Fugitive inmate in Alabama, prison official had multiple guns and was ready for a shootout: sheriff

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An Alabama murder suspect and his jailer who evaded authorities for more than a week after being released from an Alabama jail were carrying US$29,000 (C$37,595) in cash, four handguns and an AR-15 rifle, and were ready for a firefight when they were captured, an Indiana sheriff said Tuesday.

Escaped convict Casey White has shown no remorse for the death of prison official Vicky White, who was found fatally injured with a gun in her hand on Monday after a brief car chase, the city’s sheriff said. Vanderburgh County, Dave Wedding.

Authorities do not believe Casey White shot Vicky White, but a coroner will make the final decision, he said.

Casey White, 38, surrendered without a fight, saying he did not kill the woman he called his wife. He appeared by video on Tuesday in an Indiana courtroom, where he waived extradition, and authorities said he would be promptly returned to Alabama.

Vicky White, 56, was pronounced dead in a hospital on Monday after the Cadillac she was driving was pushed by members of the US Marshals task force into a ditch, where she ended up on her side, a said the sheriff of Evansville, Indiana. They were nearly 300 miles from the Alabama jail where he was awaiting trial for capital murder.

This composite provided by the US Marshals Service and the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office shows inmate Casey White, left, and Vicky White, deputy director of corrections. The fugitive couple, who are not related, were picked up on Monday after disappearing April 29 from an Alabama prison. Vicky White was found dead. (US Marshals Service, Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office/Associated Press)

The end of the manhunt did little to answer lingering questions surrounding the escape: Why would a long-respected prison official, on the eve of her retirement, give up everything to help a dangerous criminal escape? What did they do while evading authorities for about 11 days? And when they were finally surrounded, did she really pull the trigger to end her life?

“Jail Romance”

The inmate and Vicky White, who were not related, appeared to have had a “prison romance”, Alabama authorities said last week. As for his role in the escape, the sheriff said, “He wasn’t forcing it. It was a mutual relationship.”

At the time of the escape, Casey White was serving a 75-year prison sentence for attempted murder and other offenses and was awaiting trial for stabbing a woman to death during a 2015 burglary. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Investigators believe the couple spent around six days locked up in a motel in Evansville. Authorities discovered wigs intended to hide their identity. Wedding said investigators did not believe the two had relatives or other contacts in the town of 120,000.

“They thought they had driven long enough. They wanted to pull over for a while, get their bearings and then figure out the next place to travel,” the sheriff said.

Casey White told investigators after his capture that “he was probably going to have a shooting at the stake where they would both lose their lives,” the sheriff said.

NBC Today The show reported on Tuesday that federal marshals said Casey White told officers at the scene, “Please help my wife. She just shot herself in the head and I didn’t. not done.”

The sighting sparked the pursuit

Authorities have moved closer after a car wash manager said he told US Marshals on Sunday that a man closely resembling Casey White was recorded by a CCTV camera exiting a 2006 Ford F-150 pickup truck White is six-foot-nine and weighs around 260 pounds.

After locating the F-150, authorities got information that the two may have been riding in a beige 2006 Cadillac, U.S. Marshal Marty Keely said. hello america.

“We sent our men to the car wash area and observed the vehicle at a hotel,” Keely said.

Members of a U.S. Marshals task force went to investigate, which led to a brief chase, Vanderburgh County Sheriff Wedding said. Today.

“The chase was very short,” Wedding said, describing how the car was rammed and sent into a ditch. “Like [officers] approached the vehicle, it was apparent that the driver was unconscious and still had a weapon in her hand. And they pulled the murderer out of the vehicle at the same time.”

He said it has not been officially determined that Vicky White in fact committed suicide.

WATCH | The video shows a couple leaving prison in Alabama:

Security video shows inmate escape

Footage provided by the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama shows Deputy Director of Corrections Vicky White walking inmate Casey White, a murder suspect and no connection to Vicky, to the jail gate. The couple were picked up in Indiana on Monday, having been free since April 29. 0:42

The manhunt began on April 29 after Vicky White, deputy director of corrections at Lauderdale County Jail, told her colleagues she was taking Casey White, who was awaiting trial in a murder case. qualified, from prison for an evaluation of his mental health. There were no such meetings.

“We have a dangerous man on the street today. He will never see the light of day again. It’s a good thing, not just for our community. It’s a good thing for our country,” Singleton said. , sheriff of the county of Lauderdale, mentioned.

Authorities said it appeared the plan had been in the works for some time. Vicky White had retired before the escape, and the day of the escape, April 29, was her last day on the job.

Over the past few months, she has purchased a rifle and a shotgun and was also known to have a handgun, Keely said. She also sold her house for about half its market value and bought an orange 2007 Ford Edge that she hid in a strip mall with no license plates.

Connie Moore, Casey White’s mother, said she last spoke to him by phone the day before the escape. She said maybe her son didn’t know what was going to happen.

“Everything was as normal as it gets. I doubt he even knew he was leaving when she came to pick him up,” Moore said.

Marriage, right, points to a photo of the scene where the couple were apprehended. At a news conference in Evansville on Tuesday. Wedding said authorities found multiple weapons at the scene. (Timothy D. Easley/Associated Press)

Prison inmates said the two had a special relationship and that Vicky White treated Casey White better than the other inmates.

Before Vanderburgh County Coroner Steve Lockyear announced his death, the Alabama Sheriff said he hoped to get answers from his once-trusted prison worker.

“I had complete faith in Vicky White. She was an exemplary employee. What provoked her, prompted her to do a stunt like this? I don’t know. know,” said said Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton.

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