by NC WANTED Staff

Posted: Dec 5, 2008
Updated: Dec 5, 2008

Warrants unsealed Friday in the murder of Michelle Young suggest that Jason Young may have drugged his then 2-year-old daughter Cassidy during the attack.

Crime scene investigators found a bottle of Extra Strength Adult Rapid Blast Liquid on a shelf in Cassidy's room, the warrants state. A dropper found next to the bottle had residue in it, suggesting the liquid had been given to the child.

Investigators believe that "the medication was delivered to the child under the mistaken belief that it would cause drowsiness. Once the child was asleep, the perpetrator would have been able to commit or continue their attack without worrying about interference from the child," the July 25, 2007 warrant states.

The warrants unsealed Friday were: a February 8, 2007 search warrant for Jason Young's email; a July 5, 2007 warrant for Jason Young's cell phone records; a July 25, 2007 warrant for Cassidy Young's DNA; and a July 25, 2007 search warrant for Michelle Young's SUV.

The warrant for Michelle's SUV states that Meredith Fisher, Michelle's sister who found her body in the couple's bedroom on November 3, 2006, found Cassidy under the sheets in the couple's bed. Her feet were clean, even though investigators found small bloody footprints in the child's bathroom.

"This would lead to a logical conclusion that the child had been carried from one room to the other in lieu of the amount of blood left on the bathroom floor," the warrant states. "In order to maintain the clean condition that the child was discovered, removal from the scene would have been the simplest action."

This prompted investigators to issue the warrant for Michelle's SUV, which they believe may have been used to remove Cassidy from the scene.

Jason Young is a suspect in the November 2006 murder of his wife, Michelle. The case is recapturing headlines after Michelle's mother, Linda Fisher, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Jason last month.

A previous warrant was issued November 6, 2008, to search Jason's former work computer after an initial search of his home computer in 2006 uncovered that Jason had conducted Internet searches for the following terms prior to Michelle's murder: "head trauma knockout," "the anatomy of a knockout," "right posterior parietal occipital region" (back of the head), and "divorce."

In that warrant, investigators cited email exchanges between Jason and his sister and between Jason and Michelle Money, his wife's sorority sister with whom he was allegedly having an extramarital relationship, to establish probable cause that Jason was involved in his wife's death.

In emails to his sister, Kim Young, the November warrant states, Jason praises his then-attorney, Roger Smith in Raleigh.

"His ONLY concern is for me and that hopefully there will NEVER be an arrest," Jason wrote. Later, he added, "I hired a good attorney... and I haven't been arrested even though it's been obvious that the focus has been on me."

At this time, it is unclear whether Jason Young has hired any legal representation in this wrongful death lawsuit.  Smith had been listed as Jason Young's attorney when Young was forced to comply with a court order that named him a suspect in Michelle's death.

The wrongful death lawsuit states, "In the early morning hours of November 3, 2006, Jason Young brutally murdered Michelle Young at their residence [in Wake County]."

Jason Young was given 30 days to file a written answer to Fisher's lawsuit.

The deadline passed earllier this week.

In a WRAL News report, one of Fisher's attorneys, Jack Michaels, said Jason Young's silence means that Young has essentially admitted to the claims against him.

It is also unclear what impact Jason Young's failure to respond to Linda Fisher's lawsuit will have on the criminal case.  In many cases, a murder trial would precede the outcome of a wrongful death case.

Jason Young's silence is consistent with what investigators have described as Young's ongoing lack of cooperation in the investigation of his wife's murder.

On November 3, 2006, the body of Michelle Marie Fisher Young was found bludgeoned inside her bedroom in the couple's Wake County home. 

Court records have revealed the discovery of DNA and shoe prints linking Jason Young to the murder scene.

For over two years, investigators have wanted Jason Young to provide details about his wife's daily habits and routines, but they say he has refused to speak with them to provide any information that would be helpful to the case. 

Investigators have also wanted Jason Young to explain his whereabouts the night of his wife's murder.

NC WANTED is following this case and will post the latest details as they become available.

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.