KHP leader expresses disappointment after parole granted for man convicted of killing trooper in 1978

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - After nearly half a century in prison, a man convicted of shooting and killing a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper in 1978 could soon be free. A board granted parole for Jimmie Nelms, who was serving two life for first-degree murder after he shot Trooper Conroy O’Brien in the head twice, execution style, during a traffic stop.

On Thursday, 12 News heard from the KHP’s superintendent, who expressed that the department does not agree with the decision to release Nelms. Col. Erik Smith described the situation as “heartbreaking.”

“I hearing [O’Brien’s] name from a very early age,” Col. Smith said. “If you ever travel through the State of Kansas on the Kansas Turnpike near Matfield Green, you’ll see plaques and you’ll see his name.”

The KHP superintendent said O’Brien is one of 10 state troopers killed in the line of duty and memorialized on the wall of honor.

“What they represent is really the heart and soul of our motto: ‘Protection requires courage and service requires sacrifice,’” Col. Smith said.

On May 24, 1978, Trooper O’Brien pulled over a speeding vehicle on the turnpike outside of Matfield Green, about halfway between El Dorado and Emporia. While O’Brien was writing the traffic citation in his patrol car, three men in the car he’d pulled over got out and overpowered him.

“They took him at gunpoint down into the ditch and they forced him to kneel and they executed him, and then they fled,” Col. Smith said.

Nearly 47 years to the day after O’Brien died, the man who pulled the trigger has been granted parole.

“I could just feel my heart sink into my stomach a little bit because I knew the impact it would have on this agency,” Col. Smith said after hearing the news about Nelms’ parole.

While the decision has already been made, the KHP superintendent voiced the agency’s opposition to Nelms’ pending release.

“I don’t think we’re in the same place today that we were in 1978 and I recognize that that’s one of the things that judges, courts, even parole boards have to take into is, ‘what was the law?’” Col. Smith said. “I also am of the opinion that there’s no place for someone who coldheartedly executes a state trooper; (he) should never walk around among us again.”

While disappointed with the parole board’s decision in Nelms’ case, Col. Smith said troopers across Kansas will continue to serve in Trooper O’Brien’s memory. The Kansas Department of Corrections hasn’t announced when Nelms will be released.

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