weapon found, the prosecution s case was built on that partial shoe print. they knew 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 the suspicious activity at the hotel, but the thrust of their case was this. jason young was trying in the most violent possible way to get out of a troubled marriage. were you aware of tensions in that marriage? yes. i was well aware. reporter: meredith fisher, michelle s sister, lived near the couple. and for a period was cassidy s nanny. as the young s fights intensified, she took on the role of 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
not to call their clients. reporter: beth carris is a former prosecutor and legal analyst. she covered the trial. this is a case that really begged for jason young to testify. if he is innocent. reporter: after all this time. if he is truly innocent, get on the stand and tell the story. we call jason young. reporter: with his mother 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 you there when it happened? no, sir. reporter: what about jason s missing hushpuppies that match the shoe print? he no longer owned them. are those the shoes you had on november 2nd? no, sir. they were all ratty. reporter: they were all ratty. told michelle to give them to goodwill. as for the night of the murder, after she checked into the hotel, he left his room twice. the first time to get a power cord for his laptop. i was going over the sales call i had the next da
one night in november, 2006, while her husband was away on business, michelle young was attacked in her 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 had 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 that work in law enforcement, this is our profession, but we re also parents. that certainly strikes a different note with you when you see something like that. 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 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.
reporter: the second trip he testified was to smoke a cigar. i had to go outside to smoke a cigar. i also wanted to look at sports schedules and some standings and so i wanted to see if i could pick up the usa today as well. reporter: the newspaper run explains why he was seen at the lobby round midnight. between the time you smoked the cigar, went back upstairs and went to sleep, did you leave the room until the next morning? no, sir. reporter: the next morning he realized he had left e-bay printouts on the computer at home. they showed purses thinking of buying one for michelle as belated anniversary. i realize i didn t bring the papers. why was it important to you somebody get the papers? because i wanted it to be a surprise. a surprise to michelle means so much more. reporter: noon, november 3rd. he called his sister-in-law, meredith, from the car and asked
reporter: 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. reporter: december 2013. jason young s new attorneys launched his appeal. who is the killer? is jason young the person responsible for ms. young s death? it seems fundamentally unfair. reporter: 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. 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. the jury came to the right