Vicky White news - latest: Recordings of jailhouse phone calls prove guard’s relationship with Casey White
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Capital murder suspect Casey White is likely to face new charges following his prison break, according to the DA prosecuting his case.
In the aftermath of his 10-day evasion — made possible with the help of correctional officer Vicky White, who died by suicide during a police chase — more details have emerged about how the couple managed to stay under the radar for more than week.
Dramatic police footage captured the moment a nationwide manhunt ended in Indiana earlier this week after White, an inmate serving a 75-year sentence for attempted murder, was apprehended and his 56-year-old lover Ms White’s body was pulled from a wrecked vehicle. She died from what a coroner ruled to be a self-inflicted shooting wound.
A chilling 911 call released following the crash revealed Ms White telling the capital murder suspect: “Let’s get out and run”. She also appeared to blame White for wanting to stay “at a f****** motel” moments before their crash.
An investigation into the ordeal is still ongoing as police face mounting questions over how the fugitives evaded capture for over a week.
Casey White’s long criminal past
Casey White has a long rap sheet going back two decades long before he broke out of prison with his lover Vicky White and went on the run.
In 2006, when he was arrested over a domestic violence incident involving his own mother.
Four years later in 2010, he pleaded guilty to attacking a male relative with an ax handle and was sentenced to six years in prison.
At the time of his prison escape last month, he was serving a 75-year sentence for a 2015 crime spree where he tried to murder his ex-girlfriend, held victims at gunpoint and shot a dog dead.
He is also due to stand trial in June for the 2015 capital murder of a 58-year-old mother-of-two who was found stabbed to death in her apartment.
Officials in Alabama are now also taking a fresh look at the 2008 shooting death of another girlfriend, which was – at the time – ruled a suicide.
Read the full story here:
Jailhouse phone calls reveal relationship between inmate and prison guard
Recorded jailhouse phone calls between Vicky White and Casey White help prove the prison guard was having a relationship with the Alabama inmate before the two went on the run, according to police.
“You think you know someone,” Lauderdale County sheriff, Rick Singleton, whose office oversees the Lauderdale County correctional center where the couple made their daring escape, told The Guardian. “And it turns out you really don’t know them at all.”
Correctional officer Vicky White met Casey White in 2020 at the Lauderdale County Correctional Facility, and kept in touch when he was transferred temporarily to state prison, before returning.
Once the pair went missing in late April, police spoke with detainees who said the two had been in a romantic relationship, a fact confirmed by recordings of calls made between the two, Mr Singleton said.
It is not clear when the phone calls came to light or when police and jail officials became aware the two were having a relationship.
Brother of murdered police officer describes Vicky White as ‘like a mom to me'
The brother of a murdered police officer has described Vicky White as “like a mom to me” and told people that she was not the person that many believe her to be based on the events of the last few weeks.
Billy Risner is the brother of Sheffield Sgt. Nick Risner who was shot dead in Alabama last year.
Mr Risner paid tribute to Ms White in an emotional Facebook post calling her an “amazing woman” who was there for him after his brother’s death.
“Those of you that did not have the pleasure of knowing this amazing woman I don’t expect you to understand the hurt we feel. Only thing you know is what you have seen on the news,” he wrote.
“Back in October when my brother was shot she called me before I even made it to the hospital. She offered to carry us to Huntsville and to sit with us. She was there for me without me having to ask her to be.
“When I seen that she was missing and nobody had a clue what had happened I put my gear on and I offered my time to help hunt for her. After we figured out what had happened I didn’t give up on her.
“I sent her a text telling her that we really wanted her to just let someone know she was ok. I hope she at least read it because when she was at her worse I wanted her to know that I was still here for her. Vicky was like a mom to me and everyone else she mentored and I’m going to miss her so bad!”
Vicky White was laid to rest on Saturday
Vicky White was laid to rest on Saturday in a funeral attended by hundreds, including former colleagues and inmates at the jail where she staged a prison break two weeks earlier.
The service took place at Center Hill Cemetery in Lexington, Alabama, about 24 miles away from Lauderdale County jail.
It was five days after she died from a gunshot wound to the head as police officers closed in on the fugitives’ vehicle.
The coroner ruled her death a suicide.
DA won’t rule out bringing charges against Casey White over Vicky White’s death
Prosecutors have not ruled out the possibility that Casey White will face charges over the death of his jailhouse lover Vicky White.
Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly told The Independent that White, 38, could face fresh charges over the doomed prison escape and 10-day manhunt as the investigation continues.
“I intend to prosecute him both for the capital murder and the escape and other related charges that we are looking at,” he said.
The DA, who had worked closely with Ms White throughout her 17-year career as a corrections officer, did not elaborate on what the charges would be.
However he said that investigators had received information from their counterparts in Indiana, where the couple were finally captured.
When asked if the charges could relate to the death of Ms White, the DA said he “couldn’t comment on that”.
White has already been charged with escape in the first degree and is now back in Alabama being held in a maximum security prison.
This comes on top of the 75-year prison sentence he is currently serving and two counts of capital murder that he was already charged with over the 2015 stabbing death of 58-year-old Connie Ridgeway.
White’s trial will begin in June for the murder of Ms Ridgeway, who was found brutally stabbed to death in her apartment in Rogersville, Alabama, on 23 October 2015.
Fugitives paid homeless man to check them into motel
Fugitives Casey Cole White and Vicky White paid a local homeless man to check them into a motel as they tried to lay low during their time on the run, according to authorities.
The couple checked into Motel 41 in Evansville, Indiana, back on 3 May and paid cash upfront for a 14-night stay, said Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding.
The sheriff said investigators believe the Whites, who are not married and not related, paid a homeless man to use his own ID to check into room 150 so that they did not have to reveal their own identities to the owner.
As a result, the motel owner said he had no idea that the two people at the centre of a nationwide manhunt were holed up inside his building until after law enforcement tracked down and apprehended the fugitives on Monday.
Motel 41 owner Paul Shah told ABC31 that the room was “under some local guy’s name” and that the couple “were not officially guests of the hotel”.
He did not provide details about the identity of the individual and suggested that the fugitives could have been visiting him.
The individual believed to have booked the motel on behalf of the fugitives is not facing any charges.
ICYMI: Police footage of the fugitives’ capture
Dramatic police footage has been released of the moment that capital murder suspect Casey Cole White was captured and his prison guard lover Vicky White’s body was pulled from their vehicle with a gun still in her hand.
Dashcam footage released last Tuesday shows a patrol car racing to the grassy bank where the couple’s Cadillac was rammed off the road by law enforcement officers following the brief chase.
A group of officers are already on the scene and are seen pulling the six foot nine inch tall fugitive away from the car and pinning him to the ground.
White is placed in cuffs and held there for a few moments before the officers pull him to his feet and lead him away.
Dressed in in black trousers, a white t-shirt with a blue shirt open over the top and dark sunglasses, the 38-year-old is seen glancing behind him back in the direction of the car where his lover remains trapped. The Cadillac is seen flipped on its side in a ditch by the side of the road with other officers gathered around it and no sign of Ms White.
Two officers push White down onto the bonnet of the patrol car before sitting him down on the ground.
Watch the footage here:
The tragic downfall of Vicky White
Last week, Vicky White should have been cheered on by her colleagues in a fun ceremony where she would have been awarded Lauderdale County’s Corrections Employee of the Year for the fifth time.
Instead, the 56-year-old she was laid to rest in a cemetery in Lexington, Alabama – her reputation in tatters.
Her spectacular downfall and death marks the tragic end of a 10-day manhunt that both captured the attention of the nation and shocked those closest to her.
From the day that she vanished with a man accused of stabbing a mother-of-two to death for money and convicted of a terrifying rampage where he tried to murder his ex-girlfriend, her family, friends and coworkers have struggled to reconcile her actions with the woman they thought they knew.
The question on everyone’s minds: why would a model employee who was seen as a mother figure to her colleagues risk her life and career to break a suspected killer free from prison and go on the run with him armed with a stash of weapons?
Read the full story on Vicky White’s tragic downfall:
Employee of the year to fugitive: Unanswered questions Vicky White takes to the grave
Former mother-in-law Frances White and longtime colleague Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly tell Rachel Sharp why the community is struggling to reconcile the model employee and ‘really nice person’ they knew with the Vicky White who was at the centre of a dramatic – and fatal – manhunt
Son of Casey White’s alleged victim launch GoFundMe for car wash owner
The son of one of Casey White’s alleged victims has launched a GoFundMe to raise money for the car wash owner who helped track down the escaped fugitive and his jail guard lover.
Austin Williams, whose mother Connie Ridgeway was allegedly stabbed to death by White back in 2015, set up the campaign for James Stinson and have so far raised over $3,600 in donations.
“We’re not waiting around to see if Mr. Stinson receives reward money elsewhere,” reads the GoFundMe page.
“We’re going to do it right here, right now.”
Mr Stinson found the White’s pickup truck abandoned at his business back on 3 May and reported it to police.
The sighting ultimately led to the capture of the couple and calls have been growing for him to be given the reward money offered by authorities for information leading to their capture.
White is currently awaiting trial for the 2015 stabbing murder of 58-year-old mother-of-two Ms Ridgeway.
Ms Ridgeway was found stabbed to death in her apartment in Rogersville, Alabama, on 23 October 2015.
The case went unsolved for five years until White sent a letter to the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office confessing to the crime.
During a subsequent interview with authorities, he allegedly gave details about the crime that had not been made public and which only the killer could have known.
Prosecutors say he was paid to carry out the hit on his victim. He was charged in 2020 with two counts of capital murder.
After confessing to the murder, he initially pleaded guilty before changing his plea to not guilty by reason of mental illness.
His trial is slated to begin in June and, if convicted, he faces the death penalty.
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