Officer buys guns, withdraws $90K before escaping with a convicted killer

After 17-years of exemplary service, assistant director of corrections Vicky White walked out of the doors of the Lauderdale County Jail with a dangerous criminal and disappeared.  It was the culmination of months, or possibly years, of careful planning, investigators say.

It was an effective plan. Investigators are heading into the second week of the manhunt for the duo that vanished last Friday.

In the weeks leading up to the escape, Vicky White had sold her home, withdrew $90,000 in cash from multiple banks, and purchased both a getaway vehicle and firearms.

On the morning of the escape, Vicky told booking officers at the jail that she wasn’t feeling well.  She said she had to transport an inmate, Casey White, to the courthouse for a mental evaluation and that after dropping him off she was going to seek medical care.

The U.S. Marshals Service says Vicky may have changed her hair color (credit: U.S. Marshals)

The 56-year-old assistant director was among the most trusted employees and was looked at as a ‘mother figure’ by most of her co-workers.  No one questioned Vicky’s story or even her decision to transport a convicted murderer alone. At 9:30 a.m. on Friday, April 29 the pair exited the jail and drove away in Vicky’s patrol car.

Later it would be discovered that there was no evaluation scheduled for Casey White and that Vicky White never had an appointment at the clinic.

Several hours would go by before a booking officer reported to another supervisor that they hadn’t been able to get in touch with Vicky, and it was not until then that officers realized the two were missing.

According to investigators, Vicki left the jail and drove straight to the parking lot where the patrol car would later be found.  Surveillance cameras caught the pair exiting the lot in a 2007 rust-colored Ford Edge with minor damage to the rear left bumper.

“This is not the Vicky White we know, by any stretch of the imagination,” Sheriff Rick Singleton said on Monday. “The employees are just devastated she was involved in this.”

Casey White was serving 75 years for a slew of charges, including capital murder.  In 2015, White was arrested for a multi-state crime spree that involved a home invasion, two carjackings and multiple shootings.  In 2019, he was found guilty of trying to kill his ex-girlfriend, kidnapping her two roommates, first degree robbery, first degree burglary, third degree burglary, breaking and entering a vehicle, animal cruelty and attempting to elude.

Casey White is 38 years old, 6’9″ and weighs 330 pounds.  He has numerous tattoos, several of which are from the white supremacist prison gang the Southern Brotherhood.

Both Vicky White and Casey White are considered armed and extremely dangerous, as authorities say Vickie purchased an AR-15 and a rifle before the escape.

U.S. Marshal’s issued a $10,000 reward for information that leads to Casey White, soon followed by an additional $5,000 for information leading to Vicky White. Information can be provided at the USMS Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102. Anonymous tips may also be submitted via the U.S. Marshals Tip App.