Alabama Correctional Service Officer Vicki White has died in a suicide, an Indiana County coroner said Thursday, confirming authorities’ suspicions that she shot herself after a car chase on Monday that ended 11 days on the run with a prisoner she is accused of. that she released.
White, 56, who authorities say released Alabama prisoner Casey White from the Alabama jail in late April, died of a single gunshot wound to the head, Vanderburg County, Indiana’s coroner’s office said.
Authorities say they believe Vicki White was fatally shot after the car in which the two were smashed while being chased by law enforcement in Evansville, Indiana.
Evansville officials released an audio recording of a call to 911 on Wednesday that Vicki White said was made during the chase, an audio that gives some idea of the seconds leading to her death but did not say exactly when the gun was fired.
As officers chased a Cadillac driven by Casey White on Monday afternoon, they rammed the Cadillac into a ditch and the vehicle overturned, authorities said. Investigators believe Vicki White shot herself “after the car crashed,” Vanderburg County Sheriff Dave Widing said Tuesday.
The sound of 911 seems to begin near the end of the chase. It starts with someone saying something indistinguishable and the dispatcher saying Evansville 911. No one seems to be addressing the dispatcher, who says “911” and “hello,” as if without an answer.
Instead, a female voice – which authorities say is Vicki White’s – is heard for the first six seconds, saying things including “Stop” and “Wait, stop … the airbags will fire and kill us.”
After twelve seconds, a loud noise is heard – the first of at least four loud noises that appear in about 15 seconds. In any case, it is not clear what the noise is, and it is not clear from the audio when the car was hit, when it overturned and when a gun was fired.
“God,” the woman says after the first noise. “The airbags are triggering. Let’s get out and run.” She mentions a hotel.
The second noise is heard and the woman screams. At least two more noises are heard, followed – 30 seconds after the recording – by a new scream.
For the next 30 seconds, only muffled sirens are usually heard. A minute after the recording, a low voice is heard – perhaps a moan – but it is not clear whose voice it is.
Shortly afterwards, distant voices are heard, along with occasional movement, although it is unclear whether it is inside or outside the vehicle. About a minute and 40 seconds after the recording, someone started saying phrases like “she’s breathing” and “she has a gun in her hand.”
The telephone line remains open while employees work to remove the couple from the vehicle.
Vicki White was transported to a hospital where she died, US marshals said. Casey White, 38, was detained and transported back to Alabama.
The escaped prisoner and correctional officer escaped from Lauderdale County, Alabama, on April 29. Authorities say Vicki White, who was then assistant director of the county jail’s correctional services, took Casey White out of the detention center on the pretext of taking him to court.
Investigators believe the two formed a romantic relationship, while Casey White, who was normally held in a state prison, was periodically transferred to Lauderdale County Jail to attend hearings related to the 2015 death of Connie Ridgeway with a knife. ., for which White faces death charges. . The county sheriff said the two were communicating when he was transferred back to state prison.
Together, their escape sparked an 11-day persecution that engulfed many countries and attracted widespread national attention. Although their search is over, questions remain about the circumstances surrounding Vicki White’s death and the future Casey White faces.
SHERIFF: CASEY WHITE SAIDS HE INTENDED TO COMPLY
According to Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton, none of the police officers fired during the chase.
An audio signal from Evansville Police released earlier this week said the dispatcher was advising law enforcement “” we could hear her on the line saying she pressed her finger on the trigger. “
The 911 record does not appear to reveal that Vicki White mentions a gun or a trigger finger. However, other people on the recording – probably police officers in charge – can be heard saying that her finger was on the trigger when they found her.
When police pulled Casey White out of the car and detained him, he reportedly told them to help “his wife” who was shot in the head and insisted he did not, according to US Marshal Marty Keeley, who said known, the couple was not married. Earlier, authorities said the policeman and the prisoner were not connected.
Casey White said she intended to have a shootout with law enforcement if his car was not hit in a ditch, Weding said Tuesday, citing White’s interviews with investigators after his arrest.
“(Casey White) said there would probably be a shootout that put both of them at risk of losing their lives,” Weding said.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO CASE WHITE
Casey White was returned to Alabama on Tuesday night to attend a Lauderdale County indictment.
Judge Ben Graves told White at the hearing that he would be charged with first-degree absconding, in addition to the deadly murder charges he had already faced in connection with Ridgeway’s death. White allegedly admitted to killing her, but later pleaded not guilty to insanity, authorities said.
After the hearing, White was transferred directly to the William E. Donaldson Penitentiary, Bessemer State Prison, Alabama, just over 100 miles south of Lauderdale County.
White was already serving a 75-year sentence for a series of crimes he committed in 2015, including home burglary, car theft and police harassment, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
The trial for White’s murder is currently scheduled for June. Speaking at the court on Tuesday, White’s lawyer, Jamie Poss, said he would request a change of location, which the judge said he would consider.
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