HUTCHINSON, Kan. — One of the killers of an Abbyville native who died in the line of duty as a state trooper on the Kansas Turnpike is up for parole again just three years after a previous hearing.
Kelvin O'Brien will be using Zoom to dial in to the parole hearing for Jimmie Nelms. Nelms killed Trooper Conroy O'Brien on May 24, 1978. The killing happened during a traffic stop on the Kansas Turnpike near Matfield Green.
Kelvin O' Brien said back in 2021, "The one that's up for parole now was actually on parole at the time he killed my brother out of Oklahoma. Instead of just shooting him and going on down the Turnpike, they marched him out into the ditch, they taunted him, they pistolwhipped him to where his skull was fractured and then they shot him twice in the head."
The subjects were later apprehended after a shootout with other officers. One turned state's evidence and served seven years, another died in prison in 2009, and the third man, Nelms, was sentenced to serve 45 years to life.
The suspects were all wanted for a string of armed robberies at the time of the shooting.Trooper O'Brien had served with the Kansas Highway Patrol for four years. He was survived by his expectant wife.
O'Brien is asking for the public's help in letting the parole board know they don't want Nelms in the public. The hearing will be at the Abbyville Community Center at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Any received online letter is sent to the victim services in Topeka and immediately printed and forwarded to the parole board. There is also a physical address as well.
All letters have to be received by March 31 or they will not count.
Office of Victim Services
714 SW Jackson Suite 300
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