Murder on Birchleaf Drive

by Steven B Epstein

  Against all of this incriminating circumstantial evidence, there were also two significant pieces of exculpatory circumstantial evidence: Rylan and Cassidy. If Jason had been the assailant, he didn’t just extinguish Michelle’s life—he also extinguished Rylan’s.

  From their interviews, detectives had learned how eagerly Jason had been anticipating his son’s arrival. Even had he desperately wanted Michelle out of the picture, how could he have done this to Rylan—and himself? Likewise, there was little doubt Jason cared deeply for Cassidy and loved being her dad. Surely he would have known that her mother’s brutal murder would scar Cassidy emotionally and result in life-long psychological issues.

  Could he nevertheless rationalize that murdering Michelle would somehow leave his daughter better off?

  Cassidy also presented a forensic enigma. Irrefutable evidence existed that she had walked through and played in Michelle’s blood—she had smeared blood all over her bathroom walls and walked through it in both her socks and her bare feet. She had left bloody footprints in Jason’s closet. Yet she somehow wound up on his side of the bed squeaky clean—as were the comforter and linens on that side of the bed. And though she had no diaper on, the two-and-a-half year-old child hadn’t urinated or defecated on herself in the more than nine hours she had been alone in the house, had Jason departed prior to 4:00 a.m., as the detectives’ working theory and timeline presumed.

  Thus, rather than pointing to Jason’s guilt, or helping to solve the crime, the circumstantial evidence surrounding Cassidy made no sense at all.

  There was also another living occupant at

  5108 Birchleaf Drive—Mr. Garrison—and the circumstantial evidence surrounding him was equally confounding. Meredith had found the dog inside the house when she arrived. At one point during her 911 call, she actually addressed him by name. He too had presumably been left alone in a very bloody house for more than nine hours. Yet not a single bloody paw print was detected. How could that be? Investigators hadn’t the slightest idea. This much was clear: if Jason Young were charged with his wife’s murder, the case against him would be based entirely on the assembly and interpretation of circumstantial evidence. Some of that evidence was strong, particularly when considered cumulatively. Some of it, however, tended to point away from Jason. And some of it prosecutors would never be able to explain.

  9

  Arrest

  During his fifteen years in law enforcement, Sergeant Richard Spivey had investigated many violent crimes, including murder. The burly, no-nonsense officer joined the Wake County Sheriff’s Office in April 2004, following nine years as a detective with the Durham City Police Department.

  In late April 2007, Sheriff Donnie Harrison assigned Sergeant Spivey as the “case agent,” or lead detective, in charge of the Michelle Young murder investigation. Sheriff Harrison hoped a new set of eyes, and the sharp mind and steely determination for which the detective was known, might lead to new developments that would finally solve the case.

  Sergeant Spivey began his assignment by taking a fresh look at the mountain of evidence Sheriff’s investigators had amassed. As he was sorting through digital images of Cassidy’s bedroom, something struck his eye—something that didn’t seem to belong in a toddler’s bedroom. He zoomed in on a plastic bottle on the top shelf of the hutch above her dresser.

  As the label came into focus, he was able to make out the words “Tylenol Extra Strength Adult Rapid Blast.” The bottle contained a red liquid. He also spotted a medicine dropper lying on the same shelf that appeared to have some red liquid remaining in the chamber.

  As he zoomed in on the shelf below, the detective noticed a white bottle with a purple wrapper bearing the name “Pancof PD.” Since he was unfamiliar with that medication, the detective conducted some research. He learned that Pancof PD is a strong cough medicine—for adults.

  One of the ingredients is dihydrocodeine, which causes dizziness and sleepiness. The package insert indicated that it should be used with extreme caution with children.

  He also discovered Pancof PD was manufactured by Jason’s former employer, Pan American Labs. Sergeant Spivey spoke with human resources personnel at the company and confirmed Jason had been supplied over 1,000 samples of Pancof PD during his three years of employment and had been thoroughly trained on all of its side effects.

  The Sheriff’s Office had preserved these items since November 2006, including the medicine dropper. Sergeant Spivey had them sent off to the SBI crime lab for analysis. The SBI found a match of Cassidy’s DNA on the medicine dropper. It also confirmed that dihydrocodeine was present within the red liquid in the chamber.

  Suddenly, the toddler’s shockingly clean appearance the afternoon of the murder wasn’t quite so enigmatic. The notion she had been cleaned up before 4:00 a.m. and placed under the covers on Jason’s side of the bed—and remained asleep in precisely that spot for more than nine hours—didn’t seem so implausible. Cassidy had apparently been drugged. And who was more knowledgeable about the effect these medications would have on a young child than Jason Young?

  • • • • •

  Shortly after being assigned to the murder investigation, Sergeant Spivey arranged a meeting with Gracie Dahms Bailey. Having read her account of the gas purchase that supposedly placed Jason in King, North Carolina around 5:30 a.m. on November 3, he wasn’t quite convinced her identification would stand up in court. He wanted to know—without her being prompted by a photograph of Jason—how she would describe the person who had cursed and thrown a $20 bill at her.

  When they met, Bailey recalled that, despite the frigid weather, the man who cursed at her that morning wasn’t wearing a coat. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans.

  She told the detective that he was white, had blondish hair, and was somewhere between his mid-20s and early-30s. In every respect, that identification matched the Jason Young Sergeant Spivey had seen from surveillance camera footage at the Hampton Inn at 11:59 p.m. the prior evening. He was now more comfortable Bailey’s identification would stand up in court.

  • • • • •

  SBI forensic computer examiners discovered several important items on Jason’s home and laptop computers. For starters, it turned out the eBay printouts Jason sent Meredith to retrieve on November 3 were created at 7:08 p.m. the prior evening, just minutes before he departed for his business trip. That timing made it seem much more likely the printouts were merely a prop in Jason’s plan rather than a genuine effort to find a belated anniversary gift for Michelle—especially because the auctions displayed in the printouts closed before he even sat down for dinner at the Greensboro Cracker Barrel.

  The second helpful piece of information was an email Jason sent to Michelle on July 12, 2006:

  I just got home and the goddamn power is out. I called [P]rogress [Energy] and a crew is already out. Cass pissed herself all over the floor, it’s hot as hell inside and I can’t entertain her enough w/o tv to finish the goddamn yard. I am taking beer and her to pool. I am in a mood that makes our trip to myrtle seem mild, pray the beer kicks in. I could kill u for not letting me finish the yard this morning.

  Another email exchange on October 24—ten days before the murder—made it clear Jason was suffocating from Linda’s constant presence at 5108 Birchleaf Drive. He complained about the nearly two weeks she was at the house prior to and following Ryan and Shelly’s wedding.

  Michelle responded:

  I agree 4 days or so would be more ideal and when she moves here, that will be the deal. We talked about how she’ll only be at our house 3 nights a week and one of those nights will be a designated “date night” for you and I to go to dinner, take a walk, play some tennis, whatever—just make sure that we get some quality time together.

  Jason was mortified at the thought of his mother-in-law spending three nights a week at their home.

  i don’t get this … when she MOVES here, she shouldn’t BE here at all. THAT is what HER house is for. If she wants to
come have dinner for a few hours … fine, but she is not going to LIVE here.

  Jason also addressed the upcoming Christmas holiday:

  i do not want your mom here a week before Christmas and i don’t want her here through new years eve. if she wants to come AT Christmas and stay for two or three nights, then fine. i am not spending my entire holiday season with my mother in law at my house. i’m not wavering on this and i don’t think i’m being extreme.

  If Michelle didn’t comply with his wishes, Jason threatened:

  i will simply choose to spend my Christmas elsewhere. Enough is enough and i’ve told you this until i’m blue in the face.

  The emails between Jason and his wife were certainly illuminating. But the email that really caught detectives’ attention was one he wrote to his former fiancée, Genevieve Jacobs, on September 12, 2006, about seven weeks before the murder. By that time, she was married, living in Austin, Texas, and went by her married name, Cargol.

  In the email he sent from his work-issued laptop computer at 5:32 a.m. that morning, Jason told Cargol she had been “haunting” his dreams and he was “just full of nostalgia and old memories, but your visits make me feel whole and complete again.”

  He explained:

  I outwardly moved on from you, but I’m not sure my heart and my soul did. I now have a family, career and a totally different life. I have a daughter who I never realized a person could love something so much. I am happy, but I don’t feel complete. Will I ever? In my heart, I sometimes imagine that our paths will cross again … as old people, in a different life, in heaven, or however you want to think of it … that’s what I do to suffice myself when you’re strongly embedded in my thoughts. You’re the psychologist specialist … am I going crazy?

  Does any part of your mind have these thoughts or are they completely buried?

  … I know the possible negative outcomes from this correspondence and don’t want to put either one of us in jeopardy. I just need to open my heart for a minute to tell you how I feel b/c the possibility of leaving this world w/o expressing your love and passion would be a travesty …

  The biggest mistake I ever made was asking you to marry me when I did. I wish we could have dated and grown in maturity a few more years together, but it simply wasn’t meant to be. Timing is almost as important as love and feelings, it just doesn’t withstand eternity … which unfortunately for me, is what I have to live with now. I can remember moments with you like they just happened; I remember breaking apart after our failed engagement and then being drawn back again. I remember you hugging me and snuggling on me out in Clayton and saying, “this feels like home” (not the house, the hugging part). Those are memories that I will take to my grave … and I have so many. You made me feel love … true, passionate, timeless love, I will always love you even though I know we will never be together. I still somehow think we will one day find each other, and that might be totally one sided, it might be a fantasy I’ve created for myself to get by. I don’t know if our love was as profound for you, I actually hope it wasn’t …

  I have rambled far too much already. I’ve got so much I want to say, but it would just come out as an incoherent mess, so I will leave it at this; I love you Genevieve Ann Jacobs Cargol, I know that is inappropriate for a married man to be saying to a married woman, but I do. I always have and I always will. It doesn’t mean I will act on it or speak of it again, but it is what it is. I know you probably realize this now and it doesn’t need to be said, but I will always be here forever for you. Please don’t feel like you need to respond, b/c that is not what I am looking for … I just needed to get that off of my chest. Now take your big fat hiney and get OUT of my dreams! I’m getting too old and tired for that nonsense and it’s been YEARS since I’ve seen you. If you do insist upon these visits while I’m trying to sleep, at least gain 60 or 70 lbs and start losing your teeth so I will wake up, call it a nightmare and go back to sleep. ;-) You know I could never end something heartfelt and important on a serious note. always JY

  “Wow!” thought Sergeant Spivey. In the four months preceding Michelle’s murder, her husband had literally told her he could kill her, had heated screaming matches with her that involved doors slamming, had professed his enduring love for his now-married former fiancée, and was in the midst of a torrid affair with another married woman to whom he had also professed his love. Even without any forensic evidence connecting Jason to the murder scene, the detective had more than enough, he believed, to build a case against Jason.

  The final bombshell the SBI discovered while rummaging through the Youngs’ home computer were searches Jason had apparently conducted on yahoo.com, ask.com, and webmd.com in the months preceding the murder.

  His search topics included: “anatomy of a knockout,” “head trauma knockout,” “divorce,” and “right posterior parietal occipital region,” medical terminology for the back of the head. Considering the manner in which Michelle had been bludgeoned to death, these searches seemed to reveal further evidence of premeditation and deliberation.

  • • • • •

  Sergeant Spivey was well aware the bloody shoe impressions found on the embroidered pillow in the master bedroom held the potential to crack the case wide open.

  By late 2007, the SBI had determined one of the impressions matched a size 10 Franklin brand Air Fit athletic shoe—a fairly common shoe sold at stores like Dollar General for about $10.

  Investigators weren’t sure what to make of that revelation because they knew from the CCBI’s measurements that Jason wore size 12 shoes, not size 10.

  With the help of a footwear specialist from the FBI, detectives were able to determine that the other impression was made by a Hush Puppies-brand shoe. The FBI, in turn, enlisted the assistance of a Hush Puppies product specialist in Michigan to determine which models of Hush Puppies shoes matched the outsole design of the shoe impression found on the pillow.

  After conducting some research, the product specialist determined that two separate models of Hush Puppies shoes matched: the Belleville and the Sealy. But both models had been discontinued and were no longer carried in stores.

  When this information got back to Sergeant Spivey, he recalled that investigators had found a DSW Shoe Warehouse rewards card during a search of 5108 Birchleaf Drive. Pursuant to a court order, DSW had provided a printout showing purchases that had been made with the rewards card. That printout revealed that on July 4, 2005, Jason had purchased four pairs of shoes. Lo and behold, one of them was a pair of brown, Hush Puppies Orbital plain-toe, slip-on, men’s casual leather shoe, size 12.

  Sergeant Spivey could feel his heart beginning to beat faster. He logged onto his computer and pulled up still images from the surveillance video footage investigators had obtained of Jason paying his bill at the Greensboro Cracker Barrel. As he looked down toward the bottom of the image—at Jason’s feet—his heart nearly leaped out of his chest. There, as clear as day, were brown, plain-toe, slip-on, casual leather shoes.

  He then pulled up the still image of Jason walking down the hallway toward the western exit of the Hampton Inn just before midnight. “There they are again!” he thought to himself, as he zoomed in on Jason’s footwear.

  Finally, he pulled up photos of the shoes Jason was wearing when CCBI agents photographed him a few days after the murder. Though those particular shoes had been purchased earlier that morning, it sure was interesting, the detective mused, that what Jason had selected to wear to the CCBI office were brown, plain-toe, slip-on, casual leather shoes.

  The critical question that remained unanswered, however, was whether the Hush Puppies Orbital shoes had the same outsole design as the Belleville and the Sealy. Sergeant Spivey asked the SBI to consult again with the Hush Puppies product specialist. Upon completing his research, the product specialist was able to provide a definitive answer: yes, the Orbital did have the same outsole design as the Belleville and the Sealy.

  The shoes Jason purchased sixteen months before the
murder, therefore, matched one of the bloody shoe impressions left at the murder scene. “Houston, we have liftoff!” the detective thought to himself, grinning with satisfaction.

  Of course, that revelation naturally raised an additional, obvious question: where were Jason’s Orbital shoes now? To try to answer that question, in February 2008, Sergeant Spivey obtained a search warrant to see if the shoes might be at Pat Young’s home in Brevard, Heather McCraken’s home in Etowah, or in a storage unit in Etowah that held items removed from 5108 Birchleaf Drive. The warrant also permitted investigators to examine Jason’s vehicle and the shoes on his feet.

  With Sergeant Spivey leading the way, investigators and SBI agents searched Heather’s house and the storage unit in Etowah. No Hush Puppies shoes were found at either location. The group then ventured on to Brevard and met with Pat Young. They showed her the warrant and were granted permission to search her home. But after turning her house upside down, they didn’t find any Hush Puppies.

  Sergeant Spivey asked Pat where her son was. She informed him Jason was working in medical sales in Greenville, South Carolina, some fifty miles away.

  “Our search warrant allows us to examine him in person,” the detective told her. “He’s going to need to meet us here or somewhere else.”

  Pat told Sergeant Spivey she would call Jason and try to arrange a place to meet at a midpoint between Brevard and Greenville. After speaking with her son, she told the detective they would meet at a public park near the South Carolina border.