How the authorities managed to locate Casey White and Vicky White 2:37
(CNN) --
Casey White, the escaped inmate who was recaptured, was flown back to Alabama Tuesday night for his first court appearance since being arrested following a car chase in Evansville, Indiana, on Monday. .
He returned without Vicky White, the correctional officer with whom he fled.
Authorities preliminarily believe she shot herself in the head after the chase.
She died from her gunshot wounds, authorities said.
At the arraignment, Judge Ben Graves informed White that he will be charged with first-degree flight, in addition to the capital murder charges he already faced in connection with the 2015 death of Connie Ridgeway.
The inmate was escorted to the courthouse in a motorcade of armored vehicles and arrived shortly before 11 pm He entered the courthouse in handcuffs and shackles around his ankles and briefly met with his attorney before entering the courtroom.
During the hearing, White listened intently with his eyes fixed on the judge as he explained the charges.
He appeared to be tired and sobbed more than once during the 10-minute hearing.
Four small cuts could be seen on the back of White's head within a quarter-sized circumference of shaved hair.
Dried blood was visible on the back of her bright yellow jumpsuit.
Immediately after the hearing, White walked out of the courthouse and looked at the news cameras and the crowd of bystanders that had gathered, but said nothing.
He will be transferred to the William E. Donaldson Correctional Center in Bessemer, Alabama, a little more than 100 miles south of Lauderdale County.
The hunt for Vicky White and Casey White in Alabama is over, but unanswered questions remain
After eleven days on the run, Casey White was recaptured and transferred to the William E. Donaldson Correctional Center in Bessemer, Alabama.
The capture of Casey White
Casey White, 38, and Vicky White, 56, were captured Monday after a car chase ended when authorities forced the car Casey White was driving into a ditch, the US Marshals Service said.
Vicky White was transported to the hospital where she later died of her injuries.
Newly released police body camera and dash cam video shows moments after the car chase ended when Casey White was arrested and officers tried to pull Vicky White, who was injured, out of the car.
In the video, multiple officers can be seen surrounding Casey White, who is pinned to the ground next to the car.
The fugitive is then apprehended and led away from the wrecked car.
Authorities were unable to immediately remove Vicky White from the car because she appeared to still have a gun in her hand, according to officers seen on body camera video, who also noted that she appeared to be breathing.
After an officer reached out to grab the gun from his hand, they worked to remove it from the car's sunroof opening, the video shows.
The accident ended a frantic 11-day manhunt that spanned multiple states and yielded hundreds of leads, including one that ultimately led authorities to his capture.
Case timeline of jailer Vicky White and Casey White, the inmate she ran away with
Casey White will return to prison and there will be special measures in his cell 0:57
The inmate's arrest is a "great relief"
Prior to his escape, Casey White was being held at the Lauderdale County Detention Center while facing capital murder charges related to the Ridgeway stabbing.
Vicky White worked there as the deputy director of corrections.
Ridgeway's son, Austin Williams, sat in the front row of the courtroom during Tuesday night's court appearance, less than 10 feet from White.
Williams told CNN Tuesday that White's capture was a "huge relief" and his capture "felt like a miracle."
White allegedly confessed to killing Ridgeway in 2020, but later pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and was taken to Lauderdale County to attend court hearings in the case, authorities said.
He was already being held in state prison with a 75-year sentence for a series of other crimes in 2015, including breaking and entering, carjacking and police pursuit, the Sheriff's Service said.
Authorities believe Casey White and Vicky White met in jail as early as 2020, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said.
White's murder trial is currently scheduled for June.
During Tuesday's court appearance, White's attorney, Jamy Poss, said he would file a motion to change venue, which the judge said he would consider.
One clue among hundreds led the police to capture Vicky White and Casey White, but the jailer's death leaves many questions
Inmate Casey White and Jailer Vicky White Arrested in Indiana 0:49
The agent and the inmate traveled with cash and weapons
Officials previously said the inmate and officer had a "special relationship" that was romantic in nature in which Casey White was given privileges like extra food at the detention center because of Vicky White, Singleton said.
Over the course of the investigation, authorities increasingly believed that Vicky White voluntarily helped the inmate escape.
After the two were captured, authorities found supplies that could have kept them on the run much longer.
Authorities found wigs, $29,000 in cash and various weapons among his possessions, including four pistols, an AR-15 rifle and three magazines, in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, Sheriff Dave Wedding said Tuesday.
The Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office released images of weapons they say were recovered from the crashed Cadillac.
"Any of these weapons could have been used to ambush our agents as they attempted to capture a murder suspect," he said.
Before her escape, Vicky White sold her home for well below market value and announced plans to retire, authorities said.
Although her last day of work was scheduled for April 29, the day they escaped, her retirement paperwork had not been finalized, the sheriff's department said.
The veteran agent used her years of experience to plan and execute the escape, authorities said.
Vicky White "was basically the mastermind behind the whole plan," Singleton said Tuesday.
"Casey White didn't escape the facility; they basically let him out."
Casey and Vicky White's trip to Indiana
Monday's accident marked the end of an 11-day ordeal that began when Vicky White broke the inmate out of jail on the morning of April 29.
She said that she would take him to court for a mental health evaluation, but she never showed up.
Instead, the couple drove to a shopping center parking lot, ditched the officer's patrol car and left in a 2007 Ford Edge SUV that Vicky White had purchased under an alias and had parked in the parking lot the night before, Singleton said. In the past week.
Authorities released photos of who they believe was fugitive Casey White caught on surveillance at a car wash in Evansville, Indiana.
The SUV was found in a trailer lot in Williamson County, Tennessee, on Friday, about two hours north of the jail in Florence, Alabama, US Marshals said.
Singleton says the couple likely abandoned him hours after leaving Florence, possibly due to mechanical problems.
Authorities believe they purchased a Ford F-150 pickup truck while in Tennessee.
They are believed to have been in Evansville since at least May 2, when a city police officer proactively checked the truck's license plate, Evansville Police Chief Billy Bolin said Tuesday.
At the time, the checkpoint did not detect any connection between the truck and the fugitives, he said.
US sheriffs learned Sunday that the truck had been abandoned at a car wash in Evansville.
On Monday, the agency released surveillance footage showing who investigators believed was Casey White at the car wash.
Investigators determined the couple left the car wash in a Cadillac, according to Wedding, the Vanderburgh County Sheriff.
An Evansville police officer reported Monday that the Cadillac was parked in a motel parking lot and officers began surveilling the motel.
As deputies staked out the motel, Vicky White and Casey White got out, got into the Cadillac and drove away, US Marshal Marty Keely said.
Officers followed them and a car chase ensued, ending when authorities forced the fugitives to crash into a ditch.
Casey White reportedly told authorities to help "his wife," who he said had shot herself in the head, according to Keely, who noted that Casey White and Vicky White were not married, according to knowledge. of the researchers.
-- CNN's Omar Jimenez, Jamiel Lynch, Kristina Sgueglia, Amara Walker, Jade Gordon and Eric Levenson contributed to this report.
Casey White
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