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murder conviction of american ♪ student amanda knox, she is or all of them. ♪ finally on the way home back to seattle. her entire life today passed i'll go get my bowl. through the keyhole of the [ female announcer ] new fiber one 80 cories. jury's verdict. yes, you can actually love breakfast. on the other side there was either freedom or a long tunnel ♪ of years carrying her into middle age behind bars. here's abc's elizabeth vargas with our coverage of amanda knox, judgment day. >> reporter: terry, after four years the odyssey for amanda knox and her family is finally over. and welcome back to our the young woman from seattle convicted of brutally killing extended coverage of the amanda her british roommate has been knox case. freed from prison tonight acquitted of all charges. she is free after four years of she is now celebrating with her imprisonment and for her family family who has stood by her from day one and never once doubted no exaggeration to say a in her innocence. nightmare is coming to an end. we talked to them about how they judgment day for amanda knox began with the same ritual that has marked the proceedings from the start. plan on piecing their lives back together again. here again is abc's elizabeth knox's mother he hedda and her vargas. >> reporter: december 4th, 2009s the darkest night of the knox family's four-year ordeal.

father, curt. a jury condemns amanda knox to knox herself arriving in an 26 years in prison for killing armored police van. her roommate meredith kercher. one by one through the medieval the family is in shock. courtroom's double doors they came. edda, the prosecutor giuliano >> anger. disbelief on how a judicial mignini and then surrounded by a system could even come up with a phalanx of security officers verdict like this. it's beyond me. amanda herself cloaked in an overcoat. >> reporter: her appeal has been dragging out all year. in their final closing arguments a stoic amanda watching as the knox's attorneys restate the case against her started to core of their case. the dna evidence used to convict crumble. first the prosecution's theory of motive. her in the murder of her >> it became she was killed for roommate, meredith kercher, had nothing. >> because an in italian law been discredited and now amanda must be freed. that means they can ask for a harsher sentence. >> reporter: the linchpin was next raffaele sollecito, this. an independent court ordered amanda's former boyfriend and review of the all-important dna co-defendant insisting he never evidence. hurt anyone in his life. you knew it could change the case for. >> you absolutely. it was huge. he shows the court a bracelet he >> reporter: the report arrived this summer and was nothing has worn bearing the words "free short of a slam dunk for the amanda and raffaele." knox team first the famous i have worn this for four years, kitchen knife alleged to be the he said. murder weapon, that tiny today it is finally the day to incriminating sample of take it off. meredith's dna supposedly found

then the court falls silent as at the tip of the knife. >> they have now revealed that a speck found on the knife was amanda knox rises to deliver her much anticipated statement. actually flour and star much and the intensity of the statement said it's likely rye bread. almost overwhelms her. >> rye bred is what they thought she is shakes as she struggles was meredith kercher's dna. to get the words out. >> what they found on the knife >> okay. came bass ago rye bread. >> reporter: but as she >> reporter: the emotional force continues she seems to gain a bit of confidence, the young of amanda's statement today or woman described by her accusers all of it, it worked. as a she devil and shameless >> both defendants have been liar now taking one final opportunity to speak for herself. acquitted. >> reporter: tonight after that emotional moment in court the "i am paying with my life for something i haven't done," she immediate challenge is logistics of the return home. said. >> i mean the one thing amanda "i am not what they say we are. has asked for is privacy so i am not perverted and violent. there is contingency plans back when we found out meredith had home of other places where been killed i couldn't believe nobody knows that is not in any it" she said. "i couldn't believe it was of our names that we can go and possible. then i felt fear. just reconnect for a couple of if i had been there that night i days. >> reporter: is she prepared at would be dead also." all for what she is going to face? >> the first thing that i think she said "i shared my life with really needs to take place is meredith. really kind of figuring out what we were friends. she was concerned for me. these four years have done to she was always kind to me. her emotionally.

she cared about me. she was murdered and i always >> reporter: what are your plans? what are you thinking of doing. wanted justice for her. >> we're going to go to lincoln i have not murdered" she said "i park by our house and sit in the have not raped." middle of the park and paint. i already made a little [ speaking italian amanda -- >> reporter: that's nice. have you told her about that. ] >> no, it's a secret. don't tell her. >> thanks to elizabeth vargas in >> reporter: "i don't want to be perugia for that. we'll turn now to abc's legal puni punished. i deserve freedom." analyst dan abrams. this has been such a saga and the sense of a lot of americans she's escorted back to prison as this was an injustice from the court adjourns and a jury begins get-go that amanda knox was railroaded. what do you make of that. deliberations. >> the judge has made the right outside, meredith kercher's decision here. once the dna was discredited, family implores the media not to there was no link anymore to forget the victim. murder. i don't see how you could have moved forward and said we still >> she's almost forgotten in all have evidence of murder. but how did she get here? of it. well, it starts with her own to be present and meredith in statements. some of which were proven to the city she loves. simply be outright falsehoods. >> reporter: the kerchers have said they believe in the now, she would say she was original verdict. >> we were satisfied with that coerced. she would say she was being last time. interrogated for hours and that the authorities made suggestions

nothing changed since then. to her. fair enough. it sill is exactly the same. if that's true, then this very well may have been an american citizen who got totally railroaded, but if that's not true and there was some truth to ths that how the justice works. the statements she was making, >> reporter: it looks less like or at least she was trying to make statements that were truthful and she got caught a postcard and more like the lying, totally different setting of a murder. the jury returns after nine situation. >> might have brought it on hours of deliberations. herself. moments before the verdict, the >> absolutely. you could still make a case that body language in court is a amanda knox was in the house study in contrast. that night. but when it comes to her prosecutor mignini confidently involvement in the murder, once embracing the kercher family. you lose the dna, it's gone. knox herself trembling with you got nothing. anticipation clearly having trouble keeping her emotions in >> is it over. check. >> the prosecutors -- sounds like he's still going to appeal. >> it's life or she gets to come even if they win on the appeal i home and that's a pretty big can't possibly see an thing to have on your mind as a extradition occurring. i think amanda knox is now safe at home. >> she's coming home. 24-year-old. dan abrams, thanks for that [ speaking italian ] tonight. just ahead, we're going to >> reporter: the first statement from the judge is actually bad boldly go where thousands of fans have only imagined going news for amanda. before. she's found guilty of slandering we're going to switch gears for her former boss patrick lumumba one-on-one interview with

when she fingered him for the captain kirk himself, william shatner. murder during a controversial sweet, nutty crunchy nut™. statement to police that she later retracted but then -- [ speaking italian ] >> reporter: -- acquittal on the murder charges. the jury demanding that amanda and raffaele must be released immediately. and despite the judge's repeated demands for silence, the crowd cannot contain its emotions. the stunning reversal of fortune is too much for the 24-year-old to bear. she breaks down in court tears streaming as she is hustled away. [ sighs ] can't wait 'til morning. outside the courthouse, mignini wait, it's morning in china... is jeered and booed by the crowd [ male announcer ] it's sweet. it's nutty. while amanda's sister deanna is it's absolutely delicious. kellogg's® crunchy nut™. it's morning somewhere™. exultant. >> we're thankful amanda's it's absolutely delicious. kellogg's® crunchy nut™. nightmare is over. she suffered for four year force ooh, the price sure doesn't. a crime she did not commit. i'm tired of shopping around. we are thankful for the support we have received from all over [ sigh ] too bad you're not buying car insurance. the world and last we are thankful to the court for having like that's easy.

the courage to look for the oh, it is. progressive direct showed me their rates truth in overturning the and the rates of their competitors. conviction. i saved hundreds when switching. >> she's looking forward to have we could use hundreds. a future back home and looking yeah. to go back as soon as possible. >> reporter: knox returns to the wake up and smell the savings. capanne prison for the last time. out there with a better way. hours after she said good-bye to the prison chaplain and filled now, that's progressive. out routine paperwork a small convoy of cars drives away as it's your fault. amanda knox enjoys her first naturally blame the mucus. moments of freedom in almost try advil congestion relief. four years. it treats the real problem, the question now, what's next reducing swelling due to nasal inflammation. for her and her family? [ male announcer ] advil congestion relief. stay with us. li s id li s m ba llral,was id unl m ba

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as captain kirk, he led the intrepid crew of the "uss enterprise" through 79 episodes of the original "star trek," a show that flopped before finding its incredible cult afterlife but for william shatner, "star trek" was just one early stop on a much greater journey. here's david wright for our series "seriously funny." may the crew stand by. >> t.j. hook ser the name. >> reporter: i for one don't think of william shatner as an actor. to me he's an icon.

>> this is captain james kirk of the "uss enterprise." >> i've interviewed five u.s. presidents. >> yes. >> reporter: but i've never been as excited to sit down with somebody. >> my gosh, what a compliment. >> reporter: at age 80 he's crossed over. his new memoir "shatner rules," gone is the defensively of being typecast. >> captain -- >> reporter: led him to lash out at his "star trek" fans on "saturday night live." >> i'd just like to say, get a life, will you, people. >> the last time i looked in the mirror, i was this captain kirk guy that looked very pretty. what happened? >> reporter: gone is the swagger that so annoyed his "star trek" co-stars. on the comedy central roast of william shatner, mr. zulu let rip. >> [ bleep ] and the horse you rode in on. >> reporter: there's been some famously bad blood. >> i don't know what's his problem. i keep saying to him, hey, you're getting old.

do you want to die? >> reporter: shatner seems to occupy another realm. >> you must say exactly what i say exactly how i say it. >> reporter: one where he can finally embrace being william shatner. >> i just got a great deal. >> we can afford that but why are you speaking that way? >> i guess i'm just speaking -- >> the language of the deal. >> reporter: is it true they paid you in stock and now you're a gazillionaire? >> no, they paid me in stock. the bubble went up, i was rich. the bubble burst and the stock was -- we got rid of the stock. >> reporter: even so shatner is doing just fine, thanks. his passion is horses, an expensive hobby. >> this horse wants to go all the time. his tendency is not to stay still. >> reporter: for shatner these horses are not props or pets. they're an extension of him. >> do something vivid and then stop a second.

and contemplate. >> reporter: it's a description that could also apply to shatner's trademark style of acting. of course, it's a style that lends itself parody. >> captain's log. >> captain's log. >> had trouble sleeping last night. my hiatal hernia is acting up. >> i'm in on the joke. it would be hard not to be in on the joke. >> reporter: but at the same time that's you. >> it is partially. characteristics of mine exaggerating like a character. >> got a woman. >> reporter: it's tricky. on the one hand as he explains in the book that over-the-top priceline character is what led to denny crane. >> denny crane. >> reporter: the aging litigator on "boston legal" that earned him two emmy awards and a golden globe but embracing the caricature has its risks. case in point, his new spoken word album seeking major tom. >> ground control to major tom -- >> so there's a record that you

might laugh at, but i don't mean you to laugh at. >> take your preteen pills, put your helmet on. >> reporter: but i'm an actor and i love the smoke and mirrors and the musicality of the word and i love the rhythm of the word so speaking can become musical. >> reporter: that's the intriguing part. you see, william shatner doesn't have to work anymore. he could afford to say to his detractors what he jokingly sang on "the george lopez show." >> [ bleep ] you. >> reporter: instead he's still boldly going -- >> i have fun with this persona. this horse and me in the saddle, that's me. >> reporter: and more than ever, enjoying the ride. i'm david wright for "nightline" in los angeles. >> and may he live long and prosper. thanks to david for that. now we want to make note of a big new chapter for us here. we at abc news are teaming up with yahoo! to bring you and the hundred million americans who count on yahoo! online exclusive

new content. very exciting. that includes the interview george stephanopoulos conducted with president obama which you can watch tomorrow morning on "good morning america" and find atia hao news. look for much more to come from our new partnership. thanks for watching abc news. tune in for "good morning america." we're always online at abcnews.com. >> dicky: up next on an all-new "jimmy kimmel live." >> are you ready to abe