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

Feb 23, 1998
Marsha 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, 1998
Broderick 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