On a Friday afternoon, February 5, 1993, Master Trooper Michael Earl Greene, 43, was on routine patrol along Interstate 65 in Marion County when he stopped two men he had seen urinating on the highway. Greene, a 16-year veteran of the Indiana State Police, checked their identification and discovered both were wanted on outstanding warrants. As he moved to handcuff one man, the other suddenly and fatally shot him. Greene was taken to a nearby hospital but did not survive.

The investigation led to the arrest of two suspects. The shooter was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1995; the other man was convicted of assisting a criminal and received a four-year term. A portion of Interstate 65 in Marion County has since been designated as a Memorial Mile in Greene’s honor.

If anyone knew Master Trooper Greene, was there anything about his patrols or that stretch of I-65 that might help explain how this encounter escalated so quickly?