his -- his defense attorney, iris eytan, was very emotional. they -- they left the courtroom fairly quickly. >> reporter: ashley's parents declined to talk with dateline after the verdict, but their legal battles are far from over. in 2015, they filed a civil lawsuit against several employees of the evans police department and the weld county sheriff's office who they believe falsified, altered, and om suicide. and despite the verdict, they currently have no plans to drop it. the employees are contesting the lawsuit, and litigation is ongoing. >> what about ashley's family? can they just accept this, and go on? >> i don't think they'll ever accept it. to say that they were distraught would be an understatement. they i think truly believe that tom fallis killed their daughter. and they are never gonna let that go. >> reporter: an idea, once so deeply ingrained, true or not, will not go away. and tom fallis and his children make a life as best they can. >> and that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news,