Slain woman's assets subject of lawsuit

RALEIGH -- Michelle Young's mother wants all of her slain daughter's assets and life insurance payouts to go her young granddaughter, Cassidy, her attorneys said Wednesday at a Raleigh news conference.

Young's mother, Linda Lee Fisher of Sayville, N.Y., filed a wrongful death lawsuit last week accusing her son-in-law, Jason Young, of murder.

Court officials on Tuesday unsealed the lawsuit, which they had withheld from public view for several days.

Michelle Young, 29, was found two years ago in her home, dead from strangulation and a beating that broke the pregnant woman's jaw and fractured her skull.

"Linda Fisher wants to make sure [Young's] daughter Cassidy is the sole heir," said Jack Michaels, who is representing Fisher, and also Young's estate, with his brother Paul Michaels.

No one has been arrested in the case since Young's death Nov. 3, 2006, and the Wake County Sheriff's Office has not named a suspect.

But the investigation has focused mostly on Jason Young, who was the beneficiary of a substantial life insurance policy covering his wife. He had an ongoing relationship with a married woman in Florida when his wife was killed, according to investigators' search warrants.

Attempts to reach Jason Young and his attorney were unsuccessful. He has 30 days to file a response to the lawsuit.

The case took a sudden turn when the lawsuit was filed. In it, Fisher asks that a Wake judge make a determination that Young killed his wife or was an accomplice. She also wants Young to be prevented from benefitting from the life insurance policy or any of her assets.

Jason Young has been staying in Brevard with his parents and Cassidy, now 4. Fisher sees her granddaughter infrequently and is not seeking custody of her, Michaels said.

But the lawsuit could mean that Jason Young will have to answer questions about his wife's death if he's deposed, Paul Michaels said.

Law enforcement is bound to pay attention, Michaels said.

Wake Sheriff Donnie Harrison knew about the lawsuit ahead of time but isn't sure how it will affect the work his detectives are doing on the case.

"I can't say if it'll help or hurt," Harrison said.

The sheriff said his office is waiting for results of forensic evidence and discusses the case daily.

Paul Michaels said he reviewed evidence from the criminal investigation and hopes to rely on that as the civil case moves forward.

Don Beskind, a Raleigh attorney who also teaches law classes at Duke University, said cases like these are generally filed in order to make sure that culprits don't benefit from their crimes. North Carolina law allows such wrongful-death suits, but they rarely occur in cases without a named suspect, Beskind said.

The Michaels noted that their legal burden of proof will be lower than in a criminal trial.

In those cases, if an accused person is compelled to testify, he or she must decide whether to answer questions under oath -- at the risk of opening oneself up to criminal charges -- or refuse to answer questions.

"Anyone represented by counsel would never answer questions," Beskind said.