The Murder of Michelle Young

It is written, there is nothing new under the sun. These cases of husbands murdering their pregnant wives keep reminding me of that fact. I'm weary of them. Weary of all crime. So weary that I was hesitant to write yet another blog entry about yet another young woman whose life has been cut short at the whim of a selfish mate. So now you're probably wondering why I'm forging ahead. I learned of this murder via a post at Websleuths crime forum. After following the link and Googling other news reports about the murder of Michelle Marie Young and her unborn son, I found one site that provided an mp3 file of the 911 call made by Meredith Fisher, the victim's sister. This woman was clearly in a state of shocked disbelief throughout the call, struggling to remain composed in the face of the horrible scene she'd discovered and provide critical information to the 911 operator.

"I just came here on a fluke."
At approximately 1:30 pm, Meredith entered her sister and brother-in-law's Wake County, North Carolina, residence at the request of Jason Young, Michelle's husband and father to the couple's two-year-old daughter. It seems Jason wanted Meredith to intercept a fax, ostensibly pertaining to a gift for his 20-week-pregnant wife, to prevent Michelle, who should have been at work on a Friday afternoon, from seeing it and ruining the surprise. It didn't take Meredith long to realize that something was very wrong. Ms. Fisher told the 911 dispatcher who took her call that the dog was "freaking out" when she arrived. Small bloody footprints were tracked throughout the house, and Meredith discovered two-year-old Cassidy beside her mother's body, face down in the master bedroom. There was blood everywhere, including beneath a pillow in the bed. At the direction of the dispatcher, Meredith attempted to turn Michelle over in order to render aid, but the body was in an advanced state of rigor mortis, freezing the limbs in such a position as to make it very difficult to turn her. As Meredith relayed this information to the dispatcher and stated that her sister was cold to the touch, he informed the shocked and distressed, but remarkably composed, woman that it wouldn't be necessary. He advised her not to touch anything else in the house and connected her with the local sheriff's office who already had responding officers en route to the residence.

Investigators have learned that Michelle had a guest at the home until approximately 10:30 pm, though they have not yet revealed the identity of that guest or the nature of the visit. It was also reported that Jason Young allegedly left home on a business trip on Thursday night. Police have not yet revealed the time of his departure nor provided any details in support of his alibi. On Friday afternoon, Jason was at his parents' home in Brevard some 275 miles away in the mountains of North Carolina. According to his step-father, Jason fell to his knees in their front yard upon hearing the news of Michelle's murder. Jason is a salesman. We're to believe that he left home Thursday night for parts unknown to conduct business on Friday before arriving at his mother's home, a five hour drive from Raleigh, that afternoon.

Now to the point of what prompted me to write this entry. After listening to Meredith's 911 call and educating myself on the reported facts of the crime, I returned to the discussion thread at Websleuths only to find that a few of the posters there were maligning the victim's sister -- commenting that she was waaaay too calm in reporting her sister's murder and speculating that she may have been romantically involved with Jason. Needless to say, I was (and am) appalled. In response to making clear my feelings about it, I got several excuses and explanations from other participants. Paraphrasing:

• It's way too early to pin this on the husband.
• People who know the couple have stated that they'll be shocked if it turns out to be him.
• This is a crime forum; we speculate about everyone involved.
• Meredith found the body. That automatically makes her a suspect.

This comment by christine2448, in particular, irked me:

I truly am sorry you feel those of us sleuthing out all the people involved in a case is despicable, I disagree.

Of course the husbands car is being looked at, If I were LE he'd be my prime suspect right now and I'd be looking at EVERYTHING of his. We don't know that the sisters car hasn't been checked, or won't be...not everything is reported/released to media, and that is where we get most of our info.

Of course the husband is being finger printed, as I'm sure the sister was and I'm sure others and more to come.

Of course the police are talking to the husband, I am SURE they are also talking to the sister and every other Jane, Dick and Harry that the deceased knew, especially the sister, who was the 1st on the scene.

As far as the husband running of in the middle of the night, I am understanding, correct me if I'm wrong, there was company at the house until 10:30....I don't remember, what time did the husband say he left? Was it in the middle of the night?

Of course the husband lawyered up, I woulda.

Yes, Christine, by all means, ignore the husband's illogical and flimsy alibi. Overlook the fact that police had to have had probable cause in order to convince a judge to allow them to impound his vehicle and confiscate all of its contents. Toss aside the fact that there are no signs of forced entry into the house. Disregard investigators express interest in interviewing Jason Young. Brush off today's report that police were taking fingerprints, and possibly collecting other specimens, from Jason Young. It makes so much more sense to cast aspersions on the victim's sister based solely on your perception of her comportment in the midst of horrific circumstances.

**Exercising restraint to refrain from typing expletives here**

That's it in a nutshell. If I could properly collect my thoughts, I'd write more, but I have no time or focus now. Discuss at will, and I'll check in later.

Note added at 8:57 pm, CT

I just realized that I was in such a rush to post this entry that I neglected to provide any links to sources. I apologize for that omission and will provide them as soon as I can find time to do so tomorrow.