he >> said he'd known a guy in jail named, wait for it, robert mullins. man then said that mullins had shared a secret. he had lied about rick's involvement in the murders. >> i mean, i already knew it. but to hear somebody else say it -- >> mullins had lied? >> yeah. >> he was proud of what he was able to do? >> yeah. >> now this snitch-on-snitch story had the appeals judges attention. >> the judge had to make a determination that the result of the trial was probably have been different -- >> because mullins story was that important getting the conviction? >> right. >> the judge vacated rick's conviction. saying the new county solicitor, the one who had replaced humphries, coterie false charges if he wanted. the senator said, he did not. >> so, in 2013, after eight years inside, rick gagnon walked out of prison. he settled on the carolina coast now. married with children. >> just the smell of the ocean. it's like freedom. it was a terrible thing that i went to prison for something i didn't do. it's changed my life. >> his old girlfriend believes her life