On the cold evening of November 30, 1993, a 25-year-old Hispanic/Latino male named Carlos Jose Juan Borland was on duty as a Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper. In his first year on the force, he was working a solo swing shift in the Lovelock area when a call came in about a gas skip from a nearby truck stop. The suspect, driving a red Chevrolet Blazer, had filled up with $22 worth of gasoline and fled without paying. Trooper Borland acknowledged the call and soon spotted the vehicle traveling eastbound on Interstate 80.
At 8:54 p.m., just east of Lovelock, Borland radioed in that he was initiating a traffic stop. Unbeknownst to him, the driver, Michael Hampton Sonner, was far more dangerous than a petty thief. Sonner was a fugitive, having recently escaped from a jail in North Carolina. He was also wanted in connection with the murders of two people in Texas and a rape in Virginia. The Blazer he was driving was stolen, fitted with license plates stolen from another vehicle. As Trooper Borland approached the driver's side window for what he believed was a routine stop for a misdemeanor offense, Sonner had already decided on a fatal course of action. He raised a. 38 caliber revolver and fired a single shot, striking Borland in the head. Sonner then sped away, leaving the young trooper critically wounded on the highway.
A passing truck driver witnessed the event and used Trooper Borland's radio to call for help. Borland was rushed to Washoe Medical Center in Reno, but his injury was too severe. He succumbed to the gunshot wound in the early hours of December 1, 1993. The shooting launched one of the most intensive manhunts in the history of the Nevada Highway Patrol. The search for the killer spanned 25 hours and involved nine different law enforcement agencies, SWAT teams, police dogs, and helicopters with heat-sensing technology.
The day after the shooting, Sonner was discovered huddled over a campfire in Dixie Valley. He was confronted by officers and captured after a brief standoff. Following his arrest, Michael Sonner was tried for the murder of Trooper Borland. In September 1994, a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon, as well as being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a stolen vehicle, and resisting a public officer. During the sentencing phase, Sonner told the jury he would rather die than continue living with what he had done and asked them to "put me out of my misery." The jury sentenced him to death. He later died while on death row.
