On an autumn evening in Pasco, Washington, the life of 31-year-old White/Caucasian male, James Saunders, was tragically cut short. On October 7, 1999, Saunders, a Washington State Patrol Trooper, conducted a traffic stop on a pickup truck just off Highway 395. He radioed in the description of the green truck and its license plate. Less than a minute later, a citizen used the trooper's radio to report that he had been shot. Saunders was shot multiple times as he approached the driver of the vehicle and died at the scene. At the time of his death, he had been a trooper for nearly nine years.
The shooting sparked an intensive 26-hour manhunt for the suspect. The investigation quickly led to the identification of Nicolas Solorio Vasquez as the primary suspect. Vasquez, a convicted felon who had been deported from the United States three times, was out on bail for a drug charge at the time of the shooting. The abandoned pickup truck was located, and investigators found both Saunders' and Vasquez's fingerprints on the vehicle. Vasquez was apprehended the following evening after attempting to flee with another individual.
Following his arrest, Nicolas Solorio Vasquez pleaded guilty to aggravated first-degree murder. This plea allowed him to avoid the death penalty, and he was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is currently serving his sentence at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. An attempt by Vasquez to serve his sentence in his home country of Mexico was denied because Mexico does not have a comparable life sentence. Trooper Saunders was survived by his wife, Billie, who was pregnant at the time of his death, and their 2-year-old daughter. Four months after his murder, his son was born and named in his honor.
