Transcripts for MSNBC Dateline 20200831 05:22:45 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
get started with secure 35-megabit internet and one voice line for just $64.90 per month. call today. comcast business. beyond fast. reporter: 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.
jason young brutally murdered michelle young at their residence. reporter: 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. 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? reporter: 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 stephens. reporter: judge stephens, the very judge sitting before them in this trial. the jury hearing that, it s just something that s going to carry a lot of weight. this is the complaint that
on the other side of the court, michelle young s bereaved mother and sister wept. fiona at home got the news from a friend. they said, he s guilty. i was like, what? what? reporter: 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. i was very emotional. you have family members there who you ve been working with for 5 1/2 years. and they finally had justice, you know? we have been telling them for years, just trust. just trust that it ll be the right result. 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.
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 ever being able to see cassidy again? correct. reporter: one 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. she took the stand to testify about a fight they 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. did you give it to the defendant? no. he began trying to pull the ring off.