Alabama fugitives Casey White, Vicky White got help in Indiana: police
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The prisoner escaped on the run with a former correctional officer who helped him flee returned to Alabama late Tuesday after a Hunting 11 days, many statuses for the fugitive couple.
Authorities brought Casey White, 38, to court in Lauderdale County, Alabama, from Evansville, Indiana, where he and former editing staff Vicky White, 56, went into hiding for days to find the motive. next steps before being arrested, investigators said.
After multiple leads, abandoned cars and car chases, Casey White surrendered Monday, but Vicky White died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, an autopsy report showed. Police said the former assistant superintendent of corrections for Lauderdale County had sold her home and planned to retire the day she helped Casey White escape from the Alabama prison where she worked.
Casey White appeared briefly in Lauderdale County court on Tuesday night. CNN reported Judge Ben Graves told White he would be charged with fleeing in the first degree. White has already served 75 years in prison for kidnapping and attempted murder, and he also faces trial for murder.
HOW IT HAPPENS:How Vicky White, Casey White evaded the police, the US sheriffs in the 11-day hunt
The pair evaded arrest for more than a week and a half with thousands of dollars in cash, several firearms and multiple vehicle swaps, according to the police account of the fugitive manhunt.
But new details continue to emerge about how Casey White and Vicky White managed to stay on the autopilot. An Indiana sheriff said Tuesday the pair were likely assisted by a local third person traveling to Evansville to rent a hotel room where they could stay low. A local car wash owner also said he alerted police a few days before their arrest that an abandoned van that was eventually linked to fugitives was on his property. .
How did Casey White and Vicky White’s escape go?
The hunt begins after Vicky White allegedly told a coworker on April 29 that she was taking Casey White from the Lauderdale County Correctional Facility for a court appointment. No such appointment existed and Vicky White violated department policy by transporting an inmate alone, authorities later said.
The warning that the couple was missing was first issued later on April 29. Within days, Investigators identified Vicky White as an accomplice. In what authorities called a “prison romance,” Casey White received special privileges that other inmates did not. The the relationship continued for two yearsLauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said.
Two law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the details of the investigation told The Associated Press that Vicky White had previously left the prison with Casey White for about 40 minutes, which investigators believe was a dry escape.
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When they escaped on April 29, Vicky White escorted Casey White into her patrol car, surveillance video shows. The vehicle was later found at a shopping mall, and police say the couple converted the vehicle into an orange Ford Edge, which was then parked at a trailer park in Tennessee.
The truck forced the fugitives to be abandoned for almost a week before they were caught
Before news of the Ford Edge was abandoned, Casey White and Vicky White abandoned another vehicle, according to police and a car wash manager.
James Stinson, who has run the car wash for 18 years, told Evansville Courier & Press, part of the USA TODAY NetworkLaw enforcement was slow to act because of his concerns about an F-150 pickup he first noticed parked in a washroom May 3 – the same day police said. Casey White and Vicky White abandoned their truck in Evansville.
“Normally I just call and have them pull,” says Stinson. “But there’s something questionable about this.”
At a news conference on Tuesday, Evansville Police Chief Billy Bolin said a vehicle used by Casey White and Vicky White was discovered in the area on May 2 while an officer was checking license plates. frequently in a parking lot to see if there are any reported vehicles. steal.
Police on May 4 went to Stinson’s car wash to inspect the truck the manager reported it to, Bolin said. When officers arrived, Stinson was not present and examination of the vehicle’s license plate did not indicate it had been stolen or involved in a crime, Evansville Police Department spokesman Sgt. said. Anna Gray.
When Stinson returned to the car wash, he called the police again to inquire about the abandoned car. When an officer turned around and checked the license plate, Stinson said, the results were the same: nothing unusual had to do with the vehicle.
At the time, Bolin and Gray said, police had not yet established a link between the vehicle and the couple who fled Alabama.
By Sunday, however, Gray said US Sheriffs had told Evansville police the vehicle had been stolen and may have been involved in crime. Due to miscommunication, officers initially thought the truck had been used to commit a crime in Kentucky.
Gray said officers still don’t know what crime the vehicle was in on Monday morning. Officers eventually confirmed the Ford F-150 may have been linked to Casey White and Vicky White, and law enforcement soon went down to the car wash to secure evidence. Surveillance video shows a man matching Casey White’s description at the business near the pickup truck.
A third person supports Casey White and Vicky White, police and management said
Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding said Casey White and Vicky White exchanged the pickup for a Cadillac at the car wash and then took off. Over the weekend, when it became more apparent that the couple had arrived in town, investigators did not think they would remain in the area, Wedding said Tuesday.
However, a few miles from the car wash at Motel 41, Casey White and Vicky White paid for a two-week stay. Wedding said Casey White later told detectives they were in Evansville to “go straight and then figure out the next place to travel”.
Wedding said investigators on Tuesday believe a third person helped them check in to the hotel. The sheriff previously said the couple had no prior relationship with Evansville and did not comment on who might have helped them.
Investigators believe the couple paid a homeless man to use his identification to inspect the room and pay cash upfront for 14 days, the Associated Press reports.
At the motel, manager Paul Shah confirmed Casey White and Vicky White were visiting a local who was staying there. At first, he denied inquiries from Courier & Press and said he did not test the pair.
“(Casey White and Vicky White) are not officially registered guests here,” said Shah.
Shah would not identify the tenant, adding that the room was still occupied and “still in that person’s name.”
“It was a local, but the police told me not to reveal anything until the whole investigation is completed,” Shah said. Courier & Press knocked on the door of the room Tuesday night, but there was no answer.
Police found Cadillac before the fugitives were about to leave town
Wedding said an Evansville police officer on Monday discovered the Cadillac in the parking lot of Motel 41 while the officer was on patrol.
That prompted the defector task force to go to the hotel to keep an eye on the vehicle, Wedding said. When the task force spotted Casey White and Vicky White leaving the motel parking lot, the chase began.
Wedding said the car chase was brief. Police crashed the couple’s car, which ran into a ditch and overturned. As officers approached, Vicky White shot himself, Wedding said.
Police later recovered $29,000, four handguns, an AR-15, Vicky White’s belt, camping equipment and other personal belongings, Wedding said.
“They’re leaving Evansville,” the sheriff said, adding, “It’s my belief that they think, ‘We’ve been here long enough. We have to get out’.”
Casey White told detectives he was armed with several guns and was about to open fire during the chase, but his car overturned prevented him, Wedding said. The officers’ swift action could have saved the lives of other officers, Wedding added.
Dashcam video released by the Evansville Police Department of the arrest shows several armed law enforcement officials pulling Casey White on the ground out of the overturned vehicle. The video shows them pinning White down before leading him, handcuffing the police car and holding him against it.
In body cam footage of first responders removing Vicky White from the car, officers pull their guns from her hand before pulling her out.
She later died at a local hospital, according to the coroner’s office.
Contributing: Celina Tebor and Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY