TOPEKA, Kansas. – The Kansas Prisoner Review Board rescinded its previous decision to grant parole to Jimmie Nelms. Nelms, 78, was sentenced to consecutive life terms plus nine years in 1979 for the crimes of unlawful possession of a firearm, aggravated kidnapping, and murder in the first degree of Kansas Highway Patrolman Trooper Conroy O’Brien.
Nelms has been eligible for parole since 1993 and has appeared before the board nine times, having been initially granted parole after his hearing in March of this year.
In March of this year, the Prisoner Review Board had agreed that Nelms met the criteria for release, and was going to be released to out-of-state family custody.
The fallout in the days following the announcement of the parole recommendation was swift. From the Superintendent of the Highway Patrol, the President of the Kansas Trooper's Association and the Kansas Attorney General prompted Governor Laura Kelly to ask the Kansas Prisoner Review board to reconsider their decision.
The board, in a new hearing on May 16 with Nelms, rescinded its previous decision to grant parole and decided to deny him release at this time.
The Kansas Trooper's Association late on Monday released a statement on the new decision. In that statement the president of the trooper's association said in part, “We are grateful to the KRB for ultimately choosing justice,” said KSTA President, Technical Trooper Sage Hill. “Trooper O’Brien gave his life in the line of duty. Granting parole to the man responsible for that murder deeply undermined public trust and the sacrifices of every law enforcement officer. Today, justice was reaffirmed, and we are grateful. Tomorrow, we will begin working to make sure such a close call never happens again.”