It was cold. That’s the first thing people remember about February 11, 1987, in Fort Collins. The ground in that empty field near Landings Drive was frozen solid, and the air had that sharp, biting Colorado chill that makes your lungs ache.
Woody Hodgdon was just out for a morning bike ride when he saw it. He thought it was a mannequin. A prank, maybe. People did weird things in college towns. But it wasn't plastic. It was Peggy Hettrick.
The peggy hettrick crime scene photos—most of which have never been released to the public for good reason—document a level of precision that still makes investigators shiver. Peggy hadn't just been killed; she had been surgically altered.
The Field on Landings Drive
When the first officers arrived at 7:13 AM, they found a scene that looked eerily clean. There was a deep stab wound in Peggy’s upper back, but the body itself wasn't covered in blood. Instead, a 100-foot drag trail led back to a massive pool of blood on the curb of the street.
That's where the killer struck.
A half-smoked cigarette lay in that blood pool. It was Peggy’s brand. She’d been walking home from the Prime Minister Bar after a night out, likely caught completely off guard from behind.
But what really unsettled the Fort Collins PD wasn't just the murder. It was the "mutilation." The killer had performed a partial vulvectomy and removed a nipple with what the coroner later described as "surgical precision."
This wasn't a frenzied attack. This was work.
What the Photos Actually Show
Honestly, if you're looking for the peggy hettrick crime scene photos online, you’re mostly going to find recreations and distant shots of the field. The actual evidence photos are sealed or kept in tight police files.
Why the secrecy? Because the details of the "circumcision" performed on Peggy were so specific that they became "holdback" information—details only the killer would know.
- The Drag Marks: Clear indentations in the dirt showed Peggy was dragged by her armpits.
- The Clothing: Her pants were down to her knees; her shirt was pushed up to her chin.
- The Lack of Blood: Aside from the pool at the curb, the body was remarkably "clean," suggesting the killer was careful or that the blood had already drained before the mutilation began.
The 15-Year-Old in the Window
Timothy Masters lived in a trailer right next to that field. On his way to school that morning, he saw the body. Like the cyclist, he thought it was a mannequin. He didn't report it.
That one decision ruined his life for the next 20 years.
Lead investigator Jim Broderick became obsessed with the kid. He looked out Tim’s bedroom window and realized the boy could see the body from his bed. Broderick’s theory? Tim had "positioned" Peggy so he could watch her.
They searched Tim’s room and found thousands of pages of violent drawings and stories. It was dark stuff—typical of a lonely, grieving teenager who’d lost his mother exactly four years prior—but it wasn't a confession.
There was no blood on Tim’s clothes. No DNA. Nothing.
The Surgeon Across the Street
While the police were busy trying to turn a 15-year-old’s doodles into a murder conviction, they ignored a much more logical suspect: Dr. Richard Hammond.
Hammond was an eye surgeon. He had the scalpels. He had the training.
His bedroom window also overlooked the field. On the morning Peggy was found, Hammond—who usually had surgeries scheduled—stayed home. Years later, he was caught secretly filming women’s genitalia through fake vents in his home.
When he was arrested for the filming, he committed suicide. The police then burned all his evidence. They literally destroyed boxes of his tapes and files while Tim Masters was sitting in a prison cell for a crime he didn’t commit.
The Exoneration and the "New" Evidence
Tim Masters was finally freed in 2008. Advanced DNA testing—the kind they didn't have in '87—showed that the DNA on Peggy’s clothes didn't belong to Tim.
It belonged to her ex-boyfriend, Matt Zoellner.
Does that mean Matt did it? Not necessarily. They had been together recently, and secondary transfer is a thing. But it definitely meant Tim wasn't the guy.
The case remains "unsolved," though most people in Fort Collins have their own theories. The peggy hettrick crime scene photos and the medical reports that go with them point toward someone with a specific, dark obsession and the hands of a doctor.
Actionable Insights for True Crime Followers
If you are researching the Hettrick case, you've got to look past the surface level "mutilation" headlines. Here is how to actually digest this case:
- Read the 2002 Colorado Supreme Court decision: It details the "character evidence" used against Tim Masters and shows how easily a narrative can be built out of nothing.
- Compare the timelines: Look at Dr. Richard Hammond’s arrest and subsequent suicide. The timing is almost too "convenient" for a police department that didn't want to admit they had the wrong man.
- Understand "Touch DNA": This was the first case in Colorado history where touch DNA led to an exoneration. It’s a landmark for forensic science.
The reality of the Peggy Hettrick case is that the most disturbing photos aren't of the body—they're of the thousands of drawings a teenage boy made that were used to steal a decade of his life.
Look into the work of Linda Wheeler-Holloway, the detective who actually fought to prove Tim’s innocence when everyone else wanted him guilty. She’s the real hero in this mess.
The field where Peggy was found is gone now. It’s been developed. Houses stand where the drag marks used to be. But for those who remember 1987, the shadow of what happened that morning hasn't moved an inch.
To learn more about the legal aftermath, you can research the $10 million settlement Tim Masters received from the city and county—one of the largest in state history. It remains a stark reminder of what happens when "tunnel vision" replaces actual investigation.