Murder on Birchleaf Drive

by Steven B Epstein

  • • • • •

  Since she was a girl, Michelle had always envisioned a long courtship, orderly engagement, and majestic wedding replete with elaborate floral arrangements, an elegant, white bridal gown, and all her family and friends in attendance. That would of course be followed by a beautifully furnished and decorated house full of kids, a white picket fence, and life happily ever after.

  But that’s not the script that was written for Michelle Fisher. Fate—and unprotected sex—would intervene to derail this idealized vision of her future.

  It was the summer of 2003 when Michelle learned she was pregnant. She and Jason already were living together, sharing one of the two bedrooms in a townhome Jason and Ryan had recently purchased on

  Arete Way in Raleigh. Michelle wasn’t sure how Jason would react to the news. Though they had been dating for two years, she knew marriage was a topic her boyfriend approached with trepidation and fear. Yet she was sure in her mind Jason was “the one” for her happily ever after and hoped the news of a child on the way might spur him to propose.

  But when she told Jason about her unexpected pregnancy, his initial reaction was shock—and horror. He told Michelle he wasn’t ready for marriage. Or to be a father. Over the course of the next week, though, slowly but surely she somehow persuaded him to change his mind. Jason gave Michelle a rubber band to put on her finger to symbolize his commitment until he went online and ordered an expensive diamond ring to take its place.

  The baby on the way wasn’t the only reason Jason felt pressured to get married sooner than planned. Michelle had recently left Deloitte & Touche after deciding she wasn’t cut out to be a partner at a national accounting firm. She had taken a temporary job at N.C. State while looking for a more permanent position, but had lost her health insurance as a result. It was one thing to have no coverage while risking her own health. But now with a baby on the way, getting health insurance coverage had suddenly become imperative.

  After discussing their options, she and Jason arrived at the obvious solution: they needed to get her onto his health insurance coverage—quickly. So on August 12, 2003, Jason Young and Michelle Fisher found themselves exchanging vows before a magistrate at the Wake County Public Safety Center in downtown Raleigh, with Linda and a complete stranger serving as their only guests. Although they didn’t fully appreciate it at the time, both their engagement and their marriage had been constructed upon a foundation of unexpected circumstances, rather than genuine love and commitment.

  Though the August ceremony may have been the official wedding in the eyes of the law, Michelle wouldn’t have dreamt of giving up on the grand wedding she had always envisioned. She set the date for Friday, October 10, less than two months later. It was important to her for the ceremony to take place before she started showing.

  A couple of weeks before the wedding, Michelle sent a ten-page email to the other members of the McBroads, all of whom were planning to attend. She described in meticulous detail the duties and responsibilities assigned to each: who would be picking up whom from the airport, where everyone would be staying, when and where they would go to get their hair and nails done, and the specific details of the wedding ceremony. None of the McBroads was surprised to receive such an email—they knew Michelle all too well.

  For the wedding ceremony, Linda rented out the Long View Center in downtown Raleigh—an ornate, stucco building originally constructed in 1881 as a church. The floral arrangements were beautiful. Michelle looked elegant in her white bridal gown. Jason was equally dapper in his black tuxedo. Meredith was the maid of honor. Mr. Garrison, wearing a doggie tuxedo, served as the ring bearer. Thanks to Linda and Meredith’s tireless efforts, they had pulled it off in record time, making Michelle extremely happy and hopeful. She and Jason delayed their honeymoon until the following summer, when they spent several enjoyable days in St. Maarten.

  Not only was Michelle newly married and expecting a baby—she also had a new job. About a month before the big wedding ceremony, she landed a position as a financial specialist in the tax department of Progress Energy, a Fortune 500 company that served as one of the southeast’s largest utilities. She absolutely loved the work, her fellow employees, and the many employee benefits. And her supervisors and co-workers adored her. She planned to take only a short maternity leave and to resume working as quickly as possible.

  That plan led to “contract negotiations.” With Meredith. Having recently graduated from college in New York, her baby sister was ready to leave her mother’s nest, and the impending birth of her niece presented an excellent opportunity. They agreed Meredith would move to the Raleigh area when the baby was born and serve as Cassidy’s nanny once her sister returned to work.

  Cassidy’s birth was not without its drama. She had turned into the breach position in the final weeks of Michelle’s pregnancy. All efforts to reposition her before she entered the birth canal failed. Not one to take chances, Michelle insisted upon a C-section despite months of planning for a natural childbirth.

  So it was that Cassidy Elizabeth Young sucked in her first breaths of life on March 29, 2004. When her daughter was handed to her on the operating room table, Michelle gazed into her eyes and, through tears of joy, exclaimed, “She’s beautiful!” And upon hearing her mother’s familiar voice, Cassidy instantly stopped crying and became calm. It was an “awesome moment,” Jason later recounted.

  Michelle reveled in everything about motherhood: breast feeding, changing diapers, buying cute, pink onesies, feeding her daughter by the “airplane” method, and falling asleep with her daughter at her side. She proudly pushed Cassidy around the neighborhood in her stroller, trying her best to smell the roses along the way.

  The new mother would sing Twinkle Little Star to Cassidy using a toy karaoke machine, often inspiring her daughter to grab the microphone to complete the song. They would sit together at the kitchen table imitating each other’s noises, Cassidy squealing with laughter each time Michelle duplicated her sound. They would rub noses together—“nosies”—and beg for kisses from one another. Unsolicited, Cassidy would sometimes look wistfully into her mother’s eyes, saying, “I love you, Mommy.”

  • • • • •

  The only thing missing from Michelle’s grand plan was a bigger house with a yard and a white picket fence. She and Jason had been house hunting for some time when they pulled into South Raleigh’s Enchanted Oaks subdivision in April 2005. Michelle instantly fell in love with the charming neighborhood and Birchleaf Drive, Enchanted Oaks’ main artery, which encircled the entire subdivision. The lots were large and wooded, and the houses spread out nicely for privacy. To Michelle, this was the perfect spot to settle down and grow a family.

  The Birchleaf Drive house she and Jason were shown was a fourteen-year-old, traditional, colonial brick home that sat on nearly two acres. It had a large kitchen, elegant light fixtures, and huge front and back yards. The community pool was just a short walk from the house. Michelle knew immediately. This was the home she needed to complete her grand plan.

  She and Jason came up with the down payment, easily qualified for a mortgage and, just before Memorial Day 2005, became the proud owners of

  5108 Birchleaf Drive. They moved in that July. Having taken the step of purchasing their dream home, Michelle considered it prudent to have their wills prepared. That task fell to her former roommate and ADP big sister, Fiona Ginter, now a lawyer. Michelle and Jason were able to agree on all provisions—except one: who would serve as Cassidy’s guardian in the event they both perished simultaneously.

  Michelle strongly believed Meredith would be the most logical guardian for their daughter. After all, her sister spent almost as much time with Cassidy during her first year of life as did Michelle—and probably even more than Jason. But Jason wanted his sister Heather to be guardian. Ultimately, he convinced his wife it was more sensible to name Heather because she was already married and worked during the daytime, unlike Meredith who was unmarried and worked a
t night. They agreed to revisit the issue in three years.

  • • • • •

  Michelle had always been very close to her mother. Though she was blessed to have many close friends, the one person she could always turn to for advice and problem-solving—especially in her darkest days—was Linda. That was particularly true when she needed to vent about the problems she was having in her marriage.

  Even though Michelle displayed tremendous self-confidence and poise as an adult, she frequently needed to hear her mom’s soothing voice and wisdom. She called Linda on her cell phone as she drove home from work every day. They often spoke more than once a day.

  Linda was there with Michelle to celebrate Cassidy’s birth. She became a frequent visitor to the Youngs’

  Arete Way townhome and Birchleaf Drive home to spend time with her precious granddaughter. Because she was a schoolteacher, Linda was able to spend considerable time in Raleigh during the summers, much to her daughter’s delight. Michelle loved knowing Cassidy was spending the workday in her mother’s care and company. And she loved coming home from work to her mom’s warm and loving smile.

  • • • • •

  By the spring of 2006, Michelle was pregnant again—this time, a planned event. She was beaming with pride and excitement and couldn’t wait for Cassidy to be a big sister. She and Jason traveled to Brevard over the Memorial Day weekend to share the news with Jason’s family.

  During that trip, Michelle experienced one of the scariest moments of her life. Jason and Michelle left Cassidy with his mom and stepdad the morning they were planning to head back to Raleigh; they ventured off to get some coffee from Starbucks. Jason was driving his Mitsubishi SUV with Michelle in the passenger seat. Suddenly, without warning, Jason lost control of the car and it nearly went off the road to their right, causing Jason to steer sharply to the left.

  Before either knew what was happening, they were descending more than 100 feet down an embankment, plunging into the French Broad River. Water rapidly started filling their car. Fortunately, Michelle and Jason were able to escape and climb up the side of the embankment as they watched the SUV sink into the river. Miraculously, they were both unscathed. Or so they thought.

  When Michelle got back to Raleigh later that evening, something didn’t seem right. She wasn’t sure if the baby was still moving. She called Shelly—by then a nurse—to ask her advice. Shelly urged her to get an ultrasound as soon as possible. When Michelle went in for the ultrasound later that week, her worst fears were realized. There was no heartbeat. Just like that, she went from the high of being an expectant mother to the low of losing her baby. She was crushed.

  Less than two months later, though, Michelle was hopeful again. Jason was out of town on a business trip when she learned she was pregnant again. She decided to have Cassidy surprise her father with the news. Michelle dressed her in a T-shirt with the words “I’m going to be a big sister” emblazoned across the front. When Jason got home, he looked at Cassidy’s shirt, then his wife, and realized they were pregnant again. For at least that one moment, there was genuine happiness in the Young household.

  The new pregnancy also had Michelle reconsidering her career. She loved working for Progress Energy, where she had recently been promoted to the position of Senior Financial Specialist. But she also loved being a mom and didn’t want to miss out on Rylan’s special moments as an infant and toddler as she had with Cassidy.

  Though Rylan wasn’t due until March 2007, by early October 2006, Michelle had prepared a five-page presentation for her supervisors she hoped would convince them to permit her to work part-time once her son was born. Michelle sought permission to work Tuesday through Thursday each week, ten hours a day—her mother would provide child care into the early evening. The proposal was well-organized and chock full of detail—no big surprise considering its author.

  Shortly after receiving her proposal, Michelle’s manager informed her that both he and his supervisor were agreeable to her plan. They were impressed with her dedication and passion for her job and confident she would be able to complete her work in a three-day, 30-hour workweek. Michelle was thrilled. She would be able to continue doing the job she loved with co-workers who had become like family, and also devote four days each week exclusively to her children.

  Michelle was also excited about a family vacation her mother had been planning since her retirement from teaching that June. Linda was going to be on a mission trip in New Orleans beginning November 5 and planned to meet up with Michelle, Jason, Cassidy, and Meredith at Disney World a week later. Her mother had even invited Jason’s family to come, though they declined. The end of that trip was going to include a McBroads’ weekend at an Orlando spa, as Michelle’s sorority sisters were all celebrating their recent 30th birthdays.

  But as fate would have it, that is a birthday Michelle Fisher Young would never get to celebrate.

  5

  Jason Lynn Young

  Brevard is a cozy, western North Carolina town, nestled in the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains, approximately thirty miles south of Asheville.

  Because it serves as the entryway to the Pisgah National Forest, tourists flood through Brevard on their way to the amazing rock climbing, hiking, kayaking, and whitewater river rafting Pisgah offers. Just as many tourists pass through Brevard to gaze at the breathtaking vista of cascading waterfalls adorning Pisgah’s lush, green mountainside. Bluegrass music festivals fill the summer calendar, many performed at the famed Brevard Music Center. When Jason Young graduated from Brevard High in 1992, only about 5,000 people inhabited the town, the vast majority having been born and raised there.

  Like Linda Fisher, Pat Young was a schoolteacher, teaching fifth grade at a small Transylvania County elementary school. She took an eight-year break from teaching to raise her three children: Kim, born in 1972; Jason, in 1974; and Heather, two years later. When Jason was five, his father Bob was stricken with cancer and died very quickly. The family struggled financially as Pat navigated life as a single mother.

  Gerald McIntyre and Pat began their relationship when Jason was six, and ultimately married when he was in college. Gerald worked in a machine shop and as a power plant operator for a company affiliated with Winchester Corporation, one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of rifles and shotguns. Through his connection to Winchester, he acquired a massive collection of guns and occasionally took Jason skeet and trap shooting.

  Although Jason was close with his sisters Kim and Heather, he could also be a real pest, needling them at times for his own amusement, often making them the butt of his incessant jokes. He was constantly pulling pranks on friends and family members.

  One Sunday afternoon, when Jason was twelve or thirteen, Pat’s 80-year-old mother was visiting Brevard. Jason was walking slightly in front of her when, without any provocation, he pulled down his pants and mooned her. As Pat would later say, “Mother thought it was really funny. She kind of fell over on the ground as if she were so shocked that her grandson would show his behind to her.”

  “People were drawn to him,” Heather recalled fondly, “because he was so much fun and you [could] never stay mad at him for very long because he’d have you laughing within minutes.”

  As a youngster, Jason loved the outdoors—hiking, camping, and playing basketball and soccer. He was an avid Boy Scout. He also enjoyed watching football games on TV with Gerald. Though his procrastination sometimes drove Pat bananas, Jason was a good student and was also very popular. His senior class voted him “best all around” and his teachers nominated him for the Brevard High “hall of fame.”

  Jason worked several summers at an all-girls Christian camp, Camp Illahee, where he was a counselor and kayaking and mountain climbing instructor. The girls adored him. One of them, Carol Anne from Atlanta, who was four years younger than Jason, developed a crush on him. He saw her once or twice a year after his days at Camp Illahee ended. Though Jason only considered her to be a friend, to him it was the type of friends
hip that came with “benefits.” He never noticed that Carol Anne had developed genuine feelings for him.

  • • • • •

  An ardent Wolfpack fan, Jason never wavered from his intention to attend college at N.C. State. After completing his freshman year in 1993, he took the following year off to hike the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail with a high school buddy. That trek from Maine to Georgia proved convincingly that though Jason could sometimes have a short attention span, he was also gritty and determined when he put his mind to something.

  But when Jason returned to college in 1994, his studies often took a backseat to his attendance at Wolfpack football and basketball games—and to drinking and partying. He truly was the life of the party and easily formed a loyal cadre of friends, who loved his infectious personality, how Jason would do anything on a dare, and how he placed having fun above all else. Some of those friendships endured into his adulthood, most notably with Ryan Schaad and Josh Dalton.

  After graduating in May 1998—nearly six years after beginning college—Jason, Ryan, and Josh pooled their resources to purchase lifetime rights to season tickets to Wolfpack football and basketball games.

  Though it was important to Jason to attend the football and basketball games, the tailgating before them was far more significant to him. The parties would begin hours before the games and often involved dozens of students. Jason would frequently drink to the point of inebriation, as would many of his fellow tailgaters. They would then stumble into the stadium to find their seats. Sometimes, they never even made it to the game.

  Jason was known among his college friends as a “horndog.” He didn’t seek lasting relationships with college girls. Rather, he viewed them as conquests and would flirt with them with the sole intention of ending the evening in bed together. His friends admired how successful he was in that arena. That was particularly true after Jason moved into the swanky, privately owned University Towers dormitory in his third year of college. He served as a resident assistant (RA) to subsidize his rent. As an RA, he was the one the students on his floor would come see when they were having issues or problems. And when pretty girls had a problem, Jason went to great lengths to solve them—as a means to the end of adding another notch onto his bedpost.