Page 117 - Meredith News Today

Safely come home to us. >> the searchers in the field, meanwhile, shifted their focus from blood mountain to these woods called dawson forest about 30 miles to the south. it was from around here that hilton had made those phone calls to his ex-boss. remember, by then, merediths bloody clothing had been retrieved from a dumpster, not a good sign at all. but as long as there was the most remote chance she was still alive, the search was going to continue. but lead agent john kegel knew these vast ...

For two days didnt look good to the seasoned detective because of some disturbing items that had been recovered on the trail. what were the things found out on the trail area that you thought were alarming? >> a couple of water bottles, a dog leash and a police expandible baton. >> this is a piece of professional gear. >> it is. its just a metal pipe that is expandsable. you see almost every police officer in the nation carrying these things. >> did those artifacts, the water bottle, baton, foun...

>> thats all for this edition of "dateline extra." im craig melvin. thanks for watching. you have to be aware of your surroundings because you just never know. >> it started with a frightening horror flick from the 80s. >> the premise of the must have -- movie is were going to take some women into the woods and then poof, theyre going to be hunted down. >> then decades later, something truly frightening. it it was happening for real. a strange vanishing in the forest. >> immediately we knew so...

Guilty, folks. hello? you know? >> reporter: and the prosecutor made sure the jury heard just who signed that ruling. >> im reading from this judgment which is signed actually by judge stevens. >> reporter: judge stevens, the very judge sitting before them in this trial. >> the jury hearing that, it is just something that is going to carry a lot of weight. >> this is the complaint that was filed in december seeking custody of cassidy. >> reporter: prosecutors also called the attorney involved in...

>> you have checked? >> michelle? she is cold. cassidy had crawled out just feet from where her mother lay. cassidys voice, chattering to her aunt was caught on the recorded call. had cassidy witnessed the murder? awakened alone to find this? >> you just picture a small child walking around in the blood and tracking it across the hallway into the bathroom. >> by now county investigators were ascending on the house and having secured the crime scene, but on his way out he saw cassidy again, and h...

>> things werent working out with jason. >> reporter: two days before she was murdered, michelle phoned her sister meredith to report yet another blowup with jason. >> she was just, "ive had it." she said, "you know, more than one time, i just cant do this anymore." >> reporter: jason was telling one of his close friends the same thing. and prosecutors said just days before michelle was murdered, he had indulged in one last transgression. a casual hook-up with an old friend named carol ann sauer...

A surprise to michelle means so much more than anything. >> reporter: noon, november 3rd. he called his sister-in-law, meredith, from the car and asked if she would go to the house and get the e-bay papers. he left meredith a voice mail. then he headed to his mothers place in the mountains nearby. and it was there he testified, hours later that he learned michelle had been murdered. >> i just fell. i just -- i just broke on the inside. i just broke and i didnt believe it. >> reporter: family mem...

Murdered michelle marie fisher young. the jury should not have been allowed to hear about any of that. outside the court, michelles sister meredith predicted the appeal would be thrown out. >> were confident it will stay. >> but she was wrong. >> a raliegh man is getting a third trial in the death of his pregnant wife. >> in april 2014, the north carolina court of appeals granted jason a new trial. a year later the state supreme court reversed the appeals court decision. and in 2017, yet another...

Is she breathing? >> i dont think so. >> have you checked? shes cold. >> okay. >> reporter: as she spoke, meredith was cradling her 2 1/2-year-old niece cassidy who crawled out from under the bed clothes on her parents bed, feet from where her mother lay. cassidys voice chattering to her aunt. it was caught on a recorded call. >> shes got boo-boo. >> reporter: had cassidy witnessed the murder awakened alone to find this? >> you just picture a small child walking around in this blood and tracking...

And -- and she was empty. >> and what did she tell you? >> things werent working out with jason. >> reporter: two days before she was murdered, michelle phoned her sister meredith to report yet another blowup with jason. >> she was just, "ive had it." she said, "you know, more than one time, i just cant do this anymore." >> reporter: jason was telling one of his close friends the same thing. and prosecutors said just days before michelle was murdered, he had indulged in one last transgression. a...