Sgt. James D. Shepherd was a 23-year Oregon State Police veteran.

The killer of Oregon State Police Sgt. James D. Shepherd will spend at least four more years in prison, the state parole board has decided.

Last week, Michael Edward Sture, who gunned down the state trooper in Knappa in 1980, said he was fit for parole. His projected release date was in May.

The State Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision interviewed Sture to determine if he could safely be released 42 years after he murdered Shepherd.

The board decided Sture, who has chronically abused drugs during his time in prison, needed more years of sobriety to prove he wouldn’t relapse and commit more crimes.

The board postponed Sture’s parole date to May 2026, with another review slated for November 2025.

“I think that’s an excellent decision,” said Virginia Shepherd, James Shepherd’s widow. “But I hate going through this every few years. It’s awful hard on my family.”

Clatsop County District Attorney Ron Brown said his office is “quite pleased.” At the parole hearing, Brown had pushed for Sture to remain in prison at least another two years.

On May 22, 1980, Sture used two guns to kill Shepherd, who was off duty and investigating mischief near the home the officer shared with his wife and children. Sture shot him off a motorcycle, then shot him twice in the head.

Sture’s motivations remain vague. He had served time for stealing a vehicle in the years before the killing and has said he didn’t want Shepherd to stumble upon his marijuana operation.

The police, however, founds no such plants.

Brown said the evidence suggests Shepherd’s murder was a “thrill kill.” Sture said drug use had influenced his actions.

Before he fled the area with Shepherd’s motorcycle, Sture detained at gunpoint Shepherd’s colleague, Brian Johnson, who found the body. He made Johnson get on the ground and rummaged through his wallet, but didn’t injure him.

Days later, Sture was taken into custody in Central Oregon, where he had been hitchhiking.