bye brentwood. but with the southern girl inside her southern california mansion, she just put on the market for $10.5 million. >> i want to show you the pool. >> five bedroom residents includes a pool, spa and awesome sunking trampoline. >> this house has it all and her oscar doesn't come with the asking price. >> see ya. >> michelle williams stands to make $4 million profit off this brooklyn home she purchased for $3.6 million with heath ledger in 2005. the four story home has six bedrooms, four and a half baths and on the market for $7.5 million. music super couple beyonce and jay-z on the run house hunting in paris. the two spotted visiting an estate and bee posting pictures of the view and blue ivy playing in the front. >> who's gearing up to buy the $50 million lion's gate mansion.

the answer at extratv.com. >> looking to live like a billionaire, thanks to friends at trulia, we compiled a list of the most lavish homes for sale in america. >> be the first buyer to live in this state of the art, $85 million beverly hills home ranked as number five. >> as one of the most expensive homes for sale in america, at 23,000 square feet, you only expect a living room to be this big. >> wait until you see the rest of the extraordinary home, a full tour coming up in a bit. want to move on up to the upper east side? this big apple penthouse located inside the swanky pierre hotel offers five bedrooms and nine baths and five terraces with the best views of the city. asking price, $95 million. third time is the charm for this next listing. a collection of three penthouses inside the ritz carl ton battery park. the 118.5 million asking price

gets a 12 bedroom, 15 baths and three kitchens. it's the iconic spot once visited by president kennedy and jackie and once owned by william randolph hearst. the legendary beverly house is on the market for $135 million. sprauled over six acres in beverly hills, it also has hollywood routes featured in the bodyguard and -- of course "the god father." it has five different buildings and 28 bedrooms and 36 baths and eight-car garage, tennis court and wait for it, it's own nightclub. and number one is the hills borrow beach florida spread inspired by france's palace of versaill versailles. 16,000 feet of pure luxury, a double marble stair case and 11

bedrooms, three masters with ocean views and 17 baths and 4500 square foot pool and its own imax theater. and at $139 million, it tops our list for the most expensive homes for sale in america. >> and speaking of amazing real estate, our back drop here is the mansion of we need the tour of next. >> how the other .1% lives. >> want to know what 16,000 square feet and seven bedrooms and eight and a half baths of pure luxury looks like? this is it. aa month after we toured the place, so did jay-z and beyonce. it's rumored they dropped 200 grand a month to make this their home base while l.a. for their own the run tour. >> james harris giving me this exclusive tour of the $45 million estate. >> every last detail was thought out but they wanted to have indoor/outdoor living. >> the outdoors infinity pool

and tennis court, just about the best views in town. >> it's a one of a kind estate, nothing else quite like it. >> inside state of the art kitchen, movie theater, fully equipped gym and massage room, including -- >> $2 million worth of furniture. >> master suite, 2500 square feet, plus -- >> a 2,000 square foot private terrace off the master which is just entertaining at its fining. if you can't party on the main level -- >> go up to the bedroom. >> exactly. >> what kind of person would be in the market to buy this place? >> we've had an he can lek tick group of buyers from celebrities to oil tycoons and saudi princes. >> for us, we'll always think of it as jay and bee's house. >> why would this be amazing for a celebrity? >> celebrities are looking for estate like feeling but so busy, they don't have time to come in and build a house. and i think a home like this which is turn key, move in,

unpack your bags and ready to go, just suits them down to the ground. >> next on extra's mansions and millionaires. >> $85 million mansion you need to see to believe. >> this is insane. >> how much fun is this. >> this is an entire candy store? >> who is reportedly thinking of buying the place just up the block from jen and ellen? then the penthouse made for the movies. >> if this amazing roof top terrace looks familiar, it was the green goblin's layer in spider-man. >> inside the super spread -- >> coming up on "mansions and millionaires."

coming up, more celebrity real estate and the most ridiculous pad you've ever seen. how $85 million just may be a bargain. next.

as with most places, l.a. real estate is all about location and this spot perched

above sunset boulevard is about as good as you can get. >> this could be beyonce and jay-z's new digs? >> so beautiful. >> the power couple reportedly eyeing this beverly hills estate, the asking price? a superstar high 85 million. in this mansions and millionaires exclusive, we're breaking down the celebrity real estate find by the numbers. >> it's just light and bright and airy, like a vortex. >> nearly 23,000 square feet. >> two levellers, upper level 14,000 and lower level 9,000 feet. panoramic views and state of the art amenities and -- >> it comes 100% furnished. >> mostly filled with one of a kind creation which includes carpet made by fendi and bentley chairs. >> i saw a need for spectacular homes that were completely finished. if somebody wanted to come in and look at a house they could come in we toothbrush and have a world class home. >> in a world class

neighborhood. >> elvis was right across the street, ringo starr and jennifer aniston, ellen degeneres. >> and bruce built this master piece from the ground up. >> put a great team together to build the most beautiful houses in california. >> broke ground two years ago? >> two years ago. to build a very large house in two levels taking the view, almost 270 degrees from the city all the way to the ocean. >> it's almost you started with the view and built the house around it? >> correct. >> this home, not only about the views. >> as one of the most expensive homes for sale in america, at 23,000 square feet, well, you would only expect a living room to be this big. >> this is beyond a living room. 1600 square feet, bigger than some single family homes. eight bedrooms with an 1800 square foot master bedroom. and if you're planning a huge bash, no long waits for the bathroom, there are 15 of them. the sweetest part of this mega

mansion. >> $200,000 wall. >> $130,000 worth of candy sfwl this is insane. >> how much fun is this? >> an entire candy store. >> next to the custom gym. wait -- >> it's a two-car garage and there's a lift that drops into a show gallery with spinners. welcome to my auto gallery. >> now, i really do feel like we're in an auto showroom because one of us should be going like this. >> cars not included. >> did a great job. i'm not leaving. >> all right, now we are taking you to a new york landmark that movie fans are sure to recognize. >> it's gotham's super penthouse. >> beats taking the subway. >> a castle in the sky. this amazing gothic spread boasts views from the chrysler building to the east river. >> if this roof top terrace looks familiar, it was the green goblin's pent house lair in spider-man.

>> this makes this manhattan standout if you want to go green, this is now on the market. the asking price of $3.8 billion, 18 foot vaulted ceil g ceilings to take in views. >> the godfather, scarface and born ultimatum were also shot here. >> this

>> closed captioning and other considerations provided by --

that's it for extra's mansions and millionaires celebrity real estate. if you're ready to buy any of these amazing estates, go to extratv.com. tell them i sent you.

and mario, thanks for taking the tours. >> of course, michael, we're going to leave you with the trailer for "unbroken" angelina jolie's latest behind the lens. lots of oscar buzz. have a great week, everyone. >> you can do this, you've got to believe you can. >> pop does, ma saturddoes, i d >> i used to think i could do anything and i was better than i am. >> who says you're not? >> if we can get through this, i'll dedicate my whole life to you. ♪ >> if i can take it, i can make it. >> stay down. >> come on. here.

and i pushed him, and he fell out the window. fell. oh god. >> reporter: to police eavesdropping on them, that sounded like a critical statement, but what did it really mean? lead detective jeff felton. >> i didn't know the motive behind the push. i didn't know if there was a domestic situation going on. i didn't know if they were, you know, playing around and she pushed him. >> reporter: sort of giving the benefit of the doubt, in a way.

>> absolutely. i mean, it's just -- it's nothing that i've ever seen before. >> reporter: felton had to figure out how the push happened, and also what, if anything, led to it. and that meant taking a closer look at amber and her marriage. >> it was a volatile relationship, without a doubt. >> reporter: how did things get that way? that all depends on whom you ask. from the day the couple moved to alaska, amber's mother could see the storm clouds gathering. >> amber was used to getting her hair done and her nails done and, all of a sudden, you put this girl in a different world, and it's cold. and then, she found out she was pregnant. it was just like a tornado going, too many things happening at once. >> reporter: their alaskan adventure derailed almost from the start. when did your life start not seeming quite so perfect anymore? >> i mean, being newlyweds alone is, you know, is a struggle. and then the alaska factor.

getting used to a whole new place. i mean, we just slowly started seeing how different we really were. >> reporter: how were you different? >> in every way. he was the modest, predictable type. and i was more the wild hare. >> reporter: josh's father thought it was a terrible match the first time he saw the young couple together. >> it just didn't make any sense to me. i felt like my son was making a mistake. >> reporter: amber's mom had to agree. josh and amber were naive, starry-eyed lovers. >> they were too young -- too young and in love. they wanted this fairytale marriage that didn't exist, because that's not real life. >> reporter: as the winter days grew colder and darker, the strain was too much. there were lots of arguments, and troubling late night calls to mom and dad from both of them. >> he was in tears, and he didn't know what to do.

>> reporter: after josh was discharged from the air force, they came back home. tulsa might have meant a fresh start, but the fighting continued. it turned out alaska wasn't the problem. their marriage was. on june 7th, 2011, just a couple of weeks after they'd moved into the university club high rise, josh's bags were packed and he was waiting for a ride. that's when he fell to his death. and now detectives started focusing their attention on that 25th floor apartment. >> i made sure that the upstairs was secure and went and applied for a search warrant so that we could go inside. >> reporter: once he entered the hilberlings' apartment, felton looked for evidence that maybe there had been a fight that had gone terribly wrong. but he couldn't find anything to suggest the couple had been in the throes of a violent struggle just before the fatal push. >> the furniture was all in place. you know, other than the broken

window, there was nothing that would indicate that there -- any kind of struggle had taken place. >> reporter: when you think about a pregnant woman, 5'5", pushing her husband, who's 6'4", out a window like that, is it surprising that she would be able to do that? >> no, ma'am. if you catch somebody off guard. and i mean, a big body could actually work against you. >> reporter: do you think he was caught off guard and pushed? >> yes, ma'am. i think he was messing with the television set. >> reporter: so you think she did it on purpose? >> i think she shoved him on purpose. absolutely. >> reporter: and the more felton heard of what amber said in that interrogation room, the more convinced he became that she had condemned herself. >> i wonder if his parents know yet. >> they kept saying if we stay together i'm going to kill him. >> reporter: and with amber saying things that sounded an awful lot like a confession, grandma gloria offered up some sobering advice. >> when they come in, just -- i don't want to say nothing until

my attorney gets here. okay? don't break. don't -- and don't slip any other way. >> reporter: it turns out, an attorney was exactly what amber needed. police and prosecutors decided her push was in fact a crime. she was arrested and charged with 2nd degree murder. amber's mother was shocked. she thought it was obvious her daughter had been traumatized in the hours after josh's death. she also thought it was outrageous that anyone would hold anything she said to her grandmother in the interrogation room against her. >> she was a broken girl that had just witnessed the most horrible thing. she was in complete shock, as we all were. making someone pay for a tragic accident doesn't correct the situation. >> reporter: but the question of whether amber should pay was out of her mother's hands. it would now be decided in a tulsa courtroom.

coming up -- no witnesses saw what happened in that apartment, but one witness did hear it. and it sure didn't sound like an accident. >> i heard running, like i've never heard before in that building, and a crash. woman: for soft beautiful feet, i have a professional secret: amopé and its premium foot care line. the new amopé pedi perfect foot file gives you soft beautiful feet effortlessly. its microlumina rotating head buffs away hard skin even on those hard-to-reach spots. it's amazing. you can see it and feel it. my new must-have for soft, beautiful feet. amopé pedi perfect. available in the foot care aisle of the following retailers: we'll fight back at the this cfirst sign of sick. no more feeling coughy, mucusy...just...yucky. whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. is this about me? ♪

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♪ reporter: amber hilberling had been charged with second degree murder for the death of her husband, josh. as the story of how he fell 17 stories to his death went public, it seemed the only ones crying for amber were her family and amber herself. >> why did he fall? josh is dead. >> reporter: amber continued to insist her husband's death was an accident. but an online cottage industry had sprung up in tulsa, devoted to bashing the young widow, who by now had given birth to her

son, levi. how is it, as her mother, reading those things about her, hearing those things about her? >> it's like taking a knife and just stabbing you. >> reporter: her critics caustically noted how the step-daughter of a plastic surgeon always seemed ready for her close-up. tight clothes that emphasized her breast implants and blown-out hair for court hearings. some people wrote some harsh things about you, and saying that you were enjoying it, that you loved being a celebrity. one quote was that you were paying more attention to your outfits than the evidence. >> i mean, that seems ridiculous and a totally unsupported opinion because these people didn't live with me on a daily basis. >> reporter: the state's theory was that while amber may not have meant to kill her husband, pushing him towards the window showed a dangerous disregard for his life. in other words, second degree murder. if convicted, amber faced anywhere from 10 years to life

in prison. >> think of the absolute conscious disregard for another human life when you are pushing somebody towards glass 25 stories up, when you wouldn't even do it on the first floor. >> reporter: prosecutor michelle keely knew jurors might have a hard time seeing the young mother as a killer. so as amber waited in a oklahoma jail cell, separated from her newborn son, keely offered her a deal. five years of prison in exchange for a guilty plea. >> i think any time you go to trial where you have a lovely, young lady and somebody who doesn't have any felony convictions, definitely could've come across very well for a jury. >> reporter: amber's lawyers told her she should consider the deal. but amber wasn't interested. yeah, why didn't you take the five? >> because i believe that if you're not guilty for something and you truly believe in that with all your heart, then you're going to take whatever risk is necessary to prove that. >> reporter: she'd put her faith, and her future, in the hands of a jury.

her trial started in march of 2013. and right away the prosecutor argued this was a domestic violence case with a twist. the wife, they said, had abused the husband, finally pushing him to his death. that incident was eerily foreshadowed months earlier by a phone call patrick hilberling received from his son, josh. >> she had pushed him down the stairs. he was down in the basement. i could hear her up at the top of the stairs screaming, you know, "who you talking to?" and he goes, "dad, i don't know what to do." and i told him to leave. i said, "you need -- just leave." "get out of there." >> reporter: to support the abuse claim, the prosecutor had an explosive piece of evidence. it was a protective order detective felton found in the couple's apartment, taken out by josh against his wife just weeks before his death, and after she had cracked him over the head with a lamp. josh had told police he needed

11 stitches to close the wound. >> the order listed josh as being the plaintiff and amber being the defendant, which, you know, means that he got the protective order against her. >> reporter: the state believed that was court-ordered proof that amber was a violent woman, likely out of control the day her husband died. in fact, just before that fatal push, josh had phoned his dad patrick and pleaded with him to come pick him up. >> he said, "dad, you know, i can't take it anymore, you know. can you come get me? you know, give me a ride home?" >> reporter: as josh waited for that ride, the prosecutor told the court, his wife went on a tear. the two fought first in the bedroom, where one of them threw a laundry basket and broke the window. >> she obviously knew that those windows would break. and, so, she was on notice of that. >> reporter: a building repairman came to the couple's apartment to fix the bedroom window. while he worked, the husband and wife started arguing again, this

time in the living room. prosecutor keely said at some point josh became distracted, either by his phone or by the tv. and that, she said, is when amber took her husband by surprise, shoving him into a window she knew could easily break. >> i heard a woman screaming, "no, no, no." >> reporter: neighbor nathan mcgowan had been listening to the couple arguing. but what he heard just moments before that fatal crash became vital to the state's case. >> then, i heard running like i've never heard before in that building, i heard running coming from the left going all the way to the right and a crash. >> reporter: to the state, those footsteps revealed a key point, that amber had charged toward her husband, who was standing near that window, totally unaware. and that wasn't the only evidence given to support that theory. >> the witness that saw him coming down was standing about

where we're looking up. >> reporter: remember, there were two eyewitnesses who testified they saw josh come out of that window. one offered a chilling, detailed description, recounted by officer don holloway. so the witness says he saw him coming out face first. >> that's correct. the witness said he was falling face first when he saw it. >> reporter: which became a critical piece of eyewitness testimony. >> yes, it showed that josh was probably facing forward when he came out the window, instead of turned around, facing amber. >> reporter: suggesting he may have been pushed from behind. something else caught the prosecutor's eye. the furnishings near the shattered window had not been touched. what did that say to you, that the apartment appeared to be untouched? it was pristine. >> it told me that there wasn't a struggle at the scene. if there had been any kind of a struggle in the apartment, the candlesticks would have been toppled over. the pictures that were hanging out of the wall, certainly, if somebody had banged into the wall, it's very likely that the pictures would've been askew. >> reporter: further proof, she

said, that amber had taken her husband by surprise. the prosecutor believed amber herself admitted as much in that heart-to-heart with her grandmother. over the objections of the defense, the judge ruled the jury could see and hear the entire taped conversation. he said the two women were not entitled to privacy in a police interrogation room. >> he was like messing with the tv right here and the windows were here. and i pushed him, and he fell, and oh god! >> reporter: to the prosecutor, comments like that were a confession to murder. and she played more clips of that conversation for the jury, including this seemingly damning one. >> i killed him! >> in the moments right after a horrible accident or something horrible has happened during the excitement of an event, people are more likely to say true things. and so i think, yes, that

definitely goes to the fact that what she probably said after the event is probably very true. >> reporter: finally, the prosecution introduced two of the defendant's former cellmates who testified that amber had called her late husband a bastard and made light of his death. >> both said that she would joke about this. >> and she would look at them and say, "you better be careful or i'll push you out the window." and she would laugh after that. and i think that shows a lack of remorse, a lack of real acceptance for the gravity of what you've done. >> reporter: but did it all add up to second degree murder? the defense was about to present a much different version of the last moments of josh hilberling's life. coming up -- a defense no one saw coming. >> did you ever fear for your life in the relationship? >> i mean, i definitely was scared sometimes. when "dateline" continues. woman: for soft beautiful feet, i have a professional secret: amopé and its premium foot care line.

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>> reporter: her lawyers said amber's hell began the moment josh went through the window, because she had no intention of causing his death. after all, the state's own witnesses described amber as distraught and inconsolable. >> every first responder on the scene, they all testified unanimously that amber appeared shocked, surprised. said she couldn't believe it had happened. "how did this happen?" she never meant for it to happen. it was an accident. >> reporter: some people find it hard to believe that a woman of amber's size, 5'5", seven months pregnant, could push josh, who's 6'4", just right out the window. wouldn't he be able to stop that? >> well, there was a push and there was a trip. he lost his balance falling backwards. >> reporter: what happened next was just a blur. the defense argued the state couldn't prove otherwise. and they said just because josh's body was found face down, that didn't mean he'd gone out the window the same way, as if pushed from behind.

the problem, they said, was the prosecutor's application of the law -- the law of physics. >> the medical examiner testified that based on his observations of the injury, there's just no way he could tell with any degree of scientific reliability which way he came out the window. >> reporter: do you think it's possible to change positions many times as you're falling from the 25th floor? >> absolutely. >> reporter: it was also possible, the defense argued, that the witnesses who saw josh falling face forward were imagining things, especially the witness who was taking a smoke break on the street 25 stories below. >> the idea that this man, while out smoking a cigarette, could've been zeroed in on that one of 400 and some windows, and can testify two years later about this man's body position as he went through that window, that's preposterous. >> reporter: equally absurd to the defense, that testimony from amber's former cellmates, who described amber talking callously about her husband's death.

one of the jailhouse snitches testified that amber said in jail, "i killed the bastard." any truth to that? >> no, not at all. in fact, amber's reaction was priceless when that testimony came out. she looked at me and she said, "bastard? what am i, 40? i've never used that word. that's an old person's word." >> reporter: korns said putting the inmates on the stand was a desperate ploy, and he predicted it would backfire. >> i have more respect for that jury that we seated than to think that they could have believed those two jailhouse informants. i think they were just a joke. >> reporter: the real culprit here, said the defense, wasn't amber at all but the cheap window she accidentally pushed josh against. the lawyers said the glass may have met city codes, but that didn't mean it belonged in a high rise. >> i wanted the jury to realize that that glass is unsafe. >> reporter: they called to the stand mark meshalum, an expert who's been testing and installing glass in buildings for 30 years.

he told the court that the glass in the university club tower's windows should have been replaced years ago. >> it's for picture frames. it's really not for windows. i've never used that on any of my projects. >> reporter: and the only thing flimsier than that glass, said the defense, was the prosecution's claim that amber was an abusive wife. amber's mother had found that argument particularly galling. >> i disagree that amber was the abuser. did she fight back sometimes? oh, yeah. was she perfect? i don't know that. no one was up there with them. the only two that knew what happened were amber and josh. >> josh didn't have to defend himself. i mean, i was a good wife. >> reporter: and in that same soft voice, amber hilberling took the stand to defend herself. she recounted a marriage that began passionately but soon became troubled, and she blamed that trouble on josh who, she said, was abusive. >> reporter: did you ever fear for your life in the relationship?

>> i mean, i definitely was scared sometimes. >> reporter: on the last day of josh's life, amber said she decided, finally, to stand up for herself. she told the court she made josh pack his bags. that's what started the fight, she said. and that's when amber said months of abuse at the hands of her husband led to one final confrontation, which he started. >> out of frustration he reaches out and grabs my shoulders. >> reporter: the defense produced this photo to show that josh's grip had left red marks on amber's shoulders. fearing for herself and her unborn baby, amber said she reacted with a mother's protective instinct. >> and i reached up, and i pushed against his chest. and i just remember him falling backwards. and i mean, it -- i didn't even hear anything. >> reporter: but that claim of self-defense was at odds with her next door neighbor's testimony.

he said he heard amber yelling and the stomping of feet, as if someone had been rushing toward josh just before that crash. so there are two very different stories. >> i can't give account to the other guy or whoever said that, but the running? there was no running. >> reporter: was there stomping toward the window at any point? >> i mean, there was josh tripping backwards that maybe could've been heard like that. >> reporter: but if it did happen that way, why didn't amber mention it moments after josh died? why was she suddenly claiming self-defense? was that a story you made up to try and get off? >> no. no, not at all. why i didn't mention it in the interrogation room? i don't know. i remember very, very little of anything in that tape.

>> reporter: she even addressed that protection order the state tried to use against her. she said the idea for filing that was a ruse she and josh worked up together. why did he go and take a protection order out against you? >> that was for josh's parents of him trying to convince me that i was go to divorce him so that they wouldn't take his trust fund from him. >> reporter: did you intentionally push josh out that window? >> no. no. i would never do something like that to someone, ever. i mean, i've never even been in a fight ever in my life. >> reporter: as she testified from the witness stand, amber's words were being measured and weighed very carefully. had she made the case for freedom or talked her way into prison? coming up -- the verdict. >> i had waited almost two years to get my day in court when i would actually stand up and say this is what happened.

>> josh is dead. and there has to be consequence. there has to be punishment.

♪ reporter: it had been nearly two years, and now the mystery and controversy surrounding josh hilberling's death were coming to a head. his wife amber had just told a courtroom she had pushed josh in self-defense. >> initially, she never, ever said it was self-defense. in fact, i never heard that it was self-defense until she actually took the witness stand. >> reporter: that also caught officer holloway by surprise. he says amber never mentioned self-defense as she waited in that interrogation room moments after josh's death. so did it strike you at the time as unusual that that wasn't brought up? >> yes, it did. if it had truly happened, there's no doubt in my mind that it would have been brought up during some time that i was listening to amber. >> reporter: the prosecutor pointed out that amber actually seemed dumbfounded when her own

grandmother appeared to suggest she might have been trying to protect herself. >> were you both struggling? >> what do you mean? >> reporter: so now, before the case was handed to the jury, the state had its chance to cross-exam amber. >> she testified that what had happened, he grabbed her on the shoulders and she pushed him backwards. >> reporter: the prosecutor asked amber to re-enact, right there in the courtroom, the supposed confrontation with her husband. detective felton played the part of josh, with his arms reaching out, hands gripping amber's shoulders as she'd described. amber didn't actually move towards him, but still pushed him away. the detective didn't buy it. >> she described a gentle push. and you know, i think anybody would realize that it would take great force to, you know, get josh to actually go through the window. >> reporter: yeah, we're talking about a woman who is 5'5", a man who's 6'4." some people would think a gentle push wouldn't be realistic. >> yes, ma'am.

and you know, in my mind, if he didn't want to go out the window -- i mean, if he wanted to fight back, there is no way she would've gotten him through the window. >> reporter: to the detective, that meant josh was distracted, and that amber surprised him with that push. but would it seem that way to the jurors? after a week of testimony they knew only one thing for certain, josh had gone out that window to his death. amber called it an accident, borne out of self-defense. the state charged it was reckless shove by an angry, abusive wife. second degree murder. when you were waiting for the verdict, how did you think it was going to play out? >> i mean, honestly, i had all the hope in the world. i mean, i had waited almost two years to get to that point, you know? to get to my day in court when i could actually stand up and say, "this is what happened. this is what i've been through

and hope that people see that. >> reporter: which is what the hilberlings feared. they worried the jury had seen this case just as amber had and would forget about their son. >> josh is dead. a person died. and there has to be consequences. there has to be punishment. >> reporter: and there was. after less than three hours the jury had its verdict. guilty of murder in the second degree. >> i just grabbed onto levi and it was, like, "this can't be happening. this can't be real." it was just awful. >> reporter: the bad news for amber wasn't over. the jury stunned nearly everyone by recommending a 25 year prison-term. >> i have to assume that even the district attorney has to be, i mean, in some state of surprise as to 25 years. because they offered me five. >> reporter: would you do it differently knowing what you know now? would you take the plea?

>> no. because what i know to be true is no different today than it was when they offered me that five years. and, you know, i have to put my trust in one day i'll be able to say the things left unsaid and hope for something better. >> reporter: but to the woman who'd prosecuted amber and won, the sentence seemed a perfect kind of justice. >> when you think of -- that it was from the 25th floor and it got 25 years, it's not the maximum. it's not the minimum. it's something that actually makes sense. it's like a year for every floor. >> reporter: years that will keep amber away from her son. she'll probably only see him now, ironically, through an unbreakable window in a prison visitor's area. >> she's watching her child grow up in pictures. i'm watching my child grow behind glass.

it is not fair. at all. >> reporter: but then, the hilberlings will tell you what happened to their son and brother is not fair either. >> we would never let anybody come between us. i miss him for that. because i don't have that anymore. there's no replacing him. >> reporter: so zach hilberling tries to keep the ache at bay with a comforting image of his brother, smiling, feet planted firmly on the ground, victorious in life under friday night lights. >> i think of him every time i see a football. i hear the word football, i think of -- there's so many things that remind me of my brother. because he was in my life from day one. and he never left. so, i mean, he's still not gone. that's the best part.

that's all for now. i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. this sunday, the the election season, sidetracked again, this time by two issues. this time ebola reaches new york city, and do we have to quarantine health care workers returning from west africa. and is it time for a travel ban from everyone returning from the affected countries. and another lone wolf attack, h this time in canada. and the hatchet assault on a police officer. what is happening with these mentally disturbed copycats. and my report from the battle state road trip. exclusive polling