An Alabama sheriff claims prison staff were unaware of the two-year ‘special relationship’ between a jail guard and the confessed murderer until she sprung from prison last week.
Vicky White, 56, and Casey White, 38, who are not related, shared a ‘special relationship’ dating back to 2020 when the prisoner was first brought to Lauderdale County for his arraignment.
Although Casey was in custody at a state prison ahead of his arraignment and was transferred back to facility immediately after, the pair maintained a relationship, Sheriff Rick Singleton confirmed to DailyMail.com Wednesday.
Vicky visited Casey while he was at the Alabama Department of Corrections (DOC) without the knowledge of Lauderdale County officials.
‘I’m sure DOC didn’t know where she worked or that she was a corrections officer,’ the sheriff added, noting the pair managed to keep their romance very discreet.
The details of their secret relationship emerged just hours after officials released new video of the couple’s escape. The footage shows the squad car they were traveling in pass a gas station as Vicky drove Casey to a mental health evaluation appointment, which did not exist.
The pair abandoned the vehicle about a half-mile from the gas station.
Corrections officer Vicky White (left) and confessed murderer Casey White (right) shared an intimate relationship dating back to 2020 that authorities were unaware of, investigation revealed. The pair are not related
New video released Wednesday shows Vicky and Casey driving to the Florence Square shopping center on Friday where they abandoned the sheriff’s car used during the escape
Surveillance video previously released showed Vicky helping Casey escape from the Lauderdale County Jail, where he had been incarcerated, on Friday. The pair then fled together
US Marshal Services released this picture showing the size difference between Casey and Vicky and a Ford Edge like the one they used
Another mock up published by the officials shows the pair – believed to be lovers – compared to a door frame
Surveillance video taken at the Lauderdale County Jail showed the moment Vicky snuck 6ft 9in ‘monster’ Casey out of the facility before they went on the run with an AR-15 and a shotgun.
Casey was serving a 75-year sentence for attempted murder, burglary, robbery, kidnapping and animal cruelty. He also faced murder charges after confessing to the fatal stabbing of Connie Ridgeway, 58.
The apparent lovers made a break for it on Friday after Vicky told superiors she was going to take Casey for a mental health evaluation on her last day before retirement.
The 56-year-old widow held the door for the 38-year-old thug – who was still wearing handcuffs – before they got into a black car and sped off at 9.30am on Friday.
New video released Wednesday shows Vicky and Casey driving to the Florence Square shopping center where they abandoned the sheriff’s car used during the escape.
The latest footage shows them driving through the intersection of Huntsville Road and Cox Creek Parkway at 9.49am on Friday, WAAY reported. The intersection is about a half-mile from the shopping center.
The cruiser was found abandoned in the center parking lot several hours after the escape.
Vicky is pictured opening an interior jailhouse door. Casey is believed to have been in the hallway at the time
The jailer and confessed killer shared an intimate relationship dating back to 2020.
Inmates allege Vicky ensured Casey ‘was getting extra food on his trays’ and ‘was getting privileges no one else got,’ a claim that Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton told CNN has been confirmed by an independent investigation.
‘As far as we know that was the earliest physical contact they had,’ Singleton said of the arraignment. He claims Casey and Vicky continued to communicate after the accused murderer was transferred back to the prison.
Investigators are analyzing surveillance footage recorded at the Lauderdale County Jail, where the escape occurred, to learn more about their relationship.
Sheriff Rick Singleton (pictured) told DailyMail.com that jail staff were unaware of the relationship between Vicky and Casey or that she had been visiting him at state prison. He claims the couple was very discreet
Meanwhile, the confessed murderer’s mom, Connie White, has defended her son, claiming he is innocent and ‘not a monster.’
‘I just have no idea why they’ve painted him as a monster,’ Connie White told The New York Post in a phone interview Tuesday. ‘The only reason he came out to Lauderdale County was to get out of the prison he was in.
‘He wrote a letter to say that he murdered that woman. But he didn’t really murder her, he just done that to get back up here. He just wanted to be out of that prison because it was so bad and there was no food.’
Connie denied having any knowledge of her son’s alleged relationship with Vicky. ‘He never mentioned Vicky White,’ she said. ‘He said he had a pen pal but I had no idea who it was.’
She also claimed that when she spoke to her son the day before his vanishing act, his behavior was seemingly normal.
‘Everything was perfectly fine,’ Connie said.
The US Marshals Service said they suspected the pair are armed with an AR-15 and a shotgun and may have used a copper 2007 Ford Edge during their escape.
But cops and federal agents have launched a huge manhunt and drip-fed more information about the duo – including that the jailer had two aliases herself.
Casey exits the hallway and follows Vicky outside the facility
The manhunt comes as Casey’s ex-girlfriend begged Vicky to flee the killer, warning her she was not safe with him
Sheriff Singleton, who described Vicky as ‘an exemplary employee,’ issued a plea to the former jail guard, asking her to turn herself in.
‘Vicky you’ve been in this business for 17 years, you’ve seen this scenario play out more than once and you know how it always ends,’ Singleton told Good Morning America Wednesday.
‘Now go ahead and end it now, get to a phone and call 911, turn yourself in and help us get Casey White back behind bars because you know that’s where he’s going to eventually end up.’
The sheriff said that as of Wednesday morning, investigators ‘don’t have any idea where they might be.’
‘We were making some good progress on that. We may be hindered now that some of that information has gotten out,’ Singleton explained. ‘But, you know, we’re still working around the clock to locate them and try to get them back in custody.’
The sheriff also noted, despite hopes of her colleagues and superiors at the Lauderdale County Jail, all signs suggest Vicky willingly participated in the escape.
‘The pieces of the puzzle just came together,’ he said.’I think all of our employees and myself included were really hoping that she did not participate in this willingly. But all indications are that she absolutely did.
‘We’re very disappointed in that because we had the utmost trust in her as an employee and as an assistant director of corrections.’
He noted that she violated policy by escorting the inmate alone, saying: ‘This particular guy and someone like that, no, that should have never happened, even if we had to delay getting him to court.’
Vicky is a 17-year veteran of the sheriff’s office. Singleton said she had been discussing retirement for several months and submitted necessary documentation to do so last Thursday.
Friday, the day of Casey’s escape, was set to be her last day on the job. The sheriff previously said she ‘talked about going to the beach’ after retirement.
She had also been living with her mother after selling her Lexington home on April 18. Public records reviewed by WAAY revealed Vicky sold the property for $95,550, which was below market value.
Singleton believes the wanted former jailer may be ‘flush with cash’ from the sale. However, he noted her retirement money remains locked up as she was expected to meet with officials this week to discuss those funds.
It comes as the US Marshals Service said the pair may have made off in 2007 Ford Edge that is copper in color
Officials also said that the pair may have made off in 2007 Ford Edge that is copper in color
In 2020, Casey’s request to be transferred out of prison and into the county jail was denied after authorities found a makeshift knife stashed in the shower that they believed he intended to use to force someone to let him out
The manhunt comes as the maniac’s ex-girlfriend begged Vicky to flee the killer as they spent a fifth day on the run.
The woman, who has not been named but was shot by Casey in 2015, warned her she was ‘disposable’ to the escaped inmate.
‘Casey White is very dangerous to everybody that is around him,’ Casey’s ex told WAAY-TV on Tuesday. ‘I feel like he has manipulated her and she’s disposable to him.
‘If [Vicky] is still alive, she needs to get the hell out. Run,’ she added.
‘Run as far away as you can and turn yourself in and contact somebody. Do the right thing before you lose your life or before somebody else does.’
The unidentified woman is reportedly at an out-of-state hideout and fearful for her life. She said: ‘[Local police] promised to step up patrols, but we are freaking out.
‘We don’t know if he is going to show up and take us out like he tried to do before. I thought I would never have to worry about him ever again.’
However, despite warnings from the authorities and the criminal’s alleged prior victims, Connie White maintains her son his not dangerous.
‘I don’t think so. He’s not a monster, I’ll put it that way,’ she told the Post. ‘He is not the monster they are making him out to be, at all.’
Authorities have offered a reward of up to $15,000 for information leading to Casey’s capture.
Vicky and Casey were seeing each other while he languished in Lauderdale County jail, inmates told cops
Vicky’s mother-in-law – whose son passed away earlier this year – believes the guard ‘may have been brainwashed’ by the criminal.
Frances White told DailyMail.com that Vicky is a ‘sweet’ person who wouldn’t have helped a confessed killer escape.
But her opinion has changed as the days go by and more information about Vicky’s relationship with inmate Casey White comes to light.
Vicky was previously married to Frances’ son Tommy, who died in January of complications from Parkinson’s Disease.
‘I’m just proud he wasn’t still alive, cause he still thought she was a good person,’ Frances told the Daily Beast.
‘I can’t imagine her running off with that guy, but you never know. He walked into a woman’s house and stabbed her.’
Frances says her two surviving sons are also in shock: ‘They can’t believe it either. My oldest son, no way could he picture her leaving with him… It looks like she helped him escape.’
She added: ‘Maybe he’s got her brainwashed. But I don’t know how he’d have had a chance to get her brainwashed, because he was in prison.’
In 2020, Casey’s request to be transferred out of prison and into the county jail was denied after authorities found a makeshift knife stashed in the shower that they believed he intended to use to force someone to let him out.
But he was moved to the jail anyway in order to face capital murder charges for the death of Ridgeway.
On Friday, Vicky White told a booking officer she was escorting Casey to the county courthouse for a mental health evaluation. The move was against protocol for Casey, who was always meant to have at least two guards with him. No such evaluation was scheduled that day.
‘Being the boss and over the transport, she just informed the booking officer that she was going to carry him to the courthouse and drop him off, which was a flagrant violation of policy,’ Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton told CNN.
‘But I’m sure because it was her boss, the booking officer didn’t question it.’
She also said she was going to a medical appointment for herself, which was confirmed by the doctors’ office, but for which she never showed.
US Marshals are offering rewards up to $5,000 for information leading to Vicky White and $10,000 for information leading to Casey White
A statement, which was quickly deleted online, said the vehicle had a bit of damage to the left rear bumper
Singleton said Casey was ‘handcuffed and shackled’ in the back of Vicky’s patrol car when they both left the county jail that morning.
From there, they went straight to the parking lot of a nearby shopping center.
Surveillance footage shows Vicky’s police cruiser parked at the Florence Square shopping center eight minutes after leaving the jail.
‘There was not enough time for them to even attempt to try to come to the courthouse,’ Singleton said.
The car was spotted in the parking lot an hour-and-a-half later.
‘Casey White is an extremely dangerous person. We need to get him located and get him off the street,’ the sheriff warned.
Vicky is facing charges of ‘permitting or facilitating an escape in the first degree,’ a felony that carries a maximum prison term of 10 years.
Her mother, Pat Davis, doesn’t believe her daughter would willingly help an inmate she never even talked about.
However, preliminary investigation has suggested otherwise.
Casey White, above in February 2019, was arrested in 2015 for a crime spree in which he shot at his ex-girlfriend. He previously told police he’d kill her if he got out
Connie Ridgeway, 59, was killed in her home at Meadowland Apartments in Rogersville, Alabama in 2015. Casey White said he was paid to kill her
Casey White has been described as a ‘dangerous monster’ who promised to kill his ex-girlfriend if he ever got out.
In December 2015, he broke into a home in Athens and ordered two men to get down on the ground at gunpoint, according to court documents.
He fired multiple shots and left bullet holes in the wall during the rampage but his ex-girlfriend managed to escape.
Two young children were found hiding in the basement, while a dog was found shot dead in a hallway, Fox News reports.
‘He stated that he wanted to kill her and have the police kill him,’ according to a police report.
‘His only regret was that neither was successful. He stated that if he was released he would kill the victim.’
He was eventually convicted on nine counts including attempted murder, kidnapping and animal cruelty and was sentenced to 75 years in prison.
Casey’s arrest at the age of 32 finally came after he engaged in a crime spree that played out in two counties in Tennessee and Alabama in December 2015.
In one night, he staged a home invasion and carjacked two vehicles at gunpoint, shooting one person in the arm, WHNT reports. The crimes were followed by a chase where speeds reached more than 100 miles per hour.
Vicky’s mother says that her daughter, who was named ’employee of the year’ four times and was living with her after selling her house five weeks ago, never mentioned an inmate
Police are pictured in December 2015 taking Casey into custody after a wild rampage across Tennessee and Alabama that ended in a 100mph car chase, and his stolen car stuck in a field
It ended with a stolen car stuck in a field south of Huntsville, and officers – who were evidently well known to him – pleading with him to put down his gun and give himself up.
He was charged with attempted murder, two counts of kidnapping, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, third-degree burglary, breaking and entering a vehicle, animal cruelty for shooting a dog and attempting to elude.
While serving time in June 2020, he confessed to killing 59-year-old Connie Ridgeway in a murder-for-hire plot two months before the crime spree.
Ridgeway was killed in her home at Meadowland Apartments in Rogersville, Alabama in 2015, according to WAFF. He said he was paid to kill her, although no motive for hiring a hitman has ever been disclosed.
He pleaded not guilty on grounds of insanity and was temporarily moved from prison to the Lauderdale County jail to face trial. That’s when he escaped with the help of Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White.
Casey’s half-brother, Steven Patrick White, 47, of Town Creek, has been missing since 2017. Casey was in state prison at the time of Steven’s disappearance
The inmate’s whereabouts aren’t the only mystery plaguing Casey’s family.
Sheriff Max Sanders, of nearby Lawrence County, said the Lauderdale County escapee’s half-brother has been missing since 2017.
Steven Patrick White, 47, of Town Creek, was last seen at his home in October 2017.
His wife reported him missing the next day, prompting a canine search of the family property. However, the search was unsuccessful.
The Lawrence County Rescue Squad then conducted a dive team search for the missing man in November 2017 which also yielded no results.
‘We occasionally get a call from the public about the fellow’s whereabouts. We follow it up but so far nothing has panned out,’ Sanders told AL.com on Tuesday.
Sanders noted that Casey was in state prison at the time of Steven’s disappearance. There is a $2,000 reward for information pertaining to the Town Creek man’s whereabouts.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk