FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- For years, he worked to solve the Peggy Hettrick slaying case.

Now, Lt. Jim Broderick is accused of fabricating evidence.

Broderick walked, with crutches, into a Larimer County courtroom Friday where he acknowledged receipt of the indictment against him and was read his rights.

Broderick was the lead investigator on the Hettrick case.

Peggy Hettrick’s body was found stabbed to death in a Fort Collins field in 1987.

Timothy Masters, who was 15 at the time, was considered a suspect soon after the killing, but wasn’t arrested and tried until 1999.

The then teenager admitted to stumbling upon the body and not saying a word to anyone.

Although there was no direct evidence linking Masters to the crime, Broderick testified that the young man fit the FBI’s profile of Hettrick’s killer.

Masters was convicted and spent 10 years behind bars.

His conviction was overturned, in 2008, after new DNA evidence surfaced indicating that someone else killed Hettrick.

Masters then filed a lawsuit against the city of Fort Collins and Larimer County.

The suit was settled for $10 million.

Last month, a grand jury indicted Broderick on 8 counts of perjury, alleging that he fabricated the FBI profile.

The officer and his attorneys declined comment following his Friday court appearance.

Masters did not attend the hearing, but several relatives did.

His uncle, John Masters, called the officer “a piece of slime.”

“He did as much damage to (the Fort Collins Police Department) as he did to us,” John Masters said.

“The man completely subverted the entire criminal justice process and ruined Tim Masters’ life,” said David Lane, Master’s attorney. “He needs to pay for that.”

Masters’ aunt, Colleen Masters, said she’d like to see Broderick spend a lot of time behind bars.

“Like they wanted Tim to do, life without parole,” Colleen Masters said.

But Lane said that might be excessive.

“I do not believe that justice and vengeance are one and the same. But I do believe that vengeance is a part of justice,” Lane said. “And for the damage that Broderick caused, some jail time is appropriate.”

Lane also said that he believes two sitting judges should be indicted.

Both Judge Terence Gilmore and Judge Jolene Blair were prosecutors working on the Masters case.

“I hope the voters of Larimer County give justice to Gilmore and Blair,” Lane told 7NEWS. “They should be indicted right along with Broderick, as far as I’m concerned. They should not be judges. They should not be attorneys. They should be taken off the bench.”

Members of Judicial Justice agree.

Several rallied in front of the Larimer County Justice Center during Broderick’s hearing.

One of them, Carol Davy, said that what happened to Tim Masters was a travesty of justice. She says there are other victims.

“We are hoping that we can get these two judges off the bench. It’s the right thing to do,” she said.

“They should step down of their own volition, for integrity,” Davy added. “But that’s not going to happen, so we’re going to do our best to try to force that to happen.”

Broderick is also under internal investigation by the Fort Collins police department.

He is due back in court Sept. 28.