Casey White sentenced to life in prison after escape from jail, capture in Evansville
EVANSVILLE – More than a year after he was captured in Evansville, former escaped fugitive Casey White was sentenced to life in prison Thursday after escaping an Alabama jail and sparking a nationwide manhunt.
White, 39, pleaded guilty last month to charges stemming from his escape from Lauderdale County Jail alongside jailer Vicky White in 2022.
The two, who were not related despite the shared last name, evaded authorities for 11 days: a week of which they reportedly spent in Evansville, holed up in a motel along U.S. 41. On May 9, 2022, authorities eventually ran them down after a short car chase.
Vicky White reportedly shot herself in the head after police rammed their gray Cadillac, knocking it on its side. She later died at Deaconess Hospital. She was 56 years old.
The Whites had been heavily armed, and reportedly had been prepared for a "shootout" with police, former Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding said. They never got the chance.
Before pleading guilty, Casey White had faced a felony murder charge in her death. According to WHNT, White pleaded guilty in order for the murder charge being dropped.
"I loved Vicky and I wouldn't drag her name through the mud for anyone in this courtroom," White reportedly said in court on Thursday. "Vicky took me out because she said, 'right was right. Wrong is wrong.' First person to show me affection. First person to give me a hug in six years."
A seven-part series by the Courier & Press' Thomas Langhorne laid out how Casey and Vicky struck up a friendship and eventual romance, and how they spent their time in Evansville.
Vicky White had recognized Casey's name when he showed up at the jail in August 2020, Casey told FBI Special Agent David Gorman and deputy sheriff Nathan Sugarman, an FBI task force member. She and her ex-husband had known Casey's brother. Casey said he first saw Vicky at a party 20 years before.
They eventually began sharing letters, and then phone calls. And on April 28, they vanished from Lauderdale County's jail.
The pair eventually landed in Williamson County, Tennessee, where they purchased a $6,000 Ford F-150 in cash from a man selling cars out of his front yard. On May 3, the truck was found abandoned in a wash bay at Weinbach Car Wash.
Surveillance footage showed 6-foot-9 Casey White loitering behind it, and driving away in a used gray Cadillac with Vicky at his side.
Evansville Police auto theft Detective Darren Richardson eventually spotted the Cadillac at Motel 41 while driving home from work. EPD, U.S. Marshals and the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office, among other authorities, set up surveillance and waited until the Whites eventually emerged from their makeshift home inside Room 150.
When they finally did, the short chase occurred, leading to Vicky's death and Casey's return to court – and prison.
According to AL.com, Casey White will also stand trial for capital murder trial on Aug. 14 for the 2015 killing of Connie Ridgeway in Rogersville, Alabama. White was being held for the trial when he escaped. And he was already serving a 75-year sentence for a 2015 attempted murder conviction, among other charges.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Casey White, fugitive caught in Evansville, given life in prison
