supporters have been hoping for good news and they couldn't know it, yet but help was just around the corner. >> he's very gentle and very loving. >> sandy is avery's longtime friend and one-time fiancé. convinced of his innocence, she said she searched for years to find the right attorney to take on his complicated case. during a call from prison, a re-told her to watch dateline. >> he heard there was going to be this right in ferguson case on dateline, and he told me to watch it just to see the lawyer. >> that dateline program, from august 2011, told a story of ryan ferguson, a young man sitting in prison for a murder he said he didn't commit. attorney kathleen zellner was determined to get him out. >> nothing as riveting as this, when the trial has been lost, everything's been lost, and you've got something. it's like the ultimate challenge, i think.