Vicky White, jail official accused of helping Alabama murder suspect escape, died of self-inflicted gunshot wound, coroner says
Vicky White, the Alabama corrections official accused of helping capital murder suspect Casey White escape custody, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, the Vanderburgh County Coroners Office said Tuesday night. Vicky White, 56, died Monday night, hours after she and Casey White were apprehended in Evansville, Indiana, after a more than weeklong manhunt.
"The manner of death has been ruled a suicide," the coroner's office said.
According to authorities, Casey White told law enforcement officials who captured him that Vicky White had shot herself. The two are not related, but he did refer to her as his "wife," U.S. Marshals said.
"Casey quickly surrendered, and his immediate words to our team was, 'Please help my wife. She just shot herself in the head,'" Commander of the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force Deputy Marshal Chad Hunt said.
U.S. Marshals told CBS News there is no evidence Casey and Vicky White were ever married.
Earlier Tuesday, Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding said Casey White told police "he was probably going to have a shootout at the stake of both of them losing their lives." Wedding also said the pair had about $29,000 in cash, multiple wigs, at least four handguns and an AR-15 rifle when they were captured.
The sheriff said authorities were investigating how they obtained the weapons.
The two we apprehended Monday after a car chase that ended when officers rammed their car into a ditch. The chase kicked off after an Evansville, Indiana, police officer on Monday spotted a Cadillac that the pair were believed to be using in a hotel parking lot. Authorities began surveilling the hotel, Wedding said Tuesday, and began pursuing Casey and Vicky White when they fled.
Casey White suffered "a couple bumps and bruises" from the crash, Wedding said.
Following his capture, Casey White signed a waiver of extradition. On Tuesday night, he was transferred back to Lauderdale, Alabama, where he will face trial for capital murder charges next month.
At his arraignment late Tuesday night, the judge added first-degree escape to his pending charges, CBS Huntsville, Alabama affiliate WHNT-TV reports. He was already facing a capital murder count in the 2015 stabbing death of a local woman.
Alex Sundby, Victoria Albert and Brian Dakss contributed reporting.
If you or someone you know might be at risk of suicide, there is help. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text a crisis counselor at 741741 or visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org.