Almost 47 years ago, on May 24, 1978, Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Conroy O’Brien, an expectant father, was ambushed and murdered on the Turnpike near Matfield Green, northeast of El Dorado, while doing his job. One of the two men convicted of his murder died in prison. The other was granted parole on May 6. The date of his release has not been announced.
U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas) this week released the following statement on the Kansas Prisoner Review Board’s decision to grant parole to Jimmie Nelms, convicted of the 1978 murder of Trooper O’Brien.
“The Kansas Prisoner Review Board’s appalling decision to grant parole to cop killer Jimmie Nelms is a grave injustice and a slap in the face to law enforcement officers who risk their lives every day to protect Kansans. As the son of El Dorado’s former Police Chief and someone who was raised just 30 miles from where Trooper O’Brien was brutally killed, this decision hits close to home and is deeply disturbing,” said Senator Marshall. “Trooper O’Brien’s family deserves justice, not the pain of seeing his killer walk free after 46 years. Parole should never be an option for those who murder our brave men and women in blue. I urge the Kansas Prisoner Review Board to review all legal avenues to reconsider this decision to ensure this murderer remains where he belongs – behind bars for the rest of his life. True justice demands nothing less.”
The website Justia U.S. Law recounts the Supreme Court of Kansas opinion filed in 1980, upholding the convictions of Jimmie K. Nelms and Walter Myrick. This outlines the facts of the murder and the apprehension of the killers (See https://law.justia.com/cases/kansas/supreme-court/1980/50-637-1.html).
The National Fraternal Order of Police is asking the Kansas Department of Corrections to overturn Nelms’ parole. The Kansas State Troopers’ Association has started a Change.org petition titled “No Parole for Cop Killers – in honor of Trooper Conroy O’Brien.” It can be found online at https://www.change.org/p/no-parole-for-cop-killers-in-honor-of-trooper-conroy-o-brien.
Governor Laura Kelly also wants the board to reconsider the decision.
Attorney General Kris Kobach posted on X “Those who murder law enforcement officers should expect to receive the death penalty, not to be walking free on the streets of KS.”
At the time of his sentencing, the death penalty wasn’t practiced in Kansas and the two life terms Nelms was sentenced to made him eligible for parole after 30 years.
Time after time in recent years, about every four years, the Kansas Prisoner Review Board looked at the Nelms case. With each review came public comment sessions, where the board received written and oral input from victims, victims’ families, inmates’ families, community members and other interested persons regarding the possible parole.
In 2021, his brother Kelvin O’Brien spoke out against parole for Nelms. Kelvin had moved to Myrtle Beach, SC, but joined Abbyville residents in opposing parole for his brother’s killer. Some may remember that Kelvin used to live around here. He died on June 15, 2024, at age 70.
The family member of a different murder victim, who lived in Great Bend, once compared a killer’s life sentence to a life sentence for the family – which must return to parole hearings each year they come up. In doing so, they must relive their grief and explain why a killer should not be released back into society. It would be interesting to know what factors the parole board considered in this case. Jimmie K. Nelms, also known as Blance Wallice, Steven Cooper, and “Chico,” is now 78 years old and working a job in the laundry at the Winfield Correctional Facility. His custody level is low-medium. According to Kansas Department of Corrections information, he hasn’t been disciplined since 2017, when he disobeyed orders at El Dorado Correctional Facility. His life in prison may not be great but he has his life.
Conroy O’Brien’s daughter Neely Goen was born after her father died. On Facebook, she describes herself as “a lover of Christ, a wife, mom & grandma, public speaker, ordained minister & an open door.” She posted a statement on May 9. She said forgave her father’s killers years ago, choosing not to live in bitterness. The first time she attended a parole hearing for Nelms she was around 13 years old. She had not gone to a parole hearing since COVID but thought, “They’ll never release a cop killer.”
It was the State’s decision to release Nelms, based on the laws of 1978, Goen said. Part of her father’s legacy was to change that law. In Kansas, killing a law enforcement officer now can be punished by death, with the only other possible sentence in a capital case being life in prison without parole.
The decision to release Nelms appears to be the wrong decision that should be reversed before it is too late.
Nelms may or may not be released. If he is, Goen said, “My wish is that it is not wasted, that this chance, this gift, that it is, in some way, lived well, lived righteously. I am not the judge. I am not the jury. I am the girl that was left behind, given the gift of life, and chose not to waste it on bitterness, hate, or anger. And my wish for you is that you can find a way to do the same.”
