The Peggy Hettrick Case - Part 2

Summary

48 Hours: The Peggy Hettrick Case - Part 2

Episode Overview "48 Hours," hosted by CBS News, delves deep into the gripping and tragic case of Peggy Hettrick's murder in 1987. This two-part episode chronicles the wrongful conviction of Tim Masters, his arduous journey through the justice system, and the eventual exoneration that shed light on systemic flaws within law enforcement and legal proceedings.

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I. The Crime and Initial Investigation

February 11, 1987 marked a tragic day in Fort Collins when Peggy Hettrick was found brutally murdered in a field. The discovery was initially met with disbelief by a passerby, who thought the body might be a mannequin played as a "sick joke" ([00:34] Narrator).

Suspect Spotlight: Tim Masters Tim Masters, a 15-year-old neighbor of the crime scene, immediately became a suspect. His introverted nature and peculiar interests—graphic drawings, writings, and a large knife collection—raised red flags with the police. During interrogation, Masters stated:

"Would we bring you in here without some kind of proof? Right away they started saying, I know you did this. She's dead. We thought the right thing to do is to cooperate with the police." ([02:28] Narrator)

Despite the lack of physical evidence, Masters was branded the lead suspect, leading to his conviction for first-degree murder and a life sentence without parole.

Detective Broderick’s Obsession Detective Broderick, the lead investigator, was so fixated on Masters' guilt that he pursued a conviction relentlessly, even when no concrete evidence like fingerprints surfaced. As stated by the narrator:

"He was willing to do anything to get a conviction of Tim Masters." ([01:59] Narrator)

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II. Life Behind Bars

Incarcerated at just 15, Tim Masters' life became a series of appeals and legal battles. At his lowest, he contemplated suicide but chose to fight for his innocence:

"I couldn't leave my family like that." ([03:17] Narrator)

His initial appeals were unsuccessful, pushing him to take a final, desperate step by claiming ineffective counsel.

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III. A New Hope: Maria Lu's Appointment

In 2003, Maria Lu, a 36-year-old court-appointed attorney, took on Masters' case. Confronted with a massive 10,000-page file, Lu began to unravel inconsistencies and suppressed evidence:

"They knew they existed. Without question, the wounds to her vagina are surgical." ([11:27] Narrator)

Her thorough investigation revealed that crucial evidence, including insights from FBI profiler Roy Hazelwood, was never disclosed to the defense:

"Hazelwood looked at these drawings and said, no, these are just doodles and they don't reflect what happened to Peggy Hetrick." ([10:29] Narrator)

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IV. Unveiling Withheld Evidence

Attorney David Wymore joined forces with Lu, delving into decades-old police and court files. Their persistence uncovered significant omissions, such as:

• Dr. Richard Hammond's Testimony: A neighbor and sex offender whose actions post-murder contradicted Masters' portrayal.
• Enhanced Footprint Photographs: Critical evidence suggesting another perpetrator was involved ([17:16] Reporter).

Detective Broderick maintained that all pertinent evidence was shared, but inconsistencies in his statements and newly discovered documents suggested otherwise.

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V. Breakthrough Through DNA Evidence

Recognizing the potential of modern DNA technology, Masters' defense team enlisted Dutch forensic experts to analyze preserved clothing from the crime scene. After meticulous examination, DNA from an alternate suspect, Matt Zollner—Peggy's ex-boyfriend—was found on her underpants:

"What you see there is an arterial gush... we're looking for skin cells that are transferred onto clothing when someone uses a lot of force." ([28:23] Reporter)

This revelation not only cleared Masters of the crime but also implicated Zollner, who had an alibi that did not account for the DNA evidence:

"Matt Zollner, who told police that except for that brief encounter in the parking lot, he'd not even seen Peggy Hetrick for a week. Not only was Zollner's DNA on the inside waistband of Peggy's underpants, it also turned up on the cuffs of her blouse." ([33:18] Reporter)

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VI. Exoneration and Release

With compelling DNA evidence exculpating him, the state's position crumbled. Prosecutor Don Quick moved to vacate Masters' conviction:

"The court grants the motion to vacate the conviction and sentence and orders the release of the defendant." ([36:26] Narrator)

After more than nine years of wrongful imprisonment, Tim Masters was finally freed, marking a monumental victory against judicial oversight and prosecutorial misconduct.

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VII. Aftermath and Reflections

Tim Masters’ New Beginning Upon his release, Masters expressed profound gratitude to his family and supporters:

"I just want to thank my family and my friends who stuck with me all these years." ([37:40] Narrator)

He grappled with the emotional and psychological scars of his imprisonment, reflecting on lost years and the daunting task of rebuilding his life.

Lingering Questions Despite Masters' exoneration, Peggy Hettrick's murder remains officially unsolved. The discovery of Matt Zollner's DNA implicates him, but without his prosecution, the case is shrouded in further mystery.

Accountability and Justice Detective Broderick faced reprimands for his role in the wrongful conviction, though Masters harbored no ill will toward his legal team, emphasizing accountability:

"I wouldn't talk to Jim Broderick. At this point... I want to draw your attention to page 1242 on a police report." ([14:29] Reporter)

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VIII. Closing Thoughts

The Peggy Hettrick case underscores the critical importance of thorough and unbiased investigations, the potential dangers of tunnel vision in law enforcement, and the transformative power of DNA evidence in the pursuit of justice. Tim Masters' story is a poignant reminder of the human cost of wrongful convictions and the enduring fight for truth and redemption.

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Notable Quotes from the Episode:

• Tim Masters:

  "She's dead. We thought the right thing to do is to cooperate with the police." ([02:28])

  "How could I end up in here for something I didn't even do." ([02:30])

• Maria Lu:

  "Have to work unravel the mystery basically as to whether or not this person deserves a new trial." ([04:14])

• Detective Broderick:

  "It's clearly a concerted effort to hide evidence in order to convict Tim Masters. It's mind boggling." ([07:04])

• Richard Eichlenbaum:

  "I'm accountable to God and I'm accountable to Peggy Hetrick." ([41:34])

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Concluding Note This episode of "48 Hours" not only highlights a harrowing miscarriage of justice but also celebrates the resilience and dedication required to overturn such profound errors. Through meticulous reporting and unwavering commitment to uncovering the truth, "48 Hours" continues to shed light on the complexities of crime and justice in society.

Transcript

[Narrator]

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[Reporter]

This special two part edition of 48 Hours continues.

[Narrator]

Drawn to Murder February 11, 1987. I was walking through a field on the way to catch a school bus. I saw a body. I didn't believe it was real. I thought it was a mannequin and someone was playing some kind of sick joke on me. Peggy Hetrick, a woman who lived in Fort Collins, was found brutally murdered in a field. When the Fort Collins police began to investigate the case, they looked at a number of suspects. One of those Suspects was a 15 year old Tim Masters who lived next to the field. He had gone up to the body that morning, hadn't reported it. Tim was very introverted and very shy and very quiet. Didn't have a lot of. They went to his house and they found very graphic drawings and writings as well as a large knife collection. Would we bring you in here without some kind of proof? Right away they started saying, I know you did this. She's dead. We thought the right thing to do is to cooperate with the police. Tim was branded the lead suspect in a horrific sexual mutilation and murder at age 15. Tim has not had a life since age 15. Through the years they focused on Tim Masters. I think that the lead detective, Detective Broderick in this case was so obsessed and so convinced of Tim Masters guilt, he was willing to do anything to get a conviction of Tim Masters. In this case, the real hope was that there'd be some physical evidence, there'd be a fingerprint, there'd be something that we'd come up with that would match up with him and that just didn't happen. He works for 10, 11 years.

[Reporter]

There were obviously other avenues that should.

[Narrator]

Have been explored that were not. They got an arrest warrant for Mr. Masters and charged him with first degree murder of Peggy Hetrick. I really did not think Tim Masters could pull this off and leave not a single shred of physical evidence. Much of the prosecution's case is expected to come from a psycholog. The doodles are the evidence. I never thought there was a chance in the world that they would convict me without evidence, but they did. It was just totally surreal. How could this happen? How could I end up in here for something I didn't even do.

[Reporter]

After being Pursued for years, Tim Masters now was in prison for life without parole.

[Narrator]

Geez, how do you describe that to someone who hasn't experienced it? It's just unbelievable.

[Reporter]

At his lowest point, he says he even considered suicide. But it just seemed too much like giving up.

[Narrator]

I didn't do this. I couldn't let him win that easy. I couldn't leave my family like that.

[Reporter]

He appealed his conviction. He lost. He appealed that. He lost again. Finally, in a last ditch effort, he appealed again. This time claiming ineffective counsel.

[Narrator]

Every day I'd work on it a couple hours a day, people would be walking past my cell on the way to chow and there'd be papers and books spread all over my bed. But I didn't expect anything to come from it. But then Maria got appointed. This is actually one of my first post conviction cases.

[Reporter]

Then 36 year old court appointed attorney Maria Lu says that when the gigantic Masters file lent landed on her desk in 2003, she had no idea what to think.

[Narrator]

So you sort of have to work unravel the mystery basically as to whether or not this person deserves a new trial.

[Reporter]

She hunkered down and started reading.

[Narrator]

And I didn't think he was innocent right off the bat.

[Reporter]

Then she watched those police interrogation tapes.

[Narrator]

You shocked the hell out of everybody. I believe it was five different police officers tag teaming him, doing everything. Good cop, bad cop, military cop, nice cop. That's the one that is dead. Was she walking? Bob, what happened? It was you. You did it. What happened?

[Reporter]

I don't know what happened. Yeah, you do.

[Narrator]

I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything. That's when I was like, oh my God, he is innocent. And then when I met Tim in the prison, he was more focused on us proving his innocence than he was on getting out. Which to me says a lot.

[Reporter]

You're pretty much Tim Masters only hope at that point, right? What's that like? Stressful.

[Narrator]

It's really overwhelming because you know in your heart that somebody is wrongfully convicted.

[Reporter]

With so much at stake and with little trial experience, Maria called in flamboyant defense attorney David Wymore.

[Narrator]

Usually there's some evidence that indicates somebody, right? There was no evidence in this case.

[Reporter]

Even so, he knew that requests for new trials almost never are granted. When you went into this, what did you think the odds were?

[Narrator]

100 to 1. Then 100 to 1 I'd lose.

[Reporter]

100 to 1 you'd lose.

[Narrator]

Yes.

[Reporter]

Wymore nevertheless joined Lou in digging through 10,000 pages of police and court files some 20 years old.

[Narrator]

It was just a lot of hard work.

[Reporter]

To their amazement, they soon realized that there were important items of evidence never given to Tim's original lawyers. Although by law they were entitled to.

[Narrator]

Them uncovering this stuff. I mean, I don't know how to put it other than just it's an aha moment. You know, it's not, you know, it's like ah. A man claiming he was wrongly convicted of murder fights for a new trial. People of the State of Colorado versus Timothy Masters.

[Reporter]

By November 2007, hearings were well underway. Tim Masters best shot at winning a new trial.

[Narrator]

There was no physical evidence linking Mr. Masters to the crime. Good afternoon, I'm Don Quick. I'm the district attorney for Adams.

[Reporter]

Special Prosecutor Don Quick and his team representing the state of Colorado were new faces in court. But the original investigator, Jim Broderick was there as well to advise. He told a local interviewer at the time he had an open mind, hey.

[Narrator]

If there's evidence out there, let's see it. But there's nobody that's come to me and I haven't seen yet anybody that can controvert all these facts that point to his guilt. It is clearly a concerted effort to hide evidence in order to convict Tim Masters. It's mind boggling.

[Reporter]

On the stand, Tim's original lawyers, Nathan Chambers and Eric Fisher, who lost the case, defended the job they had done. Given all they didn't know.

[Narrator]

Broderick knew about Hammond and just ignored it.

[Reporter]

Especially about the existence of of Dr. Richard Hammond.

[Narrator]

Oh, sheet.

[Reporter]

Honey, chill.

[Narrator]

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[Reporter]

And Arm and Hammer power sheets deliver an effective clean at a great price. Think of all the laundry we'll do.

[Narrator]

And all the money we'll save. Oh, sheet, arm and hammer.

[Reporter]

More power to. You.

[Narrator]

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[Reporter]

Dr. Hammond, a neighbor of Tim's was arrested some years after the Hetrick murder for secretly videotaping women in his bathroom.

[Narrator]

This guy set up a studio to get close up of vaginas and nipples. And you have a body in the field missing those parts.

[Reporter]

A great alternate suspect, the defense says, but his name was never mentioned in the original trial.

[Narrator]

Gotta give me the biggest sexual pervert in the history of Southport Collins. He is a superb suspect. Geez, that's funny.

[Reporter]

One guy was a doodler and the other guy's a sex offender. Did anybody say that? And David wymore argues that Dr. Hammond's very existence so close to the crime scene defines reasonable doubt.

[Narrator]

They have the same alibi. Tim Masters dad says that he's home all night in his trailer. Dr. Hammond's wife says he's home all night in the house. The difference is, is that Tim masters doesn't have 300 videotapes of people's vaginas and nipples at his house. And he's also not an eye surgeon. Court has to impress on the Fort Collins police.

[Reporter]

It's over. In court, Wymore presents a long list of other crucial evidence he says was withheld from the defense and as it turns out, from prosecutors as well. It includes Broderick's notes on conversations with a former FBI profiler, Roy Hazelwood.

[Narrator]

I mean, he's raising the questions we're raising.

[Reporter]

Roy Hazelwood, according to the defense, questioned the very meaning of Tim's drawings.

[Narrator]

Hazelwood looked at these drawings and said, no, these are just doodles and they don't reflect what happened to Peggy Hetricks. Extremely important, extremely relevant. We should have had it.

[Reporter]

Then there was the testimony of the State's star witness, Dr. Reed Belloy, who analyzed the drawings.

[Narrator]

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Tim Masters was the killer.

[Reporter]

But he now says his opinion was based on incomplete information provided by the authorities. Dr. Malloy also had written that Peggy Hetrick's wounds appeared to be surgical. An opinion the jury never heard because Jim Broderick didn't turn over the doctor's full 300 page report.

[Narrator]

All I know is we should have gotten them. They knew they existed. Without question, the wounds to her vagina are surgical.

[Reporter]

And that big question of surgical skill came up with yet another expert. Police consultant Dr. Choi basically said it.

[Narrator]

Would be hard cut for him to make. And he was a plastic surgeon.

[Reporter]

But the views of Dr. Richard Choi never surfaced in court either. Not, says former cop David Michelson, that it takes all these experts to See the obvious?

[Narrator]

It wasn't done by a boy with a D cell flashlight in his mouth and a pocket knife. Crawl out of his window, stab a lady, circumcise her. Didn't happen. Impossible.

[Reporter]

The defense says police never revealed to either side exactly how far they went to get Masters to incriminate himself.

[Narrator]

Planting newspapers suggesting that they were close to finding the killer. They were actually planting his mom's obituary on his friend's truck. They schemed and planned this elaborate psychological experiment on him, and he passed it. This is outrageous. I strongly believe that this police department framed Tomb Masters.

[Reporter]

But this was equal opportunity with holding material wasn't turned over to the defense, but not to prosecutors either. Broderick concedes it may not look very good. So you're just sitting there listening to them say, there's this, this, this, and this, and this looks like a frame job.

[Narrator]

That's a position and a strategy they took, without a doubt.

[Reporter]

And it wasn't.

[Narrator]

Oh, absolutely not. You know, there was no effort to pinpoint just Tim Masters on this case.

[Reporter]

He says that while he may not have turned over all his notes, the defense had the same information in reports he did turn over.

[Narrator]

I made detailed, thorough notes. Detailed, thorough police reports. My notes were represented inside those police reports.

[Reporter]

One special prosecutor's report called aspects of the police investigation disturbing.

[Narrator]

We have repeatedly said that we will go where the evidence takes us.

[Reporter]

But Don Quick insists that not only was it not a frame up, the work of Broderick, a 29 year veteran cop, was meticulous and detailed. But all the things that didn't get turned over.

[Narrator]

Yes.

[Reporter]

Are things that potentially could have helped the defense.

[Narrator]

Yes.

[Reporter]

I mean, it doesn't seem to be any omission of things that hurt the defense.

[Narrator]

I would agree with your characterization.

[Reporter]

And the question is, why was just exculpatory stuff withheld?

[Narrator]

Well, I mean, obviously the defense is free to make that argument.

[Reporter]

So any mistakes that were made here were honest mistakes.

[Narrator]

Sure. When you know that you have evidence that indicates his innocence and you don't turn it over, you don't get the benefit of doubt from me that it was a mistake. I want to draw your attention to page 1242 on a police report.

[Reporter]

Toward the end of the hearing, the sheer volume of Broderick's material became an issue itself.

[Narrator]

David Wymore and Maria Lou, they would be questioning a witness and they would see Lieutenant Broderick go over to a box and David Wymore asks one day and says, what is that box and why is he pulling Stuff out of that box. And why don't I have it?

[Reporter]

Personal files. Just sitting there in court, frustrated, the judge decides it all should be turned over immediately.

[Narrator]

Every time I'd come into court, we'd get a new piece of evidence. We just kept finding stuff that's hidden. Super secret file after super secret file. Where Was this on April 12, 2006? I mean, where'd this thing come from? And I went and looked.

[Reporter]

But ironically, because Broderick kept him everything.

[Narrator]

Footprint number four looks like Tom McCantshu.

[Reporter]

The defense is able to produce what it says is the most convincing argument yet that he and the prosecutors had this murder all wrong.

[Narrator]

There was no effort to pinpoint just Tim Masters on this case. It just doesn't add up that there was anything other than to just do the best job we could with a case that could have remained unsolved. Good morning, Jim. Jim Broadrick. How you doing? In 1987, Jim Broderick knows in his own mind that Tim Masters committed this homicide.

[Reporter]

Veteran crime scene investigator Barry Goetz, now working for Masters defense, says he realized the extent of Jim Broderick's tunnel vision only as the hearings to win a new trial for Tim neared an end.

[Narrator]

Do you ever recall ever seeing a photograph of foot impression number four in the ground? We're in open court, and Dave Wymore is talking to Eric Fisher, one of Tim's original defense attorneys. From my understanding, Broderick had these in his file and he didn't give them to us.

[Reporter]

The showstopper emerges from Broderick's box of personal files.

[Narrator]

Where'd this thing come from?

[Reporter]

This whole envelope?

[Narrator]

Yeah, the whole envelope. I never saw it, Judge, until today.

[Reporter]

In that envelope, enhanced photographs of footprints from the crime scene, two of which the defense says are consistent with a Tom McCann dress shoe.

[Narrator]

There's two Atomic Anns along the blood trail, One at the curb after making several turns. Thirty feet in, there's atomic. And again, next to the blood trail in blood.

[Reporter]

Tim Masters never owned a pair of Tom McCann's. How much of this did the original defense know?

[Narrator]

They don't know this. We didn't have a photograph of number three or four where you could see horizontal lines, but the FBI did, and Lieutenant Broderick did. And had they given it to us, might have made a huge difference at trial. They got all of that. Everything was turned over to him.

[Reporter]

On this point, Lieutenant Broderick is adamant. Fisher, under oath or not, is flat out wrong. Every enhanced picture there was of every footprint was turned over to them. Yes, the problem, he says, is that the prints aren't clearly identifiable as Tom McCann's. To this, the defense pulls out another note from that treasure trove of documents.

[Narrator]

He definitely knew because he wrote a note to himself that he knew. He writes, Number 105 is messed up. Brand pattern looks like Tommy Can's shoe. If the jury saw that, how do you convict him after that?

[Reporter]

Now, armed with all this new evidence, Masters lawyers have come up with their own scenario of what they think really happened to Peggy Hetrick.

[Narrator]

Who did this is two people, one of them wearing a Tom McCann shoe, doing this.

[Reporter]

David Wymore thinks it all began in a car.

[Narrator]

She's being abducted. Somebody's got a knife to her cheek, around her like that. She knows the gig's up. She opens the car door, starts getting her right foot out. He grabs her and stabs her.

[Reporter]

Key to Weimore's theory are Peggy Hetrick's boots.

[Narrator]

If you look at these two boots, you'll see that this boot has normal wearer.

[Reporter]

But in this police photo, abrasions are clearly visible on the sole of the right boot.

[Narrator]

What the right boot shows us is that she stuck her foot out of the car.

[Reporter]

In tests, the Masters defense team was able to reproduce these abrasions.

[Narrator]

You have somebody stick their foot out of the car door, putting pressure on it. Then you only have to drive, like, about five or six miles an hour for 10ft, and you'll reproduce that scuff mark on the right foot every time.

[Reporter]

And they believe Peggy Hetrick is stabbed, being pulled back into the car. Because Barry Getz says the holes in her clothing prove it.

[Narrator]

The cut in the coat, the cut in the blouse, and the cut in her body do not line up. You have to move the blouse one inch to her left. You have to move the coat two inches to her left in order for that wound to line up. You have pulling on your coat and blouse. I stab you one time in the back.

[Reporter]

So she is killed in the car.

[Narrator]

Right. And the car then could be anywhere.

[Reporter]

Weimore theorizes that her killer or killers next took her somewhere that gave them privacy, light, and room to work.

[Narrator]

They lay her on a table, they wash her, they excise her, then they carry her and end up her in the field.

[Reporter]

Back at the field, Barry Goetz says the evidence leads him to conclude that the body was dragged only a short distance down the embankment.

[Narrator]

Where you have drag marks, you have no blood. Where you have blood, you have no drag marks.

[Reporter]

You would expect, were she being dragged.

[Narrator]

To find heel marks and on her jeans, you would see the marks that the grass makes and the dirt makes and the blood makes marks like these.

[Reporter]

On Goetz's own daughter after she helped him reenact a dragging scenario, you don't.

[Narrator]

See those on her because her legs are not in contact with the ground when she goes through there.

[Reporter]

No. Goetz says two people carried Peggy Hetrick's body to its resting place. Her bloody coat painting a trail.

[Narrator]

She is carried. Her heels are not in contact with the ground except for that run down the slope. That's what happened to her. It is as clear as the nose on your face.

[Reporter]

If true, that makes Tim Masters drag drawing a linchpin of the prosecution's case a lot less relevant.

[Narrator]

There's nothing accurate about his drawing. I think the footprints alone deserve to give him a new trial. I thought Dr. Hammond alone deserved to give him a new trial. The psychological experiment alone deserved to give him a new trial. The non disclosure of all these things, but I never count my chickens before they hatch. You know, I gotta hear it from.

[Reporter]

The court because as damning as that list sounds, these hearings are far from over. The prosecution has yet to present its answers to the defense's many charges.

[Narrator]

This is, at the end of the day, a search for the truth.

[Reporter]

The bar for granting a new trial is very high.

[Narrator]

It's so hard to undo a conviction. I just want them to confess that.

[Reporter]

They'Re Weimar and Lou would love some new evidence to lower that bar a bit and modern science could provide it.

[Narrator]

The two individuals that carried her would have transferred their DNA onto her clothing as they carried her into the field.

[Reporter]

But can investigators retrieve DNA after all this time?

[Narrator]

We're one month shy of 20 years. Are we still going to find the DNA? We don't know, but we're going to try.

[Reporter]

With Tim Masters future hanging in the balance, the defense team is about to go halfway around the world and risk everything to find out.

[Narrator]

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[Reporter]

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[Narrator]

Visit shopify.com to upgrade your selling today. This was a very emotional case, I think for on so many levels. You have a woman murdered in a small town, some sort of mutilation going on.

[Reporter]

Bad case, lots of pressure to solve it. Oh yeah, it wasn't their Job to solve it.

[Narrator]

I believed in him and I believed in the case.

[Reporter]

But Tim Masters, attorneys David Wymore and Maria Lu knew that new evidence of another killer might be the only way to get their client out of prison. So in the winter of 2007, they took a huge gamble, betting that there would be DNA on the clothes Peggy Hetrick wore when she was killed and that it would help identify her murderer. DNA was such an infant science back then that although investigators did analyze hair, blood, and fibers, no DNA tests ever had been done on the clothing. But now that testing was possible, was it also smart? Would it help Tim Masters?

[Narrator]

My job was to exclude Tim.

[Reporter]

There's not a moment when you said, yikes, you know what if this DNA comes back and it's Tim's.

[Narrator]

I'm a trial lawyer. There's always a chance. And always in the back of your mind is, yikes.

[Reporter]

If it's Tim Masters, it's Tim Masters. Former Fort Collins cop Linda Wheeler, by now a firm believer in Tim's innocence, was all for it. Go where the evidence leads you.

[Narrator]

This is what we got from this location on the panties.

[Reporter]

Plus, she knew just the man to do it.

[Narrator]

Compare the numbers.

[Reporter]

He has developed such an expertise of being able to find the evidence, the trace evidence. If it's still there on the clothing, then Richard can find it.

[Narrator]

Come here, Joy.

[Reporter]

Richard is Richard Eichlenbaum, a DNA expert who, with his wife Selma, a forensic medical examiner, loves nothing more than a chance to use hard science to ferret out the sordid secrets of crime. And Linda was very persistent. She says this is a wrongful conviction. Pretty uncommon to start a DNA laboratory in a farm. I think show me around a little bit. The only problem for the defense. Why did you want to bring this out here? They had to travel thousands of miles to, of all places, here in the Netherlands, to a tiny lab in this quaint farmhouse some 60 miles from Amsterdam.

[Narrator]

We have our DNA trace recovery in this building.

[Reporter]

We also have DNA isolation or DNA extraction. What's here? This is our blood stain room. Is there somebody in there?

[Narrator]

Yeah. We have our testing doll.

[Reporter]

We do training courses for judges and criminal law. What is all that? What you see there is an arterial gush. The Eichelinbaums jokingly call it the crime farm. Crime farm. The crime farm, yes. What was the biggest challenge as you approached this? To get this evidence to Holland.

[Narrator]

I think this was quite unique.

[Reporter]

I believe it never happened that a case in the States went out.

[Narrator]

The States?

[Reporter]

David Widemore and Maria Lu said Linda they'll never let that evidence out of the United States. Never happened before. The prosecution fought hard to prevent it happening this time. But in the end Judge Weatherby went, okay, I'm going to allow that. The judge did insist that someone had to escalate. Escort the clothes to Holland. Barry Goetz volunteered. I assume you didn't check this right?

[Narrator]

This was, this was Carry on.

[Reporter]

Goetz had been with the Colorado State crime lab for 22 years. In January of 2007, clutching his priceless suitcase of evidence, he flew to Amsterdam. Took the hour long drive to the Eichlenbaum crime farm.

[Narrator]

Good morning. Good morning.

[Reporter]

You had a good trip?

[Narrator]

I did. That's it.

[Reporter]

And began helping Richard carefully unpack Peggy Hetrick's clothes. Jeans, a blouse, underwear.

[Narrator]

This is all the victim's clothing. Okay.

[Reporter]

Readying the individual pieces for testing.

[Narrator]

So we've got the bra. So the bra is JT47.

[Reporter]

As usual, Richard Eichlenbaum would use a most unusual approach.

[Narrator]

What he's looking for is not the blood stains, not the saliva stains, not the semen stains. He's looking for skin cells that are transferred onto clothing when someone uses a lot of force.

[Reporter]

Skin cells and so called touch DNA are Richard's specialty. He's a pioneer in this approach. The same that finally cleared the parents of JonBenet Ramsey of her murder.

[Narrator]

We finally found skin cells under the armpits.

[Reporter]

The technique which they've used in dozens of cases involves not just being able to retrieve the skin cells, but in knowing exactly where to look. How important is force to this? Like if I just reach over and go like that, have I left DNA?

[Narrator]

You will leave DNA, but there's no laboratory in the world. You will get a good profile out of that.

[Reporter]

That's very important because the upper skin, those cells are dead. The DNA there is not very good. And by using force you shed those cell layers and then you come to good layers where the DNA is better. And by using force on something, you leave those cells behind. And it are those cells where we get the DNA from.

[Narrator]

The way the Dutch forensic scientists look at it is you have to understand the crime first. Where are the most likely places that a perpetrator or perpetrators would touch her in an aggressive manner? We need as much information as we.

[Reporter]

Can get before he even looks for the DNA. Richard tries to reconstruct the murder step by step. He looks where it's most likely logical that a perpetrator has grabbed and possibly has applied force to clothing or to a victim. Richard and Selma often will even Reenact the crime as they did here with the help of Barry Goetz.

[Narrator]

Where would I grab somebody? One to stab them, one to carry them, one to pull their pants and panties down, et cetera. And that's where we collected samples. We worked 10 days collecting samples from these clothing and looked at them, you know, with different lighting, infrared, UV, normal lighting, et cetera. We did more than 60 samples, and we did more than 400 DNA profiles.

[Reporter]

And remarkably, more than 20 years after the murder, it all paid off. What exactly did he find? Full profile of a male on the inside of the underpants of Peggy Hendrick. Right where he had hypothesized, where somebody would, with force, pull down the underwear. Not only was there DNA, there was enough to analyze.

[Narrator]

And the results were, it's not Tim on any place his DNA is not on the clothing.

[Reporter]

Just as his supporters expected. But they also knew that not finding Tim's DNA wasn't by itself going to set him free. So when the DNA came back and it's not him, why isn't that alone enough to vacate the conviction? Because they could always hang their hat on that Tim Masters. He was such a good murderer that he didn't leave any evidence behind. They've said that's from day one. This DNA was on incriminating sites on her clothing. And then if you really want to make it clear that Tim Masters didn't do it, you have to find the one. The person who left the DNA. Let him tell. Was it perhaps from Tim's neighbor, Dr. Richard Hammond, who, eight years after Peggy's murder, was arrested for videotaping women in his bathroom?

[Narrator]

Everybody was thinking, I think, in the.

[Reporter]

Defense side, that Dr. Hammond was involved in this.

[Narrator]

And we thought the same you did. So, yeah, at that time, he looked.

[Reporter]

Like a good candidate. Yeah, but they didn't have a sample of Dr. Hammond's DNA for comparison. And without it, the Dutch couldn't rule him in or out. The thing is, that was just fine with the master's defense because they needed to keep suspicion of Dr. Hammond alive. If DNA cleared him, then the spotlight would be right back on Tim putting Dr. Hammett aside. Then the Dutch ran more tests on DNA samples from cops, investigators, even from Matt Zollner. Remember him? Peggy Hetrick's ex boyfriend?

[Narrator]

Are you the one who stabbed Peggy.

[Reporter]

Hetrick, whose date gave him an alibi for the night Peggy was killed? You basically tested the ex boyfriend's DNA in order to rule him out, to exclude him?

[Narrator]

No, we didn't.

[Reporter]

That's why he was so shocked when.

[Narrator]

He entered the room.

[Reporter]

Yeah, shocked because the DNA didn't exclude him. I was sitting behind my computer and the door opened and Richard said, it's Zollner.

[Narrator]

It's Zollner.

[Reporter]

And I thought, what is he talking about? Matt Zollner, who told police that except for that brief encounter in the parking lot, he'd not even seen Peggy Hetrick for a week. Not only was Zollner's DNA on the inside waistband of Peggy's underpants, it also turned up on the cuffs of her blouse, where one might grab if picking up a body. There's no question this is the ex boyfriend's DNA inside the waistband of her underpants. Yes. Okay. Where does that leave him? Explain that one. This is him and only him. No question. No question. Clearly, Zollner has many questions to answer. But what, if anything, does this bombshell mean to Tim Masters in prison for the last nine years?

[Narrator]

To me, it's not over yet. I'm still dressed in orange. I'm still in a. In a gel.

[Reporter]

For Tim Masters, that old cliche, finally is true. This really could be the first day of the rest of his life.

[Narrator]

What's the word of the day, Tim? Freedom.

[Reporter]

Tim is waiting for word on whether the Dutch DNA findings will persuade the judge to go grant him a new trial. Certainly his excited lawyer thinks they should.

[Narrator]

What they didn't have in 1999 was the DNA evidence. The person who killed her touched her.

[Reporter]

Tim's gigantic family packs the courtroom, joining legions of other supporters.

[Narrator]

If you have a cell phone on, please turn it off.

[Reporter]

Check your cell phones not on hand. Is Jim Broderick called out of town on a family emergency, but from their crime farm in Holland, Selma and Richard Eichelinbaum are here.

[Narrator]

I would ask you to reserve any emotional outbursts. There's DNA from an alternate suspect on her body in a couple of places and not Tim Masters. That's evidence that a jury, if it had been available back in 99, a jury should have heard.

[Reporter]

The state confirmed the Dutch DNA results. And with that, the prosecutor takes bold action, instructing his deputy to move for Tim Masters immediate release.

[Narrator]

And so we would respectfully ask that the court grant this motion. The court has reviewed the motion. And the court grants the motion to vacate the conviction and sentence and orders the release of the defendant.

[Reporter]

With that, the hearing abruptly ends. The state's witnesses never even testify. And after more than nine years, Tim Masters is suddenly a free man.

[Narrator]

Tim, what do you think?

[Reporter]

He is almost speechless.

[Narrator]

Tim, what do you Think it's not crowded? Still sinking in. It's clear a path here. Clear path.

[Reporter]

Not so his delirious family.

[Narrator]

Yes, we did it. It's just a great feeling for me today, I'll tell you that. It's a long time coming. I just want to thank my family and my friends who stuck with me all these years. Without their support, I don't know if I could have made it through this.

[Reporter]

We as a family have stayed together so much to support Tim.

[Narrator]

And we continue to support Tim. And will we never turn our back on Tim? Not once. We never will. Thank you. Love, Grant. Thank you.

[Reporter]

How would you describe what this feeling is like?

[Narrator]

Just imagine. Well, I don't even know if you. If you could imagine spending all that time up there in prison and finally being free after all these years. I don't even know how to answer that question.

[Reporter]

What has surprised you the most?

[Narrator]

Surprised me the most? The price of everything. I was not ready for that.

[Reporter]

Do you avoid sort of thinking about what this cost you?

[Narrator]

No, not necessarily.

[Reporter]

How would you quantify it?

[Narrator]

What I've lost? Geez. I mean, damn near 10 years of my life. I don't know how you put a price tag on that. I mean, what's 10 years of your life worth? Especially 27 to 36. All I know is that you can never get those years back.

[Reporter]

But Tim Masters is determined to try hcz.

[Narrator]

So my vision is actually to the point where I could legally drive. You could legally drive.

[Reporter]

Three days after his release in 2008, the state dropped all charges against Tim Masters. Do you think we'll ever know who killed Peggy Hetrick?

[Narrator]

God, I don't know. I really don't know. I know who didn't. You know.

[Reporter]

The DNA that freed Tim Masters leaves lingering questions about Peggy's ex boyfriend, Matt Zollner. He today lives in Fort Collins, keeping a low profile.

[Narrator]

If he did it, he better get out of town.

[Reporter]

Zollner did not respond to repeated attempts to contact him. I mean, we're talking about skin cells inside her underpants. This is not just, you know, The.

[Narrator]

DNA materials were found in a couple of places on the body that we had tested.

[Reporter]

Exactly. Exactly. And that was enough to get Tim Masters free? Oh, it's not enough to get anybody else arrested.

[Narrator]

You'd have to ask the Attorney General on where he is on the arrest.

[Reporter]

The Colorado Attorney General now has the Hetrick case, but won't comment on any aspect of it. Do you think realistically, anybody absent a confession could be convicted for this crime?

[Narrator]

No, I really don't. Since Richard Hammond is deceased, their defense attorney's gonna say, look at this guy. He's the one that did this. There's no way.

[Reporter]

He still may be the defense's favorite suspect. But using a sample of Dr. Hammond's DNA provided by his wife, the state says he has been ruled out as the killer.

[Narrator]

There is no evidence tying Dr. Hammond. He just happened to live in the neighborhood.

[Reporter]

The court never ruled on whether the original defense lawyers did their jobs, but Eric Fisher accepts some blame.

[Narrator]

Great day for Tomb Masters. Not really a great day for me. I am upset that this happened and happened on my watch.

[Reporter]

If the original prosecutors are upset, they're not talking. Both were publicly reprimanded and fined for failing to disclose information to the defense. But Tim doesn't blame them for what happened.

[Narrator]

It's pretty obvious who did this to me. One detective, Jim Broderick.

[Reporter]

If Jim Broderick were sitting where I'm sitting right now, what would you tell him?

[Narrator]

I wouldn't talk to Jim Broderick. At this point. There's not a whole lot of love between him and me, so it'd be best if we just didn't speak to each other.

[Reporter]

But what would you like to say to him?

[Narrator]

I'm not gonna say on camera. What it really comes down to is I'm accountable to God and I'm accountable to Peggy Hetrick.

[Reporter]

Looking back, Jim Broderick, the man who pursued Tim Masters across decades, made absolutely no apology for his actions. Do you believe he did it?

[Narrator]

Well, I believe that I followed the evidence. Okay. And the evidence pointed to Tim Masters.

[Reporter]

They find the ex boyfriend's DNA inside her underpants on the cuffs of her blouse. Does that not give you any pause?

[Narrator]

Well, you can find DNA evidence, and it may have an innocent explanation.

[Reporter]

Ironically, Broderick says Tim's lawyers only had that crucial information because of him and his passion for saving everything.

[Narrator]

That characterological trait of mine of wanting to hang on to information, not knowing its future use has helped Tim Masters. Because had I not done that, it wouldn't have been available to be tested.

[Reporter]

Peggy Hetrick's clothes would have been destroyed.

[Narrator]

Everything, everything would have been destroyed.

[Reporter]

That may not mean much to Tim Masters struggling to put together a new life. Everybody ready? He's got some unlikely new friends. Linda Wheeler, the first cop to ever suspect he was guilty. This young man is going to lead a good, productive life.

[Narrator]

Hey, my favorite uncle. What are you up to?

[Reporter]

Barry Goetz, who travels with him in Europe, beginning with Amsterdam, for an appearance with Richard And Selma on Dutch tv.

[Narrator]

And they helped set them free.

[Reporter]

The innocent man who was imprisoned for 10 years. Very warm welcome for you, Tim Masters.

[Narrator]

Thank you.

[Reporter]

And his lawyer, Maria Lu.

[Narrator]

Hey, what's going on? Hey, what's going on?

[Reporter]

Whose office he still visits regularly.

[Narrator]

So what are you guys gonna do tonight? I have no idea. Without all of these people, there's no way that we would be where we are today.

[Reporter]

He seems to regard you as a really good friend.

[Narrator]

Yep. All of your stuff is now centralized. He will be dear to me. It took an entire village of people to free Tim Masters. This is the kitchen of my mansion.

[Reporter]

He found a new apartment.

[Narrator]

Little utility area right here. Home sweet home.

[Reporter]

No guards, no orders, no rules.

[Narrator]

For the last two years, I was in a six by eight cell, which was about from this wall to that wall and about to here.

[Reporter]

Not surprising then, that he relishes walks in the great outdoors.

[Narrator]

I always loved this place. I like the mountains, period. There's a part of me that doesn't even want to start rebuilding my life because I'm afraid of losing it again. I'm glad for him. I'm glad for him that he has his freedom.

[Reporter]

Peggy's brother, Tom Hetrick, who has long doubted Tim Masters was his sister's killer, greeted the news of his release with mixed feelings.

[Narrator]

But I'm also measured because I want people to realize this is not over yet. Peggy is the ultimate victim in this. Tim Masters. Got to go home. Peggy's not coming home. She's never coming home. She comes home in your heart and in your mind.

[Reporter]

And the murder that so shocked this peaceful town more than 20 years ago seems as big a mystery now as it was back then.

[Narrator]

You've reached the Peggy Hetrick investigation hotline at the Colorado Attorney General's office. Please leave any information you wish to provide. In 2011, Tim Masters was exonerated by the Colorado Attorney general. He received $10 million in settlements for wrongful imprisonment.