Slaying victim's husband linked to another woman

The husband of a Wake County woman found beaten to death in her home last month was having a "relationship" with a Florida woman in the months leading up to his wife's death, according to search warrants made public this week.

The warrants also say that Wake County Sheriff's investigators have found Jason Lynn Young "uncooperative" with their efforts to determine who killed his pregnant wife, Michelle Fisher Young. She was found dead Nov. 3 in the couple's home at 5108 Birchleaf Drive near Lake Wheeler.

Jason Young, 32, a salesman, told deputies he left his wife and 3-year-old daughter Cassidy for a business trip that included a stop at his mother and stepfather's home in Western North Carolina the night before his wife was found.

Days after Michelle Young's death, a judge ordered Jason Young to submit evidence that could have included fingerprints and a blood sample.

A friend in Florida

According to the search warrants, Jason Young was in almost daily contact with Michelle Money of Ocoee, Fla., by phone or e-mail in the three months before his wife's death. Sheriff's investigators have obtained a search warrant to seize any computers and related equipment at Money's home in Florida.

Wake County Sheriff's Maj. Richard Johnson would not be more specific about the relationship between Money and Jason Young. "It's pretty self-explanatory," Johnson said Thursday. "The average person can read the search warrant and make up their own mind."

Investigators seized two cell phones from Jason Young's Ford Explorer to check the call records and voice mail on the accounts, according to the warrants. They hope to use the phone records in part to determine the time that Jason Young was en route to his parent's home in Brevard the night his wife died, Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison said.

No one has been charged in Michelle Young's death.

Despite the focus on her husband in the search warrants, Harrison stopped short of naming Jason Young as a suspect and said he did not know his current whereabouts. The warrants say investigators have tried to interview Young, but he has not made himself available. "We just haven't been able to talk to him for a while," Harrison said.

Jason Young's attorney, Roger Smith Jr. of Raleigh, was unavailable for comment Thursday. The News & Observer was unable to contact Young or his family.

Types of records

The search warrants, released late Wednesday, date from early in the investigation until Dec. 1. They show that investigators seized several records related to travel from the Youngs' home, including a US Airways baggage claim ticket and a receipt for a United Airlines flight to Denver in October belonging to Jason Young and confirmation for a Hampton Inn reservation between Sept. 5 and Sept. 8.

Other seized items include Jason Young's credit-card statement, a computer hard drive, three wedding photos and file folders containing a will, insurance information and other papers.

Michelle Young's sister, Meredith Fisher, told investigators that Jason Young had left a voice-mail message asking her to stop by the Young home to retrieve a document from a computer printer. Fisher found her sister cold and bloody on the floor of the master bedroom.

The search warrants indicate that blood was splattered on the walls of the bedroom and a lamp but did not indicate what weapon was found. Fisher also found the couple's young daughter inside the residence unharmed.

Michelle Young was due to deliver the couple's second child in the spring, Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby said last month.

Investigators say there was no sign that anyone had broken into the house. From the outset of the criminal investigation, Harrison has maintained that Michelle Young's slaying was not a random act.