A judge sentenced a former state highway patrolman to 25 years to life in prison for strangling a motorist and throwing her body off a 65-foot-high bridge while on duty. In handing Craid Peyer, 38, the maximum sentence Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Richard Huffman said the former patrolman violated society's trust, but added the California Highway Patrol ``bears some blame for this tragedy.'' Huffman noted that the agency received a complaint about a month before the Dec. 27, 1986, death of Cara Knott, 20, that could have tipped them off to Peyer's habit of pulling young women over at a dark, isolated Interstate 15 exit ramp. ``Whether or not Mr. Peyer would have remained a highway patrolman after that is another issue. But what is true is that Cara Knott would be alive and Craig Peyer would not be on his way to state prison,'' the judge said. Peyer's conviction is being appealed, defense attorneys said. The 13-year patrol member was the second officer in the agency's 58-year history to be convicted in the on-duty slaying of a motorist. Peyer was convicted June 22 of first-degree murder in his second trial. His first trial ended in February when the jury deadlocked 7-5 in favor of conviction. Huffman issued the sentence, which included a $1,000 fine, after hearing impassioned pleas from the families of the victim and the defendant. ``My husband was a friendly, vibrant, well-loved person ... and in my heart and in my family's heart we all know that you have the wrong man,'' Peyer's wife, Karen, told the court as her husband sobbed. Samuel Knott, the victim's father, was unmoved. ``It is our fervent hope that this predator will never walk the streets again ... the punishment must be the maximum the law will allow,'' he said. Huffman denied a defense request for bail pending an appeal, saying he was a threat to the community. Peyer was remanded to the custody of sheriff's deputies for eventual transfer to state prison. He could be eligible for parole in 17 years, 8 months, Deputy District Attorney Paul Pfingst said.
