Died in jail or a lockup
Thomas Buckley
Thos. Buckley, aged 84, was taken from a Philadelphia police station to the Philadelphia Almshouse, and for several days he moved between the police lockup cells and the almshouse wards. He died on October 5, 1871. A post-mortem examination reported that the blade of an ordinary pocket knife had been driven through his skull and was lodged in his brain. How the blade came to be there is not explained in the account, and no official explanation is given.
Cause of death, as reported: Cause not yet determined. A post-mortem examination found a pocket-knife blade driven through his skull and embedded in his brain.
Reported by: post-mortem examination reported in the newspaper (medical examiner or coroner).