FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) ” Tim Masters no longer has a burning desire to put Fort Collins squarely in his rear-view mirror.

Masters, who on Jan. 22 was released from a life prison sentence after serving almost nine years for murder, had initially planned to leave the city as soon as he could.

Too many bad memories, he said the day before his release.

Fort Collins police pursued Masters as a suspect in the 1987 stabbing death of Peggy Hettrick ” he was 15 when she was killed ” through high school and the Navy and eventually arrested him in 1998. He was convicted by a jury in 1999 but saw his conviction overturned earlier this month by a judge who agreed DNA evidence pointed to another suspect.

Now, Masters is a free man, although a cloud of suspicion follows him around. Larimer County District Attorney Larry Abrahamson pointedly declined to exonerate Masters when he dropped the murder charge against him.

“I was pessimistic the whole time until the door hit my a- (behind) on the way out,” Masters said Friday in an interview at the Greeley offices of his lawyer.

The state Appeals and Supreme courts upheld Masters’ original conviction, but their reviews were limited strictly to the information presented at the 1999 trial. Masters’ new defense team has uncovered police reports, expert opinions and footprint photographs that appear to show Masters had no connection to Hettrick’s death.

Early this month, special prosecutors appointed to review Masters’ conviction agreed that DNA evidence found on Hettrick’s clothing pointed to another suspect, a man who in 1987 told police he had no recent physical contact with her.

In response to the DNA evidence, a judge freed Masters, overturning his sentence and vacating his conviction.

And since then, Masters, who grew up in Fort Collins, has been reconnecting with family, shopping for clothes and generally trying to come to grips with what happened. Strangers have sent him gift cards and presents, including a digital camera, cell phones, MP3 music player, DVDs and even movie tickets.

It’s made him reconsider whether he wants to leave the city.

“Everybody has been so nice,” Masters said. “Well, except the people who did this to me.”

Masters’ case has spawned three independent investigations: one into Hettrick’s death and two into the police and prosecutors who presented the case to the jury. Masters’ original defense team testified under oath that information that should have been given to them during the trial was never turned over in violation of court rules.

Because Masters’ release was based only on the DNA evidence, much of the other material uncovered by his new defense team was never ruled on by a judge. And that’s evidence Masters and his lawyers say prove he didn’t kill Hettrick.

“They’ve left a cloud of suspicion hanging over me,” he said. “That’s been pretty frustrating. The community has been supportive as hell. It’s the people in power who won’t step to the plate.”

Masters’ lawyers later this month will likely seek to have his record sealed and expunged, meaning it won’t show up on background checks. But he’ll still have to explain to prospective employers why he’s missing nine years from his employment history.

An aircraft mechanic in the Navy, Masters said he’s hoping to get a job doing similar work in Colorado after visiting his sister in California and some relatives back East. Masters has an extensive local family that has been putting him up, feeding him and helping him get back on his now-unshackled feet.

“I’ve got to get a place of my own,” he said. “I can’t keep living off my family. People have been so nice. I appreciate that.”