Aaron Luther, the man who shot a CHP officer to death in Riverside on Monday and was killed by return fire, was no stranger to law enforcement or the state prison and parole systems.
Public records reviewed by the NBC Investigates teams in Los Angeles and San Diego outline the 49-year-old suspect's history of violent crime dating back at least 25 years to his conviction for second-degree murder.
Luther, who died in Monday's highway shootout, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for that 1994 killing and a burglary, but was paroled after 10 years.
After just three years on parole, court records show Luther was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon.
He was also found guilty of domestic violence in 2013.
Luther's record also includes convictions for stalking, unlawful possession of a firearm, assault and battery, and additional domestic violence cases.
In the 1990s, he was sent to prison for trying to smuggle a deadly weapon into a California jail.