SAN LUIS OBISPO – Former California Highway Patrol Officer Craig Peyer was denied parole yesterday from the prison term he is serving for murdering a college student he pulled over along Interstate 15 in 1986.

Board of Prison Terms commissioners also ruled that Peyer will not be eligible to seek his freedom again for four years by deciding not to schedule another hearing until 2008.

Peyer again denied killing 20-year-old Cara Knott, just as he has since he was arrested in a case that rattled the confidence of female drivers toward law enforcement officers.

Peyer's first parole hearing was held at the California Men's Colony, a medium-security prison where he has been incarcerated for almost 16 years and been described as a model prisoner.

While Peyer continued to maintain his innocence, it was revealed by San Diego prosecutor Joan Stein that Peyer declined last year to provide a sample of his DNA to allow prosecutors to compare it to blood evidence recovered at the Knott crime scene.

The request grew out of a review by the District Attorney's Office in San Diego of old cases to see if DNA testing – unavailable at the time of Peyer's two trials – might prove that some prisoners were wrongly convicted.

Stein asked Peyer at the hearing why he refused to give a sample if he is innocent. Peyer did not respond, lawyer Anthony Hall objected to the question and the inmate was not required to answer.

The four-hour hearing was at times highly emotional. Joyce Knott, the victim's mother and Cynthia Knott, Cara's older sister, both spoke passionately.

Joyce Knott was unable to say Peyer's name, instead using his Department of Corrections number when talking about him.

"I want D93018 to understand that Cara is gone and Sam is gone, but we have a strong family and we are going to be here forever," she said, referring to her daughter and Cara's father, Sam, who died three years ago of a heart attack.

"A killer cop should be punished even more severely than a person who kills a cop," she said.

"A person who can look you in the eye and lie is the worst kind of sociopath."

Cynthia Knott, who with her husband found Cara's abandoned car on a cul-de-sac off Mercy Road near the freeway eight hours after she disappeared, said memories of the slaying are seared into her memory.

"At the very least this sociopath deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison," she said.

Peyer, 53, spoke at length during the hearing, mainly talking about his life before his arrest as well as his exemplary prison behavior since being locked up.

He refused to talk about the crime, a right he has under the rules of the Board of Prison Terms.

Later, he said, "The only thing I would want to state is my deepest sorrow and empathy to the Knott family and everybody involved in the case. It's hard to fathom what they're going through."

Afterward, Joyce Knott said Peyer's words were "revolting and disgusting." She said she was surprised he still denies the murder.

The three-member panel that denied Peyer parole reviewed 342 letters in opposition to his release. Commissioner Booker Welch said the letters were written by CHP officers, police officers, attorneys, victims rights groups and citizens.

"There's a lot of outrage from the community," Welch said.

Peyer submitted 22 letters in support of his parole, including several from friends who said he might have a job waiting for him. Hall argued that Peyer's denial of culpability should not prohibit his release.

He pointed out that Peyer has a virtually unblemished prison disciplinary record and improved himself by participating in vocational programs such as electronics and computer hardware repair.

Stein and one of the commissioners noted that Peyer only recently has taken any self-help classes to help him understand why he killed. One commissioner later strongly suggested that an anger-management class could be of great use.

Knott, who was a student at San Diego State University, was killed Dec. 27, 1986. Her beaten and strangled body was found not far from the Mercy Road exit off southbound I-15.

Within a week investigators focused on Peyer as a suspect. Women came forward and said they also had been pulled over by Peyer and directed down the dark frontage road. His behavior during the traffic stops was odd and unsettling, they said.

Blood and fiber evidence also tied Peyer to the crime and after two highly publicized trials – the first ended with a hung jury – Peyer was found guilty of first-degree murder in 1988 and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

Commissioner Welch said the main thing the panel had to decide was whether Peyer is still a danger to the community. He said there is no way to know.

"We still have no clue what your motive was," Welch told Peyer. "You continue to be unpredictable and a threat to others."