Captured White fugitive Casey White intended to have a shootout with law enforcement and would have done so if pursuing officers had not forced White to crash into a ditch Monday in Evansville, Indiana, a sheriff said Tuesday.
“If we hadn’t (forced him into the ditch), the fugitive would have gotten involved in a shootout with law enforcement,” Vanderburg County Sheriff Dave Wedding told reporters, quoting White’s interviews with investigators after his capture.
“This action may have saved the lives of many of my deputies (and other officers),” Weding said.
Investigators found weapons and about $ 29,000 in cash in the vehicle White was driving on Monday, Wedding reported.
Authorities believe White’s passenger, former Alabama repairman Vicki White, shot herself after “the vehicle crashed,” Weding said. She died at the hospital later Monday.
A medical examiner will confirm whether Vicki White shot herself, Wedding said.
“(Casey White) said there would probably be a shootout at the stake and they would both lose their lives,” Weding said.
[Original story, published at 12:21 p.m ET]
Authorities released new details of the latest moments of Monday’s police chase, which ended an 11-day escape from Alabama inmate Casey White with a former correctional officer – who investigators say may have ended his own life during the chase. As Casey White tried to distance herself from pursuing police in the southern Indiana town of Evansville, his passenger, former correctional officer Vicki White, said in a conversation with police dispatchers that he had a gun, a sheriff said Tuesday.
When the chase ended with the wreckage and officers approached the car, Vicki White was unconscious with a gunshot wound to the head and (Casey White) gave up without incident, “Dave Weddin, Vanderberg County Sheriff of Indiana, told CNN on Tuesday.
Authorities believe in advance that she may have taken her own life, but we will wait until the investigator examines the body to confirm, “Weding said.
That put an end to the search, which began on April 29, the day authorities said 56-year-old Vicki White released the 38-year-old murder suspect Casey White from prison in Alabama, where she was retiring. as Assistant Director of Adjustments.
In an audio recording from Evansville Police, a dispatcher said during the chase on Monday that “we could hear her on the line saying she was keeping her finger on the trigger.” The dispatcher could be heard saying “they’re calling 911” earlier.
It is unclear who called 911. Authorities did not release the audio recording, which they believe contains White’s voice.
Investigators looking for the couple – who investigators say are unrelated – have headed to Evansville following a report from the public on Sunday, said Rick Singleton, sheriff of Lauderdale County in Alabama and former chief of Vicki White.
Surveillance officers spotted Vicki White leaving the hotel on Monday in a wig, US Marshal Marty Keeley said. Then she and Casey White got in the car and drove off.
Authorities continued to monitor them as a vehicle chase began, which ended when a member of the U.S. Marshals Task Force drove a vehicle into the Cadillac in which the couple was. The car crashed and overturned, Keeley said. According to US marshals, the car was driven by Casey White.
Police were able to pull the prisoner out of the wrecked car, but Vicki White was pinned inside with a gunshot wound to the head, Keeley said.
Casey White reportedly told authorities to help “his wife” who was shot in the head, and told them he did not, according to Keeley. Casey White and Vicki White were not married to the knowledge of investigators, Keeley said.
According to Singleton, none of the police officers fired during the chase.
Live updates: The latest on the Alabama fugitive case Many questions remain, including why Vicki White left Lauderdale County, Alabama with the prisoner. Authorities said the couple may have had a romantic relationship, which they suspected only after the escape, in part from what other prisoners said.
“I don’t know what provoked her in the world, prompted her to do such a cascade. “I don’t know if we’ll ever find out,” Singleton said Monday.
Casey White refuses to be extradited
Casey White waived her right to an extradition hearing at Indiana Jail on Tuesday.
“I want to go back to Alabama,” said Casey White, wearing a yellow jumpsuit and orange slides, as he appeared before a judge at Vanderburg County Jail in Indiana.
When he returns to Alabama, he will immediately go to an indictment judge and then be transferred to the US Department of Corrections instead of the county jail, Singleton said Tuesday.
Casey White has spoken freely with investigators since his arrest, Weding said Tuesday.
“He was quite candid with investigators last night. They had a long interview,” Weding said.
The council led to their capture
The officer and inmate are believed to have been in Evansville since May 3, Wedding said.
Investigators said Sunday night that a 2006 Ford F-150 was found in a car wash in Evansville, about 175 miles north of Williamson County, Tennessee, where the couple is believed to have abandoned a vehicle. which they boarded after Vicky White’s Patrol Car near the jail withdrew. The marshals traveled to Indiana to pursue the lead, the service said.
Investigators released photos Monday of a man believed to be Casey White captured by a surveillance camera in the car wash. Vicki White is not seen in the photos.
The couple initially disappeared on April 29, when Vicki White said she was taking Casey White to the mental health court. But they never arrived at the courthouse, and authorities later discovered they were driving to a mall parking lot, abandoned a police patrol car, and fled in a Vicky White vehicle the night before, officials said.
Casey White will be returned to Alabama, where he was charged with murder before fleeing and is already serving a 75-year sentence for other crimes. Prior to her death, Vicki White was charged with allowing or facilitating first-degree escape, in addition to allegations of forgery and identity theft related to the use of a pseudonym to buy the 2007 Ford Edge in which the couple initially fled, they said. employees.
The veteran officer is described by Singleton as an “exemplary employee” with a “flawless record” who has the trust and respect of his colleagues. As the investigation progressed, the sheriff admitted that her apparent behavior was incompatible with the person her colleagues thought they knew.
“Obviously there was a country of Vicki White that we were not aware of,” he told CNN.
The search was a challenge for investigators
Vicki White “was essentially the brain behind the whole plan,” Singleton said Tuesday.
“He was behind bars. He really couldn’t plan too much behind bars, but, yes, I think – personally, I think she was the one who made the plan,” he told CNN’s John Berman on Tuesday.
As second commander at the detention center, White used his position to carry out the plan, Singleton said.
“She scheduled the transport by minibus that morning, making sure that all other armed deputies left the building and were tied up in court. “She knew the reservation officer wouldn’t question her … when he told her he’d take him to court and leave him with other staff,” Singleton said.
“She arranged – bought an escape car, sold her house, took cash, went shopping, bought clothes for him. She just – she just made the plan, “Singleton said.
“Casey White didn’t run away from the facility, he was just released,” the sheriff said.
Vicky White’s many years of experience in law enforcement have created unique difficulties for the authorities.
“This escape was obviously well planned and calculated,” Singleton said Monday, noting that escapes from county jails are usually spontaneous. “A lot of preparation has been put into this. They had a lot of resources, they had money, they had vehicles, they had everything they needed to do it, and that made the last week and a half so challenging. We started from scratch, and not only that … they have six hours ahead of us. “
Earlier, investigators released a video of Vicki White at the Quality Inn in Florence, Alabama, where she said she stayed the night before the escape. Singleton also said they have footage of her shopping for men’s clothing at a department store and an “adult store,” adding that she “apparently had a change of clothes” for the prisoner.
Before her disappearance, Vicki White filed for retirement, sold her home for well below market value and bought the car the couple will use to escape, officials said.
The day of her disappearance was supposed to be her last working day, but her retirement documents were never finalized, according to Singleton. The Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office announced last week that she was no longer working there.
Lauderdale County Attorney Chris Connelly, who said he worked with the police almost every day for 17 years, told CNN last week that he “would trust her with his life.”
“I’m so disappointed in her,” he said. “She was trusted and she takes advantage of that trust.”
Counselors will be provided at the Lauderdale County Detention Center for staff who may need them after Vicki White’s death, according to Singleton.
“It’s a small agency, like a family,” he told CNN. “For some of these younger deputies, she was like a mother to them, and I know they will find it hard to bear.”
Casey White will probably have to return to the detention center in the future for court hearings related to his murder charges. Singleton said the prisoner would be isolated in a cell.
“He will remain in chains and handcuffs, and when he leaves this establishment, I guarantee you that he will have two deputies with him,” he said. “And he will never get out of this prison again …
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