Casey White captured after manhunt, ex-jail officer Vicky White dead
A former Alabama jail official on the run with a murder suspect she was accused of helping escape shot and killed herself Monday as authorities caught up with the pair after more than a week of searching, officials said. The man she fled with surrendered. The death of Vicky White, 56, only deepened the mystery of why a respected jail official would leave everything to help free Casey White, 38, a hulking inmate with a violent and frightening history. The two fugitives were caught — following a manhunt through three states — in Evansville, Indiana, when U.S. Marshals chasing them crashed into their vehicle, authorities said. Casey White gave himself up, and Vicky White shot herself and was taken to a hospital, authorities said. Vanderburgh County Coroner Steve Lockyear said she died from her injuries. Before Vicky White’s death, authorities celebrated the fugitives’ apprehension. “We got a dangerous man off the street today. He is never going to see the light of day again. That is a good thing, for not just our community. That’s a good thing for our country,” Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton of Alabama said. The manhunt began April 29 when Vicky White, the assistant director of corrections for the jail in Lauderdale County, allegedly helped engineer the escape of Casey White, who was awaiting trial in a capital murder case. Vicky White had told co-workers she was taking the inmate from the jail for a mental health evaluation at the courthouse, but the two, who are not related, instead fled the area. The car they took off in was later found abandoned in Tennessee, but there was no trace of the pair until U.S. Marshals received a tip Sunday that surveillance photos from an Evansville car wash showed a man who closely resembled Casey White exiting a 2006 Ford F-150 pickup truck, the Marshals Service said. White stands 6 feet, 9 inches (2.06 meters) tall and weighs about 260 pounds (118 kilograms). On Monday, officials learned that the pair was spotted near the sheriff’s office, said Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding in Indiana. As officers arrived, the pair fled in a vehicle and led police on a pursuit, he said. U.S. Marshals collided with them “to try to end the pursuit,” he said. Casey White was injured, not too seriously, in the crash, and Vicky White then shot herself, causing “very serious” injuries, he said. “We’re lucky that no law enforcement was injured, no innocent civilians were injured, the pursuit was short in nature, and we have both people in custody,” Wedding said. Casey White was serving a 75-year prison sentence for attempted murder and other charges at the time of his escape. He was awaiting trial in the stabbing of a 58-year-old woman during a burglary in 2015. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. Federal and local law enforcement officials have also learned Casey White threatened to kill his former girlfriend and his sister in 2015 and said “that he wanted police to kill him,” the Marshals Service said. A warrant was issued on May 2 for Vicky Sue White, charging her with permitting or facilitating escape in the first degree. Before her death was announced, the Alabama sheriff said he hoped to get answers from his once trusted jail employee about her actions but acknowledged those answers might not come. “I had every bit of trust in Vicky White. She has been an exemplary employee. What in the world provoked her, prompted her to pull a stunt like this? I don’t know. I don’t know if we’ll ever know,” Singleton said. Vicky White’s family members and co-workers said they were stunned by her involvement. Singleton said it appeared the plan had been in the works for some time. Jail inmates said the two had a special relationship and she gave Casey White better treatment than other inmates. In the past several months, she bought a rifle and a shotgun and also was known to have a handgun, U.S. Marshal Marty Keely said. She sold her house for about half of market value and bought a 2007 orange Ford Edge that she stashed at a shopping center without license plates. “This escape was obviously well-planned and calculated. A lot of preparation went into this. They had plenty of resources, had cash, had vehicles,” Singleton said. The escape happened on what Vicky White said was going to be her last day at work. She told co-workers that Casey White had a mental health evaluation at the courthouse, but none was scheduled. She did not have a second officer accompany them, which was against jail policy. Video showed the pair went from the jail to the shopping center, where they picked up the Ford and left, Singleton said. Their flight was not discovered for much of the day. Investigators believe the pickup truck Casey White had at the car wash was stolen in Tennessee and then driven about 175 miles (280 kilometers) to Evansville, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Ex-jail official, inmate she helped escape caught
Escaped inmate Casey White and former jail official Vicky White were taken into custody Monday in Indiana, according to an Alabama sheriff. Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said the two fugitives were caught near Evansville, Indiana, after a car chase with U.S. Marshals. Singleton said at a news conference that marshals were pursuing a pickup driven by Casey White when the truck wrecked and he surrendered. Vicky White was taken to a hospital. “Casey White and Vicky White are in custody,” Singleton said. “This has ended a very long and stressful and challenging week and a half. It ended the way that we knew it would. They are in custody.” The vehicle was found today in Evansville, Indiana, after U.S. Marshals received a tip Sunday that the 2006 Ford F-150 pickup was found at a car wash in the town, the Marshals Service said. Surveillance photos showed a man who closely resembles Casey White exiting the vehicle at the car wash, officials said. Investigators believe the pickup truck was stolen in Tennessee and then driven about 175 miles to Evansville, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. The Marshals Service said a warrant was issued on May 2 for Vicky Sue White charging her with permitting or facilitating escape in the first degree. Federal and local law enforcement officials have also learned Casey White threatened to kill his former girlfriend and his sister in 2015 and said, “that he wanted police to kill him,” the Marshals Service said. Investigators said they have been in contact with them about the threats and are taking measures to ensure their safety. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Jail official visited inmate in prison months before escape
An Alabama sheriff said Wednesday that a jail official visited a murder suspect in prison before helping him escape last week and that her actions suggest their plan had been in the works for some time. “We have confirmed that there were visits and that there was communication between the two of them when he was in prison and she was still working here,” Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said. He said the prison visits indicate the two had some type of a relationship for possibly up to two years before the escape. The visits occurred after the inmate was transferred out of the county jail in 2020 because of a suspected escape attempt then and before his return to the jail in February for court proceedings in the ongoing murder case against him. A nationwide manhunt is ongoing for Casey White, who was awaiting trial on a capital murder case, and Vicky White, the assistant director of corrections for the jail in Lauderdale County, after the pair disappeared Friday. Singleton said the ongoing contact stretched back two years and that Vicky White’s actions, such as selling her house recently and purchasing an apparent getaway car, indicated there was advance planning. The sheriff’s office said Tuesday that they determined there was a “special relationship” between the two, but Singleton added that they have no evidence at this time that it was a “physical or sexual relationship.” The two are not related despite sharing a common surname, authorities have said. “The inmates that reported to us Saturday that they were in a relationship, their complaints were that he was getting special treatment. He was getting more food on his plate. He was getting all these little things that are insignificant on the outside but are a big deal to inmates,” he said. Last Friday morning, Vicky White, 56, told coworkers the 38-year-old inmate needed to go to the courthouse for a mental health evaluation. She was escorting the inmate alone, which the sheriff said was a violation of department policy. That afternoon, when she was not answering the phone, authorities discovered the two were missing, and no such evaluation had been scheduled. Her patrol car was found abandoned in the parking lot of a shopping center. The sheriff said Vicky White had been talking about retiring for three or four months, and suddenly dropped in her paperwork recently. Singleton said authorities later discovered she had purchased a 2007 Ford Edge and parked it Thursday night in the same shopping center where she apparently abandoned the patrol car. “There is no question that took some planning and some coordinating,” he said. “My gut feeling is that it has been going on for a while.” He said authorities are hoping to location the vehicle and determine the pairs’ direction of travel. Authorities have said Casey White, who stands 6 feet, 9 inches (about 2 meters), should be recognizable by his size. “Now, he is a master of disguise. He can change his appearance, but the one thing he can’t change is the fact that he is six-foot nine-inches tall,” the sheriff said. Authorities warned that anyone seeing the pair should not approach them but to call law enforcement. Family members and colleagues said they are bewildered by the involvement of Vicky White, who had worked for the sheriff’s office for 16 years, with the inmate who was already serving a 75-year prison sentence for attempted murder and other crimes. “I just can’t picture Vicky running off with that man,” her former mother-in-law, Frances White, said in a telephone interview Tuesday. The sheriff said he was shocked by the actions of his former employee. “Vicky White would have been one of the last people in the world I would have thought would have done something like this,” Singleton said. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Arrest warrant issued in Alabama for missing jail official
Authorities on Monday continued the hunt for an “extremely dangerous” murder suspect and issued an arrest warrant for the Alabama jail official they now believe helped him escape. Inmate Casey Cole White, 38, was shackled and handcuffed when he and Vicky White, the facility’s assistant director of corrections, left the Lauderdale County Detention Center in Florence, Alabama, on Friday morning. They have not been seen since, although the patrol vehicle that the pair used when leaving the detention center was found at a nearby shopping center parking lot after their absence was discovered. Authorities have no idea where they are, although the inmate should be recognizable by his size. He stands 6 feet, 9 inches (2.06 meters) tall, and weighs about 260 pounds (118 kilograms). Authorities warned that anyone seeing the pair should not approach them. “We consider both of them dangerous and, in all probability, both individuals are armed,” U.S. Marshal Marty Keely said at a press conference Monday. He noted that Casey White “will stand out” because of his size, even if he has changed his appearance. Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said Monday that they had issued an arrest warrant for Vicky White, 56, on charges of permitting or allowing an escape. She is not related to Casey White, who was serving a 75-year prison sentence and awaiting trial on a capital murder charge. Vicky White told co-workers she was taking him to the courthouse for a mental health evaluation. But Singleton later said no such evaluation was scheduled. She also violated a policy that required more than one official to be involved in transporting inmates, a rule that officials emphasized for White because he had previously tried to escape, Singleton said. The sheriff said video showed the pair left the jail and went straight to that parking lot. “We know she participated, whether she did that willingly or if she was coerced, threatened somehow to participate, not really sure. We know for sure she did participate,” Singleton said. “Casey White, as you’ve heard me say over and over and over is an extremely dangerous person, and we need to get him located and get him off the street,” Singleton said. Casey White was serving time for a string of crimes that included attempted murder, robbery, and burglary. While in prison, he had confessed to the 2015 stabbing death of a 58-year-old woman, authorities said, which caused him to be brought to the Lauderdale County jail for court proceedings. The sheriff said they believe White plotted an earlier escape from the jail in 2020 when they found a makeshift knife. He could face the death penalty if convicted of the capital murder charge. The U.S. Marshals Service is offering up to $10,000 for information. Singleton said Vicky White had been an exemplary employee and jail employees are “just devastated.” “This is not the Vicky White we know, by any stretch of the imagination,” the sheriff said. Vicky White had planned to retire and Friday was to be her last day. He said she had sold her home about a month ago and “talked about going to the beach.” The sheriff said they had no leads at this point on where the two are located. “If we knew where they were at, we would be there and not here,” Singleton said. As an assistant director for corrections, Vicky White moved throughout the county detention facility and had multiple opportunities every day to be in contact with any given inmate, the sheriff said. Her job duties also included coordinating transport of inmates. Vicky White’s mother, Pat Davis, told WAAY she was in shock and scared for her daughter. “As a mother, I didn’t know how to act because I thought at first it was a mistake. And then when I found out for sure it was, it was just disbelief,” says Pat Davis. She told the station that “we just want her back” and found it difficult to believe her daughter would help an inmate escape. “She’s never done anything, I bet she’s never even had a speeding ticket,” Pat Davis said. Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly said he was also shocked. He last spoke to Vicky White on Thursday about transporting an inmate with a broken ankle to get medical care, and nothing seemed unusual. “She is somebody I would have trusted with most anything. She was one of those people you could call if you needed something to happen at that jail. She was the go-to person,” Connolly said. The U.S. Marshals Service said anyone with information about Casey White’s location or Vicky White’s disappearance can call the service at 1-800-336-0102. Anonymous tips may also be submitted through the U.S. Marshals Tip App. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama deputy considering run for sheriff placed on leave
A longtime Alabama sheriff’s deputy who plans to run for sheriff has opted to take administrative leave without pay after the incumbent told him it was either that or resign, the TimesDaily reported. Lauderdale County Deputy John Randall McCrary said he received a letter from Lauderdale Sheriff Rick Singleton on Thursday informing him of his choices, even though he hasn’t officially qualified to oppose Singleton. “I’m devastated that I’m without a job,” said McCrary, who also served as part-time police chief of Anderson. “It hurts that someone would do that for all I’ve done for the county.” Singleton said a state attorney general’s opinion from 1998 gave him the right to take action. McCrary’s announcement of his plan to run for sheriff has “already caused a disruption within the department.” “Having an employee running against you creates a lot of stress and awkwardness for other deputies and employees,” Singleton said. “I have absolutely no problem with Randall running for sheriff. To be honest with you, I wish he had not chosen to run against me, but that is his right. My decision to have him resign or go on leave was to minimize the negative impact such a race can have on the office.” McCrary unsuccessfully sought the office as a Democrat in 2014. He said he plans to qualify as a Republican this time. Singleton, a former Florence police chief, is a Republican first elected in 2014. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
