Preliminary hearing set for Casey White charged with escape

LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) – Online court records show a preliminary hearing has been set for former escaped inmate Casey Cole White.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on June 20 at the Lauderdale County Courthouse.

White faces a first-degree escape charge in the recent manhunt that spanned multiple states over the course of 11 days. White was reportedly on the run with then-corrections worker Vicky White. Despite sharing a surname, the two were not related.

On Friday, April 29, Vicky White walked out of jail with Casey White – on the principle of transporting him for a mental health evaluation at the local courthouse. Records would later show that no such examination was planned.

The drive from the correctional center should have taken 3-4 minutes, but it took nearly 3 hours before authorities realized the two had not returned to the prison. Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton called U.S. Marshals to help find the pair.

The patrol car was found abandoned in the parking lot of a nearby shopping center, which was right next to the hotel where Vicky White had stayed the night before.

An SUV was found in Middle Tennessee a few days later and was traced to Vicky, who had purchased the car from a local dealership just before the escape. The rust-colored Ford Edge was found 107 miles from the Lauderdale County Detention Center, abandoned near a wooded area.

Vicky White also sold her house in the weeks leading up to the escape. According to Lauderdale County officials, April 29 was supposed to be his last day working there before he retired. Singleton also confirmed that the couple had a “special relationship” that had been going on for some time.

Casey White was facing murder charges after confessing to the stabbing death of Connie Ridgeway in 2015. The confession came after a series of crimes the same year ended in a standoff with the county sheriff’s office of Limestone.

The manhunt has also prompted another investigation to reopen, where Casey White is suspected of being involved in the 2008 murder of his ex-girlfriend. Although Christy Shelton’s death was ruled suicidal, several people in his life pleaded for the case to be looked at again.

On Monday, May 9, US Marshals released photos of a 2006 Ford F-150 truck that was dumped at a car wash in Evansville, Indiana on May 3. The owner of the South Weinbach Avenue car wash said he saw a man who appeared to be Casey White get picked up by another car with a driver who looked like Vicky White.

Later that day, a Cadillac car that Casey White and Vicky White were suspected of driving was seen near the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office in Indiana, and law enforcement began following it. A chase ensued on Highway 41 northbound and involved U.S. Marshals, the FBI, and Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Deputies.

Law enforcement officials ended the pursuit by colliding with the Cadillac, causing it to overturn. Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding said after the accident Vicky White took her own life and was taken to a local hospital in serious condition.

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At a press conference on Tuesday, Wedding said Casey White told investigators he planned to have a “shootout” with police when he was caught. The sheriff says the decision to crash the vehicle likely saved the lives of several of his deputies.

A 911 call made from the vehicle was released by authorities, along with dashcam and body camera footage of the chase, crash and capture.

Police recovered four handguns and an AR-15 from the Cadillac after the arrest. The pair also had $29,000 in cash on hand.

An Evansville police officer first noticed the Cadillac the suspects were using in the parking lot of the old Motel 6 along Highway 41. Police say the two paid for a 14-night stay at the motel while they planned their next move.

Vanderburgh County Coroner Steven W. Lockyear said Vicky White died at 7 p.m. at Evansville Deaconess Midtown Hospital Monday night. His autopsy determined that the cause of his death was suicide from a single self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Casey White was brought back to Lauderdale County to be arraigned. At that time, the judge added first-degree escape to his charges – although the date of his capital murder charge will likely remain the same.

White has been held at Donaldson Correctional Center in Birmingham since May 11.