By NC WANTED Staff

Posted: Nov 3, 2009
Updated: Dec. 14, 2009

NC Wanted has received more information about the sequence of events for the arrest of Jason Young.

Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby's office and lead investigators presented evidence to a Wake County Grand Jury this Monday morning, December 14, 2009. The evidence convinced the Grand Jury to recommend charging Jason Young with first-degree murder in the death of his late wife, Michelle Young.

A superior court judge signed the order for arrest shortly thereafter today. Officers and special agents had Jason Young under surveillance prior to this indictment, and were in position to quickly take him into custody. Young is now being transported, Monday afternoon, to Wake County to appear before a magistrate to establish a bond, booking and processing for the first-degree murder charge.

It is believed Young will make his first appearance before a Wake County judge some time tomorrow (Tuesday).

From previous reports:

Husband charged in Wake County mother's slaying

Posted: Today at 1:51 p.m.
Updated: Today at 3:14 p.m.

Raleigh, N.C. — Jason Young, the husband of Michelle Young, a pregnant Wake County woman killed in her home more than three years ago, was charged Monday in her slaying.

Authorities arrested Jason Young in Brevard, N.C., after a grand jury indicted him on a charge of first-degree murder, Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison said.

Michelle Young, 29, was five months' pregnant when she was found beaten to death in her home on Nov. 3, 2006. Her then-2-year-old daughter, Cassidy, was found unharmed in the home.

Harrison said Transylvania County and Wake County deputies pulled Jason Young over at about 1:30 p.m., while he was driving and detained him without incident. He is expected to arrive in Wake County early Monday evening for booking.

Jason Young has long been a suspect in his wife's death, and in March, a Wake County judge awarded her family $15.5 million in damages in a wrongful death suit against him.

According to court documents in the case, he told investigators he was out of town on business when his wife was killed.

Testifying during a hearing regarding the wrongful death lawsuit, sheriff's investigator R.C. Spivey called the slaying "particularly brutal."

"(It was) the most severe physical beating I've ever seen someone encounter," he said. "This [was] pretty extreme, a pretty vicious attack that she underwent."

An autopsy found Michelle Young died from blunt force trauma to the head after being hit at least 10 times. The report also suggests that her killer tried to strangle her before beating her to death.

Harrison said investigators have worked hard on the case over the past three years and that "everything had to be just right" before they could make the arrest.

Calls to Michelle Young's mother, Linda Fisher, and sister, Meredith Fisher, were not immediately returned Monday afternoon. Calls to Jason Young's attorney, Roger Smith Jr., also went unreturned.

In February, Jason Young and Linda Fisher reached an agreement that placed Cassidy, now 5, in the primary custody of Meredith Fisher.

If you have any information about the murder of Michelle Young, call NC WANTED toll free at 1.866.43.WANTED (1.866.439.2683) or click on "Report a Tip" Your identity can be kept confidential.