Biography
Chester Fugate was a Kentucky tenant farmer jailed after killing his landlord, identified as Watkins, in a dispute over payment for coal he had dug. The Daily Worker of December 26, 1929, page 2, in a Jackson dispatch dated December 25, reports that a mob took him from the county jail, shot him repeatedly and threw him over a cliff. Five hours later he was reportedly found alive in the snow and described the attack. The article attributes the violence to wealthy businessmen and landlords and says the jailer offered no resistance. These are contemporary newspaper allegations. The article predicts his death but does not establish an actual death date, first jail admission day or criminal verdict. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1929/1929-ny/v06-n251-NY-dec-26-1929-DW-LOC.pdf