even close to a criminal. >> reporter: that you're gut talking, right? >> my gut's pretty good. >> reporter: michelle's parents hired defense attorney michael guisti to defend their daughter. guisti felt an instant connection to the hadleys. >> i looked at michelle's family and to a large extent i saw my family. i saw -- i saw a working class family who fiercely defended their child. she was a young, ambitious mba student who was nothing but bright-eyed and optimistic. >> reporter: and who was facing life in prison. >> for no reason. no reason. >> reporter: so this is, kind of, the case you go to law school for. >> this is the reason you become a lawyer. >> reporter: guisti had more than faith in michelle. he also had the computer research michelle's mom and dad had done on the emails at the heart of the case. michael hadley was convinced they'd found something crucial. >> reporter: why are michelle's