Silent Witness

Summary

Dateline NBC Podcast Summary: "Silent Witness"

Introduction

In the gripping episode titled "Silent Witness," hosted by Keith Morrison and Lester Holt, Dateline NBC delves deep into the perplexing true-crime case of Michelle Young's brutal murder. Released on April 2, 2025, this episode meticulously unpacks the investigation, trials, and the enduring quest for justice in a case riddled with complexities and unanswered questions.

Case Overview

The harrowing story begins on November 3, 2006, in the serene neighborhood of Enchanted Oaks on the outskirts of Raleigh, North Carolina. Deputy Scott Earp of the Wake County Sheriff's Department responds to a distressing 911 call from Meredith Fisher, who discovers the lifeless body of her sister, 29-year-old Michelle Young, in the master bedroom of her home. Accompanying the tragedy is Michelle's two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Cassidy, found wandering amidst the bloodshed.

Keith Morrison narrates the immediate chaos:

“My mother called and says Michelle's dead. How is that possible?” [00:56]

Investigation Details

As investigators secure the crime scene, several peculiarities emerge. While Deputy Earp concludes his initial assessment, he notices discrepancies regarding Cassidy's condition. At [04:02], Keith Morrison recounts:

“I looked over at the child. I didn't see any blood. So I asked her, did you clean the child? And her response was no.”

This observation raises critical questions: Who else was present in the house? The investigation soon focuses on Jason Young, Michelle's husband, who was reportedly 170 miles away in Virginia on a business trip the night of the murder. Surveillance footage places him at various locations, including a Cracker Barrel in Greensboro and a Hampton Inn in Hillsville, Virginia, solidifying his alibi.

However, inconsistencies begin to surface:

• Footprints at the Crime Scene: Investigators find two sets of footprints near Michelle's body. One matches a size 10, which does not correspond with Jason's size 12 shoes. A partial footprint remains unidentified.

• Missing Jewelry Box: Two drawers from a jewelry box are missing, suggesting a possible burglary gone wrong.

• Tampered Security Cameras: Surveillance cameras at Jason's hotel are found to have been unplugged and later reconnected with altered angles, hinting at potential tampering to obscure movements.

Keith Morrison highlights these anomalies:

“There was a camera there that had been unplugged... it was tampered with yet again.” [12:32]

Strained Marriage and Motive

Delving into the personal lives of the Youngs, the investigation reveals a troubled marriage. Friends and family describe frequent, intense arguments:

“Our friends were letting us know that Michelle and Jason were fighting and they were referring to it as World War 3.” [11:05]

Furthermore, just days before the murder, Jason was involved in an intimate affair with Michelle Money, a close friend of Michelle from college. This betrayal adds another layer to the motive, suggesting Jason's desperation to escape the deteriorating marriage.

Trial Proceedings

Jason Young's silence and refusal to speak with investigators under the advice of his legal counsel raise suspicions. Despite his alibi, the prosecution builds a circumstantial case based on:

• Partial Shoe Print: A match eventually made to Jason's Hush Puppies orbital shoes [14:29].
• Tampered Security Footage: Inconsistencies in the hotel security camera recordings.
• Strained Marriage and Infidelity: Evidence of Jason's affair and turbulent relationship with Michelle.

In June 2011, after 18 months of incarceration, Jason stands trial. The prosecution portrays him as a man driven to murder by marital discord and desire for a new life. Key testimonies include:

“The person that killed the mother cared about Cassidy,” Fiona Childs remarks, emphasizing the killer's selective violence [35:40].

During the first trial, jury deliberations end in a deadlock, resulting in a mistrial [33:31]. The prosecution persists, seeking a second trial with strengthened evidence, including revisiting Jason's initial testimony and presenting civil case judgments as indicators of his guilt.

Verdict and Appeals

In the second trial, prosecutors introduce compelling evidence, such as:

• Civil Lawsuits: Default judgments from wrongful death and custody cases suggesting Jason's involvement [36:37].
• Replayed Testimonies: Jason's own words from the first trial are scrutinized for inconsistencies [38:16].

Despite the defense's efforts to highlight reasonable doubts and lack of direct evidence, the jury reaches a unanimous verdict:

“We, the jury, by unanimous verdict, find the defendant Jason Lynn Young to be guilty of first-degree murder of Michelle.” [42:04]

Jason receives a life sentence, marking a significant moment of closure for Michelle's family. However, the battle does not end there. In December 2013, Jason's attorney appeals, arguing that the introduction of civil case evidence was prejudicial and violated North Carolina law. Initially, the appeals court sides with Jason, granting a third trial [44:42].

Undeterred, the prosecution appeals to the state supreme court, which ultimately upholds the original conviction in 2017, affirming that the prosecution's method was within legal bounds despite the initial ruling [44:48].

Conclusion

"Silent Witness" paints a vivid picture of a case where circumstantial evidence, personal vendettas, and the relentless pursuit of truth intertwine. The episode underscores the complexities of the criminal justice system, where evidence must be meticulously weighed against legal standards and human emotion. Through incisive narration and poignant quotes, Dateline NBC offers listeners an immersive journey into the heart of a mystery that continues to resonate years after the trial's conclusion.

Notable Quotes

• Keith Morrison: “It was a circumstantial case. Except for that witness, the girl who left those footprints. We will never know what Cassidy saw and what she didn't see.” [01:20]

• Lester Holt: “Jason steadfastly maintained his silence. And rather than face a legal battle where he'd be asked some tough questions, Spivey said he even gave Michelle's family custody of his daughter.” [14:53]

• Prosecutor Becky Holt: “Our marriage has seen better days, and I don't see it trending up.” [11:42]

These quotes, among others, provide critical insights and emotional depth to the unfolding narrative, emphasizing the human elements behind the legal proceedings.

Transcript

[Lester Holt]

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[Keith Morrison]

My mother called and says Michelle's dead. How is that possible?

[Lester Holt]

A young mother found brutally murdered.

[Keith Morrison]

Her little girl left to wander in her mother's blood.

[Lester Holt]

Police had a suspect and they say.

[Keith Morrison]

He had a motive. We had an intimate relationship. We ended up having sex.

[Lester Holt]

But could they prove he was the killer?

[Keith Morrison]

It was a circumstantial case. Except for that witness, the girl who left those footprints. We will never know what Cassidy saw and what she didn't see.

[Lester Holt]

Maybe she couldn't tell detectives who the killer was, but maybe she didn't have to. The fact that Cassidy was spared, would that mean anything to a jury?

[Keith Morrison]

The person that killed the mother cared about Cassidy.

[Lester Holt]

And now a stunning twist in the case.

[Keith Morrison]

I'm Lester Holt and this is Dateline. Here's Keith Morrison with Silent Witness. I think I paused for a second. I had to take a deep breath and just the reality of what was going on sank in.

[Lester Holt]

Those who saw the footprints will not forget them. They were tiny and they were bloody.

[Keith Morrison]

I had to get my composure to finish searching this house to make sure there was nobody else in the house.

[Lester Holt]

It was the 3rd of November, 2006. Early afternoon. Deputy Scott Earp of the Wake County Sheriff's Department had been dispatched to a quiet and leafy neighborhood called Enchanted Oaks, the outskirts of Raleigh, N.C. here because of the 911 call from this place on Birchleaf Drive.

[Keith Morrison]

I think my sister's dead. Tell me what happened, ma'am. I have no idea. Oh, my God.

[Lester Holt]

The caller was Meredith Fisher. She had just discovered on the floor of the master bedroom the savagely beaten body of her elder sister, 29 year old Michelle Young, a woman who in death was about to be famous.

[Keith Morrison]

Listen to me, ma'am. I'm gonna tell you what to do, but you need to calm down so we can help her. You said there's blood everywhere. Yes. Listen to me, ma'am. I'm listening. Is she breathing? I don't think so. Have you checked Michelle? She's cold. Okay.

[Lester Holt]

As she spoke, Meredith was cradling her two and a half year old niece, Cassidy, who had crawled out from under the bedclothes on her parents bed, just feet from where her mother lay. Cassidy's voice, chattering to her aunt, was caught on the recorded call. Had Cassidy witnessed the murder or wakened alone to find this?

[Keith Morrison]

You know, you just picture a small child walking around in this blood and tracking it across the hallway over into the bathroom.

[Lester Holt]

By now, Wake county investigators were descending on the house. And having secured the crime scene, Earp's job was done. But on the on his way out, he saw Cassidy again. She was still in her pink pajamas, still in Meredith's arms. He asked Meredith a question.

[Keith Morrison]

I looked over at the child. I didn't see any blood. So I asked her, did you clean the child? And her response was no. I thought it was kind of odd because I was expecting her to say yes.

[Lester Holt]

I guess somebody did.

[Keith Morrison]

Yeah, somebody did.

[Lester Holt]

But who? Was it the same person who murdered the little girl's mother? On this November day, all they had were questions. Sergeant Richard Spivey of the Wake County Sheriff's office probably knows the case better than anyone.

[Keith Morrison]

I mean, this was just a brutal, vicious beating. There was a lot of time and energy invested into this assault.

[Lester Holt]

Why do you save a lot of time and energy?

[Keith Morrison]

I think the medical examiner told us There was over 30 blows with some sort of a blunt object.

[Lester Holt]

So detectives started investigating the victim and everyone else around her. Michelle Young was born and raised on Long Island, New York.

[Keith Morrison]

She was smiling all the time, and she was the life of the party.

[Lester Holt]

Stacia Grossman knew her from childhood.

[Keith Morrison]

She didn't like being the center of attention, but she liked creating a great atmosphere for everyone to have a good time.

[Lester Holt]

Michelle was a cheerleader in high school and a straight A student. Jennifer Powers felt drawn to her.

[Keith Morrison]

She had this kind of bookworm assigned to her where she was very studious and goal oriented. I mean, she was also just a great person to be around, A fun, happy spirit and, you know, someone that I wanted to spend a lot of time with.

[Lester Holt]

Lots of people did. And when she chose a college far from home, North Carolina state, she was soon surrounded again by an admiring group of women. Friends, best friends, buddies. Fiona Childs was her sorority big sister.

[Keith Morrison]

There's this one picture, and it's like it just came out beautiful. And we liked it because we thought we kind of looked like Charlie's angels pose without intentionally doing that.

[Lester Holt]

It was sometime in 2001 when friends started hearing about Michelle's new guy, a fellow student named Jason Young. Heard how he'd grown up in the North Carolina mountains, how he loved to camp, how he was a life of tailgate parties. Michelle fell hard and fast.

[Keith Morrison]

They seemed like a good couple. He was different from other men that she had dated in the past. He wasn't as serious about a career as she was. He was a little bit less sophisticated than Michelle was. But she seemed to be very happy with him.

[Lester Holt]

Michelle and Jason married in October 2003. The day after the wedding, they shared their big secret. Michelle was pregnant. Their daughter Cassidy was born early the next year.

[Keith Morrison]

I love you, mommy. I love you too, Cassidy. Twinkle twink.

[Lester Holt]

And when she came along, it was love at first sight. Michelle was an enthusiastic mother by all accounts. Jason was a good dad.

[Keith Morrison]

He was a great playmate. He knew how to sit on the floor and play with his daughter, you know.

[Lester Holt]

The Youngs moved into the big fine house on Birchleaf in 2005. Both of them worked. He a salesman, she a financial specialist. In the summer of 2006, Michelle got pregnant again. They kept the news to themselves, but it was clear something good was happening.

[Keith Morrison]

The comment he said to me was, he's excited to have another baby. Not implying that she was pregnant, but that he was excited at the prospect of it.

[Lester Holt]

But just a few months later, Michelle was dead. Jason was 170 miles away in Virginia on a business trip the night of the murder. He heard the news the next afternoon and returned to Raleigh. Stacia Grossman got word from her mother.

[Keith Morrison]

My mother called and says, michelle's dead. And I said, michelle who? Some celebrity. Like, what are you talking about? Like, what do you mean? Like, how is that possible? What happened?

[Lester Holt]

The very questions that Wake county investigators were asking themselves.

[Keith Morrison]

When we come back, a security camera provides a critical clue.

[Lester Holt]

It's not what it caught on tape, it's what it missed. And why.

[Keith Morrison]

There was a camera there that had been unplugged.

[Lester Holt]

Who had something to hide. The facts were stark and ugly. One night in November 2006, while her husband was away on business, Michelle Young was attacked in her own bedroom and brutally beaten to death. Her body discovered the next day by her sister Meredith, along with her two and a half year old daughter Cassidy, who'd been left to wander in her blood. For the investigators who set out to find her killer, no way to get those little footprints out of their minds. Sergeant Richard Spivey, lead investigator.

[Keith Morrison]

Those of us that work in law enforcement, this is our profession, but we're also parents. That certainly strikes a different note with you when you see something like that.

[Lester Holt]

Michelle's husband, Jason, a medical software salesman, was 170 miles away the night of the murder. Even so, investigators had to look at him.

[Keith Morrison]

We know that he was the last person to talk to Michelle that night. And he was also the reason why she was found. He called Meredith Fisher to go to the house.

[Lester Holt]

Jason Young's business trip that night was routine. Security tapes showed him getting gas about 7:30pm as he left Raleigh. Two hours later, he was seen on tape at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Greensboro. Later, he checked into this Hampton Inn in Hillsville, Virginia. This is him, front desk about 11pm and him again at midnight. He also made a phone call around midnight. And that was the last time anybody heard from Jason Young until he made another call at 7:40 the next morning. A normal person would look at this and say he was 170 miles away. He's got an alibi.

[Keith Morrison]

That sounds like a great distance, you know, but 170 miles you can get between the crime scene and the hotel in about two and a half hours perhaps.

[Lester Holt]

But there were curious anomalies at the crime scene, couldn't explain them. A jewelry box was missing, two drawers. So was it a bungled burglary? Then there were footprints near the body that seemed to eliminate Jason. An obvious print on a pillow was a size 10, but Jason wore a size 12. But this was weird. There was another partial footprint. It defied easy identification. So they began calling in shoe experts. And now they wondered, were the two attackers? Of course, investigators discovered early on that Michelle and Jason's marriage was strained. And in the last weeks of Michelle's life, things were not good.

[Keith Morrison]

At our friend Shelly's wedding, he was so drunk, just really out of it. When we got to the wedding, our friends were letting us know that Michelle and Jason were fighting and they were referring to it as World War 3.

[Lester Holt]

Jennifer Powers told investigators about another fight that October. Michelle wanted her mother to stay with them for the holidays. And Jason, who had a tense relationship with his mother in law, wanted to limit her stay and said so in an email, along with another nugget, he.

[Keith Morrison]

Wrote, our marriage has seen better days and I don't see it trending up. And I remember that really striking a chord with Me, because I didn't know that their marriage had seen better days.

[Lester Holt]

So of course investigators wanted to interview Jason Young. Maybe he could tell them something. But he refused to talk to them.

[Keith Morrison]

He talked to the lawyer and then under the advice of the of counsel, he declined to speak with us at all.

[Lester Holt]

Didn't ask about it. Didn't ask how his wife died?

[Keith Morrison]

No.

[Lester Holt]

Perhaps investigators thought that business trip deserved a second look. So they went to the hotel, poked around and discovered some odd activities that night. In a stairwell near an exit, there.

[Keith Morrison]

Was a camera there that had been unplugged.

[Lester Holt]

Really?

[Keith Morrison]

Yes, it was one of the side exits of the hotel. One of the like, I guess, the fire stairs that go down to the first floor.

[Lester Holt]

Was there any other tampering down in.

[Keith Morrison]

Well, the door that was adjacent to where this camera's located, that door also had been propped open that night.

[Lester Holt]

How do you know that?

[Keith Morrison]

The gentleman that was working as the clerk that night found a rock that had been placed in the door to keep the door from closing. Well, then they plugged the camera back in. So it's now working again. And at about 6:35 that morning, suddenly that camera's pointing straight at the ceiling.

[Lester Holt]

Same camera.

[Keith Morrison]

Same camera. And it's tampered with yet again.

[Lester Holt]

If that was Jason Young's work, is it possible he did make the 340 mile round trip? Could he have killed his wife and cleaned up his daughter all in seven and a half hours without ever being seen? To find out, investigators played a hunch. They visited every gas station along the route, showed Jason's photo, talked to the night clerks and came across a woman named Gracie Doms in a tiny place called King, North Carolina. She took one look at that photograph and recognized it instantly. He was the foul mouth customer, she said, who came storming into the store to complain that the pumps were locked. And what time was it? 5:30am Morning of the murder.

[Keith Morrison]

There was actually an altercation between the two of them. So you have a reason why she would remember him as opposed to any other customer that may have just happened into the store.

[Lester Holt]

If that attendant was right, investigators may have undercut Jason's alibi. Still, it wasn't enough. So they plotted ahead. Painstaking work took time. And then years after the murder, they finally got a match for that partial footprint.

[Keith Morrison]

The state bureau of investigation and the FBI were able to eventually identify that shoe as a hush puppy orbital shoe. And it was a size 12, which is the same size that he wore throughout the investigation.

[Lester Holt]

Jason steadfastly maintained his silence. And rather than face a legal battle where he'd be asked some tough questions, Spivey said he even gave Michelle's family custody of his daughter.

[Keith Morrison]

Everyone that we spoke with, all of them, talked about how much he loved Cassidy and what a great dad he was to just turn over primary custody. That was. That was very surprising.

[Lester Holt]

Investigators had heard enough. They believed they had a case. Circumstantial, but a case. And three years after Michelle Young's body was found on the bedroom floor, Jason Young was charged with her murder. Investigators and prosecutors knew that very little pointed directly toward Jason Young. But so far, nothing pointed directly away.

[Keith Morrison]

Coming up, the case against Jason Young.

[Lester Holt]

As an alleged killer and as a cheating husband.

[Keith Morrison]

We had an intimate relationship for the two days that he was there. We ended up having sex. He never settled down.

[Lester Holt]

When DATELINE continues. What if you could turn your curiosity for true crime into a degree? Get Southern New Hampshire University. You can. Southern New Hampshire University offers over 200 degrees you can earn online, including subjects like forensic psychology and criminology. And with some of the lowest online tuition rates in the U.S. southern New Hampshire University makes earning your degree affordable. Find your degree at snhu. Edu Dateline. That's snhu. Edu dateline. Hey, guys, Willie Geist here reminding you to check out the Sunday Sit down podcast. On this week's episode, I get together with one of the hottest artists in all of music right now, Grammy winner Lainey Wilson, to talk about her path from the tiny town of Baskin, Louisiana, to country music stardom. You can get our conversation now for free wherever you download your podcasts.

[Keith Morrison]

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[Lester Holt]

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[Keith Morrison]

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[Lester Holt]

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[Keith Morrison]

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[Lester Holt]

Jason Young went on trial for the murder of his pregnant wife, Michelle, in June 2011. By then, he'd spent 18 months in a jail cell. The guy who lived for tailgates, the guy who loved to party. That guy was long gone. She had recently got prosecutor Becky Holt opened for the state.

[Keith Morrison]

Defendant had a plan. His plan was to murder his wife. His plan was to get away with it.

[Lester Holt]

With no murder weapon found, the prosecution's case was built on that partial shoe print. They knew now that Jason once owned a pair of Hush Puppies like These that matched the print they were now missing. They also told jurors about that early morning visit to the gas station and the suspicious activity at the hotel. But the thrust of their case was this. Jason Young was trying in the most violent possible way to get out of a troubled marriage.

[Keith Morrison]

Were you aware of tensions in that marriage? Yeah, I was well aware.

[Lester Holt]

Meredith Fisher, Michelle's sister, lived near the couple and for a period was Cassidy's nanny. As the Young's fights intensified, she took on the role of a marriage counselor, too.

[Keith Morrison]

What would you say were the main issues? Michelle's main issues were Jason being more responsible, understanding her more, and his main concern was their lack of sex life.

[Lester Holt]

Prosecutors called friends to the stand to paint a picture of a marriage that was unraveling out loud and in public.

[Keith Morrison]

Jason made it very well known that, you know, he was upset about the lack of sex in the relationship and.

[Lester Holt]

At parties, said Fiona Childs. Jason's X rated tricks were famously over the top.

[Keith Morrison]

I never observed it myself. I would just hear about it and, you know, he would expose himself and do what he thought was these funny tricks. And I was always just rather embarrassed for Michelle. He never settled down. It was as if he was still living the single life and he never bought into the marriage and what all that meant.

[Lester Holt]

In October 2006, when Michelle was four months pregnant, Jason became deeply involved with another woman. And not just any woman. Michelle Money was one of Michelle Young's close friends from college, one of those Charlie's Angels. In early October, days before his third wedding anniversary, Jason flew to Florida to see Michelle Money. She testified they both knew it was wrong.

[Keith Morrison]

We basically just hung out at the house and we had an intimate relationship for the two days that he was there.

[Lester Holt]

Jason was crazy about her. His friend Josh Dalton said.

[Keith Morrison]

He basically told me that he thought he was in love with her.

[Lester Holt]

Michelle's mother, Linda Fisher, testified that in the final weeks of Michelle's life, she could see the toll the failing marriage was taking on her pregnant daughter.

[Keith Morrison]

She had her head on my lap and she was lying out and I was stroking her hair and she was empty. And what did she tell you? Things weren't working out with Jason.

[Lester Holt]

Two days before she was murdered, Michelle phoned her sister Meredith to report yet another blow up with Jason.

[Keith Morrison]

She was just, I've had it. She said that, you know, more than one time, I just, I can't do this anymore.

[Lester Holt]

Jason was telling one of his close friends the same thing. And prosecutors said just days before Michelle was murdered, he indulged in one last transgression, a casual hookup with an old friend named Carol Ann Sowerby in his own living room. Michelle was away at the time.

[Keith Morrison]

Cassidy was put down to bed and had a couple drinks. Just were talking, and we ended up having sex.

[Lester Holt]

But divorce was apparently not an option for Jason.

[Keith Morrison]

He had made a statement at one time that he was afraid that if he ever got a divorce, that Michelle would take Cassidy and move back to New York. And did he indicate to you that he would have some concerns about ever being able to see Cassidy again? Correct.

[Lester Holt]

Still, one big question remained. Was a good time guy like Jason Young even capable of murder? Genevieve Cargill was engaged to Jason in 1999 before he met Michelle. And she took the stand to testify about a fight they'd had.

[Keith Morrison]

That's right.

[Lester Holt]

Over Jason's excessive drinking.

[Keith Morrison]

He became agitated. He said something to the effect of, if I'm going to make such a terrible husband, then give me my ring back. Did you give it to the defendant? No. He began trying to pull the ring off, and it wouldn't come off. He was throwing me from one bed to the other and jumping on me with all his weight and pinning my arms, both of them, behind me.

[Lester Holt]

Prosecutors hoped to convince the jury it all added up to a motive for murder. So how would the defense counterattack? With a witness who could refute every charge coming up, Jason Young finally breaks his silence as he takes the stand to testify.

[Keith Morrison]

Did you kill your wife, Michelle? No, sir. Were you there when it happened? No, sir. What the prosecution didn't tell you, there's.

[Lester Holt]

An art to the business of criminal defense. And it would take a true artist to repaint the prosecution's dark portrait of Jason Young. So what could defense attorney Mike Klinkelson do? Well, to begin with, as he told the jury, he agreed with the prosecution. Jason Young was not a good husband.

[Keith Morrison]

He acted at times like an immature jerk, but that does not make him a killer.

[Lester Holt]

The defense was not about to make any more concessions. Mind you, that jewelry box in the bedroom, there was DNA on it. Didn't match either Michelle or Jason. The suspicious activity at the hotel, there was a fingerprint on that camera, and it wasn't Jason Young's. And there wasn't any forensic evidence that tied Jason to the crime scene. And there was no blood in his car. There was not a scratch on him.

[Keith Morrison]

Ladies and gentlemen, Jason Lynn Young did not murder his wife. He did not murder their unborn son, and this case has not been solved.

[Lester Holt]

Who better to make that argument than Jason Young? Himself. But so far, remember, he had never said a word to anyone about that November night. And almost five years silence.

[Keith Morrison]

It's always a big decision for defense attorneys whether or not to call their clients.

[Lester Holt]

Beth Karras is a former prosecutor and legal analyst. She covered the trial.

[Keith Morrison]

This is a case that really begged for Jason Young to testify. If he's truly innocent after all this time. Right. And if he's truly innocent, get on the stand and tell the story. We call Jason Young. All right.

[Lester Holt]

With his mother sitting in the front row, Jason Young prepared to do just that. Defense attorney Brian Collins hit it hard off the top.

[Keith Morrison]

Did you kill your wife, Michelle? No, sir. Were you there when it happened? No, sir.

[Lester Holt]

But what about Jason's missing Hush Puppies that matched the partial shoe print? He no longer owned them. He said, are those the shoes that.

[Keith Morrison]

You had on on November 2? No, sir.

[Lester Holt]

They were all ratty. He said told Michelle to give them to Goodwill. And as for the night of the murder, after he checked into the hotel, Jason testified he left his room twice. The first time to get a power cord for his laptop.

[Keith Morrison]

I was going over the sales call that I had the next day.

[Lester Holt]

The second trip, he testified, was to smoke a cigar.

[Keith Morrison]

I had to go outside to smoke the cigar. And I also wanted to look at some sports schedules and some standings, and so I wanted to see if I could pick up the USA Today as well.

[Lester Holt]

That newspaper run explained why he was seen at the front desk. He's at around midnight.

[Keith Morrison]

So between the time you smoked a cigar and went back upstairs and went to sleep, did you leave that room until the next morning? No, sir.

[Lester Holt]

Next morning, after his sales call, Jason tested. He realized he'd left some ebay printouts sitting on the computer printer at home. They showed purses. He was thinking of buying one for Michelle as a belated anniversary present.

[Keith Morrison]

And I realized I didn't bring those papers. Why was it important to you that somebody get those papers? Because I wanted it to be a surprise. A surprise to Michelle means so much more than anything.

[Lester Holt]

So around noon, November 3rd, he called his sister in law, Meredith, from the car to ask if she'd go to the house and get those ebay papers. He left Meredith a voicemail.

[Keith Morrison]

And see if you can find it sitting there on the computer.

[Lester Holt]

Then he headed to his mother's place in the mountains nearby. And it was there, he testified hours later, that he learned Michelle had been murdered.

[Keith Morrison]

I just fell. I just. I broke on the inside. I just broke. And I didn't believe it.

[Lester Holt]

Family members drove him back to Raleigh. During the drive, he said his friends.

[Keith Morrison]

Called Ryan and Josh had said that the investigators were asking really ugly questions and pointing their finger at me and doing things like that. And they said, you don't need to talk to anybody. You need to get a lawyer before you talk to anybody.

[Lester Holt]

And then the explanation for his long silence.

[Keith Morrison]

The lawyer that I got after talking with him, he actually advised me to not go talk to the police. Did you take that advice? Yes, sir, I did. Did he also tell you not to talk to anybody about it? That's actually exactly what he said. He said don't talk to anybody about anything.

[Lester Holt]

The defense also addressed the motor. Prosecutors have laid out that Jason wanted to escape a bad marriage and keep custody of Cassidy and spend time with his new love.

[Keith Morrison]

Did you have any designs in your own mind of leaving Michelle Young for Michelle money? No, sir. All right, describe why not. I think we both knew it was wrong. I don't think we either one dreamed that it would ever be found out. Pushing me around.

[Lester Holt]

As for that violent episode with his ex fiance, Jason had an explanation for it.

[Keith Morrison]

Did you throw her around on the bed like she said? No, sir. What I did was wrong. I did pin her down and I took the ring. Okay. What was your level of intoxication at that time? I was very intoxicated, but I don't feel like that's an excuse for what I did.

[Lester Holt]

And they questioned him about the most important woman in his life.

[Keith Morrison]

Did you want to stay married to Michelle? Yes, I did. I wanted to have. Have another baby and I wanted the family to grow.

[Lester Holt]

He also explained why he gave up custody of his daughter without a fight.

[Keith Morrison]

Were you able to afford a lawyer for a full blown custody battle? No, he's right. Due to the media and some of the Internet website, the job that I had, I lost it.

[Lester Holt]

His testimony lasted three hours.

[Keith Morrison]

Jason Young was a very good witness. He understood what he had to do when he was on the stand so.

[Lester Holt]

He didn't come off as contrived or phony like he had put this together very carefully in order to account for all the evidence that they had.

[Keith Morrison]

He had access to police reports, all the discovery. He knew the state's vulnerabilities, and so he could arguably tailor his testimony to fit with an innocent explanation.

[Lester Holt]

How did Jason Young do? 12 jurors were about to decide.

[Keith Morrison]

Coming up, the prosecutor gets her chance to go one on one with Jason Young.

[Lester Holt]

And it isn't pretty.

[Keith Morrison]

Were you working on your marriage when you were having sex with Caroline Sowerby?

[Lester Holt]

In your home when DATELINE continues. Now they had the final answer. Or did they?

[Keith Morrison]

Nothing has more suspense than a DATELINE mystery.

[Lester Holt]

And no one wants to wait to find out what happens next. That's why everyone needs DATELINE Premium, where listening is always ad free. You get the whole story and nothing but the story. Or do you? Yes, actually, you do. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or.

[Keith Morrison]

Dateline premium.com Every morning, we choose how to begin our day. This is today. I think about the people at home. They tune in because they are curious. They care about their world and they care about each other.

[Lester Holt]

There's always something new to learn, whether.

[Keith Morrison]

A news event or a new recipe. And when we step through the morning together, it makes the rest of the day better. We come here to make the most of today. We are family. We are today.

[Lester Holt]

Watch the Today show with Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin, weekdays at 7am on NBC.

[Keith Morrison]

Hey, everyone. I'm Jenna Bush Hager from the Today show and I'm excited to share my podcast, Open Book with Jenna. It is back for season two. Each week, celebrities, experts, friends and authors will share candid stories with me about their lives and new projects. Guests like Rebecca Yarros, Kristin Hannah, Ego Wodom, and more. Like a good book, you'll leave feeling inspired and entertained. Join me for my podcast Open Book with Jenna. Listen now on Apple Podcast.

[Lester Holt]

It was riveting. Almost five years of silence about his wife's murder. I went back to my room broken here in this courtroom.

[Keith Morrison]

I loved Cassidy and I loved Michelle and that he went to murder his wife.

[Lester Holt]

Now prosecutor Becky Holt began pulling apart a story she had just heard for the first time.

[Keith Morrison]

Were you working on your marriage when you were having sex with Caroline Sowerby in your home less than two weeks before your wife was murdered? No, ma'am. That was not the way to work on a marriage. That was very detrimental. Were you working on your marriage when you called Michelle Money? Michelle and I confided a lot in each other and we talked about my issues with my wife and she talked about her issues with her husband. So is the answer yes, when you had an affair with Michelle Money that you were working on your marriage? No, ma'am. Having the sexual intercourse and having the intimacy was very detrimental to that.

[Lester Holt]

The cross examination lasted a full hour and the next day the case went to the jury, retired to the jury deliberation room. Soon became clear jurors were having trouble.

[Keith Morrison]

But if indicated that y'all have not yet reached a unanimous decision, the jurors.

[Lester Holt]

Were split six to six. The judge sent them back to try to make it unanimous.

[Keith Morrison]

Watch everybody else remain. Let the jurors leave first. Thank you.

[Lester Holt]

But hours later, they were back, and courtroom 3C was still.

[Keith Morrison]

It appears that they are hopelessly deadlocked at this point.

[Lester Holt]

Eight jurors had voted for acquittal. Four voted guilty. Judge Stevens declared a mistrial, with serious consideration given to dropping the case.

[Keith Morrison]

I think there was serious consideration as to, is there more we can do?

[Lester Holt]

So the prosecutors decided they would try again, but this time with the one thing they didn't have the first time. Jason's own story. The second trial began in February 2012. This time, Howard Cummings led the prosecution, hoping to use Jason's own words to convict him.

[Keith Morrison]

Put your left hand on the Bible and raise your right hand.

[Lester Holt]

But first, prosecutors called that night clerk at the gas station Gracie, who remembered Jason complaining about the locked pumps.

[Keith Morrison]

When he came in to pay, he started cussing and raising Cain.

[Lester Holt]

And what time did this happen?

[Keith Morrison]

That was about 5, 5, 30 in.

[Lester Holt]

The morning, A time when Jason said he was at the hotel.

[Keith Morrison]

Koinex wounds.

[Lester Holt]

Then prosecutors had new witnesses and new testimony. They wanted jurors to hear about Cassidy, whose bloody footprints, they contended made her a silent witness to murder.

[Keith Morrison]

When I got to Cassidy, I said, what are you doing?

[Lester Holt]

Daycare worker Ashley Palmentir took the stand.

[Keith Morrison]

I noticed what she was doing.

[Lester Holt]

She told jurors she watched Cassidy playing alone days after her mother was murdered.

[Keith Morrison]

She had the chair and the doll in her hand together, and then the mommy doll in the other hand, and she just hit him.

[Lester Holt]

As unsettling as it was, the prosecutors wanted jurors to know the killer had left a silent witness behind, a witness he would never harm. The fact that Cassidy was spared, did that mean anything to you? Or would that mean. Mean anything to a jury?

[Keith Morrison]

Certainly it meant that the person that killed the mother we felt cared about Cassidy. I do. Thank you. Maybe.

[Lester Holt]

Fiona Childs took the stand. Prosecutors pressed her about a life insurance policy Jason arranged.

[Keith Morrison]

It did raise a red flag to me.

[Lester Holt]

And Michelle had questioned that.

[Keith Morrison]

She brought up specifically her life insurance. She brought it up several times, asking me, didn't I think that Amelia was too much? And did they really need that?

[Lester Holt]

After Michelle died, Fiona found out the true amount of the policy was actually $4 million.

[Keith Morrison]

I was just, like, in total shock like that. That is incredibly excessive.

[Lester Holt]

And prosecutors also told the jury about civil lawsuits against Jason brought by Michelle's mother and sister. One was a wrongful death case filed in 2008 a year before he was charged with murder. Over the defense's objection, court clerk Lauren Freeman testified about that lawsuit.

[Keith Morrison]

There is an alleged paragraph, paragraph 6. Again, reading verbatim from the record. In the early morning hours of November 3, 2006, Jason Young brutally murdered Michelle Young at their residence.

[Lester Holt]

Freeman went on to testify that Jason never responded to the allegations, and that led to a default judgment against him. That judgment said Jason killed his wife.

[Keith Morrison]

A default judgment does not mean the facts alleged in the civil complaint are true. It does not mean he's guilty. And the judge at the criminal trial told the jury that in his instructions. However, when you hear the statement, Jason Young brutally murdered his wife, but that doesn't mean he's guilty, folks. Hello, you know.

[Lester Holt]

And the prosecutor made sure the jury heard just who signed that ruling.

[Keith Morrison]

I'm reading from this judgment, which is signed actually by Judge Stevens.

[Lester Holt]

Judge Stevens, the very judge sitting before them in this trial.

[Keith Morrison]

The jury hearing it. It's just something that's going to carry a lot of weight. This is the complaint that was filed in December seeking custody of Cassidy.

[Lester Holt]

Prosecutors also called the attorney involved in that custody case over her daughter Cassidy. And those same allegations were repeated yet again.

[Keith Morrison]

The jury heard several times through these two civil complaints that Jason Young brutally murdered Michelle Fisher Young.

[Lester Holt]

But the headline act came when prosecutors played Jason Young's entire testimony from the first.

[Keith Morrison]

I wanted her to have that and.

[Lester Holt]

Began to rip it apart.

[Keith Morrison]

I don't remember.

[Lester Holt]

Prosecutors tried to show that Jason's called to Meredith to pick up those ebay printouts was merely a ploy to get her to discover the body and find Cassidy. Why else would he print an ebay auction ad and leave it on the printer and then hit the road where he couldn't bid during the actual auction. They called Sergeant Spivey to the standard.

[Keith Morrison]

That auction was going to end 8:00pm Eastern Standard Time. And what day was that? That was on November 2, 2006, just.

[Lester Holt]

Hours before the murder. Now, prosecutors tried to prove Jason lied about his reasons for leaving the hotel room.

[Keith Morrison]

I didn't pull the door all the way to the.

[Lester Holt]

In his original testimony, he told the court he left the first time to get a power cord for his laptop.

[Keith Morrison]

Why was it that you wanted to look on your laptop? I was going over the sales call that I had the next day.

[Lester Holt]

But Special Agent Mike Smith took the stand to say Young didn't use his laptop for work that night.

[Keith Morrison]

It's an Internet site dedicated to sports.

[Lester Holt]

Jason said he went out a second time to smoke a Cigar. But prosecutors contended Jason was a fierce anti smoker and the weather that night was freezing, windy.

[Keith Morrison]

Can you tell me whether or not there was ever any substantial outerwear that the defendant either had in his luggage or was wearing? No, sir. There was, I think a suit jacket. Okay. That was the only outerwear that I'm aware of.

[Lester Holt]

Jason chose not to testify this time, but the defense fought back. Of course, they argued the gas station attendant's memory couldn't be trusted because of a childhood brain injury.

[Keith Morrison]

I've had memory problems since because I've been through a lot with myself and my kids and my ex husband.

[Lester Holt]

The defense also argued the case really wasn't solved, that there was no physical evidence to prove Jason was the killer.

[Keith Morrison]

There wasn't one scratch on Mr. Young.

[Lester Holt]

That he would never have had time to make that trip and commit murder, that he didn't have the mindset of a killer. And that cigar, they showed that Jason Young actually owned humidor and he'd once made a purchase at a cigar store.

[Keith Morrison]

You have ample evidence before you that Jason Young is not guilty.

[Lester Holt]

And then it was over again, and time for another jury to consider whether Jason Young would go to jail or walk out of court a free man.

[Keith Morrison]

Coming up, the verdict. Take two. With the jury by unanimous verdict, find the defendant Jason Lynn Young to be.

[Lester Holt]

For more than five years, Michelle Young's family and friends had been waiting for answers. Who killed their pretty pregnant Michelle? Many thought they knew it was him.

[Keith Morrison]

You know, I didn't know all the evidence. I didn't know half the things I know now, but I felt that way.

[Lester Holt]

One jury failed to decide, and now attorneys were making their final arguments to a second jury.

[Keith Morrison]

Be mad at him, hate him if you want to, but when you look at the physical evidence in this case, it does not match up. It does not match up to Jason having killed his wife and unborn son. 30 blows. That's not from a stranger. That is a mad, mad domestic abuser.

[Lester Holt]

Soon that jury was behind closed doors in the Wake County Superior Court. After two days, they were back with a verdict.

[Keith Morrison]

We, the jury, by unanimous verdict, find the defendant Jason Lynn Young to be guilty of first degree murder of Michelle.

[Lester Holt]

Guilty. First degree murder. Jason Young didn't flinch. Behind him, his mother was equally stoic. On the other side of the court, Michelle Young's bereaved mother and sister wept. Fiona at home, got the news from a friend.

[Keith Morrison]

She said, he's guilty. Like what? Like.

[Lester Holt]

Jason Young received a life sentence, chose not to address the court even as the Bailiffs led him away. He remained expressionless. The prosecutors were, they told us, relieved.

[Keith Morrison]

It's very emotional. Have family members there who you've been working with for five and a half years and they finally have justice. You know, we've been telling them for years, just trust, just trust that it'll be the right result.

[Lester Holt]

But was it a year and a half ticked by and then this. Attorneys for Jason Young demanding a new trial, saying the trial that led to his conviction had significant errors. December 2013, Jason Young's new attorney launched his appeal.

[Keith Morrison]

Who is the killer?

[Lester Holt]

Is Jason Young the person responsible for misdemeanor Young's death?

[Keith Morrison]

And you know, it seems fundamentally unfair.

[Lester Holt]

What was fundamentally unfair? Remember, during the trial, the attorney pointed out, the prosecution introduced testimony about those civil cases against Jason brought by Michelle's family. They accused Jason of murder.

[Keith Morrison]

Jason Young brutally murdered Michelle Young, the defendant brutally murdered Michelle Marie Fisher Young.

[Lester Holt]

Way out of bounds, said the attorney. The jury should not have been allowed to hear about any of that outside the court. Michelle's sister Meredith predicted the appeal would be thrown out.

[Keith Morrison]

And the jury came to the right verdict. And we're confident it'll stay.

[Lester Holt]

But she was wrong.

[Keith Morrison]

A Raleigh man is getting a third trial in the death of his pregnant wife.

[Lester Holt]

In April 2014, the judges ruled unanimously that testimony about those civil cases prejudiced the jury. And they took particular exception to the fact the prosecutor was allowed to tell the jurors it was their trial judge who signed the civil judgment against Jason, which said that he killed his wife. In fact, said the appeals court, introducing evidence about the civil cases was a violation of North Carolina law.

[Keith Morrison]

That law says you cannot use a civil complaint, a civil allegation as proof in a criminal case.

[Lester Holt]

But a year later, the state supreme court reversed the appeals court decision. And in 2017, Jason Young made yet another attempt to get a third trial, this time on grounds his defense team was ineffective. It was also denied.

[Keith Morrison]

I love you, Mommy.

[Lester Holt]

I love you too, Cassidy. But children know little of the arcane world of motions and appeals. For Cassidy, her father, her mother are snatches of memory ever farther away.

[Keith Morrison]

That's all for now.

[Lester Holt]

I'm Lester Holt.

[Keith Morrison]

Thanks for joining us. Friday night on an all new dateline.

[Lester Holt]

To bring her father's killer to justice.

[Keith Morrison]

A daughter sets a trap. I was recording our conversations for her own mother. It was terrifying.

[Lester Holt]

A 20 year quest for truth. An all new Dateline Friday night at 9, 8 Central, only on NBC.