Convicted killer, accused killer one locked jail door from freedom

Freedom was only one locked jail door away for convicted killer Paul Brock and an accused killer Nicholas Rucker during a failed escape attempt from the Whitley County Detention Center late Friday evening.

“Paul Brock and Nicholas Rucker were very close to getting out. In fact, the only thing that was keeping Paul Brock from getting out was one door and the same for Nicholas Rucker,” said Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird, whose agency is investigating the case.

He added that situations like this are especially dangerous for someone in Brock’s situation, who is facing a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, and literally has nothing to lose.

“Both of them are desperate,” Bird noted.

About 10:15 p.m. Williamsburg police got a call that inmates had possibly taken over the jail and had attempted to escape, Bird said.

Williamsburg police along with law enforcement officers from numerous agencies quickly responded to the jail.

“They secured the jail pretty quickly. Once we got inside the jail, my officers initially encountered Paul Brock and took him into custody. Nicholas Rucker, they took him into custody immediately inside the jail. We had three deputy jailers, who were locked inside a cell. We gained entry into the cell and we secured the jail pretty quick,” Bird said.

“We are getting calls from people about two murder suspects, who escaped. Nobody made it outside the jail. All of the inmates are accounted for. There is no danger to the community whatsoever.”

Williamsburg police were notified about the escape by a jail employee, who was able to call authorities and then get officers inside the facility once they arrived at the scene.

When interviewed about 12 hours after the incident was first reported, Bird noted that there were several details about the case still under investigation and events were still unfolding in connection to the investigation.

For instance, investigators are still trying to determine exactly how the inmates got out of their cell, how many inmates were involved in the planning of the escape and who outside the jail may have been involved in the planning of it.

“Based on what we know right now, we know there were several other inmates involved in the planning, and there were people outside the jail in the community that we believe were involved in the planning,” Bird added. “Everybody, who was involved in the planning of this attempted escape without a doubt will be charged.”

Bird confirmed that there is a control room at the jail, which is supposed to be secure in order to keep this kind of thing from happening.

In defense of jail staff, Bird said that investigators aren’t sure yet whether the jail being short staffed was a factor in the escape attempt.

None of the jail employees were injured during the incident. Whitley County EMS treated one inmate for a diabetic issue that happened during the incident.

“The employees of the Whitley County Jail are very lucky, very lucky that they were not injured or lost their life. When you are dealing with the jail you are dealing with some serious individuals and they need to be taken seriously,” Bird said.

The Williamsburg Police Department is investigating the case along with Commonwealth’s Attorney Ronnie Bowling, who also responded to the jail Friday evening.

Kentucky State Police, the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department, Whitley County EMS and the Williamsburg Fire Department all responded to the scene to assist.

In March, following a month-long trial, a Whitley Circuit Court Jury convicted Brock, 41, on three counts of capital murder, fetal homicide and tampering with physical evidence in the February 2018 killings of Mary Jackson, Aaron Byers, Tiffany Byers and Tiffany Byers’ unborn child.

Prosecutors had been seeking the death penalty in the case. After the conviction, prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Rucker, 41, is accused of murder in the May 22, 2019, killing of his girlfriend, Vicki S. Conner, 57, inside a residence where they were staying at 814 Highway 1064. He fled the scene, and was apprehended on 44 days later outside a home in Knox County near Corbin.

Rucker maintains his innocence and claims that Conner killed herself because he was leaving.