so what could the defense attorney, mike clinkson, do? well, to begin with, 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. reporter: 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 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. 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. reporter: who better to make the argument than jason young himself.
he was a great playmate. he knew how to sit on the floor and play with his daughter, you know? reporter: 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. but just a few months later, michelle was dead. jason was 170 miles away in virginia on a business trip the night of the murder. he heard the news the next afternoon and returned to raleigh. stacia grossman got word from her mother. my mother called and said michelle is dead. and i said, michelle who? some celebrity? like what are you talking about?
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. at 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, wanted to limit
but so far, remember, he had never said a word to anyone about the november night and almost five years silence. it is always a big decision for defense attorneys whether or not to call their clients. reporter 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. 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 partial shoe print? he no longer owned them, he said. are those the shoes you had on november 2nd? no, sir. reporter: they were all ratty, he said. told michelle to give them to goodwill. as for the night
and we ended up having sex. reporter: but divorce was apparently not an option for jason. he had made a statement at one time that he was afraid if he ever got a divorce that michelle would take cassidy and move back to new york. and did he indicate to you that he would have concerns about seeing cassidy again? correct. reporter: still, one big question remained. was a good time guy like jason young even capable of murder? genevieve cargo was engaged to jason in 1999 before he met michelle and she took the stand to testify about a fight over jason s excessive drinking. he became agitated and said something to the effect of if i am going to make such a terrible husband, then give me my ring back. did you give it to the defendant? no. he began trying to pull the ring off.