Dateline: Silent Witness - 5 harrowing details about Michelle Young's murder, explored

Michelle Young's gruesome murder is at the center of the Dateline episode titled Silent Witness. As revealed by the Dateline episode, Michelle Young was a professional financial consultant and a mother who was brutally murdered by her husband, Jason Young, at their Raleigh, N.C., residence.

The subsequent investigation into her death revealed several shocking details, including her harrowing autopsy details and the motive behind her murder. Here, we take a look at the five most harrowing details from the murder of Michelle Young as revealed on the Dateline episode.

Dateline: What are the 5 harrowing details from Michelle Young's murder?

Keep reading to learn more about the five most chilling details that were uncovered in the investigation regarding Michelle Young's death, as explained on the Dateline episode.

1) Michelle and Jason were involved in a car crash

Prior to being murdered on November 3, 2006, Michelle and Jason were involved in a car crash when their car drove off the road and fell into a river and was partially submerged. Michelle was pregnant at that time and underwent a miscarriage as a result of the accident. Although it seemed like just another unfortunate accident at the time, investigators later believed that Jason was somehow responsible for the accident, especially since he had taken out a considerable life insurance policy for Michelle just days before the accident.

2) Jason was involved with Michelle's sorority sister

It was also revealed on the Dateline episode that prior to Michelle's murder, Jason had been in frequent contact with another woman named Michelle Money, who also happened to be Michelle's sorority sister. The issues of infidelity and an extramarital affair were also brought up by the prosecution during Jason's subsequent trial. Jason was ultimately charged with murder in the first degree and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

3) Jason tried his best to establish his alibi

Jason initially led the investigators to believe that, at the time of the murder, he was several miles away on a business trip. He tried his best to establish that he was at a hotel. However, the prosecution was able to prove to the judge and the jury concerned that Jason managed to return home and wipe the security footage to cover his crime.

4) Michelle was beaten to death

Michelle Young was murdered in a gruesome manner, and she was bludgeoned to death. Her autopsy revealed that she was struck several times, and the blunt force trauma was a contributing factor to her death. Several of her teeth were also broken, and their infant child was found lying on the bed nearby Michelle's lifeless corpse by her sister. The police eventually came to believe that Jason had used some sort of over-the-counter sedative to drug his infant child into submission while committing the murder.

5) The hefty insurance money

Michelle's life insurance money was considerable and proved to be one of the motives behind her murder. After Jason was charged with murdering his wife, the court forbade him from withdrawing the life insurance money and also directed him to pay back more than $15 million to Michelle's family.