Nearly 50 years ago, Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Conroy O’Brien was shot to death near the Matfield Green service exit as part of a traffic stop. One of the people accused and later convicted in his killing has now been approved for parole.
Jimmie Nelms, now 78, had his last parole hearing in March and was approved by the Kansas Prisoner Review Board. In a statement, Department of Corrections Executive Director of Public Affairs Jennifer King says the Review Board “believes that Mr. Nelms is able and willing to fulfill the obligations of a law-abiding citizen and is of the opinion that there is reasonable probability that Mr. Nelms can be released without detriment to the community or to himself.”
Highway Patrol Superintendent Colonel Erik Smith says O’Brien stopped a speeding vehicle on May 24, 1978, and was writing a traffic citation in his vehicle when Nelms and two others approached O’Brien’s vehicle and overpowered him. Smith says Nelms pistol-whipped O’Brien and then shot O’Brien twice in the back of the head with O’Brien’s own service revolver. A jury later convicted Nelms of premeditated felony murder, aggravated kidnapping and unlawful possession of a firearm. He received two life sentences in prison for murder and additional time for the firearm.
A co-defendant, Walter Myrick, was also convicted in the murder. He died in prison in 2009.
The decision was met with sharp criticism and outright condemnation from Smith and from the Kansas State Troopers’ Association. For Smith, “there is no conceivable world in which the release a convicted cop killer – an executioner – is acceptable. Yet the legal framework allowing parole existed at the time and has now come full circle. So, while we may vehemently disagree with the Board’s decision, we must live with it by continuing to support his surviving family and his blue family. And we must continue to serve with professionalism and dignity.”
The Troopers Association says the Prisoner Review Board’s decision “unfathomably…betrayed Conroy’s family and friends, his community and anyone who ever has or ever will wear the badge of a Kansas State Trooper.” The news release also directly calls out Prisoner Review Board members Mark Keating, Jeannie Wark and CJ Perez, saying “we will never forget your disgraceful and disgusting actions…despite what your self-aggrandizing online profiles say, public servants you are not.”
