1 of 2 | Casey White, who escaped from an Alabama jail in April, 2022, pleaded guilty to escape in the first degree Thursday. File Photo courtesy Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office |
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May 5 (UPI) -- Casey White, the man who escaped from an Alabama jail in 2022 with the help of a female corrections officer, pleaded guilty to escape in the first degree in a Florence, Ala., courtroom Thursday.
In 2022, White, 39, was being held in a Lauderdale County Jail on capital murder charges in a 2015 stabbing death.
On April 29, the Lauderdale County Jail's assistant director of corrections, Vicky White, who was unrelated to Casey White, took him from the jail in a police vehicle, telling jail authorities she was transferring the inmate to a psychological evaluation. However, it soon was learned that Vicky White's actions were a ruse to cover for willingly helping to free Casey because of their romantic relationship.
Casey White and Vicky White reportedly had a suicide pact and, as authorities closed in on the pair, she shot herself, eventually dying in the hospital later that month.
White was recaptured in Evansville, Ind., on May 9 after a car chase that ended with a crash.
After the recapture, the court told White that he would face charges for the escape on top of the charges he already faced for the 2015 killing unrelated to his escape.
Additionally, White was charged with Vicky White's death because Alabama law classifies certain deaths that occur during the commission of a crime as murder.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said the person who provided the anonymous tip that led to White's arrest will receive a $5,000 reward.
According to media reports, Casey White pleaded guilty in exchange for having the murder charges related to the death of Vicky White dropped.
"You're probably just as surprised by today's turn of events as we are," Casey White's attorney Robert Tuten told reporters.