True Crime with Kimbyr - Pregnant Mother Murdered at Home: What Was Michelle Fisher Hiding?: Part 3

Episode Date: June 12, 2025

The shocking truth begins to emerge in Part 3 of True Crime with Kimbyr. As the investigation into Michelle Fisher’s murder intensifies, disturbing evidence and conflicting alibis start pointing in one direction. Kimbyrleigha walks us through the forensic discoveries, Jason Young’s suspicious behavior, and the courtroom drama that captivated the nation. Did justice prevail—or did someone manipulate the system? With twists you won’t see coming, this final chapter brings the case full circle. Prepare for a gripping conclusion that will leave you questioning everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So the detectives thought he could have gotten gas somewhere between Raleigh and Hillsville during the early morning hours in November 3rd, likely between 4 and 6 a.m., but he probably paid in cash. So this led them to search different gas stations to see if there was any evidence, and this led them to 4 brothers BP gas station on Highway 52 in King, North Carolina. This was just north of Winston-Salem. I'm showing it on a map. A cashier on duty that morning, Gracie Calhoun remembered an incident involving a man who fit Jason's description. He's pretty hard to forget. She said he was approximately 30 years old.

He was white and he was driving a Ford Explorer. Now the thing was, there was a policy at this particular chain of gas stations. Customers that were purchasing gas before the sun came up needed to show either an ID or a credit card for a verification before the gas would be turned on. Well, Jason pulled into this gas station and pulled into the pump. but not just any pump. He almost strategically pulled in to a pump that was not near the front door, so furthest away from any possible cameras

or anybody seeing him. But the thing was, the fuel wouldn't come out. And he got very angry. He wanted to pay by cash. He didn't want to have to talk to anyone. But Gracie told him he needed to produce the documents required, just like everybody else. He was standing by the pump,

and he kept pushing the button to select the gas, which usually triggers it to flow. but it wasn't happening. And he kept doing it again and again, and inside, Gracie was just pushing it off. So it was kind of this back and forth and he was getting agitated. And then finally, someone inside

that was a regular of the gas station, he opened the door and he yelled out to Jason. He's like, hey, listen, buddy, you need to come inside. There's no way around it. So Jason had to go inside this establishment. And when he did, he wasn't nice about it. He swore at Gracie. He was insulting her, and he just threw a $20 bill on the counter.

You're allowed to use cash. You just have to come in. He ended up pumping $15 in gas, and he didn't even come to get his change. So because there was this interaction, it made Gracie remember Jason's face and his vehicle. It stuck in her memory. Yeah.

Not good for him. The detectives reviewed the gas station's transaction records from the morning on November 3rd, and there was one for $20 in cash at $536. 36 a.m. The timing fit into the theory that Jason could have refueled shortly before returning to the Hampton Inn and tampering with his cameras at 6.30 a.m. as he re-entered that hotel. The fact that he'd put gas in his vehicle would contradict his alibi. If he had only made the trip there, he wouldn't have needed to refuel. Yikes. And the location of the station being on the

Raleigh side of the hotel also matched up with him having driven home after checking in. But the detectives needed more. They continued to dig into Jason's behavior in the days leading up to Michelle's murder. And that's when they uncovered that Jason had exchanged over 400 messages and calls in the month before Michelle's death with a woman also named Michelle. Michelle Money. And I'm sure you remember, or you may have remembered this name. I've said it before. This is one of Michelle's closest friends from college, her sorority sister. And you know what? I'm going to say, I don't think they were that good of friends after you hear this.

They had those nicknames, remember Big Michelle and Little Michelle. On the day Meredith discovered Michelle's body, Jason and Michelle, money, had spoken over 50 times. 50. Why? When Linda, Michelle's mother, tried to reach Jason to tell him, to tell him that his wife had been killed. Her calls when unanswered. You know why? Because he was talking. to Miss Money. I'm going to call her Miss Money so that we don't get them confused. Jason was engrossed in his conversation with Miss Money that he let Linda's calls go straight to voicemail, further raising suspicions about his priorities and his actions surrounding his wife's murder. Michelle's funeral was attended by over 200 people. Many of the mourners were the same friends and family

who gathered to celebrate Jason and Michelle's wedding just three years earlier. The contrast between the two events was stark. What had been a joyful occasion was now a devastating goodbye. Jason placed Michelle's favorite flowers, yellow and orange daisies on top of her casket. But of course, just because someone's cheating doesn't mean they've committed murder. So as the investigation progressed, the DNA results were back. The only bloody fingerprints found in the entire home belonged to Cassidy, and all the other blood recovered, including small drops downstairs, was confirmed to be Michelle's. Jason's fingerprints and DNA were of course found at the scene

because he lived there that was to be expected. This made it very hard to distinguish between what was normal and what might be incriminating. Now the full shoe prints were identified as a size 10 air fit or Franklin athletic shoe, and the partial print was consistent with a size 12 hush puppy orbital sealy shoe. Jason did wear a size 12,

but since there was two different sizes of shoes at the crime scene, they wondered, Could there have been two perpetrators? Or did someone purposely bring two pairs of shoes to throw detectives off? Unfortunately, both models of these shoes have been discontinued. They were no longer in stores.

But during a previous search of Jason and Michelle's home, detectives had noticed a DSW reward card. So they got a search warrant, and they obtained a printout of purchases made with that card. On July 4th of 2005, Jason had purchased four pairs of shoes that day, including a brown pair of hush puppies' orbital shoes in size 12. As investigators continue to review the surveillance videos from November 2nd of 2006, they noticed something critical. Jason seemed to be wearing a pair of hushed puppies at that cracker barrel.

And later he was seen wearing the same shoes as he walked towards the west end of the Hampton Inn building just before midnight. It seemed like a lot of evidence was still pointing to Jason. But to learn more about Miss Money, Miss Money had actually been friends with Michelle, but she met Jason and Michelle and Jason's wedding. That's right. She was a bridesmaid in her wedding. And then she goes on to have an affair with her husband. Even though Miss Money had moved to Florida and was married, her and Michelle kept in touch over the years.

And just recently, in September of 2006, a couple months before Michelle was murdered, Miss Money and all of Michelle's sorority friends came to have a visit and stayed at Jason and Michelle's home and went to a football game together. And while Miss Money was staying at her supposed very good friend, best friend, sorority sister's house with her husband, she decides to play a game of hide and seek with everyone. And while she's hiding, this is like grown people playing hide and seek, which is a little weird in and of itself. But while she's playing hide-and-seek, her and Jason are hiding in the same spot. And they get to talking. And in their conversation, somehow Miss Money's marriage comes up.

And she confides in her best friend's husband, Jason, that her marriage is kind of falling apart, that she's suspected her husband is cheating. And Jason's trying to give her supposed advice. By the end of that weekend, when Miss Money was going to return home, her and Jason had had a couple other conversations, about this, and he gave his expert opinion. I say that because this man's cheating,

so I guess he's an expert in it. And he tells her, you know what? I think her husband is cheating on you. So what does she do? She starts forming a relationship with Jason. They exchanged phone numbers. They're talking every single day from September up and two even after Michelle is murdered.

And I find it so hard to believe that women do this to each other. I think the best thing to do in a situation where maybe your friend's husband's flirting with you is to tell your friend. But it seemed like both of them were confiding that both of their marriages were falling apart. Michelle and Jason's marriage and Miss Money's marriage. So as Miss Money and Jason are confiding in one another, she says that their relationship just started to grow. To the point where they told each other that they wanted to be more than friends. They're both married, but they want to be more than friends. Miss Money told the detectives that Michelle and Jason were fighting a lot more, and he was gone a lot. So they came up with a little

plan. She said she doesn't remember whose idea was, but they were going to pretend, or Jason was going to pretend that he was gone on another business trip, but instead he was with Miss Money because her husband was gone as well. I mean, she immediately admitted to how to have to have, having an affair with him. That she didn't hold back, and she told them everything. She revealed that he lied to his wife in October and that he was in Orlando with her, spending the weekend together, being sexual together,

and then they continued that relationship. Rather than really trying to work it out with his wife, he was sharing all of his thoughts and feelings with one of her best friends, and it makes me so mad. Miss Money was more than happy to provide a shoulder for Jason to lean on. The detectives obtained a search warrant for Ms. Money's computer, and as they sifted through the emails, exchanged between her and Jason, several stood out. One in particular was from October 28th,

just six days before Michelle was murdered. Both Jason and Miss Money had professed their love for one another in those messages. He's a sleaze ball, and she's a crappy friend. But was it enough for a motive for murder? That's what they wanted to find out. In the meanwhile, following Michelle's funeral, Jason was given sole primary custody of Cassidy, and, Right away, he sent her to live with Heather and her husband. He said he wanted to shield her from the intense media scrutiny. And this sudden decision left Michelle's family devastated. Linda had no idea that Cassidy was taken away until she was already gone.

She hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye to her granddaughter. Jason then moved him with his mother in Brevard. And from that point on, he controlled when and how Linda and Meredith could see or speak to Cassidy, which is just heartbreaking. That little girl was so sweet. And after all she witnessed and losing her mother, now she was losing part of her family as well. And she was the only piece of Michelle

that her family had left, and she was ripped away. In March of 2007, four months after Michelle's murder, when Cassidy turned three, Linda was invited to her birthday party, which was held at Jason's mother's house. However, when Linda asked if she could throw a separate party for Cassidy, Jason and his mother refused. Now, throughout this speech, and summer of 2007, Linda made five-hour drives so she could have supervised visits with Cassidy at a hotel.

All of these visits had to be organized by Jason's mother, and they could only last a couple hours and were heavily controlled. I'm thinking, like, what are they scared of? What are they scared of? They're scared that this little girl is probably going to say, I saw daddy beating Mommy to death. I think that's why they were trying to keep her away from her grandma. Just my speculation. Jason never attended any of these meetings, and Linda was closely watched at every visit. At one point, when Cassidy needed to use the restroom, Linda took her inside the stall, but Jason's mother had to stand outside. Jason's mom said it was because she thought that Linda was going to kidnap her granddaughter. Wow. This whole family on Jason's side seemed a bit off.

But maybe they had their reasons, because they claimed the police had zeroed in on Jason from the very beginning, not looking into anyone else. And I know it's hard. It's his family. They love him, they want to support him, but I'd beg to differ. I say the detectives were actually following the evidence, but the tensions between these two families

came to a head in the fall of 2007. Linda and Jason's mother, Pat, got into an argument because Pat suggested that Linda should defend Jason more in the media. Meredith, in turn, said, you know what? We would. We would gladly support Jason if he started cooperating with police, because he had never, ever spoken to police about his wife's murder. After this, Jason and his mom cut off all contact between Linda, Meredith, and Cassidy.

They informed Linda. They were no longer going to allow Cassidy to speak or see her. And I hate when children are in the middle of disputes like this. It's truly sad. Well, despite these restrictions, Linda and Meredith, they found out where Cassidy was going to daycare. and they started visiting her at daycare around her fourth birthday. And during one of these visits during Mother's Day, Cassidy even styled Meredith and Linda's hair

and put makeup on them, and this was such a memorable event. But it was soon gonna be put to an end. Because Jason and Pat found out that Linda and Meredith have been seeing Cassidy behind their back and they took action. They informed the daycare director not to ever let them around Cassidy again. This was devastating. Even though they were going behind,

Pat and Jason's back, they felt they had a right to their granddaughter and they didn't want to be cut off from her. They longed for her to be part of their lives. And as this criminal investigation kept dragging on with no resolution, Michelle's loved ones decided to pursue a civil case against Jason to hold him accountable for Michelle's death. Their primary goal was to invoke the Slayer statute. I had never heard of this before. But this is a statute that would prevent Jason from receiving that life insurance pay out. And this life insurance policy, by the way, they found out at this time while they're doing investigations, it wasn't just $2 million. It actually increased. It had a double indemnity clause in it. This meant that it was now a $4 million policy because of Michelle's death. Wow. So if there wasn't

enough of a motive, there was now. Jason could easily be thinking in his head, he can choose whatever mistress he wants and ride off into the sunset together with all of this money. Detectives a provides Michelle's family to take the civil route, explaining that the discovery process in a civil case would force Jason to testify under oath something that he refused to do during the criminal investigation. However, the statute of limitations for filing a wrongful death lawsuit was two years, and that deadline was looming.

So Michelle's family made their move. And on October 29, 2008, just five days before the statute of limitation would expire, attorneys Paul and Jack Michaels, representing Michelle's mother, Linda, filed a second civil lawsuit against Jason. The complaint alleged that Jason Young had brutally murdered Michelle in the early morning hours on November 3, 2006 at their home. Linda sought compensation for the pain and suffering that Michelle had endured and the loss of her daughter's income, which would

have helped support Cassidy. She also sought punitive damages to hold Jason accountable for Michelle's death, and most importantly, asked the court to declare Jason a slayer under that slayer statute, thereby barring him from collecting any of the life insurance proceeds. This hearing took place on December 5, 2008, and no one appeared on Jason's behalf. Linda's attorney, Jack Michaels, presented the judge with three sworn affidavits, one from himself, one from his brother Paul, the other attorney, and one from the lead detective in Michelle's murder investigation. These affidavits strongly implicated Jason and Michelle's death.

After reviewing the evidence in these affidavits, the judge issued a ruling. Jason Young had willfully and unlawfully killed Michelle, making him a slayer under the law. And as a result, he was barred from accessing any of the insurance policy proceeds. This was a victory for Michelle's family, not only financially, but also in their ongoing custody battle. With this ruling, Linda and Meredith were now able to publicly refer to Jason as Michelle's killer.

And this was leverage. It gave them additional power in their efforts to maintain contact and not be kept away from Cassidy. As a result of the civil suit, Jason was also ordered to pay Michelle's family $15 million. The civil suit was just one small victory. Michelle's family had not given up on justice, and investigators swore that they had not given up either. Then on December 17, 2008, Linda filed a formal custody dispute, further escalating the tensions between the two families. In this complaint, Linda was allowed to refer to Jason as Michelle's killer,

and she emphasized that it was believed that Cassidy, their young daughter, had been present during the murder. This complaint highlighted everything, the tensions between the two families, the arguing before the murder. And eventually, a custody hearing was set for February 4th of 2009. But you know what happened? Jason didn't fight. Unexpectedly, he just decided to let Cassidy go. He reached out to Linda's legal team, and he said, you can have her. They were shocked that Jason would just give up custody of Cassidy to Meredith and Michelle's family just like that. Under this agreement,

Meredith would have permanent custody of Cassidy, while Jason could be granted visitation every other weekend during the school year and over the summers. The detectives believed that the fear of incriminating himself in the ongoing investigation likely played a role in his decision to keep quiet and just give up custody that allowed him to avoid direct questioning about the events of that faithful night. He's so guilty and yet he's still not behind bars. That must have been so frustrating for Michelle's family. The investigation into Michelle Young's murder took several key turns as detectives

pieced together more evidence from the crime scene. Jason's behavior, his digital footprint, the shirt that Jason was wearing during that second appearance on camera at the Hampton Inn, the long sleeve pullover was never found in his luggage. So investigators believe this shirt, potentially covered in blood, had been discarded. One thing, though, they kept looming over the detective's heads

was that the person who killed Michelle must have cared and therefore spared Cassidy. It only made sense that Jason would do that. Evidence kept stacking against him. Detectives theorized that Jason created a ruse to ensure that Meredith would be the one to discover Michelle's body. Staging that requests to print out the eBay auction information

as a reason for her to go into that house. Emails found on Jason's computer painted a troubling picture of his mindset in the months leading up to Michelle's murder. In one email from July 12, 2006, Jason vented his frustration about parenting. He wrote this to Michelle, quote, I just got home and the goddamn power is out.

I call progress energy and a crew is already out. Cass pissed herself all over the floor. It's hot as hell inside and I can't entertain her enough without TV to finish the goddamn yard. I'm taking a beer and her to the pool. I'm in a mood that makes our trip to Myrtle seem mild. Pray the beer kicks in. I could kill you for not letting me finish the yard this morning, end quote.

This email raised red flags about Jason's temper and his careless use of violent language towards Michelle. In yet another discovery, Jason had sent an email to his former fiancée, Genevieve Cargol, who was now married and living in Austin, Texas. And in this message, Jason professed his love for her, telling her that she was haunting his dreams. There were equally troubling suspicious internet searches found on Jason's computer, including, quote, anatomy of a knockout, head trauma, knockout, divorce, and this unusual one, which will make sense in one second, right posterior, periol optical region. I can't even say that. Basically, it's like the right side of someone's face and head. Why would he be looking that up? Well, it seemed like it would be a great place to punch someone right there and knock them out.

These search terms coupled with the physical evidence, the digital trail, and everything else, painted a picture of a man potentially preparing to have a deadly confrontation. It was a frustrating situation for investigators because despite all their suspicions and the evidence that they had, this was still largely circumstantial. The questionable mileage, the malfunctioning hotel cameras, the DNA left gaps in the timeline that Jason could easily exploit with his defense. But finally, in December of 2009, a grand jury indicted the Jason Young for Michelle's murder. Two days later, on December 4th, 2009, Jason was arrested, and his trial began in June of 2011, five years after Michelle's murder. The prosecution

built their case around the argument that Jason had killed Michelle because he no longer wanted to be married. He was the womanizer who needed his wife out of the picture. They alleged that Jason longed to live a life as a single man free from the responsibilities of marriage and fatherhood, all with Michelle's life insurance policy to fund his new life of freedom. The evidence in the case included the shoes that he was seen wearing that were now missing, and also left prints, Jason's suspicious behavior, the hotel discrepancies, the digital data, the unraveling marriage, the multiple affairs, including the one with Miss Money, where he professed his love to her, I'm sure there were a lot that they didn't know about,

and the circumstances of the murder, which painted a compelling case for the state, leading to a trial that would attempt to bring justice for Michelle Young's brutal death. They called a number of witnesses, and I really do want to highlight at least a couple of these clips of their testimonies while they were on the stand. Many of Jason and Michelle's friends said they knew that all he wanted was sex. The arguments, I would say they continued. You know, Jason made it very well known that, you know,

he was upset about the lack of sex and the relationship. And when you said Jason made it well, known over his dissatisfaction with sex in the marriage, that's something that he would discuss in group settings? In front of us, yes, certainly openly, certainly sometimes at tailgates. Were those arguments that would be had with Michelle standing there? Sometimes, yes. Michelle Money took the stand and talked about their relationship and how it progressed.

Like I said, we did talk that one evening and, you know, I felt like we were friends and I needed someone to talk to, so what we would call each other. And it basically grew very quickly. We just started talking all day about anything, football, potty training, mortgages, anything that you would talk to a friend about. Every day, would you speak on the phone? Yes. And Jason's friend Dalton told the jury,

he thought that Jason was in love with Ms. Money. Not only that, there was. another mistress that took the stand. Days before the murder, he had a random hookup with none other than the girl who used to have a crush on him back when he was a camp counselor. I briefly mentioned her in the beginning for this reason. Her name, Carol Ann Sowerby. This happened in the living room of Jason and Michelle's home. I was so disgusted and I have to play this for you, followed by something else he did that I found vile. Listen for yourself.

I met him at a summer camp that I went to as a child, and I've known him probably since I was maybe six or seven years old. I don't know that they called the male staff counselors, but, I mean, essentially, yes, he was teaching. After I stopped going to camp, we would still get together to go on kayaking adventures, weekend-type trips, and there was a small group of us that kind of stayed. in touch. When I would come back to the East Coast, I would try to, you know, make the most of my time here and visiting other people. Cassidy was put down to bed and had a couple drinks just for talking and

having sex. Ms. Sowerby, you indicated that you were intimate with the defendant. part of the house. On the couch and the living room. Why not just leave? Why would you stay there and let this happen? Well, there's one reason why she couldn't just leave so easily. Ha! Carol Ann was married. Jason knew that, and it seems like they were having a conversation about it, and somehow Jason was able to convince her to take off her wedding ring. At which point, he proceeded to swallow both of Carolan's wedding rings, her wedding band in her wedding ring. This man swallowing, this man swallowing. her rings so that she couldn't leave because this is so gross and vile and disgusting he had to poop them out before she could return home I have never

heard of such a thing in my life what is going on here and you recall an incident involving your wedding ring yes can you describe for the jury what happened we were sitting around the dinner table and um There was some mention of jewelry and it was just a simple, can I see your ring? And I guess I handed it or gave it, you know, to hand my hand over or whatever. You either indicated either handed over the ring or held out your hand. Yeah, something like that. I can't remember exactly what happened. What was the next thing that happened?

He pretended to swallow it or swallowed it. I don't know if it really happened or not. What did you see him do? Just like that. What was your reaction? First I thought it was a joke and was like, all right, enough, you know, give it back. And I was told that I couldn't get it back until it passed. And I was, you know, at first it was a typical joke, you know. and then I was annoyed because it was my wedding ring.

And then the next day he gave it back to me. But not only that, guess who else testified? His ex-fiance, Genevieve. And she also talked about a situation where Jason wanted her ring. But it was because they were breaking up. And Jason wanted the ring back because he purchased it. He wasn't going to let her get away with the ring

because he wanted the money. Well, she told the jury that they had a physical altercation where he was throwing her around the room demanding the ring. I'm going to let you hear it for yourself. I asked him if he remembered what had happened at lunch. And what were you referring to? The drinking at lunch. And I asked him about the agreement that we had made about not drinking as much. He became agitated.

This is not a direct quote, but he said something to the effect of if I'm going to make such a terrible. husband then I didn't give me my ring back. I told him in so many words that that wasn't going to happen. We had never had the ring sized and the ring was always about half an inch too small. So on a normal day when I wasn't hot and sweaty and nervous and emotional, I had to hold my hand well above my heart and let the blood drain for a little while before I could get the ring off my finger. Well, I was nervous and reminded him that there was no way that the ring was going to come off. At that point, that's when he became extremely agitated with me and then came after me to get the ring. He began trying to pull the ring off and it wouldn't come off. So at that point, I was becoming

very emotional and upset and he was pushing me around the room. He was throwing me from one bed to the other and I was slipping and pulling and trying to whenever I neared the floor trying to get onto the bed and jumping on me with all his weight and pinning my arms both of them behind me so hard that I felt like my arms were going to come out of the sockets the shoulder I saw his face and his eyes were glazed over and didn't show any emotion I don't remember verbatim what I was but I know that I was screaming and yelling for him to get off of me and was very upset. I would get close to the floor and I just try to pull myself back to the bed because I knew that that was going to be the place to be where I wouldn't get hurt the most.

Eventually he did get the ring off. It did cut my finger when he pulled it off. So sure, he was a jerk. He was a cheater, but was he a murderer? I think one of the saddest testimonies I heard, was from Linda's mom. Linda's mom was a great mom. And that's why Jason wanted her out of the picture. I'm telling you, it makes sense. She could see through his facade. She knew he wasn't a good person. I'm going to let you hear something from her now. Had you witnessed arguments and fights between

your daughter Michelle and the defendant? It was, yes, I have, but I also witnessed a lot of belittling. mocking her and putting her down. She seemed to be more unhappy than happy. She was always talking about negative things. The things weren't going right. And then when a day came that something was good, she was just like, oh, you see how great it was. And then that was gone.

I mean, there were points. And she was holding on to those points. When I was there that last time in October, we were sitting watching TV. The guy, she had her head on my lap, and she was lying out, and I was stroking her hair. And she was empty. She was just, it was almost like nothing to live for. Things weren't working out with Jason. Before we left, you know, I was telling him about he had said to me that things aren't good because, you know, she doesn't want to have sex with him.

And I was telling him, you know, that you don't want to go down that path of having another woman on the side. you know, it would definitely end the marriage. There would be no hope. She was defeated. She had so much to offer. There was so much about Michelle that was just, she was an NC state cheerleader. I mean, she had that pep, that energy, that vivacious,

you know, she loved life. And he took it away from her, just took it away from her. How, Ms. Fisher, how did you learn about Michelle's death? Barretted it. And she said, Mom, Michelle is D-E-A-D. And I'm like, what do you mean? That can't be. Did she just pass out?

Maybe she just passed out. It's just, you got to be wrong, you know. It can't be. So with all of this, sometimes I have to think to myself, why wouldn't Jason just get a divorce? Well, he had told his friends that that was not an option. He didn't want to lose custody of Cassidy. And he didn't want Michelle to move back to New York

where he wouldn't be able to see her. But I think the reason was he didn't want to have to pay child support in the event that he would have to owe her anything. Michelle's close friend, Shelly, said that their marriage was horrible. That's how she defined Jason and Michelle's marriage. But as the prosecution anticipated, Jason's defense lawyers systematically dismantled each and every piece of evidence. How? Well, they decided to put Jason on the stand.

This was the very first time he would ever make a statement in relation to Michelle's murder. When asked point blank if he killed her, this is what Jason said. State your name, please. Jason Young. Jason, did you love your wife, Michelle? Yes, sir, I did. Were you a proper husband to her? No, sir.

not. Do you love Cassidy? Absolutely. Are you a good father to her? Yes, sir, I am. Did you kill your wife, Michelle? No, sir. Were you there when it happened?

No, sir. Do you know who did it? No, sir, I do not. He admitted that he was the one who left the hotel door propped open, but he said it was an innocent mistake because he accidentally left his key card in his room when he went outside to get his laptop charger from his car. After getting the charger, he went back to his room, but then he left one more time to smoke a cigar. cigar. And then he went to the front desk to get a copy of USA Today newspaper to look at the sports schedule. That's what he was doing at the front desk at midnight, and there's footage of him

going back to his room with the paper. He said that he never left his room until the next morning. That's when he realized he forgot to bring the eBay printouts with him for the anniversary gift. Well, I had realized that I had left the coach stuff that I printed out on the computer, and I didn't want Michelle to see that. I wanted it to be a big surprise. When did you first realize that you had left it in your house? I realized that after my meeting, after I came out with my meeting with Ms. Sproles, and I was loading my car up, my computer bag and stuff like that.

And when I'm putting that stuff, loading it back in, 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. We had discussed, we had a pretty big fight, the one where she said that I threw the remote. And on top of that, I was getting, you know, you have heard testimony about I kind of got scolded from Linda and some people about not doing enough for the anniversary

and their anniversary meal didn't go right. So I really was wanting to kind of make up for a lot in a big way. And I really wanted to be a surprise. I surprised the Michelle means so much more. He said he was 30 minutes late to his sales meeting because he got lost. Well, the start of the directions, the interstate,

77 to 81, was really easy. As you got off onto some of the smaller highways and started getting up into the mountainy area, trying to follow the directions. There were some directions that were, you need 0.1 miles via, like, it got tricky. And I got lost. Did that cause you to be late to your meeting?

Yes, sir. About how late? About 30 minutes late, maybe. Here's what he said he felt like when he first heard the news of Michelle's murder. I remember the, it was a sunny day. I remember having, I think, the window down. And I remember driving in and seeing my mom and Gerald. drive or are kind of standing in the in the in the in the yard and there's that odd well they were kind of

holding each other and they kind of were walking towards the car and I had been petting the dog and I remember getting out of the car and walking towards him you know you can kind of tell when your mom's upset and when you and my stepdad when he's upset which you don't really seem like cry that much you can tell it there's something wrong and I have I thought that there's something wrong with my grandma. I think I said, is it me mommy? It's my grandma. And I remember, that's when Gerald said,

Gerald told me, there's Michelle, and he said, Michelle is dead. What did you do? I just, I just fell. I just, I broke on the inside. I just broke and I didn't believe it. It was it just didn't feel real. It didn't feel like it didn't feel like it was, it didn't feel like it was happening.

I just didn't, I didn't believe it and I didn't understand it. What happened next? I remember, I remember going inside the house, and I just, I just remember crying, and I remember sobbing. I remember just feeling really, really hot. And then I would feel really, really cold, and I don't, I really don't, I don't remember that much. And I'm starting to ask you, do you have some memory, some difficulty remembering specific events in times for a while after that?

Yeah. Yes, sir. I have to say, he's pretty damn believable. He's a really good witness. And what I mean by that is if you're a bad witness on the stand, you might be nervous, you might make the jury not like you. you might seem like you're lying, but he's just like cool, calm, collected, charming even. He kind of reminds me of like a Disney prince.

I mean, he's nothing like a Disney prince, but the way he looks with the long hair and the smile. Yeah. But other people know another side of him. When asked why he never talked to the police, he had an explanation for that. It was all his lawyer. And what about him throwing his ex-fiancee around the room? Well, this is what he said. He just wanted his ring back. But what about Michelle? Well, he said, he loved him. He loved his ex- He loved his friend. He said, he loved his He loved Michelle, he wanted to stay with her, he didn't want to divorce. How about the fact that he gave up custody of his daughter? Well, his explanation was that he lost his job

due to being under the microscope by investigators, and he couldn't afford a family law attorney to fight Linda. Again, I have to say that Jason understood the assignment. He's believable. But a lot of times, that's the way criminals are. That's how they think they'll get away with it all. But like I said, there's a lot of people. There was another side to Jason.

His friends had seen it, especially when he'd been drinking. But there were things that the defense brought up, that the jewelry box in the bedroom had another person's DNA found on it. And so did one of those cameras. It had someone else's fingerprint on it. As for those internet searches, his defense said, oh, those were not what you thought. He was involved in witnessing an accident, so he was Googling a few things in case he was questioned about it.

There was no forensic evidence tying him to the crime, no blood, no injuries found on him. Well, prosecutor Becky Holt was ready to tear apart every one of Jason's claims. She went hard on cross-examination. She was ferocious. She asked him, were you working on your marriage when you were effing Carol Ann on the couch less than two weeks before Michelle was found dead? Of course, he said no. Mr. Young, you said that you were testified here before this jury that you were working on your marriage.

I think marriage is something that people are always working on. 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. Then she asked him, were you working on your marriage when you were talking to Miss Money? No. You said you've talked to Michelle Money, you talked to her a lot. In fact, you know that the police have documented over 400 times that you had contact with her in a very short, in a month's period.

Does that sound about right to you? Yes, ma'am. 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. And we both tried to kind of help each other out in regards to things we could do to make the other person more loving towards us. 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. I love the way he says like, we're good friends. No, you were having an affair.

He wasn't just your good friend. After an hour of cross-examination, the case was finally handed over to the jury. And when it came time for deliberation, there was no way of knowing which way the jury would swing. And it turns out they didn't swing either way because in the end, they couldn't reach a unanimous verdict. They were deadlocked, eight to four, in favor of actually acquitting this man. So the judge was forced to declare a mistrial. This was a devastating blow for Michelle's family. He charmed them, didn't he?

I thought he could and he did. However, the declaration of a mistrial came without prejudice, so guess what? The prosecution was free to file the exact same charges, and they did. Just seven months later, Jason's second murder trial got underway in March of 2012. This time, the prosecution doubled down

on their efforts to show that Jason wasn't who he said he was. Still, there was no forensic evidence found, but there were plenty of witnesses who painted a picture, which didn't look anything like the happy family life that Jason was trying to convince everyone of. The gas station attendant, she was pivotal. She testified that Jason was the one she saw at 5.30 that morning giving her a hard time and cussing at her. This contradicted his claim that he was asleep at his hotel. But some of the most heart-wrenching testimony came from Cassidy's daycare teacher who shared that she had watched a little girl

playing with dolls in the days after her mother's murder. And while she was sitting there, she had dolls in her hands and one was hitting the other one with a chair and she said that mommy was getting a spanking for biting. And when she laid down the dolls, she said that mommy had boo-boos all over her and red stuff. The prosecution hit home the fact that there had been a silent witness left behind. And they really showcased significance of Cassidy not only being spared, but being washed up. Cassidy would have had to feel comfortable with whoever was helping her. there was a time where Shelley, who was Michelle's best friend, tried to change Cassidy's diaper the night she was over there watching Gray's anatomy, and Cassidy wouldn't let her. So it had to be someone that this little girl trusted, someone like her father.

In this trial, they also brought forward the facts in that civil lawsuit, the one where Jason was found guilty of the brutal murder of Michelle. He never refuted those claims. And even though this judge told the jury that that didn't mean he was guilty in this criminal court, hearing those words had to have an effect on their perspective, especially when it was revealed that it was the same judge. It was Judge Stevens who signed the civil judgment. So essentially, the jury is going to infer that Judge Stevens already thought Jason was guilty. This time Jason chose not to take the stand, but that didn't stop the prosecution from being able to play his whole testimony from the first trial. And then the prosecutor ripped it apart piece by piece, focusing on those eBay printouts.

He printed them from the home computer before he left. But he took the MapQuest papers with him that were printed at the same time. Therefore, he left it on purpose because it was part of his plan. But he didn't think about the fact that the auctions, you know, that are on the page he printed, would have been timed out when he was driving. Those auctions would have ended at 8 p.m. It doesn't make much sense for him to print out papers. that he wouldn't actually need for any reason.

But my favorite part is when they ripped apart his claim that he went outside to get his power cord for his laptop that night. Guess what? A digital forensic expert was able to look through the computer extraction. They found out he didn't even plug his computer in. That's right. The computer keeps a record of that. The defense, of course, made the same arguments

that there's no physical evidence and that it didn't add up to Jason committing this. crime. But the additional effort made by the investigators to secure more witnesses for the second trial paid off because just six hours of deliberation and the jury found Jason guilty of murder, he was sentenced to life without parole. And during the sentencing, the judge made this statement. He said, quote, the evidence suggests that an assailant was overcome completely by anger and rage. And even then, he had the energy to strip off Michelle's engagement and wedding rings because in his mind, she was unworthy of wearing them.

Fingerprints of domestic violence are all over this case, end quote. Yeah, just like he tried to take his exes ring too. Michelle's family embraced each other in tears. Jason's mother, on the other hand, just sat there straight-faced, seemingly in shock. Jason, of course, tried to appeal, and I'm not going to go into that because there's nothing special to relay to you. It was denied. And as we wrap up this story, it's clear that this case remains as controversial as ever.

one side, there are those who are convinced that Jason is responsible. But there are many people on the other side who argue that the evidence was too weak. The investigation was flawed, and that Jason was convicted on suspicion rather than proof. There's even a website dedicated to Jason's innocence. So I want to know, after hearing all the evidence, where do you stand? Is Jason Young a cold-blooded killer? Or was he a man wrongly accused? Either The real victim here is Little Cassidy, who lost both of her parents and probably has so much hidden trauma deep inside from that night when her little eyes witnessed her mom being killed. Her mommy loved her so much.

And I want you to remember to spend as much time to love, to hug everyone you love tightly. I will see you in my next video. Bye.