Casey Cole White
After days on the run, murder defendant Casey Cole White, 38, ended up right back where he began: in a jail cell.
Authorities say they found the fugitive and his alleged accomplice—former sheriff’s deputy Vicky White, 56 (no relation)–and caught them on Monday after short chase. But Vicky White died from injuries, and officials are reporting secondhand from survivor White that she had shot herself.
Casey White remains at the Vanderburgh County Jail in Indiana after his recapture on Monday, online records show. Authorities have voiced plans to bring him back to Alabama, where he is charged with murdering Connie Jane Ridgeway, 59, and currently serving at 75-year prison for a 2015 crime spree.
Ridgeway’s son Austin Williams welcomed news of the latest arrest.
“Just night and day difference,” he said, according to NBC News. “It’s like you’re going through the darkest night, and then the next day the sun is shining.”
According to officials out of Lauderdale County, Alabama, high-ranking jailer Vicky White misused her position to escort Casey White out of the jail on April 29, under the guise of getting him to court for a mental health evaluation. Instead, the Whites ditched the deputy’s patrol car at a nearby parking lot, switched to a 2007 Ford Edge and fled, officials have previously said.
Authorities have repeatedly emphasized Casey White’s violent history, and noted that the pair were likely armed because Vicky White had guns from work and her personal life. Even a former lawyer of Casey White’s voiced concern the missing inmate might end up attempting suicide by cop. Attorney Dale Bryant described him as living with mental illness and being a “decent person” while behind bars and getting medication.
“When he gets out of incarceration, he is unable to stay on his medication, and he even self medicates by smoking methamphetamine or taking other illegal substances,” Bryant told WAFF in an interview published Friday.
On Monday, however, it was Casey White who ostensibly surrendered.
“Please help my wife,” Casey White said, according to the U.S. Marshals in an NBC News report. “She just shot herself in the head, and I didn’t do it.”
Authorities said that to their knowledge, the Whites were not married.
Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding told TODAY that they “we won’t rule anything out until we have a thorough investigation by the coroner.”
Vanderburgh County Coroner Steve Lockyear said Vicky White’s autopsy is set for Tuesday.
Lauderdale County Ricky Singleton has reportedly said he would not be surprised if Vicky White had actually not shot herself, but he noted there was no evidence to support that.
Authorities have suggested that Casey White had recently been spotted at a car wash in Evansville, Indiana. This is the footage that put authorities on the suspects’ trail in Indiana:
Authorities said they conducted surveillance and spotted Vicky White wearing a wig at a hotel, according to CNN. Both Vicky and Casey White got into a vehicle. According to the official version of events, officials surveilled the two until a pursuit took place. A U.S. Marshals task force member drove into the suspect Cadillac driven by Casey White. The suspect vehicle crashed and rolled over.
Now Vicky White is dead, never to answer the question herself of why she helped a suspected murderer flee the state. Authorities have said she and Casey White knew each other going back at least two years. She recently sold her house below market value. April 29–the day of the escape–was scheduled to be her last day of work before retirement.
[Booking photo via Vanderburgh County Jail]