Kriti Mehrotra
The murder case of Peggy Hettrick, who was found dead in a field in southern Fort Collins, Colorado, on the morning of February 11, 1987, is one that still has the entire nation baffled to the very core. The 37-year-old had been sexually tortured and stabbed, but the matter sadly remains unsolved because although there had been an arrest, trial, and conviction, there was also an exoneration. Timothy “Tim” Lee Masters had been wrongly condemned, so he spent nearly a decade in prison before his name was eventually cleared for good, as indicated in Netflix’s ‘Trainwreck: Balloon Boy.’
Tim Masters Was a Navy Veteran When He Was Arrested for Murder
When the remains of Peggy Hettrick were discovered back in early 1987, Timothy “Tim” Lee Masters was merely 15 years old and a young sophomore at Fort Collins High School. According to records, the 37-year-old had actually been discovered by a bicyclist hours after the teenager had seen her while walking to school, only to not look into it too much as he believed she was a mannequin. He thought someone had left this “mannequin” there (Peggy in actuality) as a cruel prank on him because his own mother had unfortunately passed away a few years prior, and they both had similar red hair.
Little did Tim know that his decision not to report what he’d seen would make him a person of interest after officials looked into him further and found his collection of knives. As if that’s not enough, he reportedly also had various violent drawings and writings in his possession that he’d done himself, which further aroused suspicion, considering the way Peggy was killed. The teenager tried to maintain that there was an innocent explanation behind it all, asserting he hoped to be a writer who focused on stories involving horror or gore when he grew up. However, he was still plagued by accusations of murder throughout his high school years and beyond.
There was also no physical evidence that tied Tim to Peggy’s homicide – his fingerprints were not present at the scene, and there were no traces of blood on any of his knives – so, he was released without any charges. Therefore, upon graduating from high school, he was able to enlist in the Navy to serve the nation, where he remained on active duty for a total of 8 years before being honorably discharged. He subsequently settled down back in his home state and began working as an aviation mechanic for Learjet, that is, until he was arrested for murder in 1997. He had been questioned several other times throughout the decade, but it was only in 1997 when he was formally charged following a psychologist’s analysis.
Having Been Exonerated, Tim Masters Currently Leads a Quiet Life
Tim’s arrest stemmed from his knowing that one of Peggy’s nipples had been cut off, despite it not being public knowledge, and a psychologist concluding he could be the killer based on his violent drawings. He was questioned regarding the former in 1992 itself after it came to light that he had told a friend this detail, but he asserted he had heard this from a girl in his art class. The girl herself claimed a police leak, but alas, when Dr. J. Reid Meloy made his analysis known, both aspects got combined, and the then-25-year-old was taken into custody, indicted, and detained.
It was in March 1999 when Tim was found guilty, even though not a single piece of physical evidence tied him to the matter, following which he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He actually spent nearly a decade behind bars before DNA evidence from Peggy’s clothes at the crime scene positively asserted he was not responsible, resulting in his sentence being vacated in January 2008. Three years later, on June 28, 2011, the state Attorney General officially exonerated him, too, meaning he was finally a free man without any cloud of suspicion hanging over his head. Since then, Tim has won a $10 million settlement from his civil suit against the city of Fort Collins, Larimer County, and Colorado, which alleged that his civil rights had been violated throughout the ordeal.
It ultimately came to light that the prosecution had also withheld some exculpatory evidence, which they later formally admitted. Thus, now, in his early 40s, Tim appears to lead a relatively quiet life in Greenley, Colorado, where a solid support system of friends and family surrounds him. He hoped to find a job in his former field of aviation mechanics when he was released from prison, but it’s unclear whether he was able to do so or not. What we do know is that he has struggled with depression since his release, and while the settlement has enabled him to stand on his own two feet, he doesn’t think he’ll ever have a normal life. Nevertheless, he has made it clear that he is now focused on “just trying to make up for those 10 years and enjoy life as much as I can.”
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