When Peggy Hettrick’s body was found in an open field in Fort Collins, Colorado, police rushed to the nearest suspect. But clues left behind on Peggy’s body later turn the case upside down, leaving justice undone and multiple victims in the wake of a sloppy investigation. In Part 2, we take a closer look at other viable suspects in Peggy's case, some who were ignored or dismissed by investigators, and others we uncovered ourselves.Join us in asking the Colorado Attorney General to reopen Peggy’s case, assign a new investigator and explore new DNA testing by following this link. Source materials for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit: crimejunkiepodcast.com/murdered-peggy-hettrick-part-2/Did you know you can listen to this episode ad-free? Join the Fan Club! Visit crimejunkie.app/library/ to view the current membership options and policies.The Crime Junkie Merch Store is NOW OPEN! Shop the exclusive Life Rule #10 Tour collection before it’s gone for good! Don’t miss your chance - visit the store now! Don’t miss out on all things Crime Junkie!Instagram: @crimejunkiepodcast | @audiochuckTwitter: @CrimeJunkiePod | @audiochuckTikTok: @crimejunkiepodcastFacebook: /CrimeJunkiePodcast | /audiochuckllcCrime Junkie is hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat. Instagram: @ashleyflowers | @britprawatTwitter: @Ash_Flowers | @britprawatTikTok: @ashleyflowerscrimejunkieFacebook: /AshleyFlowers.AF Text Ashley at 317-733-7485 to talk all things true crime, get behind the scenes updates, and more!
Chapter 1: What happened to Peggy Hettrick?
And we are here to bring you part two of Peggy Hetrick's story. This is the story we took out on tour thanks to Pluto TV and State Farm. And when we left off, Tim had just been exonerated. He won a $10 million judgment after they wrongly not only accused but convicted him. He spent 10, almost 10 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
But when he gets out, that leaves everyone wondering who really killed Peggy Hetrick. And in one of Tim's filings, one of the things his lawyer said is that there were other viable suspects. And they were not wrong based on our investigation into the case. So I want to talk about those today.
Chapter 2: Who were the potential suspects?
All right, when talking about people we should be looking at, viable potential suspects, the first that comes up is Peggy's on-again, off-again boyfriend, Matt Zollner, who was 29 in 1987. And every detective, I think, has their person, right, that they look into the most. And for Linda Wheeler, it is Matt Zollner.
Now, Ray Martinez, one of the detectives we talked about who was like first on the scene for Peggy's case last time, he said a lot of people were quick to write Matt off. Maybe because of his behavior, like he was acting how they expected. Maybe because he had an alibi. If you remember, Matt said that he had met that woman, maybe Sean.
Again, just met her, didn't even remember her name, but he was with her till last call. Then she's at his place till like 3, 3.30 in the morning. And a lot of what you'll see about Peggy's death is that she died between 1 and 3 a.m., which, yes, Matt would have an alibi. Except when we got access to a lot of the investigative files, what we realize is in the report, it's actually a wider range.
I mean, they settle on one to three, but the true range of time is between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., meaning that there's potentially an hour and a half, two hours that Matt is unaccounted for if she died in those later time frame. The other thing, which I haven't told anyone yet, been saving this up my sleeve, is that when Peggy was found, in her purse was a note that she had written to Matt.
Seemingly that very evening she died. And so Britt, I'm going to have you read the note.
But this note is in Peggy's bag, like Matt doesn't have it.
No, no, this is in her bag. And so Matt actually lived even closer to the prime minister than Peggy did. So there are like, you know, two possibilities here. Either she goes and like puts this on Matt's door and then she goes out. She ends up getting back into her place and then goes back to Matt's and collects the note because she no longer needs to show up at his place at 2 a.m.
Or she writes the note, goes out, ends up getting back into her place before she ever drops the note off. She's in. It doesn't even matter anymore. And it's like a moot point. It's like living in her purse and maybe she forgot about it. I don't know.
And did Matt see the note?
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Chapter 3: What evidence connects Matt Zollner to Peggy's case?
So they get their paperclips, whatever. And as they're like getting ready to pick this lock, what they realize is that even though it was locked, the knob wouldn't turn. When it was pulled shut, it didn't latch all the way. So all they have to do is push it open. And when they go inside, they see cameras. They see recording equipment.
They see filing cabinets and a quote, uncountable amount of videotapes. And that's when the one girl freezes and she's like, I think we need to phone a friend.
Yeah.
I think they're hoping that this isn't as bad as they think it is. But when they phone this friend and they call somebody who used to be a cop, he, quote, knows a lot about videotapes. Very 1995. But he gets here and he's like, no, this is worse. We need to call the real police. Quickly, the real police descend on this place and it's just worse than you could have imagined.
I mean, they even find this index on top one of the filing cabinets and it's like got ages, names, dates. Is it a shower shot? Is it a toilet shot? Is it a close up shot? And when I say close up, this isn't just someone sitting on the toilet. I mean, this is zoomed into their genitals. Yeah. And many of these names on the list are minors, like kids, his kids go to school with.
Well, and with the close-ups, it makes me think of like Peggy. I mean, she was, she had genital mutilation.
I know. And that's not the only like thing they're piecing together. So like, because this is happening in the same place, it's a lot of the same people who were called for Peggy's case. One of them being Sergeant Ray Martinez. And he says when he first gets this call to respond, he's like... Hammond. Like, why do I know the name Hammond? And then it hits him.
He's like, during our canvassing, we went to his house. And then all of a sudden, he's like putting the pieces together.
So I'm tying this together. Weird cameras, crime scene, near the crime scene back then. And he's a doctor. And guess what we find in his closet? We start looking through his closet, and we find Tom McCann's shoes. Boy, does that ever ring a bell. And so we called up Broderick, this other detective did, and he refused to come out. He wouldn't come to the scene.
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Chapter 4: What did the note in Peggy's purse reveal?
I'm not good at words, but it's very endearing that she did that. She put herself out there for me, and it just speaks volumes to her integrity. She's just one of those people that she'll do the right thing regardless. She does the right thing. That's a rare person in this world. I mean, a lot of people wouldn't go out on a limb like she did. They would just go with the grain.
Life would have been a lot easier for her if she had just gone with the grain and not gone against everybody else.
As for Peggy's brother, Tom, he was diagnosed two and a half years ago with stage four colon cancer, which he said is what has made him so vocal. He is one of Peggy's only remaining family members fighting for her. And now he needs us to like take up that torch and fight for her.
I said, you guys have had 30 some years to do your job. And I said, obviously at this point, you're telling me the case is closed. And I said, but the fella upstairs is going to, they're not getting by him. He already knows who it is. And he'll take care of this problem. And they just all, all their faces just turned white. And I said, he will get the final say. You've had your chance.
And I said, what's it going to take to reopen this? Because they told me it was closed. And they said, short of a full confession, nothing. I said, what? And they said, unless somebody actually comes forward and admits to it completely and fully, we can't reopen this case. And I just, I was, as far as I was concerned with that meeting, I was done.
I wanted to get out of there because for over 30 some years, I've waited around for something to take place for this. And then they take somebody and they put him in prison for nine years. And he's innocent as the driven white snow. And they ruin his life to a certain extent. And then he gets out and rightfully so. And here we are.
Here we are today, right now, doing this interview and still nothing has been done about it. And it's like everybody just wants to turn a blind eye to it and move on. What? Move on? Well... I don't have much longer to go because I have a disease. It'll take my life soon. And I want something done about it. I want the people that have the ability to do their job to get busy and do their job.
That's what they need to do. Instead of just turning a blind eye. Well, you know, it is what it is. Case closed. There have been a lot of mistakes in this case that I've learned through media, through the newspaper, from Linda, quite a bit from Linda. And I'm not happy. I'm very upset about this. So I don't have longer to go. So I want something done about it immediately.
So crime junkies, this is where you come in. Our team has spent months reporting on this case, producing this live show. We've taken it to 17 different cities with a shared goal in mind. Justice for Peggy Hetrick. So we're asking you to join us in asking the Colorado Attorney General's Office to reopen Peggy's case, assign a new investigator and explore new DNA testing.
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