Vicky White 'took advantage of her position:' Alabama sheriff on 11-day manhunt
Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton sits down with Neil Cavuto to give closure on search for jail guard-prisoner couple that ended in tragedy on 'Your World.'
Attorneys for the Alabama inmate, who escaped for 11 days with the help of a female corrections officer who later shot herself in the head, are urging a judge to drop the murder charge against him because the woman’s death was caught on camera and was "clearly a suicide," court papers show.
Prosecutors cannot convict inmate Casey White of murder in the death of jail guard Vicky White because in doing so, they would have to prove that her death "did not occur by natural causes, accident or suicide," according to the defense team’s motion to toss the felony charge against him.
The 38-year-old inmate was serving a 75-year sentence for a slew of crimes from 2015, including carjacking, a home invasion and a police chase. He had been serving his sentence at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama, but had been transferred to the Lauderdale County jail while he awaited trial for the 2015 murder of 58-year-old Connie Ridgeway.
ALABAMA PRISON ESCAPE: INMATE CASEY WHITE, GUARD VICKY WHITE SHARED NEARLY 1,000 PHONE CALLS
Casey White walked out of the Lauderdale County jail on April 29 with the help of Vicky White. The man and woman were not related, but were in the midst of a jailhouse romance, officials have said.
INDIANA POLICE DASH-CAM VIDEO SHOWS MOMENTS OF CASEY WHITE'S ARREST:
Law enforcement officers caught up with the couple in Evansville, Indiana, over a week later, on May 9, though 56-year-old Vicky White shot herself in the head before agents could capture her.
CASEY WHITE ESCAPE: TIMELINE FOR ALABAMA MURDER SUSPECT ON THE RUN WITH CORRECTIONS OFFICER
Police later released dispatch audio in which Vicky White could be heard apparently talking to Casey White as the pair unsuccessfully tried to evade the authorities during the car chase.
"Airbags are gonna go off and kill us," a woman, believed to be Vicky White, could be heard saying in the 911 audio that was obtained by Fox News Digital via a public records request. She yells: "Casey…"
The woman’s voice, with a southern twang, then added: "Airbags are going off. Let’s get out, and run."
CASEY WHITE CHARGED WITH FELONY MURDER IN DEATH OF JAIL GUARD VICKI WHITE
Moments, later she was heard screaming and shrieking repeatedly during what sounds like a crash, while sirens blare in the background.
The remainder of the more than seven minutes of audio consisted of what sounded like law enforcement officers tending to the crash site and to Vicky White, who was still holding the gun in her hand, the recording showed.
LISTEN TO THE 911 AUDIO BELOW:
"She’s got a gun in her hand, and she’s breathing," someone at the scene could be heard saying. "She’s got her finger on the trigger."
VICKY WHITE, CASEY WHITE ARE HEARD IN NEW 911 AUDIO MOMENTS BEFORE CRASH
Authorities charged Casey White in July with felony murder for Vicky’s death, arguing at the time that he "caused the death of Vicky White, who died from a gunshot to the head."
Casey White arrives back in Alabama after 11 days on the run. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
However, the defense argued in their recent motion that prosecutors "stretched" the application of Alabama’s felony-murder doctrine "way beyond its original intent to fit every conceivable fact situation in which a felony is committed and a death occurs."
ALABAMA INMATE ESCAPEE CASEY WHITE INDICTED ON FEDERAL FIREARMS CHARGES
They further wrote that the application does not allow Casey White the opportunity for due process and other constitutional protections, and noted that, "to allow a prosecution without the State being required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the element of intent to kill Vicky White is a violation of the defendant’s rights."
Casey White mugshot photo, Vanderburgh County Sheriff; Vicky White (Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office; Lauderdale County)
"[P]olice dash came and body cam recordings clearly show that at the conclusion of a car chase, the vehicle driven by White wrecked and rolled over in a roadside ditch or median," the motion states. "Video clearly shows the deceased shot herself in the head and continued holding the gun in her hand as police approached. The death in this case was clearly a suicide and the Defendant can not (sic) be convicted for the death."
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Local reports recently revealed the couple shared 949 phone calls while Casey White was behind bars, including several that were sexual in nature and several in which they are suspected of having plotted the escape.
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