Escaped Alabama murder suspect Casey White planned to get into a shootout with police if his car hadn’t been rammed into a ditch by police, officials said Tuesday.
He is now in custody following an 11-day nationwide manhunt that ended in a car chase and the death of the former corrections officer who reportedly helped him escape prison.
As police closed in on Casey and Vicky White, who were not related, a cop car rammed into the escapee’s vehicle, causing it to tip onto its side and land in a ditch.
If the car hadn’t crashed, Casey White had planned to open fire at police officers, Vanderbugh County Sheriff David Wedding said during a Tuesday press conference.
‘He said he was probably going to have a shootout at the stake of both of them losing their lives. Their plan was pretty faulty – they’re criminals. It failed. Thank god,’ Wedding said.
As police approached the vehicle, Vicky White shot herself, the sheriff said. Casey White gave himself up to authorities, who recovered four semiautomatic handguns from the car.
Authorities also found multiple wigs and $29,000 in cash inside the Cadillac that the pair had been driving. They had booked a two-week stay at a nearby motel.
In the weeks leading up to the escape, she had sold her house and withdrawn $90,000 from the bank. By Monday, the couple only had $29,000 left.
Casey White, 36, was taken into custody early Tuesday morning after being treated for his injuries at a hospital.
He waived his extradition hearing during a virtual hearing from the Vanderburgh County jail in Evansville, Indiana. He wore a yellow jumpsuit and looked tired, with massive bags under his eyes following the nearly two-week-long chase.
‘I want to go back to Alabama,’ he said when asked during the hearing what he wanted to do.
Vicky White, 56, died Monday at the hospital from what police believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Authorities are still investigating whether her death was a suicide or if Casey White had shot her.
Investigators say Vicky White helped Casey White, whom she was not related to but shared a ‘special relationship’ with, flee the Lauderdale County jail in Alabama on April 29, where she was employed at the time of the escape.
Vicky White had been on the phone with police at the time of the car crash, the sheriff confirmed Tuesday.
Audio of the call obtained by reveals the dispatcher saying: ‘We believe we possibly have them on 911.’
During the call, Vicky White indicated that she had a gun to her head.
‘We believe that she may have taken her own life,’ the sheriff said. ‘ But we will wait till the coroner’s office examines the body to make a confirmation.
According to the US Marshals Service, when Casey White exited the car he told officers: ‘Please help my wife. She just shot herself in the head, and I didn’t do it.’
The sheriff later confirmed that the couple was not married. Vicky White’s autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.
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