DENVER—A newly appointed prosecutor says he will re-examine evidence that led to a 1999 slaying conviction amid claims the original prosecutors altered or destroyed some material.
Attorneys for Tim Masters, convicted of first-degree murder in the 1987 slaying of Peggy Hettrick in Fort Collins, have alleged Larimer County prosecutors mishandled skin-cell DNA found on Hettrick’s clothing.
The Larimer prosecutors denied improper conduct.
Adams County District Attorney Don Quick was assigned to the case two months ago after Masters’ attorneys raised the allegations.
The case against Masters included violent pictures he had drawn and the fact that he lived 100 feet from where Hettrick’s body was found.
Quick said Tuesday he would also look into a possible suspect who wasn’t investigated by police at the time.
Quick’s statement Tuesday was the first time a prosecutor has acknowledged that there could be another explanation for Hettrick’s slaying. His comments came two days after The Denver Post reported on Masters’ attorneys’ efforts to prove his innocence.
Defense attorneys said an analysis they commissioned found there was no DNA from Masters on Hettrick’s clothing, but there were signs of DNA from another, as yet unidentified man.
Another lab hired by the defense concluded that knives owned by Masters are not consistent with Hettrick’s wounds.
Masters’ lawyers also said they learned a sexual predator who has since died lived in the neighborhood where Hettrick was found.
Quick declined to comment on the attorneys; analysis but said he plans to meet with them soon.
“I have to be cautious as I move forward to do a thorough process,” Quick said.
