris Smith [09:43]

Uncovering Anomalies and Suspicions

As the investigation progressed, inconsistencies in the accounts provided by Tia Young and Tim Lee, a family friend living with them, began to emerge. Initial statements indicated no clear animosity towards George, but discrepancies, such as the malfunctioning security camera and conflicting stories about the events of that night, hinted at deeper layers beneath the surface.

Notable Quote:

"Their stories are starting to be very different... It's just not plausible."
— Chris Smith [22:18]

The Breakthrough: Motive Revealed

A pivotal moment in the investigation was the discovery of a $1 million life insurance policy on George Young, with Tia as the primary beneficiary. Further digging revealed an extramarital affair between Tia and Tim Lee, providing a plausible motive rooted in financial gain and betrayal.

Notable Quote:

"Combined with the $1 million life insurance policy Tia had almost immediately tried to cash in on."
— Anasiga Nicolasi [36:14]

Confrontations and Confessions

Faced with mounting evidence, both Tia Young and Tim Lee were confronted with the inconsistencies in their stories. Tia admitted to the affair but vehemently denied any involvement in George's murder. Tim's evasive responses and attempts to cover his tracks further solidified the detectives' suspicions.

Notable Quote:

"I heard gunshots. I woke up, I went up to the stairwell... then I put my gun back."
— Tim Lee [20:55]

The Arrest and Trial

After months of relentless investigation, Detective Smith and his team gathered sufficient circumstantial evidence to arrest Tia Young and Tim Lee in April 2018. The trial showcased the intricate web of lies, deceit, and betrayal that led to George's murder. The prosecution effectively highlighted the motive and the suspicious behaviors of the accused, leading to their conviction.

Notable Quote:

"In Policetown, if you're worried that somebody's hurt, that is a long time... that's how long she had to decide what they were going to tell police and get rid of any evidence."
— Chris Smith [45:15]

Verdicts and Sentencing

Tim Lee was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault, receiving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Tia Young was found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, and attempts to tamper with evidence, earning a life sentence with the possibility of parole plus three consecutive years.

Notable Quote:

"The jury agreed. Tim Lee was convicted of malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault."
— Anna-Sigga Nicolasi [46:14]

Aftermath and Reflections

The murder of George Young left an indelible mark on the community and those involved in the case. Detective Chris Smith reflected on the profound sense of loss and the betrayal experienced by George's family. The episode concludes by honoring George's legacy and the relentless pursuit of justice by those who sought to bring truth to light.

Notable Quote:

"He was ambushed on his own front porch. And the most painful part, the threat didn't come from a stranger. It came from inside the circle he trusted most."
— Scott Weinberger [48:43]

Conclusion

"Tracking the Truth" serves as a poignant exploration of the layers that constitute a murder case. Through meticulous investigation and unwavering determination, the episode sheds light on the complexities of human relationships and the devastating impact of deceit. George Young's story is a testament to the challenges faced by law enforcement in unraveling the truth amidst a web of lies.

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This summary encapsulates the key moments and revelations from the "Tracking the Truth" episode of "Anatomy of Murder," providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the case without overlooking the emotional and investigative depth explored by the hosts.

Transcript

[Scott Weinberger]

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[Chris Smith]

Y' all.

[Tia Young]

Have heard what I think is two gunshots. Can you send the amulet my brother sent my husband? It was it.

[Scott Weinberger]

I'm Scott Weinberger, investigative journalist and former deputy sheriff.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

I'm Anasiga Nicolasi, former New York City Homicide prosecutor and host of Investigation Discovery's True Conviction.

[Scott Weinberger]

And this is Anatomy of Murder.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

There's an old adage, a person's home is their castle, a place they can rely on to provide comfort and safety for themselves and their loved ones.

[Scott Weinberger]

And that's why when violence invades our homes, the very place we're meant to feel the safest, it shatters more than lives. It fractures our sense of refuge. George Young of Buford, Georgia, knew a thing or two about providing safety and security. A hardworking husband and father of three sons, he devoted himself to looking after his family and and protecting them from harm.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Safety was also George's business. He owned a company that installed security systems, and he also worked part time as a security guard, which made it all the more shocking when fatal gunshots rang out on a dark November evening right from the front porch of George Young's own home.

[Scott Weinberger]

Beaufort, just outside of Atlanta is a quiet corner of Gwinnett County, a place nearly a million people call home. But on November 16, 2017 that number dropped by one and everything changed.

[Tia Young]

Location of the emergency, Montauk Hill Drive, New Fort, Georgia. Okay, and what's going on there? I just heard a gunshot. I was in the bed sleep, my kids asleep but I heard what I think was two gunshots.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

The 911 call place at 11:34pm was from a woman flying frantically reporting that her husband had been shot on the front porch of their suburban home.

[Chris Smith]

How long ago did you hear it?

[Tia Young]

I don't know, maybe a minute or so ago. Can you send the ambulance? My brother said my husband, it was hit. He's outside, he works late and I think he was on his way home. He's at the front door. Right at the front door. Where was he hid at? My brother said this looks like the side of the head. Okay, do you see anybody? Is the person that shot him still outside? No, my brother doesn't see anybody. Okay, is he responding? He's not responding or movie.

[Scott Weinberger]

With panic rising in her voice, 42 year old Tia Young urged the dispatcher to send help. Her brother was doing everything he could to save her husband's life.

[Tia Young]

I've already gotten, I've got ambulance and police coming. Oh Lord my Jesus leaving. My mom lives here.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

First responders got to the home at about 11:40pm Just a few minutes after that 911 call had been placed. But unfortunately it was too late. 43 year old George Young was dead. The homicide unit was soon dispatched.

[Chris Smith]

I was called by the on scene supervisor who called and let me know what was going on. And it was almost time to get ready to go to bed. So now I'm not going to bed. You're getting ready and you're heading out to the scene where you're just going to meet your team and CSI and everyone out there.

[Scott Weinberger]

Chris Smith has worked for the Gwinnett County Police Department for 15 years and in 2017 he was a detective in that homicide unit.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

According to Chris Buford is not a place where a call like this often occurs.

[Chris Smith]

It's a pretty well off area. We don't really have a lot of crimes, especially homicides in that area. It's pretty affluent. We had the officers on scene that the victim had been shot on his front porch as he was trying to enter his house and that he was coming home from work.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Chris first focus was of course, the victim, who was still there when he arrived.

[Chris Smith]

The victim was still on the front porch. He was on his back. His feet were facing the front door. He had been shot twice, once in the front side on the chest, and then once looked like right under the left ear. So obvious gunshot wounds. And there was one shell casing next to his body.

[Scott Weinberger]

As first responders worked to secure the scene and tend to George, who had already succumbed to his injuries.

[Chris Smith]

Crash.

[Scott Weinberger]

Chris stepped inside the house. There he met Tia, George's wife of 22 years and just down the hall. Their three sons, ages 8, 13 and 17, were still asleep, unaware that their world had just changed forever.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Chris was also introduced to two other people that were in the home. Tia's mother and Tia's brother, Tim Lee.

[Chris Smith]

I went into the home, greeted the family, explained who I was and what I was there for, gave my condolences.

[Scott Weinberger]

Chris sat down with Tia, who was visibly shaken and distraught. But she was still able to tell him a bit about George and the basic details of the night.

[Chris Smith]

George Young worked a couple jobs. The one that he was coming home from that night was a private security job from one of the malls in downtown Atlanta. He worked for his friend. They were providing private security for an entertainer that was at the mall. He also worked for another security company where he installed security systems, security cameras, stuff like that. She explained to me that she had talked to George a few hours prior, that he was having a good night. He had sent her a picture of him in his suit, dressed up for the event. She said that he told her he was going to go to a restaurant afterwards with some of the guys from work, and then he'd be home probably close to midnight.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Tia said that she and the kids were all asleep in their beds, her eight year old next to her. Her mother was watching TV in her own room and her brother was in his bedroom. When she was awakened by popp sounds.

[Chris Smith]

She had heard gunshots. Maybe she thought they were fireworks. So she got up to check. Tim was there as well. So she had sent Tim outside to check because she was scared. And when she said when they opened the front door, they discovered George on the ground and that he had been shot and that they didn't see or hear anything other than the gunshots. He was already unconscious, completely unresponsive.

[Scott Weinberger]

Tia also said she had called 911 as her brother started CPR. But by the time EMTs arrived, as Anna Seaga mentioned, it was too late.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

T went on to say that she didn't know anyone who could have done this to George.

[Chris Smith]

She said she had no reason to believe anybody would want to hurt him, that he didn't have any enemies. The family just could not provide any motives whatsoever besides that they were struggling financially. Tia. She was unemployed at the time.

[Scott Weinberger]

After speaking to Tia, Chris sat down with Tim, who, who stated he'd been living with the Youngs for almost two years.

[Chris Smith]

He said he was doing some work. He said he knew George was out working this extra job and that he typically gets home late from those jobs. But he also said he didn't know any reason anybody would want to hurt George. He didn't remember hearing or seeing anything other than the gunshots and really didn't have much else to offer.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Tia's mom had the TV up so loud that she didn't hear the gunshots at all. And the three boys, luckily, had slept through it all and miraculously, were still sound asleep. So Chris didn't speak with them that night.

[Scott Weinberger]

The fact that George ran a security company, Chris thought maybe, just maybe, he practiced what he preached. A camera right at the front of the door. There was one. And Chris was expecting his first big break. And what they found instead, let's just say it raised more questions than answers, to say the least. It was disappointing.

[Chris Smith]

There was a security camera on the porch pointed at the front door, and, you know, immediately I'm like, hey, is there video? Tim told me, no, that lightning had struck it a few weeks prior and that George was going to fix it that weekend.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

When Chris considered the evidence at the scene, one thing stood out. If George was shot two times, why was there only one.40 caliber casing found by the body?

[Chris Smith]

We found a shell casing that was next to George's body that I think the killer didn't take because it was kind of covered up by his suit jacket. But interestingly, we never found a second shell casing, even though we know two shots were fired. We used metal detectors in the bushes, the grass. And so also interesting to me is that somebody picked it up and just missed the second one.

[Scott Weinberger]

If George's killer had taken the shell casing from the scene in an effort to clean up, it may well suggest that this crime had been thought out in advance.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Now, it was, of course, too early for investigators to know if George's death had been planned from the outside or perhaps even from inside the home. So to play it safe, detectives next got a search warrant for the Young's home before they looked.

[Scott Weinberger]

So in Tim's bedroom. Police found a gun, a.40 caliber weapon, which was the same caliber believed to be used to shoot George.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

So due to that, crime scene techs next performed gunshot residue tests on Tim. They didn't find any gunpowder residue on his hands. There were no fingerprints found on the one recovered shell. Ballistics tests would be needed to help determine if the bullets that killed George Young came from Tim Lee's gun.

[Scott Weinberger]

Police kept working through the night while the gun went off for testing. They canvassed the neighborhood, hoping someone might have video cameras or have seen or even heard something that might give investigators some new direction.

[Chris Smith]

We spoke to several neighbors, and all the neighbors, you know, described kind of the same thing. Hearing the gunshots closer to about 11:18pm this is not something that they're accustomed to. Several of the neighbors were, just, because it was later, were kind of like, did I hear what I thought I heard? You know, one of the neighbors said she specifically looked at her clock the minute that it happened and told us that's how she knew it was like 11:18.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Detectives were disappointed to learn that none of the Young's neighbors had video cameras that may have captured the murder.

[Scott Weinberger]

So with little to go on, Chris and his team had to think about multiple theories.

[Chris Smith]

We did consider the idea that it would possibly be a robbery. However, none of his stuff was taken, right? He had an iPad. He had his wallet, his phone, everything. His keys were still dangling in the door. Everything that he had was still on him. So the goal was to rob him. They didn't do a very good job. So for me, it was more personal that the intention was to kill him. I thought maybe something happened at, you know, the event that he was at earlier that night. He's working security. Maybe he rubbed someone the wrong way, you know, and they followed him home.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

However, the gunshots were both on George's left side, not from the front, which you'd expect if he'd been in a fight and not in the back, if someone had walked up, up to him.

[Scott Weinberger]

From behind, which made it very possible that someone had been lying in wait at the house and ambushed George just as he put his keys in the door.

[Chris Smith]

So if you imagine he's facing the door, immediately to his left is grass next to the house. So very easy for somebody over there in the dark to have been waiting or hiding. And the shots definitely from the left side, he never really turned to face the person, so he was definitely caught off guard. So following him home and then standing next to him and shooting him just wasn't likely. If you were mad and gonna shoot somebody, you know what I mean? Shoot him. From the road we see drive bys, right? People shoot people as they're entering their house or they're in their house. Why would you already be at the house and be out waiting? Just didn't make sense to me. This man was targeted, right? It almost seemed like maybe it could have been something. Immediately out of anger, the next day.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Authorities got the test results back from Tia's brother Tim's gun.

[Chris Smith]

The caliber that was shot is a.40 caliber. The gun that Tim had was a.40 caliber. Like, oh, of course this is going to be it. But it didn't match.

[Scott Weinberger]

Investigators were back to square one when.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

News of the cold blooded killing of a local business owner and family man began to spread. It shocked Buford to its core.

[Chris Smith]

This upset a lot of people because of course they're thinking these things don't happen here. You know, why would this happen? You know, is this going to happen again? And so the community was definitely up in arms about it. And Tia went on the news almost immediately and was talking to the news. They saw the three kids on the interview with her. So that's that emotional pull as well.

[Scott Weinberger]

Within hours, the community wrapped around the family. One neighbor started to go fund me, Hoping to ease the burden of losing not just a loved one, but the only source of income they had.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

And with many no viable leads, investigators reached out to George's friends and co workers, hoping to uncover any clues as to who might have wanted him dead.

[Chris Smith]

When we went to the security office, people were in complete shock. They were like, out of anybody. They never would have thought this would have happened to George. George didn't even carry a gun. Like he was just a very innocent soul.

[Scott Weinberger]

Investigators heard the very same story from George's friends.

[Chris Smith]

No one ever had anything negative to say about this man at all. Everyone loved him. They talked about what a hard worker he was, how he was always giving money and helping other people even though they knew he didn't have it. I mean, you just couldn't have found somebody people would have less of a reason to want to hurt. So again, just continually getting frustrating because I can't find a motive.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Because the murder looked like a targeted hit and the family was having financial troubles, Detective subpoenaed George bank records and phone records. Perhaps there was maybe some irregularity that would point them in a direction.

[Chris Smith]

I definitely wanted to go over his bank records just to see what kind of spending expenses and things coming in and out, try to get into his Phone or any kind of devices because we just really had nothing speak to the people that he worked with, the private security job. I really just needed to get a lot more background information.

[Scott Weinberger]

Next, investigators turned to George's phone because in today's world, our phones can be a goldmine of personal history. Even deleted messages and apps often leave behind digital breadcrumbs. But in this case, the trail led nowhere.

[Chris Smith]

The technology for getting into phones and breaking those firewalls is advanced. But every time we would advance, the phone companies advance, right? They want to protect their customer base, which I get. But unfortunately, nobody knew or admitted to knowing the passcode in his phone. And all the ways that we tried just didn't work in a case like that. I mean, I turned back towards the family and I'm like, something isn't making sense. You're telling me this guy's just coming home, Somebody was waiting on him. They didn't come afterwards. But there are no motives. There's something someone's not telling us.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Chris had the unenviable task of having to interview George's three young sons. All three were said to have slept through the shooting.

[Chris Smith]

They didn't know much. They knew they were having financial trouble, but they didn't have any explanation. They didn't hear their dad say anything. They said there was arguments between mom and dad, but it seemed normal, nothing out of the ordinary. So they didn't really provide any thing of evidence either.

[Scott Weinberger]

Police asked George's wife, Tia and her brother Tim to come into the station for a more in depth interview.

[Chris Smith]

When I sat down with Tia again and started talking to her, her story kind of stayed the same. It was, I heard gunshots. I woke up, I went up to the stairwell. I told Tim, did you hear that? He said, yes, he heard it. And he went outside to check. But she had started kind of adding some things into the story, right? So she said, now Tim is sitting at the kitchen table downstairs working. She didn't say that the first time. And at first she had said, well, he had come out of his room. To me, that's a big difference. Different areas of the house on different floors.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

But that was just the beginning of things that started to turn Chris's head and all of it started to point in the direction of George's own family.

[Chris Smith]

When I was speaking with Tia, she said, well, you know, when I was talking to Tim, my brother, well, he's not really my brother. We're just kind of like brother and sister. And that was the first time that we had separated that because they had led us on to believe they were brother and sister this whole time. So I'm like, okay, so they're not technically family. And I'm like, what is happening?

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

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[Scott Weinberger]

Gwinnett county homicide detective Chris Smith had just uncovered a lie, one that cracked open the foundation of Tia Young's story. The man she'd been calling her brother Tim. He wasn't family, not even close.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

So if Tim Lee wasn't Tia's brother, who was he? And what was the true nature of this relationship and why was he living in George's house? Tia quickly provided some context.

[Chris Smith]

Tim is a family friend from South Carolina that George hired to help work for him. And he let him move into the house because he was on hard times from Tia. They were having financial trouble, so also helped them out kind of twofold to have him living to help work but also help pay some of the bills. This guy's been living in your house for over two years now. That's your best friend. But George was just that kind of person, right? So he, he's got this friend who's on hard times who needs a job. He needs help financially in the house, paying the bills. So it's a win win for him.

[Scott Weinberger]

So anesthetic, obviously, one lie could open the door to the potential of so many more. I mean, Chris is looking at it in a much different light because of this first step into mistruth.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

But you know, I will have to say one thing here. You know, there are definitely multiple people. I've heard that. Again, they're close family friends. So again, just to Play devil's advocate. And they have to open up everything. Of course, they need to know why. But it is definitely odd that when you're talking to law enforcement and your husband and at least someone whose house you're living in, if we're talking about Tim Lee is there dead, that they're giving this. Until they're not, Something's up. Or at least he needs to find out if they lied about this. Why?

[Scott Weinberger]

Yeah, the lie is such an important thing to uncover here. When Chris learned that Tim wasn't Tia's brother, but George's best friend, and that Tia had already changed her story about how they found George's body, one thing became clear. It was time to hear from Tim, and Chris was ready to press for the truth.

[Chris Smith]

When I spoke with Tim, he's like, yeah, I got up, I heard it. I went upstairs and got my gun. And I'm like, you got your gun? What do you mean that you got your gun? He's like, well, I got my gun, you know, because I wanted to make sure that we were safe. And I'm like, well, Tia never mentioned that. And if you went to get your gun, you would have had to walk right by her and not go straight out the door like she said. So then I'm starting to think, well, are they just experiencing trauma? Like, is this. It's just weird. And he says, he goes out, he opens the door, he sees that George has been shot, doesn't see anybody else, and then he goes and puts his gun back. And so I questioned him of, well, if you think somebody just shot your best friend and they could still be out there, why was your first thought to go put the gun back? And he says, I knew I wouldn't need it. And I'm like, you knew you wouldn't need it? How do you know you wouldn't need it? And he was like, well, I just didn't see anybody. And I'm like, all right, this is definitely different stories now.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

So at that point, Chris is still just trying to keep track of the pairs changing stories. He felt like he might be onto something, but he wasn't quite sure what.

[Chris Smith]

Their stories are starting to be very different. So again, you know, we're kind of going back and forth, have them in separate rooms, go back to Tia. Hey. He says he went and got his gun. You never mentioned that, right? And she's like, well, yeah, he did go get his gun. It was all just kind of a blur. And then I remember he, you know, he put it back. And I said, don't you think that's weird? And I don't want to ask her stuff that he said, and. And ask her if she thought it was weird. She'd be like, yeah, that's weird. It's just starting to feel very odd.

[Scott Weinberger]

The inconsistent stories raised suspicions that even if Tia Young and Tim Lee didn't actually kill George, they could certainly be covering something up.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

But it's important to point out that nothing Tia Young or Tim Lee said was actionable or, at this point, criminal. You can't arrest someone on suspicion of murder just because they're changing their story.

[Chris Smith]

It's not giving me anything just yet that I can follow up on. It's just trying to get them nailed down in a story because these are two people in the same space with the same point of view at the same time. And now they're having drastically different experiences of how they're describing it, of what the each other did. It's just not plausible.

[Scott Weinberger]

As Chris bounced between interviews, trying to piece together a narrative that kept shifting, a fellow investigator reached out to with information that would cast the entire case in a new light. The investigation wasn't just moving fast. It was accelerating.

[Chris Smith]

One of our detectives spoke to a neighbor who lived two houses down to the right. And when they heard the gunshots, they had kind of leaned out their second story window to try to see what was going on. And they stated they saw a guy that looks like he came from the front of the house where the victim was, and then laid on the ground and took something off of the victim's car from underneath. They just described it as a male. They said they couldn't really tell, but they definitely came from the front of the house and then went back to the front of the house after they removed something from the car. They could see they had something in their hand.

[Scott Weinberger]

Was Tim Lee the man seen tampering with George's car? And if so, what exactly did he remove? But if it wasn't him, then who was it? Those were the very questions running through Chris's mind, and he needed answers fast.

[Chris Smith]

Maybe it was Tim. And I thought, you know, at this point, his story's not really making sense. I'm kind of just going to go an accusatory way, and I'm just gonna tell him the neighbor saw it was him, which wasn't necessarily true. But I'm like, who else could it have been? So I go back into that interview room and I say, hey, listen, we just spoke with a neighbor. I said, did you walk out of the house. And he goes, well, I mean, I walked out to the front, and I went between the cars, and I looked left and I looked right. Weren't you worried you were going to run into someone, like, if you thought they were still out there? Just doesn't make sense. And he just didn't really have an answer. So I'm like, I think we're starting to get on the right track.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Timley's story was beginning to fray, but what he said next brought everything to a full stop.

[Chris Smith]

And I'm like, okay, well, what did you take off the car? I took the tracker off the car. And I think in the room, we're all just kind of, like, dead silent for a moment. Like, what do you mean, a tracker? He sits back in the chair, and he's like, this is about to get a whole lot bigger.

[Scott Weinberger]

Lee claimed that it was George himself who wanted that tracker put on his car in case something happened to him and some sort of safety measure.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

And that makes zero sense, especially in this day and age when the cell phones we all carry do the very same thing. The more Lee spoke, the more his story kept shifting.

[Chris Smith]

Every time I would confront him with something, it's like he had to think of what to say. You could just tell he was making it up on the fly. And he's like, well, George was making money on the side. On my mind, I'm going, that's not true. Right? I already have his bank statements. Everybody says he doesn't have money, and there's no way that he's making money, because it's obvious he's not, and he's working all these extra jobs. And so I'm like, okay, well, where is this money coming from? And he's like, george had been involved in running guns, but Tia had told us, and all of his friends were like, he was scared of guns. He didn't even carry a gun as a private security guard. He had never shot one. He didn't own one. So now, all of a sudden, this man is running guns. Like, it just. None of this aligns with his character. I'm getting frustrated because I feel like I'm pulling teeth.

[Scott Weinberger]

Lee's lies started to paint a very different picture than his words. If you put the tracker on George's car, the most reasonable explanation would be to know where George was, including when he was going to be arriving home.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Chris's next move was to sit down with George's widow, Tia, again and see how she'd react when told about the tracker on George's car.

[Chris Smith]

She seemed a little surprised, like, there's a tracker. She's like, I didn't know anything about a tracker. It's very rare that a spouse doesn't know. They always know when something's up, even if they don't know the details. And she just seemed to not know anything.

[Scott Weinberger]

Tia's act of surprise didn't seem to be fooling Chris, not for a second. But he wasn't ready to tip his hand. He knew that in this kind of interview, every word, every pause could be the difference between deception and confession.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

And every moment counts. While he had Tia and Tim Lee sitting in interview rooms, he got things in motion for the Young house to be secured, wanting to make sure that no one could potentially destroy or conceal any evidence that still might be inside.

[Chris Smith]

In the midst of this, I'm on my phone texting the detectives who were out canvassing. I'm like, go to the house. We're getting a search warrant. Do not leave. Don't let anybody move. Lock it down.

[Scott Weinberger]

Because as we all know, it's not enough to believe that Tia Young and Lee had killed George. Investigators needed the evidence to prove it.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Chris thought he was as far as he could get for the moment with Tia and Tim Lee, so he decided to concentrate on some more tangible types of potential evidence.

[Chris Smith]

We're onto something and something is not making sense, but I don't have anything to hold them, to not let them leave at this point. So we conclude those interviews. I'm definitely looking at Tim now because his story is the one that's really unraveling.

[Scott Weinberger]

Before Lee left the station, detectives confiscated his phone, secured a search warrant, and sent the device out for data extraction. And Anasena, this is the part of the job, as you know, that takes and really tests your patience. You've got someone in the room, someone you know could be lying, someone whose behavior screams maybe guilt. But here's the problem. Lying, as you know, on its own isn't illegal. People change their stories all the time. Unless you've got the hard evidence that ties them to the crime, your hands are pretty much tied. And, you know, you can't arrest somebody for just acting shaky.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Investigators are going off things that seem unreasonable, right? Like, yes, you can't arrest anyone for it. But if the different things they're saying, for example, the story about the tracker, if they seem unreasonable, then at least chances are it's because it's not true. Or if it is, there's going to be some reason for some explanation that may not make sense in other Contexts. But, you know, to your point, Scott, it really is just frustrating when they know they've got something. It's like you can almost feel it between your fingers, but they're not there yet as far as evidence that you can present in court. So after concluding the interviews, investigators conducted now a second search of the Young's home to try and see if they could find those pieces, to get them where they needed to go.

[Scott Weinberger]

When Chris arrived back at the house, it wasn't Tia waiting outside. It was Ivy, George's sister. She'd driven in from out of town. As soon as she heard, her heartbreak was obvious, but so was her urgency. She needed answers.

[Chris Smith]

We get there, and Avi's like, hey, where you at in the investigation? What's going on? You know, Avi's very astute, very upset, very. My brother was an amazing man. There is absolutely no reason.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

George's sister asked to speak with Chris privately. She had a story she wanted to tell him about a phone conversation she had just overheard.

[Scott Weinberger]

As Tia Young was on her way back to her home from the police station, she had placed a call to her best friend Kim, who placed the call on speaker. So George's sister was able to hear that conversation.

[Chris Smith]

Tia tells Kim, hey, can you go into Tim's room and find any cell phones and electronics and take them all and put them in my bedroom? And eventually, Kim was just like, okay, I'll see what I can do. Hangs up and goes, I feel weird about this. I don't really know. But she does go in the room and just take some phone chargers and then puts the phone chargers in Tia's room.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

This was yet another head turn for Chris. Now maybe he needed to concentrate more on the idea of two suspects instead of. Instead of just one.

[Chris Smith]

At first, I thought maybe just Tim is involved, but now Tia's calling her best friend and asking her to take electronic devices out of Tim's room, which she knows is the reason we're headed to the house. And so I'm like, are you tampering with evidence? Like, what is it that you have to hide?

[Scott Weinberger]

At this point, all signs were pointing in one direction. George's widow wasn't just grieving. She was either directly involved in his murder or doing everything she. She could to help cover it up.

[Chris Smith]

Things are not adding up. You've put a tracker on this man's car. You guys have wanted to get rid of electronics before we got there so that we couldn't look into them. You. You're hiding something, and I'm going To figure out what it is.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

The tracker that had been put on George's car just might be the key.

[Chris Smith]

So we serve the search warrant, go into Tim's room. He gives us the tracker. This tracker is in a paper bag that's in a book bag that he's buried in the back of his closet. So then I'm like, you're also hiding it, right?

[Scott Weinberger]

And they also recovered additional phones in Lee's room.

[Chris Smith]

We take Tia's phone at this point, and basically just all those electronic devices, because I'm like, at this point, they're hiding something. We're going to make sure we take everything back to headquarters so that it can get downloaded. I don't know why they did it yet, but I know they're involved, and I don't necessarily know the how.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

While investigators waited for the results from the phone downloads, they got another phone call that might. Might give them something else. They'd been trying to figure out motive.

[Scott Weinberger]

And that call came from a life insurance rep who delivered a bombshell. George Young had a substantial policy in place, and someone had already filed a claim to collect.

[Chris Smith]

There was a life insurance policy, but apparently it had been raised a year prior by George to a million dollars. So, you know, at that time, it's still. It's still a lot of money, especially for poor family that's struggling now.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Before any insurance company pays out a policy on a suspicious death or hear an obvious homicide, they're going to do an investigation of their own, or at least first talk with investigators.

[Chris Smith]

They want to know who are the suspects before they pay out a million dollars. And so when we told them, hey, we're looking at Tia, the wife, and they're like, well, she's the first beneficiary. We're going to hold the money. And so I asked them, you know, have you spoken to her? And they're like, well, yeah, she called us the next day and asking, how can she cash in on it. Seems like you're not even grieving yet, and the first thing you're doing is calling to check on this huge life insurance policy.

[Scott Weinberger]

So they may have their suspects in sight and now have a motive. But there was still more work to do before investigators would be ready to make any arrests.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

And that work would take some time. Phones needed to be analyzed, computers examined, Unturning every stone in hopes of building a strong case.

[Chris Smith]

Every website, every text, every email, voicemail. It takes so long to go through that type of information. It's so tedious. You're basically just going page by page reading and hoping that something sticks out to you.

[Scott Weinberger]

Investigators hard work paid off because they were slowly able to put the various pieces of this puzzle into. Into place, including the minutes leading up to George's murder.

[Chris Smith]

This tracker comes into play. We're able to see once we download it from Tim's laptop. He was watching it on his laptop that night. It was active on his screen. So now I know Tim knows when George is going to be home. He's sitting in the kitchen, at the kitchen table right next to the back door. So for me, I'm going, he could have slipped out that back door, walked around the side of the house, shot George, and. And then came right, right around back, and no one would have ever seen him. So that's starting to make sense.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

And while the money motive was already in their sights, investigators then uncovered something else. Tia Young and George's supposed good friend Tim Lee had been having an affair.

[Chris Smith]

So in like May or June of that year, we're seeing emails exchanged with Tia while she was at work, and it's basically their love affair between Tia and Tim. So now we're like, there's this huge break of now we have some type of motive, right? They're talking about their sex life, they're talking about how much they're in love with each other, that if they could be together, that they wish they could just run off together. And I'm like, all right, now motive is starting to make sense.

[Scott Weinberger]

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[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Combined with the $1 million life insurance policy Tia had almost immediately tried to cash in on. Investigators have put together a lot of pieces of this puzzle, but was it enough for them to make some arrests?

[Scott Weinberger]

Because even with everything investigators have uncovered so far, the case was still mostly circumstantial. Critical pieces of evidence, those that could seal it, were still missing.

[Chris Smith]

This is definitely starting to make sense, but I'm like, I don't have the gun. Circumstantial cases are hard. And in a murder case, you've got to make it overly circumstantial, right? You've got to prove that these situations couldn't have lined for any other reason but to contribute to this murder. They did this. But I've got to figure out. I've got to get everything that I can get. And so for months, which is tedious.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

And painstaking, and during those months of scouring and searching, detectives found additional pieces against Tim Lee in his online search history. Searches about methods of murder.

[Chris Smith]

In Tim's laptop. We find the search history that's very interesting. At first, he searched for black widow venom, right? Which we know is the most deadly spider venom. And you can't buy that he was looking online like. Like he could order it from Amazon is basically what he was trying to do. And so a few weeks later, he researches black mamba venom. And of course, I don't know much about this stuff, but I Google it. And black mamba venom is the most venomous snake venom that there is. And he tries to find a way to buy and order that. Can I just buy the snake? Which you also can't do. And then it goes to where he starts looking for trackers, right? And then we find in his text messages that he's bought the tracker. That was two weeks prior to the homicide. So now the timeline is making sense.

[Scott Weinberger]

Turns out Lee's efforts to monitor George didn't begin with a tracker. Phone records revealed that he was already trying to keep eyes on him another way. And George, he was starting to catch on.

[Chris Smith]

He tried to first track George by his phone. And there's a text message from George to Tim that says, hey, I just got this text from this thing saying, I'm being tracked by this app because you can't track somebody without them knowing the person has to agree to it. And George is like, hey, I'm not signing up for this. It says, you signed up for it. And Tim's like, oh, no, I was trying to track my ex wife. We're having some issues with the kids, blah, blah, blah. And George, being the good guy that he is, never pays any other attention to it.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

And while all that is being pieced together, Chris also starts to put his finger on something else disturbing. How well was it that the three young boys had slept through everything the night George was murdered?

[Scott Weinberger]

The night George was killed, something stuck with Chris. All three of his sons sound asleep through the gunfire, through the chaos. As the investigation widened to Chris, that fact was more than strange. It was a red flag.

[Chris Smith]

Two were in their bedroom asleep, and then the youngest one, Tia said, slept with her, and he was still asleep in the master bedroom. They were asleep during the entire time. And we were there for five and a half hours processing search warrant inside their house, going into every room. I helped search the room they were in, and neither of the two older boys ever woke up, which was weird to me. Even the younger boy in the master bedroom never woke up. Tia's explanation was, they're just heavy sleepers with all the commotion, I mean, lights, sirens, you had 20 plus people in this house, right? I mean, absolutely nothing. Then we circled back around to the kids and what we had found was Tia had admitted to unknowingly that it was going to help us to giving the youngest child a sleep aid to help him go to sleep. And I'm like, been too long. We couldn't go draw blood from the kids to find out. But there's no way in my mind that she didn't give it to all of them. Somehow that night I'm like, she put this in their drink or their food or something because there is no way these kids didn't wake up during the middle of all that.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

And while never proven, that theory that she'd medicated her own kids to make sure that they didn't wake up was, well, it does make sense and it does seem to fit. So now, after an intensive three month investigation, detectives were hoping they'd finally gathered enough evidence to make arrests.

[Chris Smith]

So this happened in November, and you know, we're in March now. And again, every day my coworkers are like, hey, we arresting TNTM today? I ended up having to create like a huge inconsistencies chart. Every time we would find something, you know, circumstantial, we would just start adding it on. And I think it got to like line 50. So I gathered everything up, all the information from, you know, the stuff in the phones, the insurance policy heard, using the drugs on the kid, all the things that just don't make sense. And I sit down with everyone and the prosecutors and I'M just like, hey, this is probably the best it's going to get. And I think that George deserves justice, and I'm positive it's them. I think we need to go for it. And everybody agreed that there's no point in waiting any longer.

[Scott Weinberger]

In April of 2018, just before arresting Tia Young and Tim Lee, investigators gave it one more shot, one last conversation, hoping the truth might finally surface.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Chris started with Tia confronting her with her emails and telling her that they knew she'd been having a relationship with Tim Lee. She quickly admitted the affair. Here's a piece of that interview.

[Tia Young]

The sexual relationship. I will admit it happened. I lied about it, and I'm sorry. I mean, it was embarrassing and I did. But as far as the murder, I ain't got to do with it. Don't know nothing about it. Had nothing to do with it. Nothing. I know nothing about it. Nothing. That's the only thing I'm guilty of, is having an affair. And is it wrong? Is it dirty? Is it treacherous? Yes. But I will own it.

[Scott Weinberger]

Next, Chris brought up the phone call, the one Tia made to a friend overheard by George's sister, a detail that was easy to miss but impossible to ignore.

[Chris Smith]

The day that we went to go do the search warrant, when you called Kim and told her to go get the phone, is this what you were worried that we were going to find?

[Tia Young]

To be honest, yes.

[Chris Smith]

Well, that's what I want is honestly to be honest?

[Tia Young]

Yes, I was.

[Chris Smith]

Okay. Because this looks really bad.

[Tia Young]

To be honest, yes, I was very afraid. Okay, yes.

[Chris Smith]

And you guys are still in a relationship now?

[Tia Young]

Yes. To be honest, yes, I'm just going to be honest.

[Chris Smith]

That's what I wanted.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

As Chris tied it together and confronted her with the facts, yes, she admitted to the affair, but that was about as far as she was willing to go. Even when Chris added in that they knew about the life insurance policy. Here's some more of that interview.

[Chris Smith]

I want you to listen to me. I know what's been going on. I know Tim's involvement. Because what it looks like is you're this a hateful, horrible spouse that connived with your living boyfriend to kill your husband for money.

[Tia Young]

That's not what happened.

[Chris Smith]

This is your only chance to tell me what's really going on, because everything else looks really bad. And I'm telling you right now, if you put all of this in front of a jury without your explanation of it, that's exactly what they're going to think.

[Tia Young]

I did not have anything to do with George's death.

[Chris Smith]

Okay.

[Tia Young]

And definitely no, nothing dealing with him wanting him dead for money. Nothing at all.

[Chris Smith]

Okay.

[Scott Weinberger]

Chris floated the theory that Lee was maybe hoping he could take over George's security business after removing him from the picture. Tia Young, she emphatically denied it.

[Tia Young]

He's never said he wanted to take over Metro Atlanta security. He never told me he wanted George dead. He never said he was going to try to hurt George. Never. Not once. I have no explanation. None.

[Chris Smith]

She says she didn't have anything to do with it, and she doesn't help Tim out, but she doesn't make him look bad either. She's just like, I don't know. You'll have to ask him. I'll admit we were in a relationship. But that was it.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

When Chris again questioned Tim Lee, he laid out the emails recovered from his phone and told him that they knew he'd been having a relationship with George's wife. That reveal brought the interview to an abrupt end. Here's a piece of that recorded statement.

[Chris Smith]

Remember that we had your phones before. I told you we can get everything that's deleted, Right? Okay. So in that, obviously I have those emails. I have all those emails that Tia had sent you. Okay. And in those emails, she talks about yours and hers relationship and talks about how good you are sexually. So that's obviously my issue here is that everything shows that you guys were having some kind of relationship. So I just want you to tell me why. Tell me, why are you learning about it?

[Tia Young]

I like the exercise, my right to take the field.

[Chris Smith]

Tim lawyers up immediately. So that ended that.

[Scott Weinberger]

On April 4, 2018, four and a half months after George Young was struck down in cold blood, Detectives arrest Tia Young and Tim Lee for murder.

[Chris Smith]

She was kind of like, it's finally over. And she was like, okay. And she didn't argue, she didn't cry, nothing. So we took them over to the jail and I swore out the warrants. And then we started the long journey to the jury trial from there.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

About a year after the charges were filed, the case against the pair went to trial.

[Chris Smith]

We basically just laid everything out. Every inconsistency we put up on the screen and we showed them and we played the videos of them changing their story with each thing. We put up every email about their relationship and then played where they said they weren't in a relationship relationship and denied that. It's just super effective and dramatic.

[Scott Weinberger]

A key point in the prosecutor's closing argument was Tia Young's actions in the immediate aftermath of the murder.

[Chris Smith]

The shots were heard from the neighbors at 11:18. That was consistent. She didn't call 911 until 11:34pm so in Policetown, if you're worried that somebody's hurt, that is a long time. And so what Stephen Fern did was he put a clock up on there, a digital clock, and hit play at the end of his closing and he just let it run down and everybody in the courtroom sat in silence as a countdown. And then at the end he was like, that's how long she had to decide what they were going to tell police and get rid of any evidence. And that was super impactful.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

The jury agreed. Tim Lee was convicted of malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault.

[Scott Weinberger]

Tia Young was found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault and two counts of criminal attempt to tamper with with evidence.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

At the sentencing, several family members presented victim impact statements to the court.

[Chris Smith]

The sister Avi spoke obviously extremely impactful and talked about the betrayal and talked about how great George was. And she went at Tim, you know, he let you live in his house and you betrayed him and this is what you've done. Threw it all in his face. He didn't deserve this, you know. She went at Tia for a while and just asked the judge to give the full sentencing that he could do. One of the children spoke and kind of begged for leniency, which was heartbreaking.

[Scott Weinberger]

The judge sentenced Lee to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Tia Young was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole plus three years to be served consecutively.

[Scott Weinberger]

After tragedies like this, families are left with more questions than answers and wounds that takes years to close. Thankfully for George's sons, family didn't just show up, they stepped up.

[Chris Smith]

The two older ones stayed with Tia's mother here. The youngest son went to live with Ivy, but they have all since moved back to South Carolina. If there is anything is a happy ending at some point is Ivy ended up getting the million dollar life insurance policy as the backup beneficiary. She didn't know that that was going to happen. And so insurance company called me and asked is it okay? You know, we're going to release it to her. So I call her and I tell her and I mean she just cries and she said that just shows you the kind of person George was. She was like, he was my brother and never told me that he used me as a beneficiary.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

For Chris, this case holds special meaning and it's all because of a man he'd never had the pleasure of meeting but yet got to know very well, during his investigation, this man worked his.

[Chris Smith]

Way, whole body to death, day after day, working morning to night, multiple jobs to provide for his family. All the while, he's letting this man live in his house, who's having an affair with his wife while he's out working. And then you're going to work together to take his life for money and greed. That just very cold.

[Scott Weinberger]

It's a case that still stays with Chris, not because of how George died, but because of who he left behind. Three boys, a shattered family, and the truth that took time, pain, and persistence to bring to light.

[Chris Smith]

I say this 100% confidently. In all the homicides that I've worked and assisted on, I've never had a victim who was as pure and wholesome as George Young. For the rest of my time in homicide, I kept George's picture on my desk. He made such an impact on me and the community.

[Scott Weinberger]

George Young was a man who understood risk. He worked in security. He took care of his family. He tried to do things the right way. But no amount of preparation could protect him from what he never saw coming. Because George wasn't just murdered. He was ambushed on his own front porch. And the most painful part, the threat didn't come from a stranger. It came from inside the circle he trusted most. That kind of betrayal cuts deeper than. Than any wound. It wasn't just like his life ended that night. It was the foundation he built for his children, his sense of safety, his belief that love and loyalty could keep that danger at bay for his three sons, for the people who truly loved him. That's the part that's hardest to understand and maybe hardest to forgive.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

The care taken by Chris on this investigation speaks volumes about the investigator and person that he is. It's exactly what you would hope from those investigating the most serious of crimes. And in this case, it says a lot about George Young, too. Chris only got to know George through his death. And it was George's goodness and the type of man he was, even in death, that was still so clear to see. He was coming home from a night of work. And be it for lust, love, or money, together, his friend and his wife took his life. George Young's legacy lives on in that picture on Chris's desk and in many other ways, including in the hearts of his family and the many people who he touched during his lifetime. Tune in next week for another new episode of Anatomy of Murder.

[Scott Weinberger]

Anatomy of Murder Murder is an audio.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

Chuck original produced and created by Weinberger Media and Frasetti Media.

[Scott Weinberger]

Ashley Flowers is executive producer.

[Anasiga Nicolasi]

This episode was written and produced by David Rader, researched by Kate Cooper, edited by Ali Sierrawa and Phil Jean Grande. So what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?