. >> kusa's dan grossman settled in for a long wait. >> this is almost a three-week trial.coming back to hear the verdict. >> but, no. less than four hours later a verdict. >> we the jury find the defendant not guilty of murder of second degree signed by the jury foreperson. >> not guilty. not murder. after four long years of living under a cloud of suspicion, tom was acquitted of all charges. >> he stayed straight faced. his defense attorney was very emotional but ashley's parents, they left the courtroom fairly quickly. >> ashley's parents declined to talk with "dateline" after the verdict. their legal battle was far from over. they filed a civil lawsuit against several law enforcement officers of the evans police department who they believe falsified, altered and omitted key evidence to make ashley's death look like a suicide. despite the verdict, they continued to pursue the case, but in 2017 a u.s. district court issued a final judgment dismissing their claims. what about ashley's family, can they just accept this and go on? >> i don't think they'll ever accept it. to