U.S. & World

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS) ― A judge in Fort Collins ordered Timothy Masters free on a personal recognizance bond Tuesday morning after setting aside his 1999 murder conviction and vacating his life sentence.

After the hearing was over, the crowd gathered in the packed courtroom clapped and cheered. Masters attorneys quickly moved to another room and held a news conference, thanking all those who helped with the post-trial investigation.

Masters was due back in court on Feb. 5 when prosecutors would decide whether to pursue a new trial or drop all charges.

Masters was convicted in 1999 for killing Peggy Hettrick, 37, when he was a 15-year-old teenager living in Fort Collins. Although the murder happened in 1987, Masters wasn't arrested until about a decade later.

The special prosecutor assigned to handle the hearings on whether Masters should get a new trial and re-investigate the case announced last Friday that new DNA evidence tested by Masters' defense team and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation points to a different suspect.

Based on that evidence, the special prosecutor asked the judge to order a new trial, erase the conviction and sentence, and free Masters. Judge Joseph Weatherby agreed.

Masters was convicted on circumstantial evidence and expert psychological testimony in 1999 about drawings he made. The original trial prosecutors said the drawings were depictions of the murder. No physical evidence ever linked him to the crime.

As a result of hearings over the past year and the special prosecutor's new investigation, authorities admitted earlier that the original prosecutors and investigators failed to turn over key evidence to Masters' defense team during the trial as required by standard court procedure.

The two prosecutors on the original case are now district court judges in Larimer County and were previously scheduled to testify this week during the hearings.

Masters' attorneys have argued that documents that could have helped his defense were not provided to his trial attorneys. The Weld County District Attorney is already investigating allegations of police misconduct in the case.

The Weld County DA is planning to hold a news conference Tuesday afternoon, although few details were expected to be released.

The Larimer County District Attorney will ultimately decide whether or not to pursue a new trial of Masters. Reports have indicated that sources inside the DA's office, legal experts and case observers all find the possibility of new charges being filed against Masters unlikely.

Larimer County District Attorney Larry Abrahamson said Monday that he will move quickly to determine whether charges against Masters should be dropped. He said he will also send a letter to all law enforcement agencies in his district asking that they review contested convictions in which defendants are still serving a sentence.

"Any case that may benefit from results of DNA testing procedures, not available at the time of the convictions, are to be reported to my office," Abrahamson said.

Masters remained "cautiously optimistic" Monday night about his expected release Tuesday morning.

"I'll believe it as soon as I walk out the door," Masters told CBS News' 48 Hours Monday night. "I've been saying that for the last few days, but when I walk out the door it will be real for me."

His defense team started the DNA testing thanks to a husband and wife team in The Netherlands that helped compare evidence left on Hettrick's clothing to Masters' DNA profile. They didn't match.

The DNA experts flew from Europe to be at Tuesday's hearing and talked to CBS4 Monday afternoon.

"For us it's emotional too," said Selma Eikelenboom-Schieveld, a forensic investigator "We never thought it would be that emotional, but it is."

Other investigators who have helped Masters' defense team also plan to be at Tuesday's hearing, including a former Fort Collins detective who actually testified for the prosecution during the original trial in 1999.

"I want this for him so bad," said Linda Wheeler-Holloway, a former Fort Collins investigator. "To finally give him back his life."

After years in prison for a murder he insists he didn't commit, Masters said he has "a little bit of excess baggage." He stopped short of saying anything specific about investigators who believed he was guilty and about prosecutors who took the case to the trial.

"You can pretty much imagine how I feel toward them," he told the Rocky Mountain News Sunday.

He's trying to focus on the future.

"I would like to at least have a good income and I don't think a year from now, a year from now is too soon, but at least in a few years, have my own house again," Masters said Monday night.

"I've had enough fame attributed to me for a crime I didn't even commit," Masters said during his jailhouse interview Monday night.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)