Free Tim Masters Because

Blackstone's Equation, a documentary about the case, will be shown for the first time at CU Boulder on Friday, April 27 at 7 pm. The location is the Atlas Building, at the north end of the Euclid parking lot. The event is free and open to the public. The filmmaker is Nicholas Jay Bernhard, and the program includes both the film and a question-and-answer period.

Mixed Up

by Pat Hartman

Snugglebug861 is a young lady who posted a video on YouTube and titled it "Tim Masters/Peggy Hettrick." She says,

I felt very compelled to post this, mainly because every time I've posted this on the Rants and Raves located in Craigslist my rant is flagged and deleted no more than ten minutes after posting this. I did some extensive research and fallowed this case closely since 2008. This story just doesn't settle well with me, especially because there are so many similarities between the events that led up to Peggy Hettricks Murder, and what is happening to me now

I'm not gonna sign up for a YouTube channel just so I can comment on her page. But if I did, here's what I would say:

Where's your evidence that Hettrick was being stalked? Sure, the police covered up stuff and convicted the wrong guy in that case. But you've got the rest of the story completely wrong.

There is NO evidence that the surgeon you're talking about killed or mutilated this woman. During the hearings, when Tim's lawyer was trying to get him free, the doctor was a very good suspect because of his creepy filming activities. But there's never been any real evidence connecting him with Hettrick.

You're also mistaken about the destruction of the evidence of the doctor's filming of women in the toilet. He committed suicide first, then the evidence was destroyed. There are some weird aspects of the doctor's death, just as there were many things wrong with the case against Masters when they accused him of killing Peggy Hettrick. When the DNA evidence came back, the real killer became obvious, and it wasn't the doctor, it was somebody who's still out there roaming free. And the judge is not a judge any more because he was voted out of office. Because your account of things is so confused, I will add that he wasn't the judge of the Masters trial, he was the DA then, the prosecutor.

But the misinformation you give just causes people to get a wrong impression. Your point of view is so unaligned with the known facts, it hurts the reputation of all the other people who think there is something wrong in the Hettrick case. And there is plenty wrong with it.

It's obvious that you don't know much at all. She was not being stalked in the sense you're talking about. If anything, she was trying too hard to stay close to her killer. It sounds like you've gone through some rough times, and I'm sorry for that, but the similarity to Hettrick is zero.

Unsung Hero: Linda Wheeler Holloway

(A while back, the local newspaper asked for reader submission on the subject of Unsung Heroes. This is what I sent in.
---Pat Hartman)

It was a long and difficult struggle to get wrongfully convicted Tim Masters out of prison. The victory was due to the combined efforts of many people, none more dedicated than Linda Wheeler-Holloway. Back in the early 1990s, as a member of the Fort Collins Police Department, Linda inherited the Peggy Hettrick homicide case and re-opened it as lead investigator. By declining to carry out an arrest warrant against Masters, she reaped the disapproval of supervisors and colleagues. With a "Masters or nobody" attitude, they refused to let her make a fresh start that would include other suspects. Consequently, the case was shelved for the second time.

Masters was arrested in 1998. Linda, retired by then from FCPD and working for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, again expressed her doubts to the prosecutors as they prepared for trial, but to no avail. After the conviction, she worked tirelessly and against great opposition to right
the wrong, always keeping in mind that the real murderer of Peggy Hettrick is still at large and unpunished. As an activist in the "Free Tim Masters" cause, she repeatedly risked her career and reputation.

Over the years and through many discouraging setbacks, she persisted, alienating the local law enforcement community of which she had been a respected member, losing friends, even setting aside personal needs and family concerns in order to fight the battle. It was Linda who found the Dutch scientists of the Independent Forensic Services and introduced them to Masters' post-conviction defense team. As we know, the absence of Masters' DNA on the victim's clothing, and the presence of someone else's, ultimately won his freedom.

Linda Wheeler-Holloway is a true hero, and a shining example not only for all women, but for all law enforcement professionals.

Looking Back on Broderick

Looking Back on Broderick
by Pat Hartman

Here's a 1999 article from the Fort Collins Coloradoan, titled "Fort Collins investigator's diligence helped solve 1987 case." Jenn Farrell reports on the awards given by the Fort Collins Police Department, to Jim Broderick, Terry Gilmore, and Jolene Blair. The awards are for putting Tim Masters away.

Of course, the glory was somewhat dimmed, at award time, because Tim Masters, convicted four months before, was definitely filing an appeal. The prosecutors were worried that the conviction might not hold. The story ended with the line, "And if the case goes back to square one, that's where prosecutors and Broderick will pick it up."

Pretty funny, in a grotesque kind of way. The whole trouble with the case was that Broderick never was willing to start at Square One. He decided immediately that Tim Masters killed Peggy Hettrick, and never wavered, and used all his influence to drag the rest of the police department, and the DA's office, along into his delusion.

Farrell says,

For two months, he pored over thousands of gruesome narratives and sketches seeking evidence, piecing together a case from psychological and circumstantial evidence.

Exactly. Broderick spent googobs of time, not just when he was officially on the case fulltime, but his spare time for years, constructing a story to specifically condemn Tim Masters. The Chief of Police, Dennis Harrison, even said so. "He devoted countless hours of personal time to this investigation in addition to his normal duties…"

There is nothing wrong with a cop being obsessed by a case. Unless he starts out with the wrong suspect, and adamantly refuses to listen to anyone who suggests a different theory. Then it is no longer healthy professional determination, but mania.

"Building a case" is one of this story's subheads, and that is exactly what Broderick did. Starting with the ideas suggested by FBI agents during the first days after the murder, and adding what he read in books written by profiler Roy Hazelwood, Broderick concocted the interlocking cluster of stories about the supposed psychological motivations of Tim Masters.

When he eventually found a compliant forensic psychologist in Reid Meloy, Broderick just handed over to him the whole fairy tale he had invented, and paid Meloy thousands and thousands of dollars to put a stamp of approval on it, because an "expert" was needed for the courtroom.

Here is a very important quotation, regarding Blair and Gilmore. Broderick told the reporter,

For another 2 months, he was holed away in a room, working with prosecutors, and scoured that evidence, looking for ways to tear it down, then at how to defend it when he took it into the courtroom.

It says here that Broderick could never have done it without the help of the prosecutors, who put a lot of time and effort into the case. Translation: a whole team of people were dedicated not to finding the killer of Peggy Hettrick, but to nailing Tim Masters, above all else. Isn't that kind of like a conspiracy? Sure sounds like one.

In more recent days, when questioned by Special Prosecutors and the like, Blair and Gilmore have consistently testified that they never knew this, that, or the other thing, about the case. They would like us to believe that the police withheld information from them, or lied to them. This is not plausible deniability. With two intense months of working together fulltime, as well as all the other collaboration between Broderick and the prosecutors, how could there possibly have been a single thing about the case that Blair and Gilmore did NOT know? What were they doing all that time, holed up in the war room? Playing strip poker?

Broderick told the reporter that the older a case gets, the harder it is to solve, because witnesses move out of town, or die. Yeah, well, the moving away and dying worked out in Broderick's favor, didn't it? Especially when it came to Clyde Masters. Tim's father would have testified that Tim never left his trailer home, the night of the murder. He died in April of 1996. By July, Broderick was pestering Roy Hazelwood to be his expert witness. By October, the investigation was reopened, starring Tim Masters as the one and only suspect.

Broderick also lamented that old cases are difficult because you can't go back and collect new evidence. But as we have learned since then, Broderick didn't let that get in his way. He just manufactured it. Like William Butler Yeats said of poetry, he "made it out of a mouthful of air." Broderick is quoted as saying the team "made the decision that there wasn't likely to be anything else that was going to come forward." Decoded, that sounds like it means something like, "We'll never get any more physical evidence, so let's just make up some complicated, fantastical theory."

Which they proceeded to do. The theory about how Tim Masters must have killed Peggy Hettrick, because she had red hair and his mother had red hair, and his mother died and he was mad at her for dying, so he had to kill a red-haired woman to punish his mother for dying. Or something. And all the convoluted, wacky stuff he invented out of Tim's drawings and writings. Which, truth be told, were pretty unexceptional for that age group. All the stuff about rehearsal fantasy and displaced matricide and how a shy kid was actually a dangerous "loner," and on and on ad nauseum.

It says here that when Broderick's job was changed from supervisor of Crimes Against Persons, and he took over the Drug Task Force, he "took the Hettrick case - and all the work he'd done - with him to see it to the end." Sounds like maybe he wasn't giving his job his full attention, still mooning over this old case. "Developing ownership," as it says here. Not a very good example for the troops.

An interesting detail is that other officers, who at various times expressed ideas about the Hettrick homicide, were told to mind their own business, because they were in Crimes Against Property or out on patrol or whatever. But nobody chastised Jim Broderick for clinging to the case when he was supposedly assigned in a different field.

The reporter duly notes that Broderick "shied away from taking credit." What? He went and made a Cold Case Files TV show about the case, full of disinformation. That statement is just as memorable as the one in Jolene Blair's closing argument, where she said nobody else in the world could have done the murder.

Peggy Hettrick remembered by a friend

Carol Davy writes of the Peggy Hettrick page, and her memories of Peggy.

You gave light and love to her life, and stated that it could very well have been you or me... that is so true.

and goes on to say,

There in one of the photos was the American Indian, corn-silk raku vase that she just had to have from the store that I managed while she worked at Fashion Bar. We saw each other almost every day.

Peggy put this particular vase on lay-away… she was always short on cash! I had a 90-day program for purchase, however, after 6 months Peggy still hadn't paid for the vase in its entirety. I told her, "don't worry about it, whenever you can is fine. No big deal."

After about 9 months, Peggy came in to pay the remainder off, and she picked up this vase which she adored! I'll tell you , seeing this same vase in the photo stirred memories that were held deep within me. I noticed that she had placed two feathers in the vase. Peggy loved American Indian Art, and she was always in my store looking at the collection that we offered for sale to the public. I was a buyer/manager and had an affinity for American Indian Art as well, so we hit it off right away.

It gave me goose bumps to see this very vase sitting on her shelf! Thank you for that photo and for writing so eloquently about her and her dreams, aspirations, and of her life in general. She was a gem. She is still missed and thought of every day by those who knew her and lover her. I made a protest poster with her photo on it with her in that blue dress.

Timeline

These dates are from many different sources, and there’s always room for error, so if something inaccurate is listed here, please send in better information.

TIMELINE

This is more for the seriously curious reader, who already has some grasp of the events, and wants to pinpoint when a certain thing happened. If you’re new to this case, don’t try to understand it by reading through the timeline.
Almost all entries refer to events in the life of Tim Masters, before and after the murder of Peggy Hettrick by an unknown person. Some entries are about Donald Long or Richard Hammond, who also come into the story. Please see other posts to understand how. If the item concerns one of those two, it’s clearly marked. Otherwise, it’s about Tim Masters.

1961
Clyde Masters buys an acre of land in south Fort Collins

1978
Clyde Masters family moves to Fort Collins

1982
Nov 30
Clyde Masters retires from the Navy
Lloyd Masters family moves in next door to the Clyde Masters family

1983

Feb 12, 1983
Margaret Masters, wife of Clyde and mother of Tim, is rushed to the hospital

Feb 13, 1983
Margaret Masters dies

Feb 15, 1983
Margaret Masters is buried

1986

Christmas season – Peggy Hettrick’s purse stolen

1987
Feb 2, 1987
Matt Zoellner stated he last spent the evening/night with Peggy

Feb 10, 1987 Tuesday
Peggy Hettrick reports in to work at the Fashion Bar at noon. She checks out for a break around 5, and goes to Banana’s to meet with her temporary roommate.
6:30 – Clyde Masters leaves for tech school class
Around 9 Peggy Hettrick leaves work at the Fashion Bar and starts an evening of wandering.
10 – 10:30 - Clyde Masters gets back from school. He and Tim watch a couple of TV shows before turning in.

Feb 11, 1987 Wednesday
Around 1 a.m. Peggy leaves the Prime Minister by unknown means of transportation.
1:45 – Next door to where Tim lives, his aunt, Bridgette Masters, gets home. Lloyd Masters has been home all evening.
1:00 – 3 a.m. Time span in which Dr. Allen first estimates Peggy died.
Somewhere around 7 a.m., a driver passing by on Landings sees something in the field, but only later becomes aware that it was Peggy’s body.
6:59 – Tim Masters leaves home on foot, for the bus stop.
A few minutes after 7 a.m., Peggy's body is sighted, and reported a few minutes later, by a bicycle rider.
The location of the homicide is 3800 Landings.
8:30 Lab Tech Ruth Shanahan starts shooting video and still photos
Somewhere between 9:00 and 9:30 Clyde Masters is interviewed by police,
At school, Tim Masters is questioned by Det. Gonzales; his locker and backpack are searched. Throughout the day and evening, he is questioned for a total of 7 hours.
FCPD Lead investigators: Jack Taylor and Sherri Wagner. Jim Broderick also involved in the initial stages.
(Richard Hammond) Among the neighbors interviewed by police are the Hammonds of 401 Skysail, who say they were home all night, and neither saw nor heard anything unusual.
3:30 - 3:40         Russell takes Matt Zoellner to Poudre Valley Hospital for rape kit
4:30 Peggy’s body is autopsied
5:00    Russell and Zoellner leave hospital
5:35   Russell drops Zoellner at Foothills Chrysler Plymouth

Feb 12, 1987 Thursday
8:00 FCPD organizational meeting Russell assigned “to conduct a background investigation concerning a person named Timothy Lee Masters.”
Wagner and Taylor met with two detectives from Denver PD and then two FBI Behavioral Sciences agents
Morning: Broderick makes sightline measurements
8:40 a.m. McKibben ,Vincent, Broderick, Tellez on hand ready to search
10:00 One of the FBI agents was given a copy of the videotape of Zoellner's apartment.

10:15 am Broderick and Dean to see Clyde at home. 11:07 got Voluntary Consent to Search signed for 328 Boardwalk and all outbuildings and motor vehicles.

In class, Tim doodles the "drag" drawing.
12:20 pm. Clyde Masters leaves home with Det. Dean to collect Tim from school
about 1:00 is his recollection of what time he was brought to the police station
At the police station, Tim Masters is interviewed for 6 or 7 hours and given a polygraph test. A conversation between Tim and his father Clyde is secretly recorded. Their home is searched and many items seized including, from Tim’s room six survival knives (one with a scalpel in the handle), some adult magazines, and many notebooks full of Tim’s writings and drawings. No evidence linking to the crime is found on the knives, or in the sinks or laundry drains.
6:30 Broderick gets the Consent to Search for TM's lockers at Fort Collins High.

(Richard Hammond) Terry Safris receives first of a series of threatening phone calls.

Feb 13, 1987 Friday
Explorer Scouts assist in searching the field
Tim Masters is interviewed again.
According to news report, by now 100 people have been questioned with no witness found to anything. Local news makes first mention of the "boyfriend"
News report: the FBI behavioral science unit will become involved, to help develop a "profile" of the killer.
Officer Jim Broderick is now the FBI liaison, consults ViCap FBI man Jim Wright, who tells him to look for a burglar/voyeur. But Broderick has already fixated on Tim Masters, and describes him, asking for a prediction of his behavior. Wright advises watching him next year on the anniversary of his mother’s death and Peggy Hettrick’s murder
Police issue a "Confidential Update" memo to the City Council.

Feb 14, 1987 Saturday
By now, 200 people have been questioned. Volunteers have been searching the field where Peggy’s body was found.

Feb. 16, 1987
7:00 pm rosary at Kibbey-Fisher Mortuary

Feb 17, 1987
Peggy Hettrick’s obituary in local newspaper.
9:30am Peggy Hettrick's funeral, attendees photographed by Shanahan. Obituary appears in local newspaper.

Feb 18, 1987
Lt. Bud Reed tells reporter there are "no suspects in custody" for the Peggy Hettrick murder.

Feb 21, 1987
Local paper publishes article by Jim Hawkins, Crime Prevention Coordinator for the police dept., on how to avoid becoming a victim. In another article, a spokesperson repeats that police "did not have any suspects in custody" and the FBI is still helping to develop a psychological profile.

Feb 24, 1987
(Richard Hammond) "Icicle man" menaces Terry Safris at the Prime Minister.

March 10, 1987
Officer Ray Martinez talks to manager of Prime Minister, then learns from Terry Safris of series of threatening phone calls that started the day after Peggy Hettrick was killed.

March 18, 1987
(Donald Long) Linda Holt disappears after work. Police publicly declare there is no connection with Peggy Hettrick’s murder.

March 19, 1987
(Donald Long) Linda Holt’s van found 5 miles away, near Long’s place. Fingerprints taken from van, and semen stains which produced a blood type.

March 24, 1987
(Donald Long) Linda Holt’s body found, through information provided by Donald Long’s girlfriend

April 3, 1987
Police department interoffice memorandum says Tim Masters is not a prime suspect in the Peggy Hettrick murder. Also, a progress report is made by Chief Glasscock to the mayor and city manager and city council. Local newspaper publishes an article of advice from the police on how to be safe.

April 17, 1987 (approximate)
Two months and 6 days after Peggy Hettrick’s murder, police take an indecent exposure report. On Landings Drive, one block from where Hettrick’s body was found, a woman reports a man walking with one leg of his shorts pulled up to expose his erection. The woman turned around to look at him again, "because he might have something to do with the Hettrick murder," as she said when making the police report.

April 30, 1987
Jim Broderick writes letter to Joelle Kohout of FBI's Behavioral Sciences Unit, and Roy Hazelwood

May 1987
Jim Broderick promoted to sergeant, leaves investigations division, goes to patrol.
(District Attorney Ken Buck’s report puts it this way:
"June 15, 1987 – Det. Broderick was promoted to Sergeant and shortly thereafter was reassigned to the patrol division.")

May 87 or after
Jim Broderick talkes to Clyde and Tim Masters about an incident in their neighborhood that was called in.

May 11, 1987
Peggy Hettrick’s cousin commits suicide in Arvada, Colorado

May 13, 1987
The "Kohout Memo" Det.Taylor’s notes on conversation with Joelle Kohout of Behavioral Sciences. (Seems to be input from Roy Hazelwood, too. Relayed through Kohout, or did they talk separately?)

July 15, 1987
(Donald Long) Fort Collins police interview Donald Long for the first time. He talks extensively about another man, who police ultimately question then release in Holt's killing. Long gives blood, hair, saliva and fingerprints that day.

Several months after the Hettrick murder – date unknown:
In another Colorado city, Linda Wheeler Holloway and other law enforcement personnel attempt to interview a man recently released from prison, who had mutilated a woman. He barricades himself in, opens fire on the police, and fatally shoots himself.

Aug 31, 1987
In Tim Masters’s neighborhood, a survival knife is found in a ditch – reportedly with a broken-off tip. (In 2007, David Wymore says it wasn’t broken off but bent back)

Nov 7, 1987
(Donald Long) Mona Hughes disappears after leaving work in Greeley.

Nov. 8, 1987
(Donald Long) Mona Hughes's car is found near

Nov 11, 1987
"Rampant rumors spread that the same person who killed Hettrick also killed Holt. Police say no relation exists between the two murders." News clip

Nov 11, 1987
Local paper reports that a juvenile male has been interviewed about the Peggy Hettrick murder, and released without charges.

Nov 15, 1987
(Donald Long) Long is arrested for killing Linda Holt

Nov 24, 1987
(Donald Long) Newspaper says, according to local woman, Donald Long’s CB radio handle was "Panty Snatcher."

Dec 1, 1987
Body of Mona Hughes is found with 14 stab wounds

Late 1987
Troy Krenning returns to Fort Collins

1988

Jan 8, 1988
Police hold a work session – on the topic of outstanding Hettrick leads.
Lt. Deryle O'Dell. writes a memo regarding the anniversary surveillance plan and psychological warfare plan against Tim Masters. It needs to be okayed by chief Bruce Glasscock

Jan 28, 1988
Richard H. Butler, VP of American Federal Savings, writes to the police dept. and fully okays their plan to park a construction trailer on the bank’s property from Feb 1 – Feb 21
Late Jan or Feb 1988

Lt. Broderick has some kind of contact with Tim Masters, its date and nature unknown, mentioned in notes on Feb. 4 organizational meeting as an event that happened "last week".

Feb 4, 1988
Investigators from FCPD hold a briefing for all officers involved in the surveillance plan.

Feb 8, 1988
Police document says if the surveillance of Tim Masters has no result, they will close books on case.

Feb 8-14, 1988
Surveillance of Tim Masters, the empty field, and Peggy Hettrick’s grave

Feb 11, 1988
Police officer Dean delivers copy of the Coloradoan to the Masters home. It contains a planted story designed to rattle Tim. Channel 14 news is filming in the area.

Feb 16, 1988
Final report on the week-long surveillance is issued.

May 2, 1988
Officers Wagner and Taylor interview Donnegan or Dunnegan

May 1988
(Donald Long) Long confesses to both Linda Holt and Mona Hughes murders.
May 4   Long agrees to guilty plea for both Holt and Hughes. Sentenced to life plus 50 years.

May 1988
(Donald Long) Husband of Mona Hughes sues FCPD, claiming that if they had secured Long after the death of Linda Holt, his wife wouldn’t have been killed.

July 1988
Tim Masters signs up for the Navy

1989

Feb 2 – 11, 1989
Surveillance of Tim Masters, described in Schneeberger memo

Feb 10, 1989
Police officer calls the Masters home, pretending to be Tim’s classmate. Clyde Masters says his son is at the Navy recruiting office.

July 9, 1989
Tim Masters starts boot camp

1990

Lloyd Masters family moves out from residence next door

1991

June 1991
Linda Wheeler-Holloway assigned as lead investigator, to reopen the Peggy Hettrick murder case.

Sept 1991
Tim’s pants and knife sent to California for DNA analysis of blood

December of 1991
Results come back, the blood on Tim’s pants is his own; blood on the knife totally consumed by testing process.

1992
Some time in this year, Linda Wheeler-Holloway organizes files, put them into Records
Some time in this year – Strategies on how to conduct the upcoming interview with Tim Masters, are suggested by Roy Hazelwood
Some time in this year, spurred by FCPD inquiries, Navy intelligence studies Tim Masters’s record and interviews his co-workers and supervisors.

Jul 28, 1992
Warrant to arrest Tim Masters is reviewed by Assistant DA Terry Gilmore and signed by District Judge William Dressel. It includes matter from the nonexistent "profile."

July 31 and Aug. 1
Jim Broderick, Linda Wheeler-Holloway and Hal Dean go to Philadelphia, question Tim Masters for 14 hours, and leave without making an arrest.

Aug 5, 1992
Linda Wheeler-Holloway tells Commander Feldman, Sgt. Vagge, Terry Gilmore and Jolene Blair what happened in Philadelphia.

Oct 11, 1992
At the instigation of Clyde Masters, the local paper prints a story about how his son is being harassed by the police department.

1993

March 15, 1993
letter from Wheeler to Hickson of NCIS about her plan to start from scratch, and Hazelwood agreed to do profile, and she has no plan to contact any member of Masters family ever again.

April 23, 1993
Linda Wheeler-Holloway returns Peggy Hettrick murder to cold case status

April 29, 1993
LWH meets with Hickson, gives latest information on TM, learns that the Navy would probably keep the case active.

August 14, 1993
murder of Michael Gienger

1995
January 1995
Jim Broderick assigned as supervisor, Crimes Against Persons

Some time in this year: the detective bureau of the FCPD is restructured, and the investigators have more time to work on unsolved cases.

Mar 19, 1995 Sunday
(Richard Hammond) In the early morning, police are called by woman house-sitter to the home of Dr. and Mrs. Hammond, where an elaborate setup is found in place to film users of the restroom.

Mar 20, 1995 Monday
(Richard Hammond) Hammond turns himself in, released on bail. Checks in to Mountain View Hospital. Tony Sanchez and other officers notice the view from Hammond’s bedroom window at home is the body dump site.

Mar 21, 1995
Remarks of Jim Broderick regarding the arrest of Richard Hammond are published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan.

Date uncertain
Officer Tony Sanchez writes the "look into Hettrick" note.

Mar 23, 1995 Thursday
(Richard Hammond) Hammond in court to be advised of rights. Scheduled to return April 6

Mar 24, 1995 Friday
(Richard Hammond) After being given immunity, Becky Hammond is interviewed by Tony Sanchez and Marsha Reed. Hammond is discharged from Mountain View Hospital. Hammond checks into a La Quinta motel in Denver and injects sodium cyanide into a vein leaving a suicide note saying "My death should satisfy the media's thirst for blood"

Mar 25, 1995 Saturday
(Richard Hammond) Shortly before noon, Hammond’s body is found by member of motel cleaning staff.

Mar 27(Richard Hammond) District Attorney's office receives Hammond's suicide letter

May 17, 1995
(Richard Hammond) Officers Broderick and Sanchez meet with assistant city attorney John Duval to discuss how to destroy Hammond evidence.

Date unknown
Becky Hammond interviewed by Marsha Reed and Tony Sanchez and granted immunity.

Aug. 15, 1995
(Richard Hammond) Motion for warrant to destroy personal property. Signed by Assistant City Attorney Duval, executed by Judge Dressel

August 1995
Less than 5 months after Hammond’s death, and with only a small fraction of it having been examined, all the evidence from Hammond’s home and storage lockers is burned in a fire that reportedly requires over 8 hours to consume it all.

Nov 30, 1995
Det. Linda Wheeler-Holloway retires from Fort Collins Police Department

1996

Sometime in this year, attorney Erik Fischer moves to Fort Collins

Apr 15, 1996
Clyde Masters dies at age 60, while visiting in California

July 1996
Broderick talks to FBI agent Ron Walker about possibility of getting Hazelwood as expert witness

Oct 1996
FCPD begins to re-investigate the Peggy Hettrick murder,

Oct 24 and 25, 1996
seminar “Behavioral Analysis of Sexually Related Deaths” taught by Hazelwood….Broderick goes over case with Hazelwood

Oct 25, 1996
"Thousands of pages" of Tim Masters’s writings and drawings are conveyed to Roy Hazelwood, now an expert in sexual violence in private consultancy practice.

Nov 22, 1996
Marsha Reed watches "Cipher in the Snow".

Dec 18, 1996
Broderick sends progress report to Hazelwood, discusses with Asst. DA Terry Gilmore what they hope Hazelwood will do.

1997

Feb 14, 1997
Two- page "hinge" letter from Broderick to Hazelwood

Feb 20, 1997
Fax from Broderick to Hazelwood

April 2, 1997
Broderick sends map a more detailed map to Hazelwood

June 6, 1997
Tim Masters leaves military service

June 19, 1997
Fax from Academy Group (Roy Hazelwood) to Broderick, replying to questions that had been put to him about how far he was willing to get involved in the case.
Broderick talks to Hazelwood, who suggests lists of psychologists including Reid Meloy

Oct 21, 1997 Jim Broderick begins reviewing case material and making a plan of action, expecting Det. Marsha Reed back from sick leave.

Nov 3 1997
Jim Broderick promoted from sergeant to lieutenant

Nov. 9, 1997
Dr. Reid Meloy retained

Nov. 14, 1997
Letter agrees to pay Meloy $300/hr. every 30 days

Dec 6, 1997
Meloy calls to say he has received everything from Hazelwood (Tim Masters’s "productions" – writings and drawings, maps, and whatever else they had sent.)

Dec 29, 1997
Holiday Inn meeting of Meloy, Marsha Reed, Terry Gilmore, Jim Broderick, they went to police dept. to view evidence, and visited the scene where Peggy Hettrick’s body was found.

Dec 31, 1997
Det. Marsha Reed writes to plastic surgeon Dr. Christopher Tsoi, sending autopsy report, 7 photos of the surgical wounds inflicted on Peggy Hettrick after her death, and a list of questions.

1998
Jan 1998
Assignments are shifted within FCPD's Crimes Against Persons unit, so Broderick and Reed can go full time on pursuing Tim Masters

Jan 2, 1998
Broderick sends letter to Meloy – enclosing transcript of secret recording made of Feb 12 1987, of a conversation between Tim and his father. All Hettrick evidence is moved to a separate room, with only Broderick and Reed knowing the lock's combination.

Jan 7, 1998
letter from Meloy to Broderick, thanking for visit and enclosing a copy of his notes

Jan 9, 1998
Det. Marsha Reed meets with Dr. Tsoi, but her daily report is blank, and the report she remembers writing about the meeting is never seen again.

Jan 24, 1998 Blood spatter expert Dr. Tom Bevel's report is submitted

January 27, 1998 Marsha Reed, another police officer, and a Sheriff's department detective meet to re-enact dragging scenarios.

Feb 3, 1998Broderick and Reed examine items from Tim Masters' room

Feb 23, 1998Marsha Reed requests a crime analyst to make a flow chart detailing the actions of Hettrick, Masters, and Zoellner in the hours surrounding Peggy Hettrick's death

Feb 27, 1998Broderick theorizes about the note to Matt Zoellner that Peggy had written

March 2, 1998
Broderick sends letter to Meloy about the autobiography that Tim wrote for a class assignment, and how the death certificate of Margaret Masters was lying out in the open.

March 20, 1998
Broderick meets with Chief Deputy District Attorney Terry Gilmore most of the morning, to keep him updated on this case.

April 2, 1998
Broderick and Reed watch horror movies Tim Masters has mentioned, trying to link the plots and characters to the Hettrick homicide

April 9, 1998
Broderick, Gilmore and Blair meet to discuss and plan.

April 14, 1998
Broderick meets with Dr. Allen, who did the autopsy on Peggy Hettrick

May 5 1998
FCPD receives confirmation that Tim Masters still lives in Witchita

May 14, 1998
Peggy Hettrick's body is exhumed to look for knife tip, which wasn’t missing in the first place. No knife tip found.

June 18, 1998Meloy names the so-called "vagina" drawing and the drag drawing as the two most incriminating, in conversation with Broderick.

June 20, 1998
Meloy submits 12-page draft report summarization

June 22, 1998
Meloy sends preliminary finding report to Broderick, having revised it after receiving input from police and prosecutors. Also letter "please note that my entire document extraction has now been sent to you." This is not the same as the report, but a different set of papers.

June 23, 1998
Conference call between Dr. Reid Meloy, Asst. DA Terry Gilmore, Asst. DA Jolene Blair, Officer Marsha Reed

June 29, 1998
Meeting to review affidavit

June 23
Meloy leaves the country till 7/11

June 29, 1998 Broderick, M. Reed, Terry Gilmore, Jolene Blair meet to look at drawings, theorize plan, and review affidavit.

July 2, 1998
Jim Broderick meets with Terry Gilmore and Jolene Blair

July 9, 1998
4-page report from Hazelwood to Broderick, as at this point the prosecutors still contemplate having him testify

July 10, 1998
Broderick’s notes say he conferred with Hazelwood about the arrest warrant. In this conversation, Hazelwood recommended removing all references to the "profile"

July 16, 1998
Conference call between Broderick, Hazelwood and Meloy

July 24, 1998
Broderick send letter to prosecutors stating that Dr. Meloy had been sent a draft of the warrant, and they were awaiting Meloy’s "approval."

July 29, 1998
Fort Collins police report shows that Allen, the medical examiner, called the wounds surgical. The description came in a conversation with Broderick.

August 1998
Broderick sends Hazelwood draft copy of arrest warrant and copies of Meloy’s "extractions."

August 5, 1998Broderick interviews Wayne Lawson

Aug 6, 1998
Police obtain arrest warrant for Tim Masters, from District Judge William Dressel, charging first-degree murder

Aug 9, 1998
Dets. Broderick and Reed and other FCPD travel to Ridgecrest, CA to arrest Tim Masters, who is now 27 and out of the Navy.
FCPD learns that Tim Masters owns a trailer home in Loma, CO

Aug 10, 1998
Det. Broderick and other FCPD travel to Ridgecrest, CA to arrest Tim Masters, who is now 27 and out of the Navy.
Lloyd and Bridget Masters are interviewed at length about Tim

Aug 11, 1998
Masters's home searched again, "purse" is found (camera bag.)
Broderick and Reed return to Colorado

Aug 12, 1998
FCPD search property in Loma, Colorado, where the old trailer home is stored, and Tim rarely visits.

Aug 15, 1998
Invoice from Meloy for 1 hour 15 minutes worth of review and analysis of something, and ¾ hour phone conference on same date

Aug 17, 1998
Police technician Hurst (aka Shanahan) to Loma

Aug 20, 1998
Tim Masters is charged

Aug 25, 1998
Det. Reed inventories the Ridgecrest videotapes.

Aug 27 1998
Abrahamson, Van Meveren file to have Masters tried as an adult

Sept 16, 1998
Preliminary hearing, Broderick testifies

Nov 3, 1998
Erik Fischer reviews evidence from an envelope. Later in the 2007 hearings, the contents and chain of custody of this envelope turn out to be a major point of contention.

Nov 9, 1998
Photos in the evidence envelope returned to FCPD by the FBI lab – so they would not have been included in what Fischer reviewed six days earlier, and weren’t turned over in discovery.

Dec 5, 1998
Meloy sent remaining extractions to Broderick Meloy submits another report

1999

Jan 4, 1999 Judge Dressel rules on some defense motions

January 28 – 8 hours at $300 per hour – prepping Dr. Meloy for motions hearing.

Early in this year
“Suspects in Hettrick homicide” aka "List of 94” created by Officer Marsha Reed, building on list originally compiled by Linda Wheeler-Holloway.

Jan 29, 1999
Dr. Reid Meloy testifies in pretrial motions hearing.

Feb 4, 1999
Meloy sends what was characterized by Wymore as the "hopes and dreams" letter to Stu VanMeveren, Larimer County DA, expressing hope that his work "will result in a successful prosecution" and touting Blair and Gilmore as "superb professionals."

Feb 12, 1999
Re: the evidence envelope (see Nov. 3, 1998) today’s date is the first date on the log. It’s the same day Broderick jotted in his notebook in red that one photo, "#105 is messed up, tread pattern looks like Thom McAn shoe"

March 18, 1999
Tim Masters’s murder trial begins Case # 98CR1149

March 26, 1999
Tim Masters convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, after jury deliberation of ten hours over two days.

1999 ?
Somewhere in this time frame, the Cold Case Files TV show is made.

Nov 8, 1999
Opening Brief of Defendant-Appellant to Court of Appeals. Attorney Erik Fischer

2000

March 27, 2000
Linda Wheeler-Holloway brings a polygrapher to the Buena Vista correctional facility. The result indicates deception. This changes her whole outlook on the science of polygraphy.

Apr 13, 2000
Attorney Erik Fischer in Fort Collins Coloradoan calls the conviction "character assassination as proof of a crime" and says Tim Masters should get a new trial

Oct 17, 2000
Oral arguments before Colorado Court of Appeals

2001

Feb 15
Appeals Court confirms the conviction. Petition for Writ of Certiorari granted

August 2001
Jolene Blair becomes District Court Judge for 8th Judicial District

2002

Jun 10, 2002
Heard by the Colorado Supreme Court. 99CA896
For the petitioner: Nathan D. Chambers

Jul 12, 2002
Publication on Moving Target blog – "Use a Pencil, Go to Jail, part 1"

Aug 3, 2002
Publication on Moving Target blog – "Use a Pencil, Go to Jail part 2"

Oct 15 16, 2002
Judgment affirmed by Colorado Supreme Court (with three justices dissenting)

Dec 16, 2002
Petition for rehearing denied (although the same 3 Justices would grant it ).

2003

May 1 or possibly 5th, 2003
Tim Masters files 35c Motion for Relief because of ineffective counsel

May 14, 2003
Maria Liu appointed to serve as Tim Masters’s post-conviction attorney

Nov 2003
Linda Wheeler-Holloway retires from Colorado Bureau of Investigation, goes to work in private sector

2004

Apr 5, 2004
The “angel”s first letter to Tim

Nov 2004
"Free Tim Masters" website holds about 1500 pages, mostly trial transcript. Tim Masters Defense fund is set up.

Nov 12, 2004
Defense attorneys try to get the District Attorney to agree to DNA testing.

2005

Jun 17, 2005
Motion is filed to recuse District Court Judges Jolene Blair and Terence Gilmore.

June 30, 2005
David Wymore joins the defense team

Jul 25, 2005
Tim Masters in Larimer County Court with about 20 friends, relatives and supporters. His motion was to recuse District Court Judges Jolene Blair and Terence Gilmore as well as Judge Daniel Kaup, who had worked in the DA’s office at the time of the investigation. Recusal was granted, clearing the way for his 35c Ineffective Counsel Motion to be heard. Defense attorneys are contacted by major media.
Appointment of visiting judge Joseph Weatherby

Jul 26, 2005
"Former Cop Favors New Trial" in Rocky Mountain News report re: Tim Masters, about Linda Wheeler-Holloway

Oct 2005
Linda Wheeler-Holloway visits the Netherlands and learns about new DNA harvesting technique

Nov 2, 2005                   Post-conviction hearing with Judge Weatherby. David Wymore and Maria Liu appear for Tim. Issues are costs and access to evidence.

Some time in 2005
15 fingerprints from inside Peggy Hettrick’s purse are removed from the FBI lab files and never returned.

2006

April 2006
Attorney David Wymore catalogs all evidence. His list doesn’t include the evidence envelope (see Nov. 3, 1998)

Oct 20, 2006
Post-conviction hearing. Issues are access to evidence, DNA testing.

Nov 6, 2006
Post-conviction hearing. Richard Eikelenboom describes his credentials and methods. Judge Weatherby approves testing in the Netherlands of the clothing, and specifies that there should be a written protocol before either side does any testing.

Nov 17, 2006
Broderick is subpoenaed for any profile in any form, and any communications with the FBI, Hazelwood, Behavioral Sciences Unit

Nov 2006
Thanksgiving week Larimer County DA's office and FCPD remove Peggy’s clothing put into evidence during the 1999 trial and take it (without any protocol) to the CBI laboratory. Armed with the knowledge of which segments of fabric the defense wants to lift epithelial cells from, they swab half those areas with their old-fashioned and potentially destructive method.

Nov 27, 2006
Post-conviction hearing. David Wymore denounces the "Oklahoma Land Grab," the removal of the clothing evidence for testing before a protocol had been established. Other issues are the missing 11 fingerprints, and insistence on resolution of the question of whether an FBI profile ever existed.

2007

Jan 21, 2007
Barie Goetz takes evidence to Netherlands

Feb 13, 2007
Court orders Roy Hazelwood to answer questions sent to him and identify materials he was sent and conveyed on to Meloy. No answer.

Mar 20, 2007
Post-conviction hearing where more details are exposed of how the "Oklahoma Land Grab" was engineered; and the woman who found Dr. Hammond's camera describes that occasion; and former Fort Collins police officer Dave Mickelson tells how he never believed Masters was the killer, and his efforts to convince others.

Mar 21, 2007
Post-conviction hearing. Former Fort Collins police officer Troy Krenning testifies that he never believed Masters was the killer, and that he was very vocal about his objections.

Apr 18 2007
Riedel and Lammons of DA’s office file "MOTION TO APPOINTING A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR AND VACATE HEARING" which denies wrongdoing on their part.

Apr 20, 2007
The prosecution quits the case recusing themselves because of a conflict
Judge Weatherby signs order appointing Special Prosecutor Don Quick

April 21 2007
District Attorney's Office for the 8th Judicial District hands over Masters case to prosecutors from Adams County.

May 7, 2007
Special Prosecutor needs more time to review the case

July 31, 2007
Don Quick, Special Prosecutor, sends letter asking for "reports, photos, documents, etc." in other words all discoverable material, to Chief Harrison of FCPD, Sheriff Jim Alderden, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, DA Larry Abrahamson of the 8th Judicial District, and DA Ken Buck of the 19th Judicial District.

August 9 2007
Asst. Chief Investigator interviews Terry Gilmore on behalf of the Special Prosecutor

August ??? 2007
Asst. Chief Investigator interviews Jolene Blair on behalf of the Special Prosecutor

August 23, 2007
Post-conviction hearing. Former Fort Collins police office Tony Sanchez testifies.

Aug 31, 2007
Greg Campbell interviews Tim Masters at Larimer County Detention Center.

Sept 24, 2007
Post-conviction hearing. Tony Sanchez testifies about what was found at Dr. Richard Hammond's house.

Sept 25, 2007
Post-conviction hearing, Nathan Chambers testifies.

Sept 26, 2007
Post-conviction hearing, Nathan Chambers testifies.

Sept 27, 2007
Post-conviction hearing, Nathan Chambers testifies.

Sept 27, 2007
Interview with retired FCPD officer Marsha Reed where she states she prepared a report on her interview with Dr. Tsoi (See Dec. 31, 1997)

Oct 4, 2007
Defense learns of Officer Tony Sanchez’s "Look into Hettrick" note. Marsha Reed says Tony Sanchez told her that Hammond was a suspect in Hettrick murder

Early Oct, 2007
The "angel" of the case dies.

Oct 15, 2007
Defense team gets most but not all of the "McClellan Binders."

Nov 6, 2007
revelations about surveillance, sting operation, planted news story

Nov 8, 2007
Post-conviction hearing, testimony from defense attorney Erik Fischer and former FCPD officer Jack Taylor

Nov 9, 2007
Post-conviction hearing, testimony from former FCPD officers Jack Taylor and Ray Martinez

Nov 16, 2007
Broderick’s notebooks of working notes turned over to special prosecutors

Nov 21, 2007
Informal discovery viewing of what prosecutors have. Half a day spent trying to understand the origin of the "Kohout memo"

Dec 1, 2007
Defense files motion asking court to order Broderick, Neimann, and several other police dept. personnel to answer questions about the discovery process, regarding the items held by the Records Dept.

Dec 3, 2007
Post-conviction hearing, testimony by defense attorney Erik Fischer. Broderick's notebooks given by Quick to the defense. Broderick’s notebooks transferred from Special Prosecutors to defense team

Dec 4, 2007
Post-conviction hearing, testimony by defense attorney Erik Fischer
Dec 6, 2007
Colorado Bureau of Investigation report submitted to Special Prosecutors. Findings: Three partial DNA profiles from Peggy’s clothing, none consistent with Tim Masters.

Dec 7, 2007
Post-conviction hearing. Revealed: Hazelwood disagreed with large parts of Meloy/Broderick theory. Testimony by defense attorney Erik Fischer: "I am so pissed off." Also revealed: some documents may have been destroyed when changing computer records system.
Dec 11, 2007
CBI report turned over to defense team

Dec 16, 2007
Eikelenbooms report that the DNA on Peggy's underpants is a complete match to Matt Zoellner.

Dec 18, 2007
Post-conviction defense team files a Motion for Special Prosecutor to Investigate Possible Criminal Activity by the Fort Collins Police Department and a Motion for Special Prosecutor to Investigate Perjury at the Trial of Tim Masters by Fort Collins Police Lt. James Broderick

Dec 20, 2007
Post-conviction hearing, testimony by defense attorney Erik Fischer

2008

Jan 4, 2008
Larry Abrahamson files motion for Order Appointing Special Prosecutor, granted the same day

Jan 15, 2008
Defense shares its DNA test results with Special Prosecutor

Jan 18, 2008
CBI confirms that DNA is consistent with alternate suspect "the boyfriend", and inconsistent with Tim Masters.
Friday afternoon press conference announces that the conviction of Tim Masters will be vacated and he will be released.
Broderick is out of state on family medical matter

Jan 22, 2008
Happy Freeday, Tim Masters!
Special Prosecutors file Motion to Vacate Judgment of Conviction and Sentence for Tim Masters.

Jan 25, 2008
All charges against Tim Masters dismissed by DA Larry Abrahamson

Jan 29, 2008: Colorado Attorney General John Suthers launches a fresh investigation of Peggy Hettrick's murder.

Feb 15 2008
Adams County District Attorney Don Quick files Special Prosecutor’s Report

The Hartman Report on the District Attorney's Report

by Pat Hartman

The official document:

District Attorney Kenneth T. Buck's letter to Chief Judge James H. Hiatt

The reaction:

In January of 2008, after the conviction of Tim Masters for the murder of Peggy Hettrick had been vacated, District Attorney Ken Buck of Weld County was assigned as special prosecutor to determine if any criminal laws were violated by Lt. James Broderick of the Fort Collins Police Department. A mere six months later, to the utter astonishment of absolutely no-one, Buck’s report concludes that Broderick won’t have any criminal charges filed against him. Which is not quite the same as not doing anything wrong. On July 8, 2008, DA Buck’s report was released in the form of an 11-page letter, and on the 9th he held a press conference to further elucidate.

Buck notes that his mandate was limited to finding out if Broderick broke any laws, and uses the word again to say, “During my limited investigation several flaws were uncovered….” One might almost think he’s implying that, if he’d been able to investigate more fully, and not been limited, his findings might have been more substantial. But that’s probably wishful thinking on my part.

The Not Fully Informative Timeline

The letter/report includes an abbreviated timeline of the case. Of course, not every little detail of the excruciatingly long history of the case could be included here, but there are a few things it would have been useful to remind us of. For instance, the timeline notes that on February 12, 1987, the day after Peggy Hettrick’s body was found, Tim Masters was interviewed for 6 hours. This was also the day when a conversation between Tim and his father Clyde Masters was recorded, and also the day Tim was given a lie-detector test with inconclusive results, though that isn’t mentioned here.

It also doesn’t mention how, on the very next day, Broderick tells the FBI all about his favorite suspect, Tim Masters. Unfortunately, the Fort Collins Police Department doesn’t have a damn thing on the kid in the way of physical evidence, eyewitness testimony, confession, or any other thing that would make an arrest stick. Supposedly, the 15-year-old boy is so clever and sly, he’s managed to totally outwit the FCPD, despite the fact that they’ve been working on the case for two entire days.

The FBI advises patience: and here, two days after Peggy Hettrick’s murder, the anniversary surveillance is born. This is not a guess, it’s according to testimony in the recent hearings. In this and subsequent conversations with the FBI, Broderick is instructed in how to set up, conduct, and interpret any results of this fantastic, costly, and counterproductive plan. Already, instead of trying to catch the murderer immediately, he is focused on how to catch Tim Masters a year in the future. This alone should be enough to send Broderick to prison. That’s as far as we’ll go right now with the conspiracy theory. It’s a whole separate, and huge, topic.

But wait – it gets better. Broderick asks the FBI to do a profile. Here’s the problem. With them, the whole concept of making a “profile” centers around the fact that there is no suspect. They start with a blank slate, and just make it up as they go along, predicting what kind of person will turn out to have done the crime. Well, Broderick has already provided to them all of the particulars of Tim Masters, which shows a baffling ignorance of FBI procedure, to say the least. And there’s nothing at all in Buck’s report about how, years later, when Tim was finally arrested, the warrant was partially based on the profile that never existed.

The timeline skips ahead to June 15, 1987 when Broderick, having been promoted, was reassigned to patrol and presumably, was off the Masters case. Then, it says in late 1987 the FCPD received suggestions for the anniversary surveillance. This is very oversimplified, as we’ve just seen, because the anniversary surveillance plan had actually been around since Day 3 of the investigation.

And of course in the meantime there had been the whole Donald Long saga. Long was and still is a viable suspect for the Peggy Hettrick murder, but that’s a whole separate subject also, and one not mentioned in the DA’s report.

Buck’s timeline mentions the February 11, 1988 anniversary surveillance, also in an oversimplified fashion, since that surveillance actually lasted a week and covered several locations. The report also neglects to mention that the “surveillance” included a deliberate psychological warfare-type provocation, designed to mess with the head of this teenager by capitalizing on the fact that it was also the anniversary of his mother’s death. Yes, they planted a copy of her obituary where Tim would find it. Also, the report makes no mention of a news story fabricated by the police and foisted on an unsuspecting journalism intern. It also neglects to mention a police document written on February 8, 1988, stating that if the anniversary surveillance had no result, they would close the books on this case. But they didn’t. Some obsessed mind or minds were intent on nailing Tim Masters with this one.

The Changing of the Guard

One of DA Buck’s conclusions is that the multiple errors in the Masters case were compounded by multiple changes in case leadership. Let’s take a look at this. It started out with Sheri Wagner and Jack Taylor as co-lead investigators, which they presumably still were through June of 1991 when Linda Wheeler-Holloway took over. That wasn’t such an abrupt departure. Wheeler-Holloway had been the first officer on the scene at Peggy Hettrick’s murder site, and then was assigned to deal with the victim’s family. She knew all about the case. After the 1992 Philadelphia excursion, during which Wheeler-Holloway refused to arrest Masters because he was the wrong man, the Hettrick murder went to cold case status in 1993.

In 1995 and ‘96, Officer Marsha Reed got busy pulling together elements of the Masters case, but there doesn’t seem to be any mention of her, ever, as lead. She apparently forgot to file a report from a doctor, that would have been exculpatory for Tim, but that was just as one of the officers on the case, and Buck doesn’t mention her part in it at all. After that, the next lead investigator was Jim Broderick, who was also familiar with the case from the beginning, and indeed knew more than too much about it, since he invented most of it.

This doesn’t really add up to a whole lot of leadership change, when you consider the many years the case stretched over. The various leaders were all familiar with the case. In fact, nobody in the entire FCPD was unfamiliar with it, and certainly, none of the lead investigators came into it a virgin. Besides, there was plenty of continuity in the leadership. At any rate, it should not matter if there had been even more changes in leadership. That’s what records and briefings are for. In a hospital, a patient’s chart is a detailed record of everything that happens, readable by each subsequent nurse who cares for the patient. When new nurses come on duty, a verbal report is given by the off-going shift to the oncoming shift. Would it be acceptable for a hospital to claim that nursing changes of shift were responsible for a patient’s death? Geez, let’s hope not.

More weird stuff

So in July of 1992, an arrest warrant was obtained. This report doesn’t mention that the warrant was based on a story from an informant about how Tim supposedly had special knowledge about the crime that, actually, everybody in town knew. Anyhow, Linda Wheeler-Holloway had the good sense not to arrest him at that time.

Then, in 1995, the Richard Hammond mess happened. He was the eye doctor who should have been the prime suspect in the Peggy Hettrick murder. Broderick was instrumental in destroying the massive amount of evidence gathered on Hammond, and Reed granted immunity to Hammond’s wife, who in some circles is considered a pretty good accomplice suspect.

On April 20, 2007, Buck’s timeline says, “The 17th Judicial District Attorney was appointed by the court as special prosecutor.” This, as we will recall, happened because the prosecution had to recuse itself on account of a conflict of interest – only one of the messy details in this entirely SNAFU’d case.

The allegations against Broderick

One of the most shameful things about this is that there were only three allegations against Broderick which DA Buck’s office was tasked with investigating. And, for symmetry, there are three things that office had to decide: Was a crime committed? Did the suspect (in this case, Broderick) commit the crime, if indeed there was one? And – here’s the most important part – is there a “reasonable likelihood of conviction at trial.”?

At his press conference after the 11-page letter was issued, Buck was asked if the standard is different with civilians and police. Buck says, yes, it is. “Our standard,” he said, is “reasonable probability of conviction.” Which isn’t quite the same as answering the question. Doesn’t that hold true with any prosecutor, in deciding whether to bring charges against anyone, civilian or police? Because if they know they can’t get a conviction, it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money and everybody’s time, to charge the person.

The tape and transcript

So, the first allegation is that Broderick recorded the conversation between Tim and his father, the day after Peggy Hettrick’s murder, in violation of the anti-eavesdropping rules. Well, the first thing Buck points out is that the statute of limitations runs out in three years, so in order to stick, a charge would need to have been made before February 1990. So, obviously, there would be no probability of conviction. When it’s a citizen, they call this “getting off on a technicality,” and it’s quite lame. For cops, there shouldn’t even be a statute of limitations. They have so much latitude and so much power, and get away with so much, there ought to be a counterbalance – like, for instance, a requirement to adhere to higher ethical standards than your average mug on the street. Yes, it’s only wishful thinking.

But Buck goes on to say he doesn’t believe that Broderick, personally, engaged in eavesdropping, as defined by law. Because, supposedly, Broderick wasn’t involved in the decision to record the supposedly private conversation between father and son, and didn’t know whether Clyde Masters verbally consented or not. He says he had nothing to do with it, except that his own interrogation of Masters was pre-empted to accommodate the father-son talk.

This recording is problematic for several reasons, the foremost being consent. In 1996, Clyde Masters died, removing from the equation not only Tim’s sole alibi witness, but the only one who could say whether verbal permission was given to record his conversation with his son in the police station back in 1987. Co-lead investigator Wagner says Sgt. Martinez informed Clyde Masters that the conversation would be recorded. Sgt. Martinez says not. It’s a classic he-said-she-said standoff. And, as Buck tells us, there is no written record that Clyde Masters consented on behalf of himself or his son. The DA gives the police a bit of a scolding for this.

Another problem, and here’s where it gets real complicated, is that when Tim went on trial, the father/son portion of the immediate post-murder questioning was left out of the transcript provided to Tim’s defense attorneys. Apparently, they either were given a copy of the tape, or were told they could have a copy if they wanted it. FCPD was betting that the original defense lawyers would not listen to the tape, even if it were possible for them to do so. If the lawyers were doing their job right, they should have listened to it, if indeed it was turned over to them or made available upon request.

On the other hand, ought we to blame the lawyers, who are officers of the court, for trusting the honesty of government officials? Shouldn’t defense attorneys be naturally entitled to assume that the transcript of an interview turned over by the police, will be accurate and complete, and match up with the tape? I mean, shouldn’t they?

Buck says, “…Defense Counsel received notice of the recorded conversation, and Lt. Broderick has a plausible explanation for creating a second transcript.” This seems to mean that a complete transcript already existed, and Broderick himself generated a second, censored and redacted version of the transcript – one that omitted the father/son conversation. And what, pray tell, was his plausible explanation for doing that? It’s not here. Unless this is supposed to be it:

According to Buck’s report, Broderick was listening to the tape and reading along in the transcript, and when he heard the father/son segment, had doubts as to whether it had been recorded with permission. So he called prosecutor Terry Gilmore. “After that conversation Lt. Broderick believed that any information that was of questionable admissibility should not be included….” See what he’s saying? He knew this would be inadmissible because it was obtained illegally – the fruit of the poison tree – and thus the inclusion of that part of the tape in the written transcript would threaten the whole case! Not being a lawyer, I don’t know if it would have been cause to declare a mistrial, or exactly how it would have happened; whether the worst thing would be that it was exculpatory evidence, or whether the worst thing would be that evidence was illegally obtained – either way, there’s no doubt that Broderick was aware that knowledge of this bit of information could lose his case. A bit of information which, had it been known, could have gotten his police department convicted of eavesdropping, if not for that tricky little statute of limitations. If that’s not concealing evidence, I don’t know what is. “This evidence may have been relevant at trial…” Buck says. Yes, it most certainly would have been. And the question is still open – if not Broderick, what individual was responsible for leaving it out?

Buck’s report says, “Lt. Broderick now knows that the transcript with the full conversation between Tim and Clyde Masters was not given to the defense and was stored “off site” from the police department.” Where, exactly, was “off site”? Why? Why don’t we get to know where? The report says, “A tape of Mr. Masters’ interview, including the conversation with his father, was made available to defense attorneys as part of discovery before trial.” What exactly does that mean? Does “made available” mean that the defense team could have had it, if they had known it was important to ask for it? For instance, if they had known that the tape didn’t match the interview transcript?

Okay, the upshot is, according to this report, “Lt. Broderick did not invite Clyde Masters to talk to his son and Lt. Broderick was not responsible for receiving permission to record the conversation.” But somebody did those things. Let’s go after whoever was responsible. Just because one cop had the inspiration to do it, and another one suggested how to do it, and another one invited Clyde Masters into the room and another one opened the door and another one closed the door and another one forgot to turn off the tape recorder….. Spreading out the doing of it doesn’t make it any less wrong. Somebody was responsible – but, thanks to that darn statute of limitations, it doesn’t matter anyway.

The second allegation

Okay, moving on to Allegation #2, namely that Broderick committed perjury by “misstating his involvement in the Hettrick homicide investigation.” The statute of limitations would of course apply again, but there are exceptions: the accused has to be prosecuted within three years of when the act of perjury is discovered, not committed. So, supposedly, Broderick could still be accused and convicted of this. Theoretically, he’s still vulnerable on this front, until December 17, 2010. That’s the good news.

The bad news is, it ain’t gonna happen. What Broderick said in court was that he had nothing to do with the Masters case between interviewing Tim in 1987, and being asked to assist in 1992. However - Masters’s post-conviction defense team says Broderick was involved at least three times between those dates.

First, there was a letter dated April 30, 1987, to FBI Behavioral Sciences agent Joe Kohout, and Roy Hazelwood, who was retired from the FBI. When Hazelwood was active duty FBI, Broderick had tried to involve him in the case, but he wasn’t interested. This 1987 letter seems to have been Broderick’s effort at trying once more to snag the prestigious profiler Hazelwood. Buck doesn’t mention it, but that letter wasn’t given to defense as discovery in the original trial. It was only exposed during the 2007-08 hearings, during which half a day was spent trying to figure out what the “Kohout memo” was (May 13, 1987) and what it concerned. This could have been easily known, if the April 30 letter had been on the table at the time.

But no. It was one of the documents Broderick held onto throughout most of the duration of the hearings, only giving it up at the last minute after having been issued a subpoena, and even then, not immediately. It was also not part of the paperwork forwarded to Dr. Reid Meloy, who later became Broderick’s own expert witness, or to Roy Hazelwood, who he hoped would become his expert witness. What do you do with a guy who withholds stuff not only from the other team, but from his own side as well? Anyway, the “Kohout memo” seems to have concerned officer Jack Taylor’s conversation with Kohout, who had been primed by Broderick’s letter. There seems to have been some input from Hazelwood, too, though whether it was relayed through Kohout or whether Taylor talked with him separately is not clear. At any rate, Broderick’s April 30, 1987 letter certainly negates any claim that he had nothing to do with the Masters case at that time. Being the FCPD liaison with the FBI constitutes involvement.

Second indication of Broderick’s involvement during that time period: February 4, 1988, just four days before the beginning of the week-long anniversary surveillance there’s an official note of “Broderick’s contact with Tim last week.” What was that all about? Supposedly, Broderick, on patrol, just happened to coincidentally be nearby when Clyde Masters called the police about some kind of harassment. So naturally, Broderick hurried right over. It was a total cosmic accident, had nothing to do with Broderick’s determination to nail Tim Masters.

At of the time of the hearings, less that a year ago, no paperwork documentation of this incident had been located. How do we know that some member of the police department didn’t do the harassment? Look at the other things they did in conjunction with the anniversary surveillance. They followed Tim around all week to video arcades and fast-food joints, and called up his guidance counselor at school to ask if he was acting strange. They baited Tim by leaving his mother’s obituary on his friend’s car. To make sure that Clyde and/or Tim would see their planted, lying, fraudulent newspaper story, the FCPD had been delivering the Fort Collins Coloradoan to their home even though they didn’t subscribe. Maybe that was the harassment that Clyde Masters phoned in about. Maybe he complained about some overage paperboy sneaking around, leaving newspapers that he never asked for. It would not be one bit surprising if some kind of annoyance was set up, just to give Broderick an excuse to stop by.

Third: And then there’s the traffic stop of a suspicious character that Broderick made, during the anniversary surveillance – again, just doing his job, no special connection to the whole Masters thing, of course. We don’t have the exact date on which Broderick stopped and questioned Alfredo Denogean and wrote him a ticket for some kind of traffic violation. But on May 2, after the anniversary surveillance was over and the report on it had been submitted, Officers Wagner and Taylor interviewed a Donnegan or Dunnegan – or, quite possibly, Denogean. Why did they go back to him? What was that all about? Just another of dozens of unanswered questions.

The DA’s office interviewed Lt. Hal Dean about whether Broderick had been involved in the anniversary surveillance. It says here, “Lt. Dean stated that if surveillance officers needed a suspicious person checked out, they would have called the patrol division to have a marked unit contact the person.” Of course they would! The detectives in the surveillance trailer, when this guy knocked on the trailer door, presumably to find out if it was inhabited, so he could burglarize it – the surveillance guys aren’t going to come leaping out and blow their cover. Getting a uniform to tackle the intruder is standard operating procedure. This testimony doesn’t prove anything one way or the other.

We’re losing sight of something very important here – that in Buck’s words, “The vast majority of the anniversary surveillance material was not turned over to the defense in discovery.” The negative results of the anniversary surveillance would have been exculpatory, so this was definitely incomplete discovery – but not, we are told, Broderick’s doing. Whose decision was it, then? Never mind the traffic stop – was Broderick responsible for Tim’s defense team not getting this material? Wouldn’t you like to know? I sure would. Too bad, it’s not one of the questions within the scope of this particular investigation.

Buck says “Lt. Broderick’s involvement in the Hettrick homicide investigation between 1987 and 1992 is of little consequence…” Au contraire! It shows Broderick’s continuing obsession, the vendetta, the single-minded devotion to nailing Tim Masters, that is very consequential indeed.

Third allegation

Was Broderick guilty of “testifying falsely at the Masters trial about shoe print evidence found at the Hettrick homicide scene”? There’s way more to this shoe print mess than is suggested in this document. It’s a whole separate subject. But this paragraph of Buck’s report is precious:

“The crime-scene investigators failed to document the location of each individual shoe print, and failed to create a universal marker system for the crime scene. As a result, the casting impressions and shoe print photographs could not be linked to a particular location in the crime scene.” It has been suggested that the state of technology in 1987 was responsible for the muddle with the shoeprints. This is the kind of thing that makes the onlooker want to groan “Oh, please, give me a freakin’ break.” Even Brother Cadfael, the fictitious 12th-century crime-solving monk, knew enough to take careful note of where footprints were found and in what direction they were oriented.

DA Buck does say, “In my opinion, Lt. Broderick should have known that his testimony was incomplete” in regard to the shoe prints. “He was incomplete in his testimony.” Well, there you have it. Isn’t “the whole truth” part of the oath a witness swears with his hand on the Bible? Seems like that should be enough for a perjury indictment, on its own. “Somebody else was there…that would have been important evidence…” This is the kind of statement for which the response, “No shit, Sherlock!” was coined. Understatement of the decade.

Buck goes on to say, “I do not believe that there is a reasonable likelihood of convicting Lt. Broderick of Perjury at trial.” In other words, he didn’t do anything wrong, because we don’t really have a good chance of convicting him. Wow. Is that how it works? It seems not to have worked that way in Masters’s case. Broderick knew there wasn’t a good chance of convicting Tim Masters. But rather than concluding that Masters didn’t do anything wrong, he set out to invent enough bull, in the form of the fake profile and all his amateur forensic psychology suppositions, and by buying Reid Meloy’s “professional” forensic psychology theories, to create the likelihood that Masters did the murder.

This wrapup of Broderick’s involvement is inadequate and unsatisfactory. It’s like watching an elephant be pregnant for months and then give birth to a mouse. Now there’s supposed to be an internal FCPD investigation, which has been held in abeyance until the delivery of DA Buck’s report. With this tepid whitewash as precedent, it’s not difficult to foresee the results of that investigation.