Died in custody
Rucker
Rucker was in custody at Palestine, Texas, where he was due to be hanged on August 27, 1880, and he had asked for more time and petitioned for a commutation. On the morning of the scheduled execution he was found dying in his cell. Prison authorities said he had cut the arteries of his wrist, and the Morning Journal and Courier reported that he did so with a penknife. The article calls it a mystery how he came to have the knife.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide. Prison authorities say he cut the arteries of his wrist with a penknife in his cell, and how he obtained the knife is unexplained.
Reported by: prison authorities. The only account of how this person died comes from the agency that held him.