and then you get out in nine years. >> so that was the big fight? >> yes. >> and there was another problem. even as ford methodically laid out the evidence for the jury, what he couldn't do -- and this turned out to be a big hole in his case -- was to tell the jury how the murder took place. michelle's remains were so decomposed the coroner couldn't determine the cause of death. >> the pathologist report indicated that they not only visually examined michelle's remains, but also examined it using an x-ray, to look for any sort of trauma to her skull, her bones, anything of that nature. and they couldn't locate any. >> and while security cameras seemed to have recorded just about everything before and after the murder, they didn't capture the crime itself. >> it's my position that the evidence of the crime is most supported by an assault with a sharp object, a stabbing object, a knife, a box cutter, something of that effect. truthfully, i believe that she snuck up behind her, grabbed her by her hair, and assaulted her with a sharp object.