Husband's DNA found at fatal beating scene

Wake County deputies have been investigating whether on the night Michelle Young was killed, her husband checked into a Virginia hotel and then drove back to Raleigh, where DNA and bloody footprints linked to him were found at the crime scene.

Sealed search warrants made public Monday revealed new details in the fatal beating of Michelle Young on Nov. 3, 2006. The pregnant mother, 29, was found dead in the Enchanted Oaks subdivision home she shared with Jason Young, lying facedown on her bed in a pool of blood. Footprints from her 2-year-old daughter, who was unharmed, trailed across the carpet.

The warrants, filed at the Wake County Clerk of Courts Office, say investigators found two footprints in blood on a pillow in the Youngs' bedroom. One impression was similar to the design of a pair of Hush Puppies that Jason Young owned. The other footprint was from an athletic shoe. The search warrant noted that Jason Young bought Hush Puppies and two pairs of athletic shoes in July 2005 from a store in Cary.

They also found a blood splatter that might have been a print on the bedroom wall near the body of Michelle Young. The State Bureau of Investigation found that DNA taken from the stain matched Jason Young's DNA, according to the warrant. DNA was also collected from a jewelry box in the bedroom after it appeared several drawers were taken.

Jason Young, 34, has not been charged in the case, even though the documents make clear the investigation has focused on him. The sheriff's office declined comment Monday on the evidence cited in the search warrants.

Young has told investigators he was on a business trip at the time his wife was killed.

Young seen on videos

The night before Michelle Young's body was found, Jason Young checked into a Hampton Inn in Hillsville, Va., about 170 miles from Raleigh, according to the search warrant. A hotel security camera captured an image of Young wearing a light, long-sleeved pullover at the front desk as he registered between 10:49 p.m. and 10:51 p.m.

A security camera captured a second image of Young at 11:59 p.m., wearing a dark pullover, heading to a hotel exit.

Hotel employees later discovered that the exit door had a rock in the door jamb that kept the door from locking automatically and allowed people to enter without using a key card, according to the warrant. Young's key card was not used to re-enter the hotel. The security camera did not show him returning to his hotel room.

The warrant says that investigators suspect a light-colored SUV seen at the Young residence between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. by a newspaper carrier was Jason Young's white Ford Explorer. The newspaper carrier told investigators the house stood out because all the lights were on, as if someone was having a party. The SUV was "parked in such a manner that it appeared to have been unloading or loading something," the investigator stated in the warrant.

In the affidavit, the investigator also noted that Young was not wearing the dark pullover when he arrived at his mother's home in Brevard in late afternoon on the day of the killing. Instead, he was wearing a white shirt and tie.

His mother told investigators that her son had not washed, changed or discarded any clothing while at her home. The dark pullover Young was wearing when he left the hotel was never found, investigators said.

On the day his wife's body was found, Young refused to speak to investigators until he had hired a lawyer, according to investigators' affidavits. Young hung up on an investigator who reached him by phone that same day, according to the affidavit. Investigators said Jason Young's refusal to talk hindered the early stages of their investigation.

"Mr. Young could have done a walk through to look for items that were missing or out of place," Investigator R.C. Spivey III wrote. "He could have provided the names of persons that may have had a conflict with him or his wife. He could have provided information on recent visitors or workers that may have been in the residence."

Efforts to reach Young's attorney, Roger Smith Jr. of Raleigh, were unsuccessful Monday.