Sergeant Spivey News Today

My mother called and said michelle is dead. How is that possible . Reporter a young mother found brutally murdered. Her little girl left to wander in her mothers blood. Police had a suspect and they say he had a motive. But could they prove he was the killer . It was a circle case. Reporter except for that witness. The girl who left those footprints. We will never know what cassidy saw and what she didnt see. Maybe she couldnt tell detectives who the killer was, but maybe, she didnt have to. The...

I thought it was kind of odd because i was expecting her to say yes, i guess. >> reporter: somebody did? >> yeah, somebody did. >> but who? was it the same person who murdered the little girls mother? on this november day, all they had were questions. rich spivey, then a sergeant with the wake county sheriffs office, probably knows the case better than anyone. >> i mean, this was just a brutal, vicious beating. there was a lot of time and energy invested into this assault. >> reporter: why do yo...

>> reporter: throughout the investigation, jason steadfastly maintained his silence. and rather than face a legal battle where hed be asked some tough questions, spivey said, he even gave michelles family custody of his daughter. >> everyone that we spoke with, all of them talked about how much he loved cassidy and what a great dad he was. to just turn over primary custody, that was -- that was very surprising. >> reporter: investigators had heard enough. they believed they had a case. circumsta...

Was filed in december seeking custody of cassidy. >> reporter: prosecutors also called the attorney involved in that custody case over daughter cassidy, and those same allegations were repeated yet again. >> the jury heard several times through these two civil complaints that jason young brutally murdered michelle fisher young. >> reporter: but the headline came when prosecutors played jason youngs entire testimony from the first trial -- >> i wanted her to have that. >> reporter: -- and began t...

>> reporter: the facts were stark and ugly. one night in november 2006, while her husband was away on business, michelle young was attacked in her own bedroom and brutally beaten to death. her body discovered the next day by her sister meredith along with her 2 1/2-year-old daughter cassidy, who had been left to wander in her blood. for the investigators who set out to find her killer, no way to get those little footprints out of their minds. sergeant richard spivey, lead investigator. >> those ...

Just something thats 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 that custody case over daughter cassidy, and those same allegations were repeated yet again. >> the jury heard several times through these two civil complaints that jason young brutally murdered michelle fisher young. >> reporter: but the headline came when prosecutors played jason youngs entire testimon...

To show that jasons call to meredith to pick up those e-bay printouts was merely a ploy to get her to discover the body and find cassidy. why else would he print an e-bay auction ad leave it on the printer and hit the road where he couldnt bid during the actual auction? they called sergeant spivey to the stand. >> that auction was going to end 8:00 p.m. eastern standard time. >> what day was that? >> that was on november 2nd, 2006. >> reporter: just hours before the murder. now prosecutors tried...

>> reporter: the facts were stark and ugly. one night in november 2006, while her husband was away on business, michelle young was attacked in her own bedroom and brutally beaten to death. her body discovered the next day by her sister meredith along with her 2 1/2-year-old daughter cassidy, who had been left to wander in her blood. for the investigators who set out to find her killer, no way to get those little footprints out of their minds. sergeant richard spivey, lead investigator. >> those ...

Auction ad leave it on the printer and hit the road where he couldnt bid during the actual auction? they called sergeant spivey to the stand. >> that auction would end, 8:00 p.m. eastern standard time. >> what day was that? >> that was on november 2nd, 2006. >> reporter: just hours before the murder. the murder. now prosecutors tried to prove jason lied about his reasons for leaving the hotel room. >> i didnt pull the door. >> reporter: in his original testimony, he told the court he left the fi...

Able to eventually identify that shoe as a hush puppy shoe, size 12, which was the same size that he wore. >> reporter: throughout the investigation, jason steadfastly maintained his silence. rather than face a legal battle where hed be asked some tough questions, spivey said, he even gave michelles family custody of his daughter. >> everyone that we spoke with, all of them talked about how much he loved cassidy, and what a great dad he was to just turn over primary custody, that was -- that was...