Parole denied for man who killed off-duty corrections officer

A Carson City man was denied parole for the third time for the 1994 killing of an off-duty corrections officer.

Dorla Salling, chairwoman of the Nevada Parole and Probation, cited the"nature and severity of the crime" as the deciding factor in the denial of parole for Conrad Holmes, 39. He appeared before the parole board Aug. 12.

Holmes was sentenced to life in prison with parole after the killing of Darryl Crews. He is eligible for parole again in December 2004.

On June 3, 1994, Holmes, then 29, shot to death Crews, 35, after the two argued at Holmes' Sonoma Street home.

A coroner testified at Holmes' preliminary hearing that Crews, a Nevada State Prison corrections officer, would have died from any one of the seven bullets pumped into his body by Holmes' .22-caliber rifle.

He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

Crews' father, Emory Crews, has attended all of Holmes' parole hearings and intends to continue to do so.

"I am very pleased that the board saw fit to deny parole," Emory Crews said. "They must have felt that more time was needed to evaluate Conrad's anger issues."

Crews admits he is surprised at Holmes' sterling prison record. Since his incarceration, Holmes has earned at least 12 college credits, holds a prestigious job in prison industries where he supervises fellow inmates, and has taken anger-management courses and now teaches them.

But, despite the progress Holmes has made, Crews said he isn't impressed considering that, in a rage, Holmes riddled Darryl's body with bullets before he placed the barrel of the gun against the injured man's head and pulled the trigger.

"I think he's trying," Crews said. "But this type of a crime -- this loss-- puts you in such a state of grief, you can't even think straight. He can't make up for what he's taken."

"Conrad Holmes did not inadvertently murder Darryl; he executed him."