Jeannine Scott got a rush of excitement and was "completely stunned" Tuesday afternoon.
"I haven't seen you this happy in years," one of her co-workers told her.
One of her husband's former lawyers had called her to tell her Maurice Pierce was being set free.
The moment was bittersweet "from the standpoint that it is Maurice going home and not Mike. I don't believe they actually said they had no case. I never expected them to say that," she said. "I'm glad they did."
Her husband, Michael Scott, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the Dec. 6, 1991 murders of four girls in a North Austin yogurt shop.
A third man, Robert Springsteen IV, was tried, convicted and sentenced to death for his role in the crime.
But on Tuesday afternoon, Pierce, the accused ringleader of the crime, walked out of jail with all charges dropped. The district attorney said they did not have a strong enough case against Pierce and could no longer keep him in jail.
"I've never actually met [Maurice] ... I would hope that we could consider ourselves ... to be friends. ... I think it would be great to give him a hug and say, 'I'm glad that you're at home. And I know that your family has just been waiting ... so they could have you back in their everyday lives and aspects of everything they do,'" she said.
Jeannine said she doesn't get to talk to Springsteen's or Pierce's family as often as she used to.
Michael is in Galveston prison. He must serve 32 years before becoming eligible for parole. He's allowed weekend visitors, but his wife and daughter, Jasmine, have only been able to see him once. (Michael was in the process of legally adopting Jasmine when he was arrested in 1999.)
Michael doesn't have phone privileges, so he probably won't know that Pierce is out until someone writes or visits him.
Jeannine and Jasmine were granted a contact visit, which allowed them all to be in the same room together. Michael was able to play with his daughter -- something he hadn't done since his arrest.
"It was marvelous," Jeannine said about watching her daughter and husband play together.
Michael has an appellate attorney, but Jeannine has not been able to meet with him.
"Based on what I'm understanding, [the release has] done nothing but bolstered the appeal for Michael and Robert," she said. "[The release] doesn't improve my faith in the system. It does show that the innocent can go home. I continue to maintain that all of them are innocent."
Jeannine said she is realistic and very much aware of difficulties that lay ahead for her family.
"I take it all one day at a time. I hope that I don't actually have to wait 32 years, or longer. And I wish I could tell you how much energy I expend in trying to make sure that actually comes true," she said.
She's hopeful that Michael will be home for their daughter's graduation, if not sooner.
"But I also realize that may not happen. I try not to get mired in thinking this could be the rest of our lives like this, separated by miles and the judicial system."
Life is hard without her husband, she said.
"I'm living pretty much like a single mother and all the trials and tribulations that go along with that: the financial constraints ... housework ... and without him being here to take up some of the slack ... it's tough," she said.
Michael is still active in family decisions even though he's not physically there.
The couple communicates mostly through letters; Michael sends at least one a week. She said he has made arrangements through friends to send Christmas and birthday presents.
Jeannine had some words for Ronnie Earle, the district attorney who made the announcement of Pierce's release.
"Stop wasting the taxpayers' time and money and find the actual perpetrators," she said.
