CHP Officer’s Murder Conviction Is Upheld by Appeals Court

A federal appeals court Tuesday upheld the murder conviction of a California Highway Patrol officer who killed a San Diego woman after a traffic stop.

Cara Knott, 20, a San Diego State student, was strangled by Officer Craig Peyer and thrown from a frontage-road bridge east of Interstate 15 on Dec. 27, 1986.

Peyer was sentenced to 25 years to life, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction and sentence.

Peyer, a 13-year CHP veteran, was once considered a model officer, and did television spots for the CHP warning women about the dangers of strange men trying to contact them on the freeway.

In his appeal, the court set aside a host of his arguments, including prosecutorial misconduct, mishandling of evidence, too much pretrial publicity and assertions that a hitchhiker may have murdered the woman.