Ex-prison guard Vicky White and inmate Casey White 'planned shootout' if captured

Inmate Casey White (L) and corrections officer Vicky White

A murder suspect and the female prison guard with whom he escaped planned to die in a shootout if they were captured, police in Indiana have said.

Casey White, 38, and Vicky White (no relation), 56, were arrested on Monday after an 11-day manhunt as their vehicle was forced into a ditch.

He surrendered but she shot herself before she could be arrested, according to police.

The pair are believed to have been romantically involved.

Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding said on Tuesday at a news conference that if the couple did have a getaway plan, it was a flawed one.

He said Casey White faced lengthy questioning after his arrest and told investigators: "They thought they'd driven far enough and wanted to stop for a while, then figure out the next place to travel."

On Tuesday, a judge set a June trial date for Mr White's original murder charge.

Officials say that once he is officially arraigned on his new escape charges, he will be sent to the prison system, which is - unlike jails - traditionally reserved for convicted criminals.

"In a county jail, you've got people coming and going all the time," Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton told Alabama's News19. "You don't have that situation in the prisons."

The duo vanished from a prison in Lauderdale County, Alabama, on 29 April.

It was Ms White's last day at work before retirement. She had recently sold her home and told colleagues she planned to spend more time at the beach.

According to officials, she said she was transporting him - by herself, against prison rules - to a mental health evaluation that proved to be bogus.

Last Wednesday, police tracked the fugitives to the city of Evansville, Indiana, some 267 miles (430km) from the Alabama jail, after a local car wash worker reported a truck sitting in his lot for days. Surveillance video would go on to show Casey White standing by the truck.

Sheriff Wedding said the couple appeared to have spent nearly a week in hiding in the city.

A Cadillac linked to the pair was spotted in the parking lot of a motel on Monday. A wig-wearing Ms White was later seen checking out and getting into a car driven by Casey White.

Police had set up surveillance and a chase ensued, ending with a US Marshal ramming his vehicle into theirs, causing it to fall in a ditch and turn on its side.

Several guns, including an AR-15 rifle and 9mm handguns, as well as multiple wigs and $29,000 (£23,500) in cash were found inside the vehicle.

Sheriff Wedding said "the quick and aggressive action" by police probably saved lives.

"We later found out, if they hadn't done that, the fugitive was going to engage in a shootout with law enforcement," he told reporters on Tuesday, saying Casey White had revealed those plans to police.

The sheriff said Ms White had shot herself "almost instantaneously" before deputies could get to her.

Late on Monday, the Vanderburgh County Coroner's Office in Indiana confirmed that Vicky White had died in a local hospital after the attempted arrest.

According to US Marshals, the Whites had previously been last seen on Friday driving a copper-coloured Ford Edge with an Alabama registration plate.

Officials had warned that the 6ft 9in Casey White was "extremely dangerous" and law enforcement should not "take any chances" with him.

Meanwhile, Ms White had a spotless record as a prison guard.

Casey White was charged in September 2020 with murder over the stabbing of 58-year-old Connie Ridgeway.

While he allegedly confessed to the murder, he later pleaded guilty by reason of insanity and was awaiting trial at Lauderdale County jail when he disappeared. He faces execution if convicted.

He was already serving 75 years for a series of violent crimes in 2015, including burglary, vehicle theft and a police chase.

Following Mr White's recapture, officials in Alabama's Limestone County reopened a probe into the 2008 death of a former girlfriend, Christy Shelton, whose death was officially ruled a suicide.

Shelton's family has long said they believe that Mr White - who was present at Shelton's home when she died - was involved.