Alabama corrections official Vicky White and escaped capital homicide suspect Casey Cole White have been captured in Indiana on Monday after greater than a week-long manhunt, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton mentioned. Vicky White, who had been hospitalized after the pair was apprehended, died later Monday night time, the Vanderburgh County Coroner mentioned in an announcement to CBS affiliate WEVV.
Coroner Steve Lockyear mentioned within the assertion that White died at 7:06 p.m. native time, including that an post-mortem is scheduled for five p.m. on Tuesday.
Authorities haven't publicly launched a explanation for loss of life, however a supply from the U.S. Marshals workplace instructed CBS Information that authorities imagine Vicky White suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the top.
At a press convention earlier Monday, Singleton mentioned Casey White surrendered with out incident and Vicky White was hospitalized after their car crashed. He didn't present any extra particulars about her accidents.
The seize got here after a citizen tip led authorities to Evansville, Indiana, greater than 200 miles from the place they initially disappeared, Singleton mentioned. Two regulation enforcement sources instructed CBS Information' senior investigative producer Pat Milton that investigators had "developed info" that they have been probably driving an older mannequin Cadillac not removed from a automobile wash the place a Ford F-150 had been deserted. The Ford F-150 had been reported stolen from Tennessee, which is the place authorities discovered the car the pair had most not too long ago been identified to be driving, the sources mentioned.
The U.S. Marshals Service discovered the Cadillac at a lodge and arrange surveillance, the sources mentioned. They then noticed the pair leaving the lodge and getting within the car, with Casey White driving and Vicky White within the passenger's seat. A chase ensued once they refused to tug over, which ended when the automobile flipped over right into a ditch.
One regulation enforcement supply instructed CBS Information that as investigators took Casey White into custody, he mentioned, "She shot herself. I didn't do it."
Previous to Vicky White's loss of life, Singleton mentioned the pair can be extradited to Alabama, with Casey White set to be arraigned rapidly in Lauderdale County earlier than he is transferred to the Division of Corrections.
"We bought a really harmful man off the streets at this time," Singleton mentioned. "And he's by no means going to see the sunshine of day once more."
The information comes greater than per week after the pair's April 29 disappearance. Vicky White instructed her colleagues that morning that she was taking Casey White to the courthouse for a psychological well being analysis, authorities mentioned. However her patrol car was present in a car parking zone hours later — and by 3:30 p.m., officers realized that each she and Casey White have been lacking.
Authorities later mentioned there had been no scheduled psychological well being analysis, including that it seems Vicky White — who was speculated to retire on the finish of the day — drove her patrol car to the car parking zone the place it was later discovered instantly after leaving the courthouse with Casey White.
Singleton mentioned the pair had a "particular relationship" and that they have been in touch over the telephone for months earlier than Casey White's escape. Singleton mentioned there may be at the moment no proof that the connection was bodily or sexual.
He additionally mentioned the escape incident confirmed him it is arduous to know who you'll be able to belief.
"You understand, I had each little bit of belief in Vicky White. She has been an exemplary worker," he mentioned earlier than her loss of life. "And what on the planet provoked her or prompted her to tug one thing like this, I do not know. I do not know if we'll ever know."
Vicky White had initially been charged with allowing or facilitating escape within the first diploma, and was additionally charged Monday with forgery within the second diploma and id theft for allegedly utilizing an alias to acquire a car used within the escape — a Ford Edge that had been situated "in the midst of nowhere" in Tennessee and towed by native authorities at roughly 2 p.m. the day the pair first ran off.
Earlier than they have been apprehended on Monday, the U.S. Marshals Service mentioned investigators had traveled to Evansville, Indiana, after receiving a tip.
The Marshals Service mentioned it had been instructed that a 2006 Ford F-150, a automobile the pair was believed to have been utilizing, had been discovered at a automobile wash in Evansville. Surveillance digital camera photos present a person standing close to the automobile sporting a hat, sun shades, a pink shirt and tan pants — although the Marshals Service didn't definitively determine the person as Casey White.
Casey White was initially being held on the jail on capital homicide fees within the 2015 loss of life of Connie Ridgeway. Singleton mentioned Monday that when White is finally returned to Lauderdale County for trial, he'll guarantee he is in a cell alone with an enhanced stage of safety.
"He'll keep in handcuffs and shackles whereas he is in that cell," Singleton mentioned. "And if he needs to sue me for violating his civil rights, so be it. He is not getting out of this jail once more, I am going to guarantee you that."
Matthew Mosk contributed reporting. This story has been up to date with extra particulars from regulation enforcement.