keith morrison: and larry, his image lives on among his children, his stepchildren, his grandchildren. i just remember him as the immortal larry isenberg that he always was. i don't have to have the memory of him getting sick and frail and slowly slipping away, helpless in a hospital bed. i get to have nothing but the good memories of him. keith morrison: larry isenberg, that honest man, whose fatal flaw was to love the woman who couldn't be. . i'm craig melvin. and i'm natalie morales. and this is "dateline." michelle's dead. how is that possible? craig melvin: a young mother found brutally murdered--

police had a suspect, and they say he had a motive. we had an intimate relationship. we ended up having sex. craig melvin: but could they prove he was the killer? it was a circumstantial case. craig melvin: except for that witness-- the girl who left those footprints. fiona childs: we will never know what cassidey saw and what she didn't see. craig melvin: 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? becky holt: the person that killed the mother cared about cassidy. [intro music] hello, and welcome to dateline. michelle young was married to her college sweetheart and four months pregnant with her second child when the unthinkable happened. the young mother was beaten to death in her own bedroom. the investigation would quickly reveal a troubled marriage,

but her husband was away on business, and unraveling this complicated case would take years. here's keith morrison with "silent witness." scott earp: i think i paused for a second and had to take a deep breath-- and just the reality of what was going on sank in. keith morrison (voiceover): those who saw the footprints will not forget them. they were tiny, and they were bloody. scott earp: i had to get my composure to finish searching this house to make sure there was nobody else in the house. keith morrison (voiceover): it was the 3rd of november, 2006, early afternoon. scott earp 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. caller: i think my sister's dead. operator: ok, tell me what happened, ma'am. caller: i have no idea. oh, my god. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. operator: 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 say there's blood everywhere? meredith: yes. operator: listen to me, ma'am. meredith: (fighting tears) i'm listening. operator: is she breathing? meredith: i don't think so. operator: have you checked? meredith: michelle? she's cold. operator: ok. keith morrison (voiceover): as she spoke, meredith was cradling her 2 and 1/2 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. cassidy: she's got boo-boos everywhere. keith morrison (voiceover): had cassidy witnessed the murder? awakened alone to find this? scott earp: i just picture a small child walking around in his blood and tracking it across the hallway

over into the bathroom. keith morrison (voiceover): by now, wake county investigators were descending on the house. and having secured the crime scene, earp'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. scott earp: i looked over to 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 did. somebody did. yeah, somebody did. keith morrison (voiceover): but who? was it the same person who murdered the little girl's mother? on this november day, all they had were questions. richard spivey, then a sergeant with the wake county sheriff's office probably knows the case better than anyone. richard spivey: 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.

keith morrison (voiceover): so detectives started investigating the victim and everyone else around her. michelle young was born and raised on long island, new york. statia grossman: she was smiling all the time. and she was the life of the party. keith morrison (voiceover): statia grossman knew her from childhood. statia grossman: she didn't like being the center of attention, but she liked creating a great atmosphere for everyone to have a good time. keith morrison (voiceover): michelle was a cheerleader in high school and a straight-a student. jennifer powers felt drawn to her. jennifer powers: 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 someone that i wanted to spend a lot of time with. keith morrison (voiceover): 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.

fiona childs: there's this is 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 the life of tailgate parties. michelle fell hard and fast. jennifer powers: they seemed like a good couple. he was different from other men that she'd 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. [kiss] i love you, mommy. michelle young: i love you, too, cassidy.

keith morrison (voiceover): and when she came along, it was love at first sight. [baby noises] [cheering] keith morrison (voiceover): michelle was an enthusiastic mother. cassidy: huh? - huh? [cassidy laughs] huh? michelle: huh? cassidy: [laughs] keith morrison (voiceover): 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? keith morrison (voiceover): 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 that he was excited at the prospect of it. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. statia grossman got word from her mother. statia grossman: 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? keith morrison (voiceover): the very questions that wake county investigators were asking themselves. as the investigation heats up, 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. craig melvin: who had something to hide? when "dateline" continues. [coughing] copd is an ugly reality. do you have his medical history? i watch as his world just keeps getting smaller. but then,

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because breathing should be beautiful, keith morrison (voiceover): the facts were stark and ugly. one night in november 2006 when 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 and 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 richards 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 go to the house. keith morrison (voiceover): jason young's business trip that night was routine. security tape showed him getting gas about 7:30 pm 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 in hillsville, virginia. this is him front desk, about 11:00 pm 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. keith morrison: a normal person would look at this and say, well, he was 170 miles away. he's got an alibi. that sounds like a great distance.

but 170 miles-- you can get between the crime scene and a hotel in about 2 and 1/2 hours. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. fiona childs: 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 iii. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. jennifer powers: 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 counsel, he declined to speak with us at all. didn't ask about it? he didn't ask how his wife died? no.

keith morrison (voiceover): 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 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 go down to the first floor. was there any other tampering done that night? well, the door that was adjacent to where this cam was located-- that door also had been propped open that night. keith morrison: how do you know that? richard spivey: 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 not working again. and at about 6:35 that morning, suddenly, that camera's pointing straight at the ceiling. same camera? same camera. and it's tampered with yet again. keith morrison (voiceover): yet that was jason young's word. 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 and 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 of the night clerk-- and came across a woman named gracie dahms in a tiny place called king, north carolina. she took one look at that photograph and recognized it 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 am, the 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 into the store. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. the state bureau of investigation and the fbi were able to eventually identify that shoe as a hushpuppy orbital shoe. and it was a size 12, which was the same size that he wore. keith morrison (voiceover): throughout the investigation, 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. richard spivey: 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. keith morrison (voiceover): investigators had heard enough. they believe 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 away. craig melvin: coming up, the case against jason young as an alleged killer and as a cheating husband. we had an investment relationship for the two days that he was there. we ended up having sex. he never settled down. craig melvin: when "dateline" continues. dupixent helps people with asthma breathe better in as little as 2 weeks. so this is better. that too. dupixent is an add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma. it works with your asthma medicine to help improve lung function. dupixent is not for sudden breathing problems and doesn't replace a rescue inhaler. it's proven to help prevent asthma attacks. severe allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for face, mouth, tongue or throat swelling,

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how are folks 60 and older having fun these days? family cookouts! ♪♪ playing games! ♪♪ dancing in the par... (high pitched sound)

(high pitched sound) (high pitched sound)

keith morrison (voiceover): jason young (high pitched sound) 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. becky holt: the defendant had a plan. his plan was to murder his wife. his plan was to get away with it. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 of 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. becky holt: were you aware of tensions in that marriage?

yeah, i was well aware. keith morrison (voiceover): meredith fisher, michelle's sister, live 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. becky holt: 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 he was upset about the lack of sex in the relationship. keith morrison (voiceover): and at parties, said fionna childs, jason's x-rated tricks were famously over-the-top. 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. becky holt: 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. we basically just hung out at the house, and we had an intimate relationship for the two days that he was there. keith morrison (voiceover): jason was crazy about her, his friend josh dalton said. he basically told me that he thought

he was in love with her. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. she had her head on my lap, and she was lying there, and i was stroking her hair. and she was empty. becky young: and what did she tell you? things weren't really working out with jason. keith morrison (voiceover): two days before she was murdered, michelle phoned her sister meredith to report yet another blow-up with jason. meredith fisher: she was just, i've had it. she said that more than one time-- i just-- i can't do this anymore. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 hook-up with an old friend named carol anne sowerby in his own living room. michelle was away at the time. carol anne sowerby: cassidy was put down to bed, and we had a couple drinks, just were talking, and [crying] we ended up having sex. keith morrison (voiceover): but divorce was apparently not an option for jason. 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. becky young: and did he indicate to you that he would have some concerns about ever being able to see cassidy again? correct. keith morrison (voiceover): still, one big question remained-- was a good-time guy like jason young even capable of murder? genevieve cargol was engaged to jason in 1999

before he met michelle, and she took the stand to testify about a fight they'd had 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 give me my ring back. becky young: 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. craig melvin: coming up, jason young finally breaks his silence as he takes the stand to testify. bryan collins: did you kill your wife michelle? no, sir. bryan collins: were you there when it happened? no, sir.

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president-elect donald trump saying that he had other republicans who would seek to permanently eliminate daylight savings time. trump calling daylight saving inconvenient and costly to the nation. travis timmerman, the missing american who was unexpectedly found in syria earlier this week was flown in by the u.s. military friday. he revealed that he was held in prison for the last seven months and was subsequently freed on monday after forces took control of damascus. for now, back to dateline. dat. s

to the stand-- women who share the details of their extramarital affairs. but the defense had a star witness of its own. after five long years, jason young was about to break his silence. here again, is keith morrison with "silent witness." what the prosecution didn't tell you-- keith morrison (voiceover): 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 defense attorney mike klinkosum do? well, to begin with, as he told the jury, he agreed with the prosecution. jason young was not a good husband. mike klinkosum: he acted, at times, like an immature jerk, but that does not make him a killer. keith morrison (voiceover): the defense was not about to make any more concessions, mind you. that jewelry box in the bedroom? there was dna on it. 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. 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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-- in almost five years, silent. beth karas: it's always a big decision for defense attorneys whether or not to call their client. keith morrison (voiceover): 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-- finally, after all this time. right. and if he's truly innocent, get on the stand and tell the story. we call jason young.

keith morrison (voiceover): 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. bryan collins: did you kill your wife michelle? no, sir. bryan collins: were you there when it happened? no, sir. keith morrison (voiceover): but what about jason's missing hush puppies that matched the partial shoe print? he no longer owned them, he said. bryan collins: are those the shoes that you had on on november the 2nd. no, sir. keith morrison (voiceover): they were all ratty, he said. he 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 chord for his laptop. i was going over the sales call that i had the next day. keith morrison (voiceover): the second trip, he testified, was to smoke a cigar. jason young: 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.

keith morrison (voiceover): that newspaper run explained why he was seen at the front desk, he said, around midnight. bryan collins: 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. and i realized i didn't bring those papers. bryan collins: 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. voicemail: friday, november 3rd-- keith morrison (voiceover): he left meredith a voicemail. jason (recording): if you could do me a huge favor and get over there and see if you can find it sitting there on the computer. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. [crying] i just-- i just-- i just fell. i just-- i just-- i broke on the inside. i just broke, and i didn't believe it. keith morrison (voiceover): family members drove him back to raleigh. during the drive, he said, his friends called. jason young: 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. bryan collins: and did you take that advice? yes, sir, i did. bryan collins: did he also tell you not to talk to anybody about the case? that's, actually, exactly what he said. he said, don't talk to anybody about anything.

keith morrison (voiceover): 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. bryan collins: did you have any designs in your own mind of leaving michelle young for michelle money? no, sir. bryan collins: all right, describe why not. i think we both knew it was wrong. i don't think either one dreamed that it would ever be found out. pushing me around-- keith morrison (voiceover): as for that violent episode with his ex-fianc e, jason had an explanation for it. bryan collins: 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. bryan collins: ok, 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. keith morrison (voiceover): and they questioned him about the most important woman in his life. bryan collins: did you want to stay married to michelle?

yes, i did. i wanted to have another baby, and i wanted the family to grow. keith morrison (voiceover): he also explained why he gave up custody of his daughter without a fight. bryan collins: were you able to afford a lawyer for a full-blown custody battle? no, sir. i had-- due to the media and some of the internet website-- the job that i had, i lost it. keith morrison (voiceover): his testimony lasted three hours. beth karas: 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. keith morrison (voiceover): how did jason young do? 12 jurors were about to decide. craig melvin: coming up, becky young: were you working on your marriage when you were having sex with carol anne sowerby in your home? narrator: when "dateline" continues. finish ultimate, engineered for the toughest conditions. dry, burnt-on stains, old dishwashers, very hard water. finish ultimate with cyclesync technology helps deliver the ultimate clean. (♪♪) my kids can't hide anything from me. i'm home! especially when they've been using toilet paper that doesn't hold up. new charmin ultra strong has a diamond-weave texture that's more durable and it cleans better* so you can use less. enjoy the go with charmin.

keith morrison (voiceover): it was riveting. so you can use less. almost five years of silence about his wife's murder-- i went back to my room. keith morrison (voiceover): --broken here in this courtroom. i loved cassidy, and i loved michelle.

and then, he went to murder his wife. keith morrison (voiceover): now, prosecutor becky hope began pulling apart his story she had just heard for the first time. becky holt: were you working on your marriage when you were having sex with carol anne 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. becky holt: 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. becky holt: 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. keith morrison (voiceover): the cross-examination lasted a full hour. and the next day, the case went to the jury. judge stephens: retire to the jury deliberation room. keith morrison (voiceover): it soon became clear that jurors were having trouble. judge stephens: the plaintiff indicated that y'all have not yet reached a unanimous decision--

keith morrison (voiceover): the jurors were split six to six. the judge sent them back to try to make it unanimous. everybody else remain. let the jurors leave first. thank you. keith morrison (voiceover): but hours later, they were back, and courtroom 3c was still. judge stephens: it appears that they are hopelessly deadlocked at this point. keith morrison (voiceover): eight jurors had voted for acquittal, four voted guilty. judge stephens declared a mistrial. keith morrison: was serious consideration given to dropping the case? i think there was serious consideration as to, is there more we can do? keith morrison (voiceover): 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. howard cummings: put your left hand on the bible and raise your right hand. keith morrison (voiceover): but first, prosecutors

called that night clerk at the gas station, gracie, who remembered jason complaining about the locked pumps. gracie: when he came in to pay, he started cussing and raising cain. keith morrison (voiceover): and what time did this happen? that was about, 5:00, 5:30 in the morning. keith morrison (voiceover): that time when jason said he was at the hotel. judge stephens: call the next witness. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. when i got to cassidy, i said, what are you doing? daycare worker ashley palmatier took the stand. ashley palmatier: i noticed what she was doing. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 him. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. keith morrison: 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 that killed the mother, we felt, cared about cassidy. keith morrison (voiceover): fionna childs took the stand. prosecutors pressed her about a life insurance policy jason arranged. it did raise a red flag-- keith morrison (voiceover): and michelle had questions. -- that she brought up, specifically, her life insurance. she brought it up several times, asking me, didn't i think that $1 million was too much and, did they really need that? keith morrison (voiceover): after michelle died, fionna found out the true amount of the policy was actually $4 million. fiona childs: i was just, like, in total shock. like, that is incredibly excessive. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 six, again, reading verbatim from the record, "in the early morning hours of november 3rd, 2006, jason young brutally murdered michelle young at their residence." keith morrison (voiceover): 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. beth karas: 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?

keith morrison (voiceover): and the prosecutor made sure the jury heard just who signed that ruling. howard cummings: --a reading from this document, which was signed, actually, by judge stephens. keith morrison (voiceover): judge stephens-- the very judge sitting before them in this trial. beth karas: the jury hearing that, 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. keith morrison (voiceover): prosecutors also called the attorney involved in that custody case over daughter cassidy. and those same allegations were repeated yet again. beth karas: the jury heard several times through these two civil complaints that jason young brutally murdered michelle fisher young. keith morrison (voiceover): but the headline act came when prosecutors played jason young's entire testimony from the first trial-- i wanted her to have that-- keith morrison (voiceover): --and began to rip apart. i don't remember. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 auction? they called sergeant spivey to the stand. that auction was going to end 8:00 o'clock pm eastern standard time. judge stephens: and what day was that? that was on november the 2nd, 2006. keith morrison (voiceover): just hours before the murder. now, prosecutors tried to prove jason lied about his reasons for leaving the hotel room. i didn't pull the door all the way-- keith morrison (voiceover): in his original testimony, he told the court he left the first time to get a power chord for his laptop. lawyer: why was it that you wanted to look on your laptop? i was going over the sales call that i had the next day. keith morrison (voiceover): but special agent mike smith took the stand to say young didn't use his laptop for work that night. mike smith: it's an internet site dedicated to sports. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. prosecution: 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, it was, i think, a suit jacket. prosecution: ok. that was the only outerwear that i'm aware of. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. i've had memory problems since i was six because i've been through a lot with myself, and my kids, and my ex-husband. keith morrison (voiceover): the defense also argued that 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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?

it showed that jason young actually owned a humidor, and he'd once made a purchase at a cigar store. you have ample evidence before you that jason young is not guilty. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. craig melvin: coming up, the verdict, take two. juror: we jury by unanimous verdict find the defendant jason lynn young to be-- craig melvin: when "dateline" continues. [coughing] copd is an ugly reality. do you have his medical history? i watch as his world just keeps getting smaller. but then, trelegy helped us see things a little differently. with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy keeps airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare-ups. once-daily trelegy also improves lung function, so he can breathe more freely all day and night.

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keith morrison (voiceover): 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. fiona childs: 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. keith morrison (voiceover): one jury failed to decide. and now, attorneys were making their final arguments to a second jury. defense lawyer: 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 was a mad, mad domestic abuser. keith morrison (voiceover): soon, that jury was behind closed doors in the wake

county superior court. after two days, they were back with a verdict. juror: we the jury by a unanimous verdict find the defendant jason lynn young to be guilty of first degree murder of michelle-- keith morrison (voiceover): 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. fionna, at home, got the news from a friend. they said he's guilty. i was like, what? what? keith morrison (voiceover): 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. prosecutor: it's very emotional. i had family members there who we'd been working with for 5 and 1/2 years.

and they finally have justice, you know? becky holt: we've been telling them for years, just trust. just trust that it'll be the right result. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. keith morrison (voiceover): december 2013, jason young's new attorneys launched his appeal. who is the killer? is jason young the person responsible for miss young's death? and you know, it seems fundamentally unfair. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 marie fisher young. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. and the jury came to the right verdict, and we're confident it will stand. keith morrison (voiceover): but she was wrong. newscaster: a raleigh man is getting a third trial in the death of his pregnant wife. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. that law says you cannot use a civil complaint, a civil allegation, as proof in a criminal case. keith morrison (voiceover): but a year later, the state supreme court reversed the appeal's 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, mommy. michelle young: i love you, too, cassidy. keith morrison (voiceover): but children know little of the arcane world of motions and appeals. cassidy has grown-- her father, her mother, snatches of memory, ever father away. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. [music playing] welcome to this saturday edition of morning joe heard let's get right to some of the conversations you may have missed this