DA 's Had Ties To Potential Suspect in Master's Case

The two former Larimer County prosecutors who sent Tim Masters to prison for the 1987 murder of Peggy Hettrick had social or business ties with another potential suspect - a prominent eye surgeon who was discovered to be a sexual predator yet was never investigated in the murder by Fort Collins authorities, according to Masters' lead counsel.

Relationships between the district attorney's team - Terry Gilmore and Jolene Blair - and Dr. Richard Hammond surfaced during recent discovery interviews, said David Wymore, attorney for Masters' legal team, which is pressing for his exoneration.

Hammond committed suicide in 1995 after police brought sex- exploitation charges against him for years of secretly videotaping the

genitalia and breasts of women who used his guest bathroom at parties and while visiting.

The Larimer County district attorney's office had declared a conflict in that case, and the Weld County DA's office was brought in to prosecute Hammond before his death. The nature of the conflict was not made public at the time.

"I'm alarmed that there appears to be close relationships between the ex-prosecutors and the best suspect in this case," Wymore said Monday. "There are social, business and religious relationships I'm just now learning about, relationships that were never disclosed.