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More details released after escaped Alabama inmate and ex-deputy captured


Authorities in Indiana held a news conference Tuesday and shared photos of the firearms and cash they recovered after apprehending Alabama murder suspect Casey White and Vicky White, the now-deceased deputy who helped him escape jail.Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding said deputies and officers found the pair with four handguns and an AR-15. "Any one of these weapons could have been used to ambush our officers while they were attempting to capture a murder suspect," Wedding said.They also found them with $29,000 in cash. Vicky White reportedly sold her home for about $95,000 before the two disappeared from the Lauderdale County jail in Alabama on April 29.Wedding said the pair also had multiple wigs and had been in the Evansville area for about a week. He said Casey White and Vicky White were not married. Wedding said Casey White "was not forcing her" to do anything. "It was a mutual relationship," the sheriff said.According to Wedding, Casey White planned to have a shootout with law enforcement."He said that he was probably going to have a shootout at the stake of the both of them losing their lives," the sheriff said.Authorities said they believe Vicky White shot herself "once the vehicle crashed" following the chase Monday in Evansville. She later died at a hospital. A coroner will confirm whether Vicky White shot herself, Wedding said."Their plan was pretty faulty," the sheriff said. "They're criminals. Their plan was faulty and it failed. Thank God."Prior to the news conference, Casey White waived his extradition at a hearing, paving the way for his return to Lauderdale County. White appeared at the extradition hearing via video wearing a bright yellow prison shirt and pants, ankles and hands shackled before him.The judge told him he could waive extradition, telling him it "simply means you want to go back to Lauderdale County and get this resolved." The judge said if he didn't waive extradition, an extradition hearing would be held in 30 days, and authorities from Alabama would come to confirm his identity. The judge said the process would take up to six months."I'm waiving my rights," White told the judge. "I'm going back to Alabama."Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said once Casey White is returned to the state, he will appear at the courthouse for an arraignment hearing and then be immediately transported to an Alabama state prison facility. In 2019, White was sentenced to 75 years in prison for a series of crimes in Limestone County including kidnapping, attempted murder, robbery and burglary.

Casey White waived his extradition at a hearing Tuesday, paving the way for his return to Lauderdale County, Alabama, one day after being captured in Indiana.

White, who escaped from jail with the help of ex-deputy Vicky White, was taken into custody following a short police chase on Monday. Officials say Casey White surrendered and Vicky White may have ended her own life during the pursuit.

The arrests ended a nationwide manhunt that began April 29.

White appeared at the extradition hearing via video wearing a bright yellow prison shirt and pants, ankles and hands shackled before him. The judge told him he could waive extradition, telling him it "simply means you want to go back to Lauderdale County and get this resolved." The judge said if he didn't waive extradition, an extradition hearing would be held in 30 days, and authorities from Alabama would come to confirm his identity. The judge said the process would take up to six months.

"I'm waiving my rights," White told the judge. "I'm going back to Alabama."

Police chase

Authorities are releasing new details of the final moments of Monday's police chase.

As Casey White tried to drive away from pursuing officers in the southern Indiana city of Evansville, his passenger — the former corrections officer Vicky White — indicated during a call with police dispatchers she had a gun, a sheriff said Tuesday.

By the time the chase ended in a wreck and officers approached the car, Vicky White "was unconscious with a gunshot wound to her head, and (Casey White) gave up without incident," Dave Wedding, sheriff of Indiana's Vanderburgh County, told CNN on Tuesday.

Authorities preliminarily "believe that she may have taken her own life, but we will wait until the coroner's office examines the body to make a confirmation," Wedding said.

How it started

The manhunt began April 29 after Vicky White, the assistant director of corrections for the jail in Lauderdale County, told co-workers she was taking Casey White, who was awaiting trial in a capital murder case, from the jail for a mental health evaluation. There was no such appointment.

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 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.

Video below: Surveillance footage shows missing Alabama deputy, capital murder suspect leave jail


A warrant was issued on May 2 for Vicky Sue White charging her with permitting or facilitating escape in the first degree.

Vicky White’s family members and co-workers said they were stunned. 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, Keely said. She also 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.

On what Vicky White said would be her last day at work, 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.

CNN and The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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