You're not the only one who thinks that. But there was at least one other Memphis-area sports scandal that could provide a motive for a revenge murder- if Young was involved. Did he have a fax machine?
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
It was nearly two years ago that Phillip Shanks, one of Logan Young's closest friends and among his many legal advisors, was found beaten and unconscious at his office on the outskirts of Memphis.
Shanks claimed that valuable documents -- critical to the Logan Young case, as well as that of Ronnie Cottrell in his civil trial against the NCAA -- were ransacked. The local police never pursued the case other than a cursory glance, even giving off the distinct impression that the entire episode had been staged. Shanks claimed he gave the police the person he was absolutely convinced had mugged him -- with weighty University of Tennessee connections -- and nothing ever happened. Cold case.
Then, last week, on the day Young was found, apparently brutally murdered, Shanks called me. He said he was finally going to reveal the person for whom the Memphis millionaire was covering.
"Logan Young fell on the sword," Shanks said in reference to Young's decision not to testify at his federal trial. Many drew from Shanks' comment that Young had risked going to jail to protect someone in a lofty position, perhaps a man officially connected to the University of Alabama. Immediately, tongues started wagging.
This was not surprising. Tommy Gallion had often talked about information he had received in his investigation of this case which indicated that Young was protecting "the big man." Gallion even indicated that prosecutors had offered Young a deal of no jail time if he would rat out this person for whom the chattering class had narrowed down to two well known names.
Then, two days after Young's body was found, as police were inexplicably and stunningly changing their story about the cause of Young's death, Shanks wanted to come forward with the truth. Shanks said he felt obliged to help clear the name of his now dead friend.
Shanks said Young wasn't protecting anyone whose name you would recognize. Instead, the Memphis divorcee had a relationship with a woman (who was separated from her husband at the time) and in typical Young fashion, supported her "lavishly," to the tune of more than $100,000. Yes, you guessed it, Shanks said on cue, the withdrawals he gave to her (always less than $10,000 so he wouldn't have to declare it), corresponded with the ones the federal prosecutors charged he had funneled to high school coaches in Memphis to buy Albert Means for Alabama.
Shocking? Yes.
Believable? Not so fast.
Some immediately joked that Shanks' story may not have proven that Young was innocent, but it did strongly indicate that Shanks really had been beaten and hit on the head. ...CONTINUED...