Late on February 22, 1978, motorcycle officer James Richard Rogan, 41, stopped a Cadillac without license plates on Paradise Road in Las Vegas. While attempting to issue a ticket, the driver opened fire. Rogan was struck, fell to the ground, and was reportedly shot multiple times as the assailant stood over him. He was taken to Sunrise Hospital and died on the operating table about an hour after the shooting. He was an eight-year veteran of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and a married father of four children.

A large manhunt began immediately. The suspect abandoned the Cadillac nearby; helicopters and search planes joined a 16-block ground search. Around 7:30 a.m., officers found a man who was later tentatively identified as 39-year-old John H. McClain hiding in a home. As two officers opened a locked bathroom door, they perceived a threatening movement and fired. McClain was killed at the scene and no weapon was found on or near his body, ending the search.

Are there readers who remember this case or have additional details about the hours between the shooting and the suspect’s discovery?