this is "nightline." >> tonight, the longest inning. a major league grounds crew member caught up in a murder investigation. he says forced into a confession. >> they hit me. i was out for a long time. they said, give us a story. i said, what story? they started feeding it to me. >> after decades behind bars, how he finally got free. and the return to his field of dreams. plus, circus of your mind. cirque du soleil studying audience brain waves to learn exactly how to blow you away. >> we're looking at brain wave activity so we can look to see which performances create art more likely than others. >> we're at their montreal

headquarters where new death-defying stunts are born, jumping into off-the-wall antics. but first the "nightline 5." >> lately i've been selective about what i eat. this beneful select 10 has 10 amazing ingredients with real beef, sunflower oil and apples, your dog's the health nut. new beneful select 10. 10 ingredients, one thoughtful recipe. you've tried moisturizer after moisturizer. one blows them all out of the water. hydro boost from neutrogena. plump skin cells so it bounces back. neutrogena. >> number one in just 60 seconds.

good evening. thank you for joining us. for nevis coleman, life was

great. the early 1990s, he was working on the chicago white sox grounds crew. a home four miles from the ballpark, two young children. that all changed in an instant. a woman he knew was murdered. coleman was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. tonight, espn's lisa salters has his story. ♪ >> reporter: when they led chicago to a 1993 division coleman, nevis coleman was finishing his second year of work on the white sox grounds crew. >> at first i started to power wash the seats. washing windows down. the rails. the trash. they pulled trash. we wanted to keep the park up. it then became a family to me. it became a big family to me down there.

>> reporter: just after the start of the baseball season, on the night of april 11th, 1994, nevis attended a gathering two houses down from his home on chicago's south side. antoineka bridgeman was celebrating her 20th birthday. nevis would leave with her and another woman. >> i couldn't let them walk home by theirselves. dropped one off, mikey ran across the street, i watched her, she waved, next thing she ran home, that's all i knew. >> reporter: 17 days later, at the coleman home, nevis' sister complained about an odor coming from their abandoned basement, an area only accessible from an exterior backdoor sometimes used by drug users and by the homeless. >> the odor was getting stronger. coming through the window. jump back, it was a body. didn't know who it was. >> did you go in the basement?

>> no. didn't go. >> reporter: police determined it was the decomposing body of a woman who had been brutally rapednd mutilated. the woman was mikey bridgeman. around midnight, detectives took nevis to the police station for questioning with no attorney present. he says police officers deprived him of sleep, punched him in the face, and used racial slurs. >> they called me a lying [ bleep ]. they hit me. i was out for a long time. they said, give us a story. i said, what story? they started feeding it to me. that's how the story came about. >> when the police are telling you you're lying, you know what happened, you did it. what are you saying? >> i told them i didn't do it. >> reporter: 10:04 in the morning, nevis says he was cowearsed into signing a confession. stating that he and two other men were involved in the rape

and murder of mikey bridgeman. what compelled you to sign a confession to something you say you didn't do? >> they told me i can go home. i went through the beating. couldn't go through it. they told me if i signed, i can go. i signed it. >> reporter: one of the men nevis implicated in his confession was 26-year-old darrell fulton, who had been previously convicted of rape. >> i told them i had no idea what they were talking about. and it just went on for hours and hours and hours. i was approached by an african-american cop. and i remember him saying, and i'll never forget these words, you know -- "you lucky i don't take you somewhere put a bullet in your brain." and i was so spent and

physically drained, the things he was saying to me, even though they were actually lies, they made me feel like it was my only way out. >> reporter: darrell says police also coerced him into confessing. the third man nevis implicated did not confess, and charges against him were dropped. in your opinion, did detectives coerce a confession out of nevis coleman? >> no way. >> darrell fulton? >> no. >> reporter: brian sexton prosecuted the mikey bridge man murder case. >> what happened is what nevis coleman admitted happening. started walking with her, ran into two other individuals, and decided to go to nevis' basement to have sex. and according to his statement, agreed to have sex with the other two, but not him. he got mad and started, and

that's when the brutal rape/murder started happen iing >> confession aside, what was your case? >> strong circumstantial evidence. you have him as being the last person seen alive with the victim. this is coleman's residence, this is his basement. this whole thing about they beat me? he's just trying to get out of the confession. and there's no evidence to support his claim whatsoever. >> reporter: nevis and darrell were convicted of murder in 1997. and sentenced to life in prison without parole. what did you think your future was going to be like then? >> shattered. >> reporter: nevis and darrell served most of their time in this state penitentiary. menard correctional center. six hours from chicago. both continued to maintain their innocence. what was the lowest point for you? >> when i lost my mother and my father. when i lost them, that's when i was like, man.

i didn't get to say good-bye. i didn't get to hug them. i didn't get to go to their funerals. that was the lowest point. >> reporter: 2016, nevis had been behind bars for 22 years and without the opportunity for parole, he had little hope. but that changed. because of darrell fulton. did you think that you were going to find a way out? >> absolutely. >> what made you think that? >> because i knew i had the dna on my side. i remember telling nevis, if you didn't do it, whatever happens for me is going to happen for you. >> reporter: darrell had long sought new dna testing in the case to go beyond the inconclusive testing that was done before the trial in 1997. his efforts succeeded in 2016. and that gave nevis an opportunity. russell ainsworth and the university of chicago's exoneration project took up his case.

>> i wanted to look to see what evidence might still be stored that we could test. the victim's clothing, the items that were found at the crime scene. >> reporter: last fall, new dna evidence led to a hearing. with no objection from the state, the same judge who had given nevis and darrell life sentences two decades earlier overturned their convictions. on november 20th, after nearly 24 years behind bars, nevis coleman was a free man. nevis had his freedom and his family back. and then, at age 49, he also got back his old job. >> what's up? what's up, big man?

>> it's just fun, you know? just to come back, they say, you did a damn good job. >> reporter: time, once his relentless opponent, is now his greatest gift. for the people who come up to you and are like, hey, you're that guy who went to prison. being identified in that way. you're that guy who was in prison. >> yeah. that's okay. because i know that they know my story. they read it. they listened to it. they believed it. they're like, yeah, he didn't do it. like i told people years ago, i was innocent then, i'm innocent now. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm lisa salters in baltimore, maryland.

>> our thanks to lisa salters. nevis is suing for damages based on his allegations that his confession was coerced. as is darrell fulton. next, how cirque du soleil is using mental gymnastics to plan their next brain-busting performance. hear that sizzle? yeah. red lobster's lobster & shrimp summerfest is back! get all the lobster and shrimp you crave, together in so many new ways. there's new cedar plank seafood bake. tender maine lobster and shrimp, cedar roasted to perfection. or new caribbean lobster and shrimp. sweet pineapple salsa on grilled rock lobster, paired with jumbo coconut shrimp. and wait. there's lobster & shrimp overboard! it's a seafood party on a plate. so hurry in. 'cause lobster & shrimp summerfest won't last. thanks to move free ultra 2in1... i run after this guy... and take long walks with this guy. unlike glucosamine chondroitin, move free ultra 2in1 is clinically proven

to improve joint comfort in the first week. and it keeps improving comfort with continued use. move free ultra. could clean almost anywhere, all on it's own? (intense music) the shark ion robot maneuvers from floors to carpets. while it spots trouble, it steers around it. this shark cleans, docks, and charges automatically. the shark ion robot. ( ♪ ) face the world as a face to be reckoned with. only botox® cosmetic is fda approved to temporarily make moderate to severe frown lines, crow's feet and forehead lines look better. it's a quick 10 minute cosmetic treatment given by a doctor to reduce those lines. there is only one botox® cosmetic, ask for it by name. the effects of botox® cosmetic, may spad hours to weeks after injection, causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be a sign of a life-threatening condition. do not receive botox® cosmetic if you have a skin infection. side effects may include allergic reactions,

injection site pain, headache, eyelid and eyebrow drooping and eyelid swelling. tell your doctor about your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, and medications including botulinum toxins as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. leave your mark on the world. minimize its mark on you. get started at botoxcosmetic.com.

boasting. overselling his achievements. making false claims. as lieutenant governor, he skipped many of his duties, saying the job was "so dull," he only shows up to work at the state capitol "like one day a week, tops." the same gavin who, as mayor, "split town" during a massive oil spill and "jetted off...to hawaii." gavin's... not gonna work... as governor. not gonna work... our 3 contestants are all at the big ikea table. who's going to be tonight's winning chef? contestant #1, impressive knife skills. but contestant #2 fights back by using fresh parsley. and, contestant #3 adds a touch of sweetness. sweetie, come eat outside. but it's to hot out there! perfect! make room for the judge! what's your dream?

at ikea, we help you live it. make the dream yours. they flip so you'll flip. and they knew that you would. the world-famous cirque du soleil has taken focus grouping to the next level. strapping electrodes to audience

members and studying how different circus stunts change their brain waves. here's abc's marcie gonzales. >> reporter: a night at the circus unlike anything you could imagine. cirque du soleil synonymous with big, jaw-dropping stunts at insane heights. >> we have to find ourselves enraptured. you really want to make sure that we do captivate people. >> reporter: and mesmerizing shows like "curious." "ka." and the risque "zumanity." today at the "o" theater in las vegas, they're doing something they've never done before. >> i see people doing these things that we could never do -- >> reporter: studying your brain on cirque, attaching electrodes to audience members as they watch a performance of "o." >> we're looking at brain wave activity, looking at how the different parts of the brain change in their response. also the connections between

those areas. we could help cirque du soleil create new shows so we could look to see which performances to create are more likely than others. >> reporter: the goal, to find out how brains react to some of the show's most extreme stunts. >> we constantly have to challenge ourselves and what we think this information will do is give us the foundation to continue to test and evolve. >> reporter: in a world of entertainment increasingly defined by showmanship, the bar on what's humanly possible is constantly being pushed. and cirque du soleil is looking to better understand what audiences crave. >> audiences are changing. we can do so much more than we could when we started over 30 years ago. if we have that "oh my god" moment, we know our audience is going to come on that journey with us. >> reporter: but the challenge, how to push limits when one mistake can mean the difference between life and death. >> a performer with more than 15 years of experience falling in tampa. the audience watching in horror. >> reporter: earlier this year,

cirque lost one of its own, aerialist yann arnaud falling to his death while performing a new high-flying routine. >> there have been accidents, with other circumstances as well. how do you learn from those experiences and move forward? >> it's a constant period of refinement and iteration. it is the most important thing that we do. but if there is something that needs to be refined, of course we take that into consideration. >> reporter: and while mistake dozen happen, the idea behind those massive performances i to defy death while trying to minimize the risk. is that a part of the thinking? how close to the edge can we bring things? >> no, i don't want to do a spoiler alert. but look carefully at some of the acts, you can see the safety lines. what we do is play with the lights. play with the emotions through the music. play with the setting and the costumes, of course. if we keep layering and layering and layering in a particular act, everybody will be surprised. and we can still keep everybody safe.

>> reporter: all those layers eventually formulate into a show. >> he accidentally trips, then the audience realizes, oh, it's something went wrong, or he's part of the act. >> reporter: we got a look inside a creation meeting. here the team is developing the next big cirque du soleil show. >> my question is, is this going to get old? it's the same you see every time. >> our process is two, three years long. at the beginning you have to find a subject, something you want to talk about that's so exciting that it will nurture the team. >> we're making the script, so that's what i think takes the time. and of course we're training acrobats, we're teaching people new numbers, we're trying out clown acts that have never been done before. >> reporter: it all starts here in montreal at cirque's quirky international headquarters where they conceive those high-wire performances for shows all over the world, including for disney,

abc's parent company. >> we often start with something called an acrobatic skeleton. so we would define, let's say, 10 or 12 or 13 acts and say, okay, how does our concept work into that? how do we weave the story around some of those amazing acts? >> reporter: surrounded by acrobats, aerialists, and trampoline experts, we find an amazement factory. what is the one thing that lets you know this person belongs in cirque? >> something that is special. something that either being from an acrobatic perspective, artistic perspective, singer, musician, that is different. and then obviously we're looking for someone who has reached already a level of excellence. we're actually looking at people that are five, six, seven, ten

years of performance. >> this is not a place for beginners like me what is you're saying? >> yes. >> reporter: from the sets to the costumes, no detail is overlooked. the costumes are not just beautiful, but they really have to be functional. >> you have to make something beautiful that really works in tandem with an artist's body and with their performance. >> reporter: feeling inspired, it's time for me to channel my inner circus performer. >> are you guys ready? >> ready. >> how do i look? i'm feeling real good. >> you're looking cirque ready. >> reporter: one looks familiar. >> this is from "o." >> okay. this one is a little revealing. so this is all you get. and maybe this. i'm going to try on another. i think we have a winner. just a casual look. just a saturday afternoon stroll. >> this is from volta, the hair suspension costume. >> i might be switching outfits.

>> reporter: back in street clothes, it's time to see if i have what it takes to be in cirque du soleil. trampoline performer bob watson is my acrobatic guru for the day. >> whoa, what? that's amazing. wow. >> thank you. >> now teach me. >> reporter: i'm about to try my hand at a much simpler move called the bum drop. >> make sure your fingers point toward toes. >> okay. that seems easy enough. >> yay! >> thank you. >> reporter: just i'm thinking this trampoline stuff is pretty easy -- >> i'm auditioning now. >> reporter: trying to graduate to a more complicated move, the back drop. >> when you go on your back, everything hits. you don't want to land with your chin to your chest. >> legs and hands up? okay.

i'm terrible at this. >> reporter: turns out it is not as easy as these performers make it look. maybe i'll just leave the job of awe-inspiring to the professionals. for "nightline," i'm marci gonzalez. definitely not cut out for this. can you actually love wearing powerful sunscreen? yes! neutrogena® ultra sheer. no other sunscreen works better or feels so good. clinically proven helioplex® provides unbeatable uva/uvb protection to help prevent early skin aging and skin cancer all with a clean light feel. for unbeatable protection. it's the one. the best for your skin. ultra sheer®. neutrogena®. see what's possible.

this is a cell. so are all these. they work together, doing important stuff... like keeping your vital organs running and what not. the hitch? like you, your cells get hungry. feed them with centrum micronutrients. designed to nourish and revitalize you at the cellular level. restoring your awesome on the daily. centrum. feed your cells.

on the daily. party's over, 'six legs', she's got simparica now. simpari-what? simparica is what kills tick and fleas, like us. kills? kills! studies show at the end of the month, it kills more ticks in less time than frontline plus and nexgard. guess we should mosey on. see ya never, roxy! use simparica with caution in dogs with a history of seizures or neurologic disorders. the most common side effects are vomiting, diarrhea, and lethargy. say goodbye to ticks and fleas... with monthly simparica chewables.

i'm jeff bleich. preventing violence has long been my cause. in the face of senseless violence, we need hope. after columbine, i led president clinton's youth violence commission. i joined joe biden to reduce domestic violence, helping boys become men. i beat the nra in court, defending gun laws that save lives. today, a new generation is rising, and this is our moment.

in the streets and in the capitol, i'll stand with them. jeff bleich. democrat for lieutenant governor. thank you for watching abc news. good night, america.

i support the affordable care act, and voted against all trump's attempts to repeal it. but we need to do more. i believe in universal health care. in a public health option to compete with private insurance companies. and expanding medicare to everyone over 55.