Alabama inmate who escaped with jailer help enters plea deal
An Alabama inmate charged in the death of a jail official who helped him escape pleaded guilty Thursday to escape in exchange for having the murder case dismissed. Casey Cole White, 39, entered the plea agreement in Lauderdale County Court, avoiding a June trial on the felony murder charge. He continues to await trial on a separate murder charge. Authorities said White escaped from an Alabama jail in 2022 with the help of Vicky White, the assistant director of corrections for Lauderdale County and a 17-year veteran of the sheriff’s office. Law enforcement officials initially thought that the inmate had kidnapped the female jailer but later learned the pair had a jailhouse romance. An 11-day manhunt for the pair ended in Indiana as authorities caught up with them. Casey White was recaptured, and Vicky White died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Casey White was charged in her death because Alabama law allows someone to be charged with murder if someone is killed while a felony is being committed. WHNT-TV reported that Casey White apologized to Vicky White’s mother when entering his plea. “It wasn’t supposed to go that way,” he said. He said the pair had fallen in love, and they planned to start a new life together. One requirement of the plea deal is that Casey White have no contact with Vicky White’s family, court records show. On the day of the escape, Vicky White, 56, told co-workers she was taking Casey White to a mental health evaluation. But authorities later learned no such appointment existed. Casey White is also scheduled to go on trial this summer for capital murder in the 2015 stabbing death of Connie Ridgeway in Rogersville. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Casey White charged with murder of jail official during escape
A prisoner who prompted a nationwide manhunt when he disappeared this spring from an Alabama jail has been charged with killing the corrections official authorities said helped him escape. Casey White, 38, has been indicted on a murder charge for the shooting death of Vicky White, Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly announced Tuesday. The pair’s disappearance from an Alabama jail in April sparked a national manhunt that came to a bloody end in Indiana, where Casey White was captured, and Vicky White died. The indictment alleges that during the escape, ”White caused the death of Vicky White, who died from a gunshot to the head.” The indictment does not specify who pulled the trigger. Authorities have said Vicky White died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. White will plead not guilty at an arraignment hearing, defense attorney Mark McDaniel said in a statement. The defense previously pointed blame at Vicky White for the escape, saying Casey White was in her “care and custody” the entire time of his disappearance from jail. Casey White, in April, walked out of an Alabama jail in handcuffs in the custody of Vicky White, the assistant director of corrections at the facility, prompting a national manhunt for the pair. On the day of the escape, Vicky White, 56, told co-workers she was transporting the inmate to a mental health evaluation, but authorities later learned no such appointment existed. The two were eventually discovered in Indiana, where Casey White was captured. Authorities said Vicky White shot herself in the head. Alabama law allows a murder charge if someone, “causes the death of any person” while engaging in certain other felonies such as escape or if the person, “recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person.” Friends and colleagues had said they were 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. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Lawyers reveal potential defense in Alabama jailer escape
The prisoner who walked out of an Alabama jail in handcuffs with a corrections official, prompting a manhunt that came to a bloody end in Indiana, was in the woman’s “care and custody” the entire time, his attorneys said in revealing their potential legal defense to an escape charge. Lawyers for Casey White made the claim about his high-profile departure from the Lauderdale County jail in a flurry of motions filed Friday in a capital murder case in which White faces a potential death sentence if convicted. It was the defense’s first public explanation of what happened. An attorney for White, Mark McDaniel, declined comment Monday. But the defense’s suggestion that jailer Vicky White, 56, was in control of Casey White, 38, as they departed the jail in Florence, Alabama, on April 29 meshes with a claim made previously by Casey White’s mother, Connie Moore. “I doubt he even knew he was leaving when she came in there to get him,” Moore told The Associated Press in an interview last month. Casey White, who is not related to Vicky White, was serving a 75-year prison sentence for attempted murder and other crimes and awaiting trial on a murder charge when he left the jail with Vicky White, the longtime assistant corrections director at the time. Video showed her escorting White to a patrol car and leaving for a supposed mental evaluation at a courthouse. Officials said no evaluation or hearing ever was scheduled, and the two disappeared. They were eventually located in Evansville, Indiana, where the man surrendered and was arrested after Vicky White shot herself to death in the car in which they were riding. Authorities in Alabama said it appeared the two had a “jailhouse romance.” Weeks before they fled, Vicky White sold her house for $95,000, sold her car, and filed for retirement, which took effect the day she took the man out of the jail. The defense portrayed Vicky White as being in control of events from the very start, noting she placed Casey White in the back of a sheriff’s department vehicle. “This prompted an 11-day manhunt for Vicky White and the Defendant who remained in her care and custody,” the defense said. The defense arguments came in a request to move Casey White’s upcoming capital murder trial out of Lauderdale County because of publicity caused by the escape and manhunt. While a court has not ruled on the request, a judge on Friday postponed White’s trial in the 2015 death of Connie Ridgeway. Authorities say he confessed to the slaying in 2020 while in state prison, but the defense asked a judge to throw out those statements. White won’t go on trial in the murder case any sooner than December, a judge ruled in granting an unopposed defense motion to postpone the case. A hearing on the escape case is scheduled for later this month. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Kay Ivey issues $5,000 reward for help capturing escaped inmate
A $5,000 reward has been given to a person who provided help in capturing an inmate who sparked a nationwide manhunt after escaping with a jail official, Alabama’s governor said Wednesday. Gov. Kay Ivey directed the Finance Department to issue a $5,000 reward to a person who “provided valuable assistance to law enforcement in securing the apprehension and arrest of Casey White,” Ivey’s office said in a news release. The recipient has chosen to remain anonymous, the governor’s office said. Officials did not describe what information the person provided. Casey White and jailer Vicky White disappeared from Lauderdale County Detention Facility on April 29, sparking a manhunt that drew international attention. The two were discovered May 9 in Evansville, Indiana. Officials said Vicky White died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a brief chase, while Casey White was captured. Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly had recommended that the reward be given, the governor’s office said. “Thanks to the good information from this citizen and the diligent work from law enforcement in Alabama all the way to Indiana, we were able to put the bad guy behind bars where he belongs. I look forward to justice being served,” Ivey said in a statement. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Sheriff: Alabama inmate, jailer were prepared for a shootout
A murder suspect and the jailer who helped him escape from an Alabama lockup were carrying $29,000 in cash, four handguns, and an AR-15 rifle and were prepared for a shootout when they were captured, an Indiana sheriff said Tuesday. Authorities caught up with the pair on Monday, more than a week after the breakout and nearly 300 miles away, and rammed their car into a ditch after a brief chase. Escaped inmate Casey White, 38, surrendered, while jail official Vicky White, 56, was found with a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at a hospital, officials said. Authorities believe she shot herself, but a coroner will make the determination, Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding said. The end of the manhunt left authorities trying to piece together what happened during the 11 days that elapsed after Vicky White escorted Casey White from a Florence, Alabama, jail for what she falsely claimed was a mental health evaluation. The inmate and the long-divorced Vicky White appeared to have had a “jailhouse romance,” Alabama authorities said last week. They were not related. As for her role in the escape, the sheriff said: “He was not forcing her. It was a mutual relationship.” At the time of the breakout, Casey White was serving a 75-year prison sentence for attempted murder and other offenses and was awaiting trial on charges of stabbing a woman to death during a 2015 burglary. If convicted, he could get the death penalty. Investigators believe the pair spent about six days holed up at a motel in Evansville. Authorities discovered wigs intended to hide their identities. Wedding said investigators do not believe the two had relatives or other contacts in the city of 120,000. “They thought they’d driven long enough. They wanted to stop for a while, get their bearings straight, and then figure out the next place to travel,” the sheriff said. Authorities closed in on them after the manager of a car wash reported that a man closely resembling the 6-foot-9, 260-pound Casey White had been recorded by a surveillance camera getting out of a pickup truck. Investigators said they located the pickup, then learned that the pair may have switched to a Cadillac, which was then spotted outside a motel nearby. When the couple left the motel, police chased them down, authorities said. Casey White told investigators after his capture that “he was probably going to have a shootout at the stake of both of them losing their lives,” the sheriff said. The inmate appeared by video Tuesday in an Indiana courtroom, where he waived extradition, and authorities said he will be sent back to Alabama. An attorney representing White in the murder case, Jamy Poss, declined to comment. Vicky White, assistant director of corrections at the Lauderdale County jail, had put in for retirement ahead of the escape, and the day of the breakout, April 29, was her last day of work. A woman who worked with her for 16 years could barely speak through tears Tuesday. “I know she did wrong and made a terrible mistake, but she’s still your friend,” longtime jail employee Sherry Sylvester said. She said that White often tried to help prisoners, particularly ones without family. But Sylvester said she never saw White do anything that crossed the line: “She did everything by the book.” Connie Moore, Casey White’s mother, said she last spoke with him by phone the day before the escape. She said her son may not have known what was about to happen. “Everything was just as normal as it could be. I doubt he even knew he was leaving when she came in there to get him,” Moore said. A warrant was issued on May 2 for Vicky White, charging her with permitting or facilitating escape. Authorities said the plan appeared to have been in the works for some time. She sold her house for about half its market value and bought an SUV that she stashed at a shopping center without license plates. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
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.
Merrick Garland: Escaped murder suspect, guard ‘extremely dangerous’
Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday that an escaped murder suspect and jail officer who aided him are “regarded as extremely dangerous” and the U.S. Marshals Service has taken over leading the search for the two fugitives. Law enforcement officials in Alabama have been looking for Casey White, who was awaiting trial on a capital murder case, and Vicky White, a jail official, since they vanished after leaving the Lauderdale County Detention Center last week. The two are not related, but had a “special relationship,” authorities said. Garland said they should be considered armed and dangerous and that anyone who spots them should not approach them. “They worked together in designing this plan to escape,” said U.S. Marshal Marty Keely, whose deputies are leading the hunt. Last Friday, Vicky White, 56, told her coworkers that the 38-year-old inmate needed to go to the courthouse for a mental health evaluation. She was escorting the inmate alone — a violation of the sheriff’s office policy. When she did not answer her phone or return in the afternoon, authorities realized the pair had gone missing. Authorities eventually learned that the evaluation was never scheduled and was just a charade to allow Vicky White to sneak Casey White out of the jail without suspicion. The two left in a patrol car, which was found abandoned nearby in a parking lot where investigators believe Vicky White had parked a getaway car. In the past week, authorities have learned that Vicky White purchased an array of weapons, including an AR-15 rifle in January and a shotgun two weeks before the scape. They also believe she has a 9 mm handgun with her and have received reports she may also have a .45 caliber handgun, Keely said. Federal investigators believe they had been planning the escape for at least several months, Keely said. Vicky White sold her house for $95,000 — nearly half of the market value — and had also sold her car just before the escape, he said. She had also filed paperwork to officially retire from her job. Police believe Vicky White had staged a getaway car nearby — a 2007 orange Ford Edge — that had no license plates. She bought the car just a few days before the escape and paid for it with cash, Keely said. “It was well planned,” Keely said of the escape. “She has a lot of knowledge about law enforcement procedures.” The Marshals Service and the sheriff’s office have interviewed a slew of associates, family members, and others who knew both Casey White and Vicky White and have received numerous tips in the investigation. But despite their best efforts, investigators have not come up with any solid leads to locate them. “We’ve vetted out all the leads and so far, we have no legitimate spotting,” Keely said. The Marshals Service is offering up to $10,000 reward for information leading to Casey White’s capture and a $5,000 reward for information leading to Vicky White. Authorities have said Casey White, who stands 6 feet, 9 inches (about 2 meters), should be recognizable by his size. Casey White was being held at the jail on capital murder charges in the 2015 death of Connie Ridgeway. He confessed to the slaying in 2020 while in state prison for other crimes. He’s been linked to home invasions, carjackings, and was also involved in a police chase, Keely said. 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. 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.
