Colleges

Convicted booster killed in home attack

Logan Young, 65, who played a role in a scandal at Alabama, is slain in Memphis.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A booster convicted of bribing a high school coach to get a top recruit for Alabama was killed in his home after a fierce, bloody struggle, police said Tuesday.

Police would not say how Logan Young, 65, was killed. Homicide detective Lt. Joe Scott said no arrests had been made and no suspects identified.

Investigators found "a lot of blood," police Sgt. Vince Higgins said. "The nature of the attack was brutal. The entire house is a crime scene."

Higgins said there were signs of struggle in Young's two-story stone Tudor home in one of Memphis' most exclusive neighborhoods.

Investigators will use DNA testing to determine if any of the blood belonged to someone other than Young.

Investigators don't know a motive or if the attack was related to Young's federal conviction, Higgins said.

Higgins said Young's housekeeper found the body after she arrived for work Tuesday morning, and a pool worker told police he saw Young as he left the house late Monday.

"All we can tell is (the killing) happened sometime overnight - late night or early morning," Higgins said.

Young was free pending appeal of his 2005 conviction on money laundering and racketeering conspiracy charges involving the recruitment of defensive lineman Albert Means. Young was sentenced last June to six months in prison, plus six months' home confinement.

Young was the son of a wealthy businessman in Osceola, Ark., and though he never attended Alabama he was widely known as the Crimson Tide's most influential booster in Memphis.

Former high school coach Lynn Lang, who avoided jail time after pleading guilty to taking part in a racketeering conspiracy, testified against Young, saying the booster paid $150,000 to get Means to sign with Alabama in 2000.

Means' recruitment became part of an NCAA investigation that led to sanctions against Alabama in 2002, costing the Crimson Tide scholarships and bowl appearances. In 2001 Alabama cut ties with three boosters, including Young, among self-imposed sanctions. Means transferred to Memphis, where he finished his college career.

[Last modified April 12, 2006, 01:07:16]