The death of a man in southeast Missouri Police custody has been a ruled suicide.

Monday evening a coroners inquest at the Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau ruled a man in police custody, hanged himself with his belt. 

Lawrence Adolph Thompson, III, committed suicide after police arrested him for a DWI September 9th said Coroner John Clifton. When police interviewed Thompson during the booking process, he showed no signs of depression so police left him alone in a holding cell, where he died. 

A compelling amount of evidence made the decision clear for the six-person jury, said Clifton. Jurors made their decision in only 10 minutes. 

Thompson’s September 9 th arrest was his sixth DWI, and he was driving on a 10 year license revocation, said Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle. He says four or more DWI convictions are punishable with five to 15 years in prison.