I was astonished. It wasnt an accident. Its not natural, its not right. Reporter and the most chilling part . Do you think heather would still be alive if she hadnt gone through this transformation . Gosh. Reporter the motive behind it all but first my mother called and said, michelles dead. Reporter how is that possible . A young mother, found brutally murdered. Her little girl left to wander in her mothers blood. Police had a suspect. And, they say, he had a motive. We had an intimate relationship. We ended up having sex. Reporter but could they prove he was a killer . It was a circumstantial case. Reporter except for that witness, the girl who left those footprints. Well never know what cassidy saw and what she didnt see. Reporter maybe she couldnt tell detectives who the killer was. Maybe she didnt have to. The fact that cassidy was spared, would that mean anything to a jury . Reporter the person that had killed the mother cared about cassidy. And now a stunning new twist in the case. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres Keith Morrison with silent witness. 3 f2 esto esto dietateline, vamos con el and just let the reality of what was going on sink in. Reporter those who saw the footprints will not forget them. They were tiny. And they were bloody. I had to get my composure to finish searching this house to make sure there was nobody else in the house. Reporter it was the third of november, 2006. Early afternoon. Deputy scott earp of the Wake County Sheriffs Department had been dispatched to a quiet and leafy neighborhood called enchanted oaks, outskirts of raleigh, North Carolina. Here because of the 911 call from this place, on birchleaf drive. I think my sisters dead. Okay, tell me what happened, maam. I have no idea. Oh my god. Reporter the caller was Meredith Fisher. She had just discovered, on the floor of the master bedroom, the savagely beaten body of her elder sister, 29yearold Michelle Young. A woman who, in death, was about to be famous. Listen to me, maam. Im going to tell you what to do, but you need to calm down so we can help her. You said theres blood everywhere . Yes. Listen to me, maam. Im listening. Is she breathing . I dont think so. Have you checked . Michelle . Shes cold. Okay. Reporter as she spoke meredith was cradling her 2andahalf year old niece cassidy, who had crawled out from under the bedclothes on her parents bed, just feet from where her mother lay. Cassidys voice, chattering to her aunt, was caught on the recorded call. She got booboos everywhere. Reporter had cassidy witnessed the murder . Or awakened, alone, to find this . You just picture a small child Walking Around in this blood and tracking that across the hallway over into the bathroom. Reporter by now wake county investigators were descending on the house. And having secured the crime scene, earps job was done. But on his way out, he saw cassidy again. She was still in her pink pajamas, still in merediths arms. He asked meredith a question. I kind of looked over the child. I didnt see any blood, so i asked her, did you clean the child . And her response was no. And i thought it kind of odd, because i was expecting her to say yes i guess. Reporter somebody did. Yeah, somebody did. Reporter but who . Was it the same person who murdered the little girls mother . On this november day, all they had were questions. Sergeant Richard Spivey of the Wake County Sheriffs 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. Reporter why do you say a lot of time and energy . The medical examiner said there were over 30 blows with some sort of blunt object. Reporter 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. Reporter Statia Grossman knew her from childhood. She didnt like being the center of attention, but she liked creating a great atmosphere for everyone to have a good time. Reporter michelle was a cheerleader in high school and a straight a student. Jennifer powers felt drawn to her. You know, while she had this kind of bookworm side to her where she was very studious and goaloriented, 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. Reporter 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. And theres this one picture, and its like it just came out beautiful. And we liked it because we thought we kind of looked like charlies angels pose without intentionally doing that. Reporter it was sometime in 2001 when friends started hearing about michelles new guy, a fellow student named jason young. Heard how hed 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. They seemed like a good couple. He was different from other men that shed dated in the past. He wasnt 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. Reporter 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. And when she came along, it was love at first sight. Yay yay mother. Huh . Huh . [ laughter ] 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. Reporter the youngs moved into the fine big house on birchleaf in 2005. Both of them worked, he a salesman, she as 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 hes excited to have another baby. Not implying that she was pregnant, but that he was excited at the prospect of it. So he seemed excited. Reporter 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. My mother called and said, michelles dead. And i said, michelle who . Some celebrity . Like, what are you talking about . Like like, what do you mean like, how is that possible . What happened . You know . Reporter the very questions that wake county investigators were asking themselves. When we come back a Security Camera provides a critical clue. Its not what it caught on tape. Its what it missed, and why. There was a camera that had been unplugged. Reporter who had something to hide . And you admit that . Yeah. I. I used to be into bedazzling. Ill go get your phone. Get the iphone 6 with rollover data to share. Only from at t. I know what youre thinking, but this is the improved i cant believe its not butter 100 taste, 0 artificial preservatives. Made with a blend of delicious oils, purified water, and just a pinch of salt. Two, please. I cant believe its not butter. 100 taste, 0 artificial preservatives. Ive smoked a lot and quit a lot, but ended up nowhere. Now i use this. The nicoderm cq patch, with unique extended release Technology Helps prevent the urge to smoke all day. I want this time to be my last time. Thats why i choose nicoderm cq. Curling up in bed with a. Favorite book is nice. But i think women would rather curl up with their favorite man. But heres the thing about half of men over 40 have some degree of erectile dysfunction. Well, viagra helps guys with ed get and keep an erection. And remember, you only take it when you need it. Ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. Do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in Blood Pressure side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach and abnormal vision. To avoid longterm injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. Stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. Ask your doctor about viagra. Reporter 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 twoandahalf 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 who work in law enforcement, this is our profession. But were also parents. That certainly strikes a different note with you when you see Something Like that. Reporter michelles 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 she was found. He called Meredith Fisher to go to the house. Reporter jason youngs business trip that night was routine. Security tape 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, well, she was he was 170 miles away. Hes 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 twoandahalf hours. Reporter perhaps. But there were curious anomalies at the crime scene. They couldnt explain them. A jewelry box was missing two drawers. Was it a bungled burglary . Then there were footprints near the body that seemed to eliminate jason. An obvious print, on a pillow, was a size ten. But jason wore a size 12. But, this was weird. There was another partial footprint 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 jasons marriage was strained. And in the last weeks of michelles life, things were not good. At our friend shelleys 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 three. Reporter 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 motherinlaw, wanted to limit her stay. And said so in an email, along with another nugget. He wrote, our marriage has seen better days and i dont see it trending up. And i remember that really striking a chord with me because i didnt 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 counsel, he declined to speak with us at all. Reporter didnt ask about her . Didnt ask how his wife died . No. Reporter 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. Reporter really . Yes. It was one of the side exits of the hotel, one of the fire stairs that go down to the first floor. Reporter was there any other tampering done in well, the door that was adjacent to where this cameras located, that door also had been propped open that night. Reporter how do you know that . 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 its now working again. And at about 6 35 that morning, suddenly that cameras pointing straight at the ceiling. Reporter same camera . Same camera. And its tampered with yet again. Reporter if that was jason youngs work, is it possible he did make the 340mile round trip, could he have killed his wife, and cleaned up his daughter, all in sevenandahalf hours, without ever being seen . To find out, investigators played a hunch. They visited every gas station along the route. Showed jasons photo. Talked to the night clerks. And came across a woman named gracie dahms in a tiny place called king, North Carolina. She took one look at the 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 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 into the store. Reporter if that attendant was right, investigators may have undercut jasons alibi. Still it wasnt 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 hush puppy orbital shoe. And it was a size 12, which is the same size that he wore. Throughout the investigation, jason steadfastly maintained his silence. And rather than face a legal battle where he would be asked some tough questions, spivey said, he even gave michelles 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. Reporter investigators had heard enough. They believed they had a case circumstantial, but a case. And three years after Michelle Youngs body was found on the bedroom floor, jason young was charged with her murder. Investigators and prosecutor 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 had an intimate relationship for the two days that he was there. We ended up having sex. He never settled down. Reporter when dateline continues. Mt. Hood was left off the list. So was the oregon coast, the Columbia River gorge and the painted hills. Smith rock and the wallowas are all missing. Whoever named the seven wonders never set foot in oregon because even crater lake was left off their list. So we see your wonders world and raise you seven of our own. The seven wonders of oregon. See one, or better yet see them all. Reporter jason young went on trial for the murder of his pregnant wife michelle in june 2011. By then, hed spent 18 months in a jail cell. The guy who lived for tailgates, the guy who loved to party, that guy was long gone. Prosecutor becky holt opened for the state. The defendant had a plan. His plan was to murder his wife. And his plan was to get away with it. Reporter with no murder weapon found, the prosecutions case was built on that partial shoeprint. 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 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 wellaware. Reporter Meredith Fisher, michelles sister, lived near the couple and for a period was cassidys nanny. As the youngs fights intensified, she took on the role of marriage counselor, too. What would you say were the main issues . Michelles main issues were jason being more responsible, understanding her more. And his main concern was their lack of sex life. Reporter 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. Reporter and at parties, said fiona childs, jasons xrated tricks were famously over the top. I never observed it myself. I would 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 bought into the marriage and what all that meant. Reporter 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 Youngs Close Friends from college, one of those charlies 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, his friend josh alton said. He basically told me he thought he was in love with her. Michelles mother testified in the final weeks of her life she could see the toll the marriage was taking on her 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 werent working out with jason. Reporter two days before she was murdered, michelle phoned her sister meredith to report yet another blowup with jason. She was just, ive had it. She said that more than, you know, one time. I cant do this anymore. Reporter jason