Cops: Alabama Inmate, Late Deputy Exchanged 949 Phone Calls Before Jail Break

New details are being released about the relationship between a capital murder suspect and the jailor who allegedly facilitated his escape.

Casey White, 38, and Lauderdale County Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White, 58, made national headlines after he escaped an Alabama jail in late April with her alleged help. Casey was awaiting trial for the 2015 murder of Connie Ridgeway when Vicky helped him escape, prompting a high-profile pursuit that ended in Evansville, Indiana, with Casey’s eventual recapture and Vicky’s suicide.

Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton told reporters with AL.com that Casey and Vicky shared nearly 1,000 phone calls while White was housed at the state's William Donaldson Correctional Facility in nearby Jefferson County. There, Casey was already serving a 75-year sentence for a violent 2015 crime spree that spanned both Alabama and Tennessee.

The single-night crime spree involved in a home invasion, two carjackings, kidnapping and a shooting that left one woman injured and a dog dead.

According to AL.com, Casey was often moved between various prisons and jails in northern Alabama for various court proceedings, including Lauderdale County.

“We’re in the process of listening to those calls to see if there’s any information there that might help us,” said Singleton. “The only thing I know for a fact was that they had some phone sex.”

Vicki White and Casey White Photo: Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office

When asked if any of the calls were placed while Vicky was on duty at the Lauderdale County jail, Singleton said, “I’d be shocked if some of them weren’t.”

Lauderdale County investigators say they’re still sifting through 949 recorded conversations, which took place between August 2021 and Feb. 22, 2022.

“That’s a lot of phone calls,” Singleton said. “I think what it tells us is they were definitely in a relationship.”

The two Whites allegedly started hatching their getaway plan as early as 2020, when Casey was transported from state prison to the Lauderdale County jail for the arraignment hearing for the murder of Connie Ridgeway, 58. Ridgeway had been found stabbed to death and found on the floor of her Rogersville home — about 100 miles north of Birmingham near the Tennessee border.

Sheriff Singleton would later say Vicky gave Casey “privileges no one else got,” including extra food at meal time.

On April 29 — the day Vicky White was due to retire from the county jail — she escorted Casey out of the building under the pretense that she had to take him to a doctor’s appointment.

The pair had a six-hour head start, and officials scrambled to learn whether or not Vicky was a willing participant or a hostage in Casey’s getaway. But on May 2, three days after the escape, authorities issued a warrant for Vicky’s arrest, charging her with facilitating or permitting escape in the first degree.

Authorities eventually found their getaway vehicle in Tennessee, and determined that there was a strong possibility that the couple was in possession of a large amount of cash following the sale of Vicky’s home.

On May 9 — after 10 days on the lam — U.S. Marshals and other law enforcement agencies caught up with the two Whites in Evansville, Indiana, after the owner of a carwash tipped off authorities.

During the chaos of the dramatic pursuit, which resulted in a car crash, Vicky shot herself in the head and succumbed to her injuries hours later at a nearby hospital.

Casey was apprehended on the scene.

A grand jury in Lauderdale County found he should be responsible for Vicky’s death and charged him with murder.

Casey remains at the state's William Donaldson Correctional Facility, where he still awaits his trial for the murder of Connie Ridgeway, which is expected to begin in December. He was recently granted a hearing, scheduled for Oct. 11, to determine whether or not he should be moved to a county jail to prepare for the trial.