Peggy Hettrick murder case

Infobox Court Case
name = Peggy Hettrick murder case
court = District Court, Larimer County, Colorado


date_filed =
date_decided = 1999
full_name = The People of the State of Colorado vs. Timothy Lee Masters (Case No: 98 CR 1149)
citations =
judges =
prior_actions =
subsequent_actions = All charges against Masters have been dropped
opinions =
transcripts =The Peggy Hettrick Murder Case concerns the unsolved 1987 death of Peggy Hettrick in Fort Collins, Colorado. Timothy Masters was charged and convicted of the crime in 1999, and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. His sentence was vacated in 2008. Masters may become the first convict in Colorado to be exonerated due to DNA evidence. [cite web |url=http://www.denverpost.com/ci_8050218 |title=Masters sees conviction vacated, awaits retrial hearing |first=Miles |last=Moffeit |publisher=The Denver Post |date=2008-01-23] . Currently nobody is charged with the crime.

Background

On February 11, 1987 a bicyclist discovered the dead body of 37-year-old Peggy Hettrick in a field in southern Fort Collins. According to the coroner, she died from a single stab wound in the upper left back, between 1:30 and 3:30 in the morning. Her body had been sexually mutilated, [cite web |url=http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071106/NEWS01/71107015 |title=Single wound killed Hettrick, jury told|first=Jenn |last=Farrell |publisher=The Coloradoan |date=1999-03-20] including what one doctor described as a partial vulvectomy, a procedure that requires high skill and quality surgical equipment to perform.cite web |url=http://www.denverpost.com/evidence/ci_6373222|title=Sketchy evidence raises doubt|first=Miles|last=Moffeit|publisher=The Denver Post|date=January 21, 2008]

Before the bicyclist found the body, Timothy Masters saw it while walking to school. As his mother had died just days before, he thought it may have been a mannequin left as a prank, and so Masters did not report the body to the police. After Masters' father reported seeing him in the field that morning, police pulled Masters - then a 15 year old high school sophomore - out of class for questioning.

Investigation and conviction

Early in the investigation, Fort Collins detective and lead investigator Jim Broderick centered on Masters as the primary suspect. However, no physical evidence linking Masters to the crime was found. Despite intense questioning, Masters maintained his innocence.

On February 12 investigators, with Masters' father's permission, searched his room and locker. They found 2,200 pages of writings and violent artwork by Masters in his bedroom, backpack and school locker, along with a knife collection and a suitcase containing pornography. [cite court|litigants=TIMOTHY MASTERS v. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF COLORADO|vol=|reporter=|opinion=|pinpoint=|court=SUPREME COURT, STATE OF COLORADO|date=October 15, 2002|url=http://www.courts.state.co.us/supct/opinions/2001/01SC291.doc] A newspaper with articles about the body's discovery was found on his dresser next to his knife collection. However, no trace of Hettrick's blood or hair was found in Masters' room or among his belongings, including his clothes and knife collection. Over 1,000 pages of Masters' violent artwork and writings were admitted into evidence.

Two hairs were found on Hettrick, but they did not match Masters. Investigators also found unknown fingerprints in Hettrick's purse, but these did not match Masters either.

With no new leads, on February 12, 1988 investigators planted an article in the local newspaper with misleading and false information in an attempt to incriminate Masters. [cite web |url=http://www.coloradoan.com/online/images/planted.pdf |title=Police see progress in year-old murder case |first=Cara |last=Neth |date=February 12, 1988 |publisher=The Coloradoan] However, Masters maintained his innocence. In 1992, during an interview with a former fellow high school student, investigators discovered that Masters told his friends details about the sexual mutilations. However, this information had never been made public or disclosed to Masters, and it was thought that only the killer would know those details. Investigators interviewed Masters again in Philadelphia, where he was in serving in the Navy. He told investigators that a friend in his art class told him about the mutilations. The friend had been part of a group helping the police search the crime scene, and was told of the nature of the mutilations early in the investigation. His story checked out. The investigation reached a dead end until 1997.

In 1997 Broderick contacted Dr. J. Reid Meloy, a forensic psychologist noted in the study of sexual homicide. Meloy analyzed Masters' writings and artwork extensively and concluded, without ever having spoken with Masters, that he was guilty of the crime. [cite web |url=http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2007/sep/27/lawyer-innocent-man-paid-price-for-larimer/ |title=Lawyer: Innocent man paid price for Larimer prosecutors' blunders |first=Kevin |last=Vaughan |date=September 27, 2007 |publisher=CNN] However, the news organizations reporting Dr. Meloy's testimony were not accurate. He could not interview Masters as a prosecution expert because Masters did not waive his right under the fifth amendment of the U.S. Constitution to not incriminate himself; and Dr. Meloy did not testify that he was guilty of the crime. In fact, upon review of his testimony, Dr. Meloy was not allowed by the judge to draw any conclusions that directly linked Masters' drawings and the crime itself.

In 1999, based mostly on testimony by Meloy, Masters was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the murder. [cite web |url=http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2007/nov/06/lawyer-zeroes-in-on-docs-in-bid-to-win-retrial/|title=Lawyer zeroes in on docs in bid to win retrial in '87 slaying|first=Kevin |last=Vaughan |date=November 6, 2007 |publisher=Rocky Mountain News] Though some jurors had doubts about his guilt, his drawings and writings were cited by jury members as compelling evidence against him. [cite web |url=http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jan/23/juror-had-doubts-but-believes-panel-was-right-to/|title=Juror had doubts but believes panel was right to convict|first=Hector |last=Gutierrez |date=January 23, 2008 |publisher=Rocky Mountain News]

Appeals

Soon after his conviction, Masters appealed to the Colorado Court of Appeals on the grounds that his drawings were inadmissible under rules of the court, as was testimony concerning a confrontation between Masters and a teacher before the murder occurred. Masters' defense team also objected to the testimony by Dr. Meloy [cite web |url=http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071106/NEWS01/71107022 |title=Teen murderer's conviction appealed |first=Jenn |last=Farrell |date=June 8, 2002 |publisher=The Coloradoan] . The Colorado Court of Appeals upheld his conviction on February 15, 2001 [cite web |url=http://www.cobar.org/opinions/opinion.cfm?opinionid=1668|title=Colorado Court of Appeals Announcement Sheet|first= |last= |date=February 15, 2001 |publisher=Colorado Bar Association] . A further appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court was denied on October 15, 2002. [cite web |url=http://www.cobar.org/opinions/opinion.cfm?opinionid=3359|title=Colorado Supreme Court Announcement Sheet|first= |last= |date=October 15, 2002 |publisher=Colorado Bar Association] . On December 16, 2002 the Colorado Supreme Court denied a petition for rehearing in the case, effectively ending his first appeal [cite web |url=http://www.cobar.org/opinions/opinion.cfm?opinionid=3447|title=Colorado Supreme Court Announcement Sheet|first= |last= |date=December 16, 2002 |publisher=Colorado Bar Association] .

In 2004 Masters mounted another appeal on the grounds of ineffective counsel. The state appointed a new defense team who immediately began investigating the case. The defense team discovered that evidence in case, including the hairs found on Hettrick and photographs of the fingerprints found in her purse were missing. During 2007 hearings the defense alleged police and prosecutor misconduct in the investigation and trial. The defense argued that Jim Broderick allegedly perjured himself during the 1999 trail concerning his involvement in the case [cite web |url=http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071201/NEWS01/712010361/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 |title=Masters seeks perjury probe|first=Trevor|last=Hughes|publisher=The Coloradoan|date=December 1, 2007] , and that prosecutors allegedly withheld evidence about links to Dr. Richard Hammond, a potential suspect in the murder [cite web |url=http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071112/NEWS01/711120327|title=Withholding evidence center of two separate cases|first=Sara|last=Reed|publisher=The Coloradoan|date=November 12, 2007] . In early 2008, special prosecutors assigned to the case agreed that critical information was not turned over to the original defense team [cite web |url=http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080103/NEWS01/801030366/1002/|title=Critical information left out in Masters' original trial|first=Trevor|last=Hughes|publisher=The Coloradoan|date=January 3, 2008] .

On January 18, 2008 defense attorneys released evidence that further suggested Masters' innocence. Defense attorneys had DNA testing done on evidence found at the scene, but the results ruled out Masters. [cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/18/masters/index.html |title= DNA points to new killer in '99 case |first=Eliott C. |last=McLaughlin |date=January 18, 2008 |publisher=CNN] Rather, the DNA results pointed to one of Hettrick's ex-boyfriends.cite web |url=http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=84938 |title=Masters walks free after 9 years in prison |first=Adam |last=Chodak |publisher=KUSA-TV |date=2008-01-22] Special prosecutors assigned to the appeal recommended overturning Masters' sentence as a result of the DNA findings.

On January 22, 2008 a Colorado judge vacated Masters' conviction and ordered him released immediately. On February 5, 2008 District Attorney Larry Abrahamson and the Eight Judicial Circuit held proceedings to decide whether to retry Masters or to drop all charges against him. [cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/22/masters.case/index.html |title=Conviction thrown out, Masters to go free |first=Eliott |last=McLaughlin |publisher=CNN |date=2008-01-22]

Prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss murder charges against Masters on January 26, 2008, though the Larimer County District Attorney stated that Masters has not been exonerated for the crime. [cite web |url=http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_8079134|title=DA files motion to dismiss Masters' charges|first=Miles |last=Moffeit |publisher=The Denver Post |date=January 26, 2008]

Alternate suspects

Dr. Richard Hammond

In 1995 Dr. Richard Hammond, an eye surgeon, was arrested for secretly filming women's genitalia through fake ventilation grates in his downstairs bathroom. Investigators also found that Hammond kept thousands of dollars worth of pornography hidden in a locked office and in a storage shed in town, indicating an obsession with female genitalia. As a surgeon, Hammond had the skill and equipment to perform the precision mutilation found on Hettrick's body. In 1987 Hammond's bedroom window overlooked the location where Hettrick's body was discovered.

Hammond committed suicide several days after his arrest. Though investigators noted a possible link between Hammond and the Hettrick murder, no follow up investigation was done. Broderick ordered evidence in the Hammond case destroyed before it could be examined for any link with Hettrick. [cite web |url=http://www.fortcollinsnow.com/article/20071130/NEWS/71130002 |title=Tim Masters case- Discovery Process is “A Complete and Utter Failure” |first=Greg |last=Campbell |publisher=Fort Collins Now |date=November 30, 2007]

The former boyfriend

The DNA testing that led to the 2008 overturning of Masters' conviction implicated a former boyfriend of Hettrick's. The boyfriend, who is not named due to the ongoing investigation, was an initial suspect but was quickly ruled out in 1987. Officials plan to renew the investigation into the former boyfriend, but it is not known which agency will handle it. [cite web |url=http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080120/NEWS01/801200341/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02|title=Search for Hettrick's killer renewed |first=Sara |last=Reed |publisher=The Coloradoan|date=January 20, 2008]

Aftermath

The case has had implications regarding the laws protecting evidence in major criminal cases. Currently Colorado law has no requirement that evidence be preserved and shields liability to authorities who destroy evidence after criminal trials are complete. Partially as a result of this case Colorado lawmakers are expected to introduce legislation to study the problem in the 2008 session. [cite web |url=http://www.denverpost.com/evidence/ci_6384361 |title=Rep calls for protection of criminal evidence |first=Miles |last=Moffeit |publisher=The Denver Post |date=2007-08-04]

Lt. Jim Broderick is currently under investigation by the Weld County District Attorney's office over allegations that he perjured himself during the 1999 Masters trial and illegally wiretapped a conversation between Masters and his father in 1987. The Larimer County District Attorney plans an investigation on the same allegations. [cite web |url=http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080123/NEWS01/801230329/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 |title=Police to launch investigation into detective's methods in Masters case |first=Sara |last=Reed |publisher=The Coloradoan |date=2008-01-23]

The original case was prosecuted by then District Attorney Terry Gilmore and Jolene Blair, both now district judges. On September 9, 2008, the Colorado Supreme Court censured Gilmore and Blair. In an agreement with the Colorado Supreme Court's Office of Attorney Regulation, Gilmore and Blair acknowledged failing to ensure defense attorneys received several key pieces of information obtained by police that called into question Tim Masters' guilt. The prosecutors failed to gather the information from police despite indications that it existed. [http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/09/10/masters.case.ap/index.html Prosecutors rebuked in Tim Masters murder case]

Masters says he is not sure about his plans for the future but talked about going back into aviation. Masters served in the Navy for eight years following high school. He was an aircraft mechanic and worked for Learjet as a mechanic when he was arrested in 1988.

External links

* [http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/NEWS01/71107031 Fort Collins Coloradoan summary and links to all Timothy Masters' articles]
* [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/special-reports/tim-masters/ Rocky Mountain News Special Reports: Timothy Masters]
* [http://www.denverpost.com/evidence/ci_6373222 Sketchy evidence raises doubt]

References