we'll never give up the fight ♪ >> i'll always be doing this until, you know, the day comes where, you know, no child has to be fearing for their lives every time they're sitting in their classroom. my mother called and said, michelle's dead. how's that possible? >> a young mother found brutally murdered. her little girl left to wander in her mother's blood. police had a suspect, and they say he had a motive. >> we had an intimate relationship. >> ended up having sex. >> but could day prove he was the killer? >> it was a circumstantial case. >> except for that witness, the girl who left those footprints.

>> we will never know what cassidy saw or didn't see. >> 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. >> the person that killed the mother cared about cassidy. >> "silent witness." h hello. welcome to "dateline extra." michelle young had a smile that lit up a room, the last person who anyone knew her would expect to be murdered. but it happened. she was at home with her daughter, cassidy, pregnant with her second child. her husband was away on business. unraveling this complicated case would take years. here's keith morrison. >> i think i paused for a second. had to take a deep breath. and just the reality of what was going on sank in.

>> those who saw the footprints will not forget them. they were tiny. and they were bloody. >> i had to keep my composure to finish searching this house to make sure there was nobody else in the house. >> it was the 3rd of november, 2006, early afternoon. scott erp was the wake county sheriff's deputy dispatched to a quiet and leafy neighborhood called enchanted oaks. the outskirts of raleigh, north carolina. here because of the 911 call from this place on birchleaf drive. >> i think my sister's dead. >> tell any what happened, ma'am. >> i have no idea. oh, my god. >> 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. >> listen to me, ma'am. >> yeah, i'm here. >> i'm going to tell you what to do. you need to calm down so you can help us. with 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. >> as she spoke, meredith was cradling her 2 1/2-year-old niece, cassidy, who crawled out from under the bedclothes on her parents' bed feet from where her mother lay. cassidy's voice, chattering to her aunt, was caught on recorded call. had cassidy witnessed the murder or wakened alone to find this? >> you just picture a small child walking around in this blood and tracking it across the hallway over to the bathroom. >> now, wake county investigators were descending on the house and having secured the crime scene, erp's job was done. but 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. >> i looked over 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, i guess. >> somebody did. >> yeah. somebody did. >> but who? was it the same person who murdered the little girl's mother? on this november day, all they had were questions. richard, then a sergeant with the wake county sheriff's office, probably knows the case better than anyone. >> i mean, this was just a brutal, vicious beating. there was a lot of time and energy invested into this assault. >> why do you say a lot of time and energy? >> i think the medical examiner told us there was over 30 blows with some sort of a blunt object. >> so, detectives started investigating the victim. and everyone else around her. michelle young was born and raised on long island, new york. >> she was smiling all the time. and she was the life of the party. >> stasha grossman knew her from childhood.

>> she didn't like being the center of attention but liked creating a great at mosphere fo everyone to have a good time. >> michelle was a cheerleader in high school and straight-a student. jennifer powers felt drawn to her. >> she had this kind of bookworm side 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. >> 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 child was her sorority big sister. >> there's this one picture, it came out beautiful and we liked it because we thought we kind of looked like charlie's angels posed without intentionally doing that. >> 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. >> they seemed like a good couple. he was different from other men that she 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. >> 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. >> i love you, mommy. >> i love you, too, cassidy. ♪ twinkle twinkle >> when she came along, it was love at first sight. ♪ wonder what you are yay. >> yay. >> michelle was an enthusiastic mother. >> huh? >> huh? >> huh? >> huh? >> by all accounts, jason was a

good dad. >> he was a great playmate. he knew how to sit on the floor and play with his daughter, you know. >> 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. >> the comment he said to me was, he's excited to have another baby. not implying that she was pregnant but he was excited at the prospect of it. >> 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. stasha grossman got word from her mother. >> my mother called, said, michelle's dead. i said, michelle who? some celebrity?

like, what are you talking about? like, what do you mean, like, how's that possible, what happened? >> the very questions that wake county investigators were asking, themselves. >> as the investigation gets under way, a security camera provides a critical clue. it's not what it caught, it's what it missed and why. coming up -- >> there was a camera there that had been unplugged. >> really? >> yes. it was one of the side exits of the hotel. >> who had something to hide? when "silent witness" continues. 3 ...and told people about geico... (harmonica interrupts) how they could save 15% or more by... (harmonica interrupts) ...by just calling or going online to geico.com. (harmonica interrupts) (sighs and chuckles) sorry, are you gonna... (harmonica interrupts) everytime. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

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this is moving day with the best in-home wifi experience and millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. and this is moving day with reliable service appointments in a two-hour window so you're up and running in no time. show me decorating shows. this is staying connected with xfinity to make moving... simple. easy. awesome. stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and two-hour appointment windows. click, call or visit a store today. welcome back. what was once a quiet home in the suburbs of raleigh, north carolina, was now a horrifying crime scene bustling with activity. four months pregnant, michelle young had been murdered, and investigators were eager to talk to her husband, jason, but would jason talk to them?

>> 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 2 1/2-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. >> those of us who 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. >> 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. >> 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 dwo go to the house. >> jason young's business trip that night was routine. security tapes showed him getting gas about 7:30 p.m. 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 11:00 p.m. 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 aw away, he's got an alibi. >> that sounds like a great distance, you know? but 170 miles, you can get between the crime scene and the hotel in about 2 1/2 hour the. >> perhaps, 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 the 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 there 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. >> our friend, shelley'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 iii. >> 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, didn't. so in an e-mail along with another nugget -- >> he 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. >> so, of course, investigators wanted to interview jason young. maybe he could tell them something. but he refused to talk to them. >> he talked to the lawyer and then under the advice of the counsel, h e dhe declined to sp with us at all. >> didn't ask about her, didn't ask how his wife died? >> no. >> perhaps, investigators thought, that business trip deserved a second look. so they went to the hotel, poked arou around, discovered odd activities that night in a stairwell near the exit. >> there was a camera there that had been unplugged. >> really? >> yes. it was one of the side exits of

the hotel. one of the fire stairs that goes down to the first floor. >> was there any other tampering done? >> well, the door that was adjacent to where the door is located, the door had been propped open that night. >> how do you know that? >> the gentleman working as a 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 about 6:35 that morning, the camera is pointing straight at the ceiling. >> same camera? >> same camera. it's tampered with yet again. >> 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 7 1/2 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 him instantly. he was the foul-mouthed customer, she said, who came storming into the store to complain that the pumps were locked. and what time was it? 5:30 a.m., morning of the murder. >> 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 entered the store. >> if that attendant was right, investigators may have undercut jason's alibi. still, it wasn't enough. so they plodded ahead, painstaking work. took time. and then years after the murder, they finally got a match for that partial footprint. >> the state bureau of investigation, and the fbi were able to eventually identify that shoe as a hushpuppie shoe. it was a size 12, the same size

that he wore. >> throughout the investigation, jason steadfastly maintained his silence. rather than face a legal battle where he'd be asked some tough questions, he even gave michelle's family custody of his daughter. >> 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 very surprising. >> investigators had heard enough. they believed they had a case. circumstantial, but a case. >> did you kill your wife? >> 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 away. coming up -- the case against jason young as an alleged killer. and as a cheating husband.

>> we basically just hung out at the house and we had an intimate relationship for the two days that he was there. >> cassidy was put down to bed and a couple drinks, just were talking, and we ended up having sex. >> he never settled down. >> when "silent witness" continues. (burke) at farmers, we've seen almost everything so we know how to cover almost anything. even "vengeful vermin." not so cute when they're angry. and we covered it. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

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welcome back to "dateline extra." jason young had been charged with murdering his pregnant wife, michelle. from the day her bloodied body was found bludgeoned to death in the couple's bedroom, jason had refused to talk to detectives. but there were several women in jason's life who were willing to share intimate details about the man and his marriage. with the case heading to court, they would soon tell their stories on the stand. here again is keith morrison. >> 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. becky holt was the prosecutor who opened for the state. >> his plan was to murder his wife. his plan was to get away with it. >> with no murder weapon found, the prosecution's case was built on that partial shoe print. they know now that jason once owned a pair of hushpuppies like these that matched the print they were now missing. they also told jurors about the early morning visit to the gas station and 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. >> were you aware of tensions in that marriage? >> yeah. i was well aware. >> meredith fisher, michelle's sister, lived near the couple. and for a period was cassidy's nanny. as the young's fights intensi intensified, she took on the role of a marriage counselor, too. >> 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. >> prosecutors called friends to the stand to paint a picture of a marriage that was unraveling. out loud and in public. >> jason made it very well known that, you know, he was upset about the lack of sex in the relationship. >> and at parties, said fiona chil childs, jason's x-rated tricks were famously over the top. >> i never observed it, myself. i'd just hear about it, 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. he never fell into the marriage and wihat all that meant. >> in october 2006, when michelle was 4 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. >> we basically just hung out at the house and we had an intimate relationship for the two days that he was there. >> jason was crazy about her. friend, josh dalton, said. >> he basically told me that he thought he was in love with her. >> michelle's mother, linda fisher, testified that in the final weeks of michelle's rife, she could see the tole the failing marriage was taking on her pregnant daughter. >> she had her head on my lap and she was lying down and i was stroking her hair.

and she was empty. >> and what did she tell you? >> things weren't working out with jason. >> two days before she was murdered, michelle phoned her sister, meredith, to report yet another blowup with jason. >> she was just, i've had it. she said that, you know, more than one time, i can't do this anymore. >> 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. in his own living room. michelle was away at the time. >> cassidy was put down to bed, and had a couple drinks.

just were talking. and we ended up having sex. >> but divorce was apparently not an option for jason. >> he had made a statement at one time that if he was afraid that if he ever got a divorce, that michelle would take cassidy and move back to new york. >> did he indicate to you that he would have some concerns about ever being able to see cassidy again? >> correct. >> still, one big question remained. with a good-time guy like jason young etven capable of murder? genevieve cargo was engaged to jason in 1999 before he met michelle. she took the stand to testify about a fight they'd had. >> that's right. >> over jason's excessive drinking. >> he became agitated. he said something to the effect of, if i'm going to make such a terrible husband, then i -- 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. >> 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. >> did you kill your wife, michelle? >> no, sir. >> were you there when it happened? >> no, sir. >> when "silent witness" continues. -i've seen lots of homes helping new customers bundle and save big, but now it's time to find my dream abode. -right away, i could tell his priorities were a little unorthodox. -keep going. stop. a little bit down. stop. back up again. is this adequate sunlight for a komodo dragon? -yeah. -sure, i want that discount on car insurance just for owning a home, but i'm not compromising.

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please. aaagh! being in the know is a good thing. that's why discover will alert you if your social security number is found on any one of thousands of risky sites. i've been making blades here at gillette for 20 years. i bet i'm the first blade maker you've ever met. there's a lot of innovation that goes into making our thinnest longest lasting blades on the market. precision machinery and high-quality materials from around the world. nobody else even comes close. it's about delivering a more comfortable shave every time. invented in boston, made and sold around the world. order now at gilletteondemand.com. gillette. the best a man can get. is part of a bigger picture. that bigger picture is statewide mutual aid. california years ago realized the need to work together. teamwork is important to protect the community, but we have to do it the right way. we have a working knowledge and we can reduce the impacts of a small disaster, but we need the help of experts. pg&e is an integral part of our emergency response team.

they are the industry expert with utilities. whether it is a gas leak or a wire down, just having someone there that deals with this every day is pretty comforting. we each bring something to the table that is unique and that is a specialty. with all of us working together we can keep all these emergencies small. and the fact that we can bring it together and effectively work together is pretty special. they bring their knowledge, their tools and equipment and the proficiency to get the job done. and the whole time i have been in the fire service, pg&e's been there, too. whatever we need whenever we need it. i do count on pg&e to keep our firefighters safe. that's why we ask for their help. i'm dara brown with the hour's top stories. on the anniversary of the shash charlottesville, protesters clashed with police but no major incidents were reported.

former white house aide omarosa released audio of a situation room conversation with white house chief of staff john kelly. telling her she was fired last year. the white house responded by calling the secret recording a blatant disregard for national security. now back to "dateline." welcome back to "dateline extra." i'm craig melvin. prosecutors in the jason young murder trial paint add picture of a marriage in pieces. but did a string of affairs mean the husband killed his pregnant wife? it was a question the defense was eager to answer. after five years, jason young was about to break his silence and explain what happened the night michelle was killed. here, again, is keith morrison. >> what the prosecution didn't tell you -- >> there's 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 the defense attorney do? well, to begin with, as he told the jury, he agreed with the prosecution. jason young was not a good husband. >> he acted at times like an immature jerk. but that does not make him a killer. >> 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 hot 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. >> ladies and gentlemen, jason lee young did not murder his wife. he did not murder their unborn son. and this case has not been solved. >> 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. >> it's always a big decision for defense attorneys whether or not to call their clients. >> beth karas is a former prosecutor and legal analyst. she covered the trial. >> this is a case that really begged for jason young to testify. >> why? >> if he's an innocent -- >> after all this time. >> if he's truly innocent, get on the stand and tell the story. >> 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. >> did you kill your wife, michelle? >> no, sir. >> were happened? >> no, sir. >> what about jason's missing hushpuppies that matched the partial shoe prints? he no longer owned them, he said. >> are those the shoes you had on?

>> 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. >> i was going over the sales call that i had the next day. >> the second trip he testified was to smoke a cigar. >> 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. >> that newspaper run explains why he was seen at the front desk, he said, around midnight. >> so between the time you smoked the cigar and went back upstairs and went to sleep, did you leave that room until the next morning? >> no, sir. >> next morning after his sales call, jason testified, 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. >> i realized i didn't bring those papers. and so --

>> 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. >> so brown knew november 3rd, he called his sister-in-law, meredith, from the car to ask if she'd go to the house and get the ebay papers. >> friday, november 3rd. >> he left meredith a voicemail. >> do me a huge favor, go over there, see if you can find this e-mail on the computer. >> 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. >> i -- i just -- i just fell. i just -- i just, i broke on the inside. i just broke and i didn't believe it. >> family members drove him back to raleigh. during the drive, he said his friends 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. >> and then, the explanation for his long silence. >> 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. >> the defense also addressed the motives prosecutors had laid out that jason wanted to escape a bad marriage and keep custody of cassidy and spend time with his new love. >> did you have any designs in your own mind of leaving michelle young? >> no, sir. >> 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. >> as for that violent episode with his ex-fiancee, jason had an explanation for it. >> 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. >> and they questioned him about the most important woman in his life. >> is did you wadid you want to to michelle? >> yes, i did. i wanted to have another baby and i wanted the family to grow. >> he also explained why he gave up custody of his daughter without a fight. >> were you able to afford a lawyer for a full-blown custody battle? >> that's right. due to the media and some of the internet website, the job that i had, i lost it. >> his testimony lasted three

hours. >> jason young was a very good witness. he understood what he had to do when he was on the stand. >> so 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? >> 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. >> how did jason young do? 12 jurors were about to decide. >> but first, the prosecutor gets her chance to go one-on-one with jason young. coming up -- >> were you working on your marriage when you were having sex with caroline in your home? >> when "silent witness" continues. and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen

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welcome back to "dateline extra." so far, jason young's testimony seemed to be answering years of questions. when asked by his attorney, jason admitted cheating on his pregnant wife, michelle, more than once. even so, the defense pointed out infidelity did not make him a murd murderer. now, it was the prosecution's turn to cross examine the witness and they'd start by attacking jason's alibi. but with no forensic evidence tieing him to the crime scene, could they convince the jury that jason was the killer? continuing with our story, here's keith morrison. >> the whole truth and -- >> it was riveting. almost five years of silence about his wife's murder. >> went back to my room. >> broken here in this courtroom. >> i love cassidy. i love michelle.

>> and then he went to murder his wife. >> now prosecutor, becky holt, began pulling apart a story she had just heard for the first time. >> were you working on your marriage when you were having sex with caroline in your home less than two weeks before your wife was murdered? >> no, ma'am. that was not the way to work on my 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. >> the cross-examination lasted a full hour. and the next day, the case went to the jury. >> retire to the jury deliberation room. >> it soon became clear jurors were having trouble. >> indicated that you all have not yet reached a unanimous

decision. >> the jurors were split 6-6. the judge sent them back to try to make it unanimous. >> the jury ors leave first. thank you. >> hours later, they were back. and courtroom 3c was still. >> it appears that they are deadlocked at this point. >> eight jurors had voted for an acquittal. four voted guilty. judge stevens declared a mistrial. was serious consideration given to dropping the case? >> i think there was serious consideration as to is there more we can do? >> 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. >> put your left hand on the bible. raise your right hand. >> first, prosecutors called

that night clerk at the gas station, gracie, who remembered jason complaining about the locked pumps. >> when he came in to pay, he started cussing and raising cane. >> and what time did this happen? >> that was a 5:00, 5:00 30 in morning. >> the time jason said he was at the hotel. >> call the next twwitness. >> then prosecutors had new witnesses and new testimony. they wanted jurors to hear about cassidy whose bloody footprints they contended made her a silence witness to murder. >> when i got to cassidy, i said, what are you doing? >> daycare worker, ashley, took the stand. >> i noticed what she was doing. >> she told jurors she watched cassidy playing alone. days after her mother was murdered. >> she had the chair and the doll in her hand together and then the mommy doll in the other hand and she just hit them. >> 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 anything to a jury? >> certainly, it meant that the person who killed the mother we felt cared about cassidy. >> i do. >> fiona childs took the stand. prosecutors pressed her about a life insurance policy jason arranged. >> it did raise a red flag. >> and michelle had questioned. >> that she brought up specifically her life insurance. she brought it up several times, i think that $1 million was too much and did they really need that? >> after michelle died, fiona found out the true amount of the policy was actually $4 million. >> i was just, like, in total shock. that is incredibly excessive. >> 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. >> there is an alleged paragraph, paragraph 6, again, reading verbatim from the record, "in the early morning hours of november 3rd, 2006, jason young brutally murdered michelle young at their residence." >> freeman went on to testify that jason never responded to the allegations. and that led to a fault judgment against him. that judgment said jason killed his wife. >> 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?

>> and the prosecutor made sure the jury heard just who signed that ruling. >> i'm reading from this judgment which is signed actually by judge stevens. >> reporter: judge stevens. the very judge sitting before them in this trial. >> 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. >> prosecutors also called the attorney involved in that custody case over daughter, cassidy. and those same allegations were repeated yet again. >> the jury heard several times through these two civil complaints that jason young brutally murdered michelle fi fisher-young. >> but the headline act came when prosecutors played jason young's entire testimony from the first trial. >> i wanted her to have that -- >> and began to rip it apart. >> i don't remember. >> prosecutors tried to show that jason's call 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 i didn't pull the toor all the way. >> he told the court he left the first time to get a power cord for his laptop. >> why was it you wanted to look on it? >> i was going over the sales calls for the next day. >> mike smith took the stand to say mike young didn't use his laptop for work that night. >> this is an internet sports

dedicated for sports. >> jason said he went out a second time to smoke a cigar, but they advocated jason was a fierce anti-smoker. and the weather last night was fiercely windy. >> it was a suit jacket. >> okay. >> that was the only outer wear that i'm aware of. >> jason chose not to testify this time, but the defense fought back. they argued the gas station attendants memory couldn't be trusted because of a childhood memory loss. >> i've been through a lot with myself and my kids and my ex-husband. >> the defense also argues the case really wasn't solved, that there was no physical evidence to prove jason was the killer. >> there wasn't one scratch on mr. young. >> 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 that showed that jason smith once owned a humidor and made a purchase at a cigar store. >> 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. >> coming up. >> the verdict. take two. >> the jury found the defendant jason young to be -- >> when silent witness continues. ♪

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welcome back. for the second time in less than a year, jurors were about to deliberate on the fate of accused killer jason young. in his first trial, jason took the stand to declare his innocence. but the jury was unable to reach a verdict. this time, prosecutors had re-played his testimony and called multiple witnesses to

attack his credibility. did the jury believe them? turns out this case was far from over. here with the conclusion of our story is keith morris. >> 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. you know, i didn't know all the evidence. i didn't know half the things i know now, but i felt that way. >> one jury failed to decide. but now attorneys were making their final arguments to a second jury. >> 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

n that jury was behind closed doors in the wake county superior court. after two days, they were back with a verdict. >> we, the jury, find the defendant jason lee young to be guilty of first degree murder. >> guilty first degree murder. jason young didn't flinch. behind him his mother was equally stoistoic. on the other side of the court, michelle's bereaved mother and sister went. >> they say he's guilty. i was like, what? >> jason young received a life sentence, chose not to address the court even as the befores led him away, he remained expressionless. the prosecutors were relieved. >> i was very emotional. had family members there who he

had been working with for five and a half years, and they finally have justice. >> we have been telling him for years just trust. just trust that it will be the right result. >> 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. >> who is the killer? is jason young the person responsible for mrs. young's death? and it seems fundamentally unfair. >> 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. >> jason young brutally murdered michelle young. >> the defendant brutally

murdered michelle marry fisher young. >> the jury should not been allowed to hear any of that. >> the jury came to the right verdict and we're confident it will stay. >> but she was wrong. >> a man is getting a third trial in the death of his pregnant wife. >> in april 2014, the north carolina court of appeals granted jason a new trial. but a year later, the state supreme court reversed the appeals court decision. and in 2017, yet another attempt by jason young to get a third trial. this time on grounds his defense team was ineffective was also denied. >> i love you, too. >> but children know little of the arcane world of motions and appeals. cassidy has grown. her father, her mother snatches

a memory ever farther away. that's all for this edition of dateline extra. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. right now we're going to call the sergeant, let them know what's going on. and there's urine coming up the floor. >> recently sentenced to prison, a troubled, young inmate attempts to make a final impression on staff. >> why can't you ask like you have some sense? >> another inmate acts out in order to achieve a very different goal. >> i'd rather be someone for myself where i can focus on getting out, traveling to get my life back together.