Couple's daughter, Lisa Kepler, 18, said she hopes her parents rot in jail

Kepler's police officer wife, Gina, 48, was arrested but not charged as an accessory after the fact of murder but was suspended with pay

He is out on bail and suspended without pay, but is now eligible for monthly pension payments of almost $3,000 unless he is found guilty

Kepler, 54, is charged with first-degree murder and shooting with intent to kill for also firing at his daughter in August

Tulsa police officer Shannon Kepler, who shot dead Jeremey Lake, 19, while off-duty can collect his lump sum retirement check

Shannon Kepler, who was charged with murder in the shooting of his daughter's boyfriend, retired last month and collected a pension payout of $160,000

A police officer charged with first-degree murder over the off-duty shooting of his daughter's boyfriend in August, retired last month and collected a lump sum pension payout of $160,000.

The Oklahoma state Police Pension and Retirement Board approved Shannon Kepler's request to retire and collect his pension on November 19.

Kepler, 54, was formally charged on August 18 by Tulsa prosecutors with the August 5 killing of 19-year-old Jeremey Lake, who was dating his daughter Lisa.

He was also charged with one count of shooting with intent to kill because prosecutors said he shot at his daughter during an alleged confrontation.

Kepler pleaded not guilty and was released from jail on a $825,000 bond.

He was suspended without pay at the time of the shooting - but is now eligible to collect both the lump sum, and begin drawing his monthly pension.

His retirement officially began on November 1.

Kepler chose to participate in the state's deferred option pension plan in 2010. This allowed him to collect approximately four years' worth of monthly pension payments, plus interest, in a lump sum on retirement, the Tulsa World reports.

Records show his monthly pension is $2,947, and the plan has a minimum interest rate of 7.5 per cent, bringing the lump sum total to approximately $162,000.

A 2011 state law was introduced to close a loophole that allowed some government employees to collect pensions even if they were convicted of felonies.

Jeremey Lake, 19, was allegedly shot dead by the father of his girlfriend, Lisa Kepler, 18, on August 5

The law bars police officers and other municipal workers from collecting retirement pay if they plead guilty, no contest, or are convicted of a felony for bribery, corruption, forgery, perjury or 'any other crime related to their office or employment'.

Steven Snyder, executive director of the Police Pension and Retirement board, told Tulsa World that Kepler would forfeit his monthly pension if convicted of a felony not resulting in a deferred sentence, but gets to keep his lump sum payment.

Kepler's attorney, Richard O'Carroll, argues that he believes the law allows Kepler to keep his monthly payments as well.

Kepler's wife, Gina Kepler, 48, also a Tulsa police officer, surrendered to authorities with him the morning after the shooting.

She was arrested along with her husband on a complaint of being an accessory after the fact of murder, but was not charged because prosecutors said there wasn't evidence to support it.

Kepler's wife, Gina, 48, also a police officer, was not charged as an accessory after the fact of murder

She too is on leave from the police, but with pay according to a spokesperson for the department.

The Keplers 'are solid folks' who 'did everything they knew to protect their daughter,' O'Carroll said. The daughter, Lisa Kepler, was among three sisters whom the Keplers adopted from a troubled home.

Lisa Kepler, 18, has said that her parents had kicked her out of their home in late July.

She met Lake while he was volunteering at the shelter where she was staying.



He offered her a place to stay at the home he shared with his aunt, Kepler said.

The young couple were walking to Lake's aunt's house on August 5 when her father turned up in his car. She said that he asked what she was doing in the neighborhood.

When she walked away, Lake tried to introduce himself.

The police officer then shot Lake two or three times, fled in his vehicle and later turned himself in, court records show.

Lisa started to run and was shot at — but the bullet missed her, authorities said.

The police officer fled in his vehicle, but later turned himself in.

In an interview, Lisa Kepler told NBC that Lake was her 'everything'.

She told Tulsa World: 'I really hope they rot in prison for a very long time.'