Casey White was pictured in a yellow prison jumpsuit, his hands in cuffs and his legs in shackles at Lauderdale County Courthouse on Tuesday night – one day after he was arrested and his corrections officer lover Vicky White killed herself.
DailyMail.com was there to witness the 38-year-old shuffle into court shortly before 10pm little more than 24 hours after his the 11-day manhunt for the pair came to an end.
White was heavily shackled on his ankles and with chains wreathed around his waist and wrists.
He spoke only to assure Judge Ben Graves that he had received proper counsel as he was charged with escape in the first degree.
That charge is now added to his laundry list of felonies, the most pressing of which is a capital murder charge for which he is due to stand trial in June.
Dressed in Vanderburgh County Correctional Facility yellow shirt and pants, a raw wound was clearly visible in the back of White’s shorn head as he sat at the front of the small courtroom.
It was the only evidence of any injury sustained by White in the car crash that dramatically ended his 11 day stretch on the lam with co-conspirator, former assistant director of corrections Vicky White, 56.
White was walked into the back of Lauderdale County Courthouse by sheriff deputies. He refused to answer questions shouted by waiting press.
He did not react when asked if he felt any remorse for Vicky’s death.
Vicky White, 56, died on Monday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the coroner ruled on Tuesday. She pulled the trigger as the car she and Casey White – no relation – were traveling in crashed into a ditch in Indiana, having been run off the road by police.
The couple’s days as fugitives came to a tragic end in Evansville, Indiana, on Monday, with Vicky’s death from a gunshot wound moments after their car was rammed off the road and into a ditch.
Attorneys for White informed the court that they will be filing a motion for a change of venue for White’s forthcoming trial for the murder of 58-year-old Connie Ridgeway – allegedly stabbed to death by White.
White has confessed the crime, claiming he was paid to commit the heinous act.
The trial remains scheduled for June with White’s attorney saying his client wanted the trial to go ahead then against his advice.
His appearance came as new dashboard and body camera footage from Indiana showed the dramatic moment that Alabama fugitive Casey White was taken into custody and the body of his corrections officer accomplice dragged dying from their car on Monday.
She died in hospital on Monday night from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but spoke to 911 dispatchers before the crash.
As officers closed in on the couple’s vehicle, Vicky White could be heard saying: ‘Airbags are going off. Let’s get out and run.’
Then other officers arrive, and say she is still breathing.
‘We could hear her on the line saying she had her finger on the trigger,’ says a 911 dispatcher in audio released by Indiana authorities.
In the initial confusion, they believed that Casey White had shot himself, and then requested a negotiator. A second voice then says they do not need a negotiator.
Casey White is dragged out of the crumpled car first, by his hands. Officers kneel on him to handcuff him, then bring him away from the wreck towards another cruiser.
His denim shirt is ripped, but he appears otherwise unharmed, with his black sunglasses still on his face. He is checked over, then wrestled to the floor.
Officers then turn to Vicky White, who is described as ‘unresponsive’.
As police approach the car, one officer says: ‘We need to clear some of this s***’ to get to her.’
He asks if someone has a long stick.
Another officer, kneeling by the overturned car, says: ‘She’s still got the gun in her hand.’
One adds: ‘She’s still breathing. I can see her chest rising. Finger still on the trigger. She could pull that trigger again.’
After several minutes of discussion, the officer leans in to retrieve the gun from Vicky White’s hand. They then pull her from the car by her hands. She is then lain on the road.
A third video released by the police showed them searching a Ford truck, which the couple abandoned before switching to their Cadillac.
An officer searches the vehicle, then tells his colleague: ‘There’s no paperwork. A little bit of trash and a charger and a Glock magazine loader.’
He adds: ‘It’s weird.’
The pair were carrying $29,000 in cash, four handguns and an AR-15 rifle and were prepared for a shootout when they were captured, an Indiana sheriff said on Tuesday.
The end of the manhunt left authorities trying to piece together what happened during the 11 days that elapsed after Vicky White escorted Casey White from a Florence, Alabama, jail for what she falsely claimed was a mental health evaluation.
She also told her coworkers that she felt ill and planned to see a doctor afterward.
No one realized that the two were missing until around 3.30pm.
The inmate and Vicky White appeared to have had a ‘jailhouse romance,’ Alabama authorities said last week. They were not related.
As for her role in the escape, the sheriff said: ‘He was not forcing her. It was a mutual relationship.