With less than one week from the city of Fort Collins' municipal elections, the mayoral race is heating up.
This comes after registered voters in Fort Collins received a campaign flyer in the mail stating if elected, candidate Ross Cunniff would make a public apology to Tim Masters.
Masters served 10 years in prison for the 1987 murder of Peggy Hettrick. That conviction was later overturned after DNA evidence did not link Masters to the murder.
"It's the right thing for the city do to offer this apology and then takes steps to make sure it doesn't happen to anybody else," Cunniff said.
Community activist and mayoral candidate Eric Sutherland says there is much more than apology needed.
"The problem is not that nobody has dispensed the proper apology to Mr. Masters. The problem is is that we have a city hall that has defended police work that has sent an innocent man to prison," Sutherland said.
Sutherland claims that Cunniff has never spoke to Masters and therefore is using his name to gain votes. Cunniff admits to never having a conversation with Masters, but says his intentions are to give Fort Collins residents closure.
Candidate Karen Weitkunat says the city, it's residents, and Masters have already received closure after both parties agreed to a settlement.
She says residents are ready to focus on bigger issues like the local economy and taxes.
