EVANSVILLE, Ind. — A federal grand jury indicted Alabama prisoner Casey White, who escaped prison and was found in southern Indiana May 9, Thursday on charges of having a gun as a felon and fugitive.
Casey, 38, of Florence, Alabama, escaped from jail in Lauderdale County on April 29 with the assistance of Vicky White, the longtime assistant corrections director. The two are not related.
On July 12, a grand jury indicted Casey with murder in Vicky's death, alleging that during the jailbreak — while committing the crime of escape in the first degree — Casey caused Vicky's death, who authorities said shot herself in the head right before they were captured.
According to the United States Attorney's Office Southern District of Indiana, Casey had four handguns and an AR-15 rifle when Vicky and he were found in Evansville. Casey was prohibited from possessing guns because he was a fugitive, as well as his 2019 felony convictions for attempted murder and kidnapping in Limestone County, Alabama.
Investigators believe Casey and Vicky met at the jail where she worked, developed a romantic relationship and planned the escape.
Casey is currently in custody at an Alabama jail on separate charges and will make his initial appearance in southern Indiana at a later date.
If convicted, Casey faces an additional 10 years in federal prison for each count.
Casey has already been charged with first-degree escape in the jailbreak. He also faces a capital murder charge in the 2015 killing of Connie Ridgeway. He hasn't been convicted of that murder, however.
Authorities say he confessed to the slaying in 2020 while in state prison, but the defense asked a judge to throw out those statements.
He won't go on trial in the murder case any sooner than December, a judge ruled in granting an unopposed defense motion to postpone the case.