Captured inmate Casey White charged with murder after death of jail guard Vicky White

The Alabama inmate who broke out of prison in April and set off a nationwide manhunt has been charged with murder following the death of his jail guard lover who helped him escape.

Vicky White, 56, helped Casey White, 38, escape from a jail in Florence, Ala., in late April. After faking transportation to a mental evaluation at a nearby courthouse, the two switched cars at a shopping center and went on the run. The pair had a six-hour headstart before authorities realized there was no mental evaluation.

Before the description was made public, the two ditched their car in Tennessee and bought a truck.

This combination of photos provided by the U.S. Marshals Service and Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office in April 2022 shows inmate Casey White, left, and Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White.

Law enforcement caught up with them 11 days later in Evansville, Ind., after their truck was spotted at a car wash and the two were found at a nearby motel. After a chase that ended when their car crashed into a ditch, as police closed in on the two, Vicky White apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Casey White was taken into custody.

Authorities said the two developed a secret romantic relationship and planned the escape together.

The Lauderdale County District Attorney announced Tuesday White is now charged with first-degree escape “and in the course and furtherance of committing escape in the first degree, caused the death of Vicky White, who died from a gunshot wound to the head,” according to al.com.

Under Alabama law, a murder charge can be tacked on when a death occurs during the commission of another crime.

FILE - Escaped inmate Casey White arrives at the Lauderdale County Courthouse in Florence, Ala., after waiving extradition in Indiana, on May 10, 2022. (Dan Busey/TimesDaily/)

A grand jury made the indictment on July 6 and a copy of it was delivered to White on Monday.

“Casey White will enter a plea of not guilty to the charge of felony murder at his arraignment,” White’s defense attorney, Mark McDaniel, said in a statement Tuesday. “The defense team will file a number of pre-trial motions including a motion for the state to provide the defense team with a copy of the autopsy of Vicky White. After receiving the results of the autopsy, the defense team will file additional motions stating the relief sought.”

White was already serving a 75-year sentence for a 2015 string of crimes, including a home invasion, a carjacking and a police chase that led to him being convicted of attempted murder and kidnapping charges, and is facing a murder trial that is scheduled to begin in December for the 2015 death of Connie Ridgeway.