- We have had a warrant issued for Director Vicky White. The charges are permitting or facilitating an escape in the first degree. - How many times do you see a respected jail guard help a guy escape? - REPORTER: Vicky White and escaped inmate Casey White were in a secret romantic relationship. - There were a ton of calls that he made. Every call ended up with phone sex. - How was it that nobody caught that? - Vicky was a supervisor of the jail. She was able to, you know, pull guards away. - She had the power in this situation. He didn't have no power. - She would have never done that if she hadn't been manipulated by him. - I think he was using her. - If she is still alive, get the hell out! Run, run, run as far as you can... - DEBORAH: But with each passing day, investigators are gaining ground. - Any human being that's on the run has to stop. We don't have to stop. We go 24 hours a day. - With time running out, are they going to be captured, dead or alive? - As Casey came out of the vehicle, he said, 'Help my wife.' - 'Help my wife'? - CASEY: Help my wife, is my wife OK? (INTENSE MUSIC) (DRAMATIC NEWS STING) Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. - Nau mai, haere mai ` welcome to 20/20. Tonight, we conclude our two-part special on Vicky White and Casey White ` the Corrections Officer and the convict who escaped an Alabama jail together, sparking a massive manhunt, especially once it became clear Vicky had been in on it. First up, 20/20 visits the detention centre where it all unfolded to try and understand how an inmate and a jail supervisor could have conducted an intimate relationship in a facility with cameras everywhere. - Now to the nationwide manhunt for that escaped murder suspect and a Corrections Officer in Alabama. - RYAN SMITH: On April 29th 2022, maximum security inmate Casey White walks out of Lauderdale County Detention Centre with Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White, and neither has been seen or heard from since. (TENSE MUSIC) - By day six, word of Vicky and Casey's intimate relationship pushes the story of the escape to the top of the news. - REPORTER: Her relationship with Casey allegedly sparked in 2020 while Casey awaited trial in the murder of Connie Ridgeway. - This case just captivated people. - The media attention to this case was greater than any I've ever seen. - So she's an upstanding person and he's a criminal and they fall madly in love. - It seemed like everybody had an opinion about it. - Women love bad boys! - You know, people like a good love story. I just don't believe this is one. - We've come to the Lauderdale County Detention Centre to try to understand just how Vicky White could have conducted an intimate, physical relationship with an inmate here. The new Director of the jail gives us access to the very cell where Casey White was housed in April of 2022. Casey would have been housed right in here? - Yes, ma'am. With eight, 10, 12, sometimes 14 people sitting in this cell. - 12 to 14 people, sometimes in this cell? - Yes, ma'am. - One of the inmates in that same cell with Casey White is Georgineo Lopez, who says that he too formed a close relationship with Vicky White. - I first met Vicky in 2017, 2018. I could tell that she was one of them ladies that cared for people, that had a heart. - Georgineo says while he was incarcerated, Vicky placed him in a cell closest to the guard room, where she can keep a protective eye on him ` the same cell where she would later place Casey White. But from the moment Casey White arrived at Lauderdale, Georgineo says he witnessed a dramatic change in Vicky. - At the beginning when I met her, she was by the books. But before this kid, she changed, really, a lot. She wouldn't go down the hall like she used to. Like, talk to people. She would stand at that particular place. - The place where Vicki would stand is a spot with a direct view into Casey's cell. Director Terry tells us that Vicky used her authority to make an unusual alteration to the jail cell. This shower curtain was installed by Vicky? - Yes, ma'am. - OK, what was the point here? - To give the inmates a little bit of privacy while they're going to the restroom. - Well, because you've got a window right here. - Right, you've got the window here. That was the point given. - But at the time, this was the only cell that Vicky had a curtain installed in. And according to Lopez, it was apparently when just one inmate, Casey White, would use the shower, that she would stand where she could see him. - You know, there's a shower in the window, and Vicky was standing right there. He used to go in the shower, and you know how tall he was, he could see over, you know, there's a pole ` like, a pole ` he could see over that pole. You know, he could see where Vicky was standing at. She act like she couldn't see him, but she knew what he was doing. - Georgineo alleges that he witnessed Casey freely engaging in behaviour that would never normally be tolerated by a jailer. - Casey White was standing in the shower, playing with himself while looking at Vicky. - And authorities would discover that the rules were different for Casey White in yet another way. When the inmates had to vacate their cells for their daily yard break, Vicky would allow one of them to stay behind. - Casey was the only one that could stay there. There's not no cameras in the cell. That's when, I guess, that what happened, the private relationship in there. - We did discover that Vicky was able to arrange, uh, Casey to have some time alone in his cell by herself, and that, you know, she could have, uh, been inside the cell with him at times. - So they had a full-blown romance? - They and a full-blown romance. - How was it that nobody caught that? - Vicky was a supervisor of the jail. Vicky, she managed manpower ` she was able to, you know, pull guards away, and she had the authority to make that happen. - Investigators say it's now beginning to look like Vicky has been the driving force from the very beginning. But not everybody agrees. Who do you think was the mastermind behind this? - Oh, I absolutely think it was Casey White. He was very good at catching her at a very bad stage in her life. - Casey is a manipulator, and when she's friendly with Casey and telling Casey all her problems, he's willing to take advantage of that. - I thought he will use her as long as he needs her, and then when she is no longer of use to him, she will no longer be with us. - But is Vicky White really in danger, as so many seem to believe? Early in the manhunt, the US Marshals Behavioural Analysis Unit conducts a psychological evaluation of Casey White, looking at the phone calls between him and Vicky, to establish the likelihood of whether he might harm her while on the run. On day six, they present a report which suggests a potentially unusual element regarding the couple's relationship. - The opinion that we received is that... that he looked at her as possibly a grandmother figure. - There's some recorded calls to his mother, where he refers to her as, like, his, kind of... she's kind of like Memaw, kind of thing. - I know that sounds strange, because they were obviously engaged in activity that you would see a married couple in. - A sexual relationship. - A sexual relationship. But for that reason, the information that we were receiving was that in all probability, he wouldn't hurt her. - Investigators now feel sure that the two fugitives are still together, and they're confident that it's just a matter of time before they slip up. - All they really have to make is one mistake. - For six days, che case of the convict and the corrections officer dominates news headlines. But it's not the first time a correctional employee has become entangled with an inmate. In 2015, Joyce Mitchell was sentenced to between two and seven years in prison for her role in the escape of two inmates from New York's Clinton Correctional Facility, after becoming intimately involved with the pair. The story was retold in the hit Showtime series Ben Stiller directed called Escape at Dannemora, with Joyce Mitchell played by Patricia Arquette. - Did you have sex with these two inmates? - No. - What is it that draws women like Joyce Mitchell and Vicky White to violent felons? - In interviews of women who have had these relationships with inmates, it's like this is like nothing they've ever experienced. It's almost like fantasy, addiction-driven. She's so attached and so in love with this guy that she's willing to do anything and give up her entire life, financially and otherwise, to have this relationship. - One woman who might have some idea about this kind of relationship is Toby Dorr. She was captivated by the escape involving Vicky, from the very first moment. - I had no doubt whatsoever about the reason why Vicky agreed to do this and how she was feeling. I saw so much of myself in Vicky, so much of myself. - Back in 2004, Toby Dorr, then Toby Young, was running a dog-training programme in the Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas. It's there that she began an illicit relationship with convicted murderer John Manard. - I'd been married for 28 years, and it got to the point where that wasn't enough for me. I wanted to be in a relationship that was closer and more intimate. He told me he'd fallen in love with me. I couldn't get enough of it. - And in 2006, she broke him out of prison. - He came to me one day and said, 'You know, 'I could hide in a dog crate in your van when you come in to do a dog adoption.' And I said, 'Oh, now, that one would probably work.' - The two may have had a head start, because officials didn't think at first that they were together. - So there was a big part of me that was just excited and elated, cos, you know, like, now we can really be together; this is just gonna be so beautiful. - But Toby's dream wouldn't last. The pair was captured after just 12 days on the run. - John Manard is behind bars in Chattanooga, about an hour away, the longest and the farthest the two have apparently been apart since the February 12th break. - Manard had 20 years added to his sentence, and Toby also returned to prison, this time as an inmate, serving the next 27 months behind bars. - The prison trusted me unconditionally, and the biggest regret that I have is violating that trust. - For a full week, investigators have been scouring months of Vicky's financial records, and it's becoming even clearer how long she had been preparing for the escape. And it presents investigators with a potential new direction for their search. - It became apparent to us that there was some type of prepping for this, and the items that were purchased would indicate that there may be some type of stay in the woods, or camping, or some remote, you know, living arrangements being made. We would uncover transactions that she would have at a Walmart, for example, and it may be your normal grocery items ` detergent, cereal, milk, then a random, like, waterproof matches. Then it would be, like, a tarp. - By day seven, you're thinking they're headed to the woods, so your folks are all over the wooded area? - Absolutely. We really thought that they were hunkered down somewhere in the woods in Tennessee, North Alabama. - Even with the extensive searches going on, there's still no sign of the fugitives. Your folks are working day and night ` how exhausting is this? - I think it's very exhausting, but any human being that's on the run has to stop ` they have to rest, they have to eat. The pressure is on the person that's the fugitive. And all they really have to make is one mistake. - It turns out the big mistake the fugitives made was before the escape had even happened, when Vicky bought that getaway car. Why would they ever wind up in a bright-orange car? I mean, she's a seasoned law-enforcement person. - Why she chose a bright-orange vehicle is beyond me. We had that orange Ford Edge plastered all over the media. - Authorities say this gas-station surveillance video shows the pair in route to their getaway car, this newly purchased 2007 Ford Edge. - A tip came in to say, 'I think I've seen this vehicle 'in a tow yard up in Tennessee.' - On May 6th, task force officers arrive at a tow yard in Tennessee, where that Ford Edge has been spotted. - They confirm that the car had been abandoned here on the first day of the escape, and also that there had been some attempt to disguise it. - And we believed that Casey was questioning why she selected a vehicle like that. A small orange vehicle, it was easy to spot. They bought spray paint, made an attempt to spray paint it, and that was a mistake. - The fugitives had quickly abandoned their efforts and dumped the car, but crucially, they left behind receipts for the spray cans. - Soon, marshals are in possession of surveillance footage from a local store, and they get their first sighting of their primary target. - So, this was still the same day of the escape. So you can see here he's got some spray cans, and he's got a Red Bull and pays for cash. - He's changed clothes ` obviously. - He's changed clothes. He's in camouflage. He's got a hat ` you know, obviously something to, kind of, hide the tattoos. He was not afraid to get out in public and go and purchase the stuff for the vehicle and for himself. It really, kind of, showed to us that they're pretty brazen. - But the investigators also know that the fugitives would have needed to acquire a new car. - A sweep of the local area leads to another major breakthrough, which presents investigators with a potential new direction for their search. - I figured they were travelling the back roads, straight up to Canada. You can't outrun the marshals. You can't outrun US Marshals. It just don't work. - After days on the run, the marshals might be finally closing in on the jail runaways. (DYNAMIC MUSIC) (DYNAMIC MUSIC) Thanks for watching 20/20. Fugitives Vicky White and Casey White have been on the run for over a week. They've been spotted, but not caught. Seemingly, they are comfortable going into petrol stations and food outlets, despite Casey's distinctive build attracting attention. They do keep changing cars, but each time they do, they leave clues behind for US Marshals, painstakingly tracking them down. For authorities now hot on the trail of fugitives Vicky White and inmate Casey White, days might have seemed like weeks, but the rubber is starting to hit the road ` literally. After the discovery of that first getaway car leaves a treasure trove of clues, investigators are now combing the area for leads on the next vehicle. And soon, a big lead. - We determine that there's an individual who sells trucks out of his yard. He did admit, yes, in fact, he sold a tall guy, uh, a truck, with a lady that was in an orange car. So that was certainly a moment. That was a very important moment for us. The vehicle the fugitives have bought is a blue F-150 pickup truck. And with that information, the manhunt is in high gear. - It was all hands on deck once we knew about this blue F-150. Now we have a new vehicle to pursue. - But currently, all investigators know is the model and colour of the truck ` it's gonna take time to confirm the vehicle's registration details. - We're still a few days behind at this point. We were very anxious at this point to get good information. - We did a search through law enforcement databases, and that's, kind of, where we got our big, big, break thing. - We were able to figure out the exact vehicle, what tag it should have had on there, VIN number and all of that. - Information from the police databases reveals the truck that they're looking for has already been found, five days earlier and 180 miles north, in Evansville, Indiana. - We weren't sure why the vehicle ended up in Indiana. We contacted our task force that covers that area. It's a Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force, and we ultimately sent personnel up there. - Back on May 3rd, James Stinson had discovered a blue F-150 pickup truck abandoned at the carwash that he manages. - There's a truck been sitting in my bay since yesterday at 3 o'clock, and it's got the keys in it. - And what kind of vehicle is it? - It's a Ford F-150. Four-door truck. It's blue in colour. It's got Tennessee licence plates on it. I looked at my cameras, and the guy's kind of suspicious. - We'll have an officer out. OK? - As the marshals make their way up to Indiana, down in Lauderdale, Sgt Matt Burbank is in the middle of a digital search for any sightings of the truck, that could determine how it ended up in Evansville. - I'm back in the command centre, and one of the things that we're able to do is look at licence-plate readers for different law-enforcement agencies, and we were able to locate several pictures of the, uh, F-150. - But when they study the images, it's a different vehicle that catches the investigators' attention. - We see this... this Cadillac. But we're, like, man, this, uh... this Cadillac is always... following this truck around. We zero in on the Cadillac that's being driven, and we could actually see blonde hair. You could see the driver of the Cadillac was a female. We believed that it was Vicky White. - Investigators can't prove this is Vicky White, so they don't have what they call definitive proof of life. But maybe the high-tech security system from a carwash in Indiana can do just that. On the morning of May 9th, US Marshals arrive at that carwash in Indiana to review security footage of the moment when that F-150 truck was abandoned. And what they find is a gold mine. - I have a total of 16 cameras. I don't have no hidden spots at my carwash ` everything's covered. I got good coverage. - And there is Casey. - Not only do Stinson's cameras within the carwash clearly show Casey White abandoning the truck ` cameras pointing out to the street will reveal even more. - Those cameras show a second vehicle, a Cadillac, driving through the carwash, then parking on the street corner ` that same model and colour as the one investigators believe Vicky White has been driving. They made a plan there to ditch one car, and he's going to join her in the Cadillac. - Correct. You'll see he gets out of the car. And then you'll see him come out and walk to that Cadillac. It just went to the fact that we knew that they were in concert, because she had an opportunity, having her own vehicle to leave. - She could have peeled off from it. - If she wanted to ` correct. - And the footage offers up even more vital information. - Casey is well dressed. He's got a cell phone in his back pocket. He's not dishevelled. - He hasn't been in the woods camping. - Hasn't been in the woods. That would give the appearance that maybe they're in this area. If they're in the area, where are they likely to be? A hotel that's off the grid. - We started tasking out our teams up there to canvass the area ` you know, rest stops, hotels, motels; whatever it is. - And within hours, a potential sighting. - There was a police officer who went through a motel parking lot and saw the vehicle that matched the description of the escapees. This motel, which was probably less than a mile or so from our jail and sheriff's office. - So now you know where they are. - We just know that we found the vehicle. At this point, we don't know if they're inside. - I don't think anybody ` them, me or anyone else ` thought they would still be in Evansville, Indiana at that time. - A team of local law officers, along with the US Marshals, set up a stakeout outside the motel. One of those local officers is Deputy Bryon Bishop. - So, we set up surveillance, and we're all in a parking lot, kind of, talking about how they would probably already gone to another... another city. - But even before all the teams are fully in place, there's news. - We start to set up our surveillance, and Vicky and Casey come out of the room. - One of our guys gets on the radio and said they just saw and ID'd Casey walk out of the hotel. - After 11 days of searching, Casey and Vicky White have been found. Why don't they grab them right there? - We wanted to have a tactical team because they had an AR-15; they had a shotgun; they had, you know, a pistol. So when you have a tactical team, it just makes it a safer process for us. - But before the tactical team can get in place, Casey and Vicky White get into their car and take off. - Once they got into the vehicle, they took off pretty quickly. - Deputy Bishop follows the Cadillac and attempts to make a traffic stop. - When we found a safe location, I turn my lights on. He failed to stop. So things change quickly at that point. - Casey White peels off at a high rate of speed. And the chase is on. - He knows that we're behind him, and they're evading capture. Our immediate fear was, is that they were gonna get out and shoot it out. I think they were ready to almost have a Bonnie and Clyde moment. (ROCK MUSIC) - And it is a dramatic confrontation. We'll show you the police body cam footage when we return. (DYNAMIC MUSIC) - Welcome back to part two of this 20/20 special. After a week and a half on the run, cops and US Marshals have Vicky White and Casey White in their sights, with patrol cars pursuing them, after they failed to stop when signalled. Now, the fugitive couple is known to be armed, so a violent confrontation is expected. And that is exactly what unfolds. - After an 11-day, multi-state manhunt, police are now in active pursuit of fugitives Vicky and Casey White. - Our immediate fear was that they were gonna get out and shoot it out. - I noticed that Vicky would turn around like she was looking for something, she was reaching, so I assumed she was probably trying to find a gun or something. - I think they were ready to almost have a Bonnie and Clyde moment. - With police dash cams and body cameras rolling the entire time, as officers close in, the Cadillac suddenly veers off on to a stretch of grass. But officers stay in pursuit. (SIRENS WAIL) - There was a point where his vehicle started going sideways, so I took the opportunity to ram his vehicle with mine. - At the time of the collision, an emergency call is somehow made from Vicky White's cell phone. - 911. - It's the first time Vicky's voice has been heard since the manhunt began. Then the fugitives' car crashes into a ditch. Then Deputy Bishop's vehicle crashes in behind them. - My first priority was to exit my vehicle, give 'em both verbal commands to come out of the vehicle. That's when she discharged a firearm. (GUNSHOT ECHOES) - Suddenly, Casey White's hands are up in an act of surrender, and the armed officers rush to put him under arrest. - As Casey came out of the vehicle, he said, 'Help my wife. She's been shot.' - 'Help my wife.' - 'Help my wife.' - As Casey White is being cuffed, Officer Jaylan Hyneman approaches the side of the car where Vicky is. - I run over to the car. I see a blonde woman in the car. And she's kinda, like, laying up against the roof, on top of the passenger front door. Vicky was not conscious. She had a suspected gunshot wound to the head. - It's not clear if Vicky White is dead or alive. But then a sign of life The hunt for Casey and Vicky White is finally over. One is headed back to jail, the other to the hospital. Was the thinking that he had shot her? What are your folks thinking at that moment? - We don't know at this point in time. We've got him in custody, and Vicky had suffered from a gunshot wound to her head. - The dramatic capture after a chase in the nationwide manhunt. - Authorities say Vicky White shot herself and is still alive and in the hospital tonight. - The first initial report we received was Vicky had been shot. They didn't think it was anything real major. So, you know, we were elated there for a few seconds. And then the marshal says, 'Hey, the wound is more serious than we thought.' - What had at first appeared to be a superficial wound had in fact turned out to be fatal. - I didn't want her family finding out about all this on the news or in the media, so I immediately went to Vicky's residence. Her mom comes outside. And when she seen that look on my face, you know, she knew. It was just heartbreaking. - It was the next day, we learned from the coroner that they had ruled it a suicide. - Investigators say Casey White surrendered, but Vicky White died in the hospital after shooting herself. - I don't think she wanted to come back and face... the consequences. - In her death, Vicky's version of events is lost forever. But now, with Casey White in custody, investigators are about to hear in his own words just what his and Vicky's plan was all along. - Let's go back inside, and you and I talk a bit more. - After the break, Casey's plan, and the letters he left behind for police if he had died too. - Welcome back. So, the manhunt is over. Casey White, the inmate who convinced his jailhouse love to help him escape, is back in custody. And Vicky White, who gave up her celebrated career as a corrections officer, is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, after police had the runaways surrounded. So many questions still remain, particularly around what their actual plan was after strolling out of the detention centre with such ease. - Across the nation, news channels are reporting every detail of Casey White's capture and Vicky's death. - An Alabama jail official is dead, and the murder suspect she was accused of helping escape is back behind bars. - But in Vicky White's small community, there's a growing sense of deep sorrow. - She would have been horrified by the media, the attention, the national press. She would not have wanted any of that. - It was almost as if everything she had done, every accomplishment that she had made, had just been swept away in this wave. - But a discovery of numerous letters in that getaway car raises more questions and more confusion about the level of Vicky's culpability. He left a number of letters and said they would be read in the event of his death. What kinds of things did he say? - The first letter in the notebook was to law enforcement at large. It says, 'If you're reading this letter, I am dead. 'And I made Vicky White get me out.' Later on, he writes another letter. 'Me and my wife are all over the news. 'Y'all are stupid, but my beautiful wife wants me to shoot her 'when and if y'all ` and he says an expletive word ` catch us.' 'She wanted me to so we can go together.' - He called her his wife. Did you get any indication that they had gotten married? - No. No indication that they'd ever gotten married. - In other letters, Casey takes a very different tone, one that points to far darker intentions. 'Tell all my family I couldn't take prison no more 'and thought I might as well for sure get a few sorry SOBs of the system.' So we think what he was referring to in that part was if he could kill a few cops, that type of thing, that's what he was implying. - He was expecting a shootout. - Absolutely. - On the one hand, he hints that he forced Vicky to do this and sort of coerced her. Then he talks about, she asked him to shoot him. What is the truth here? - Who knows what the truth is? Casey White only cares about one person, and that's Casey White. - Authorities say Casey White revealed to them that he was planning a shootout with officers. - The fugitive was going to engage in a shootout with law enforcement. - Tonight ` what was found in that car? - For authorities, that cache of weapons found raises some fresh questions about what Vicky's intentions might have been. - When law enforcement searched the car, they find multiple weapons in the car, that Vicky had purchased, it really tells you that they are expecting that they were both gonna go out in a blaze of glory. Because why would you have all those weapons if in fact that wasn't gonna be the case? - She had devoted her career to protecting. But when you have that number of guns in the car, that sends a different message. - The idea that this woman, a career law enforcement officer, was going to shoot it out with other law enforcement ` what did you make of that? - That was tough to swallow. It was tough to comprehend. - After his arrest, Casey is returned to prison to see out the rest of his original 75-year sentence and to await trial for his escape. - 20/20 Spoke to Casey White's defence team, who told us their client insists he never intended for Vicky to die. - Casey told us that he loved Vicky White. It breaks his heart, to this day, that Vicky's not walking around. - But Casey's proclamations of love for Vicky are in contrast to comments that he is alleged to have made to the police officer who first interrogated him right after his capture. Major Jason Ashworth alleges that outside of the interview room and away from the cameras, Casey revealed the full extent of his plans and Vicky's place in them. - He described her as a liability. He described her as someone who didn't have the criminal mind. Casey made it very clear that Vicky had no future with him. He had a certain destination that he was gonna get to in the mountains. And it was clear, by him, that once they got to the mountains and felt like they had made it, that he was gonna kill her and get rid of her, because she was a liability. - Casey White's lawyers tell 20/20 that there's no merit to any allegations of a plan by Casey to kill Vicky. But even though in the end Vicky took her own life, prosecutors have now decided they want to try him for her murder. - If you cause the death of somebody, then you can be convicted of felony murder, whether you pull the trigger or not. - But in the 11th hour, Casey White has his own plan for how his story ends. - Does the conniving Casey White have another trick up his sleeve? Stay with us. - Welcome back to 20/20. After 11 days on the run and worldwide attention, the story of Vicky White and Casey White is almost over. Casey's fate is about to be determined by the criminal justice system. But first Vicky, the long-time corrections officer turned fugitive, needs to be laid to rest. (SOMBRE MUSIC) - Five days after her death, friends and family of Vicky White gather to pay their respects at the family burial plot in Lexington, Alabama, just 24 miles from the jail where she aided in the dramatic escape of inmate Casey White that ultimately led to her death. - It was a summer day in May. There were many, many people there, surrounding her family. - Her mom and dad took it very hard. Sad. Sad. Really sad. - The ending was not what any of us would have written for her. But we all chose to remember our Vicky. (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) - Vicky's former lover, Casey White, is being held in solitary confinement in a maximum security prison. And it's there where he learns that, along with facing charges for the escape, he's also going to be charged with Vicky White's murder. - Nobody was saying that Casey physically killed Vicky. But in Alabama, they have a statute called felony murder. Most states have some version of this law, which basically says that if a person such as Casey White is in the process of committing a crime and then someone dies as a result, he can be held accountable and can be charged with murder. - Felony murder shouldn't even be on the books in America. And I feel like that law is an unconstitutional law, and we were prepared to take the case, if he was convicted, to the United States Supreme Court, if necessary. That's how far we was gonna fight that case. - Not only will Casey be pleading not guilty to murder, he also plans to plead not guilty to escape, with his lawyers claiming that it was Vicky who was responsible for that crime. - Who had the power in this situation? Who had this power? She had the power in this situation. He didn't have no power. And some people might say, you know, she had the keys to his freedom, he had the key to her heart. - On May 4th 2023 Casey White and his lawyers arrive here at the county courthouse for a routine hearing. - Casey, do you have anything to say? - But Casey White sends his defence team with a message for the district attorney. - They made that offer of a plea to escape first and take a life sentence. - Casey White surprises everyone by agreeing to a guilty plea for the escape, so long as the felony murder charge against him in Vicky's death is dropped. - I made a call down to the prison system and said, OK, before he pleads to escape one, when will he be eligible for parole? 2081. He'll be a hundred years old. - And with that, the deal is made. A month later, Casey returns to court for sentencing. - Casey? Casey, were you and Vicky in love? - But before he gets his sentence, he's given the opportunity to address the court and Vicky's family. - Casey spoke in court and said he felt like he was the most hated man in the world, but he and Vicky had fallen in love. - What he said at sentencing, how he said it, that's the real Casey. I think Casey White was in love, and is in love. And love will make you do crazy things. - Whatever the truth may be, it's unlikely that Casey White will see the outside of a prison cell again. - Life in prison. Just hours ago... - Casey's gonna be in prison for the rest of his natural life. And that's just one step towards that healing process. Brighter days are ahead. - Meanwhile, law enforcement says it's been making changes to try to ensure that an escape like this never happens on their watch again. Could a deputy director now casually walk out with an inmate? - The policies that we have put into place prevents anyone from just walking in here and taking an inmate out of our jail. - Despite what the town of Florence now knows about the former corrections officer, those who knew Vicky White and used to see her every day continue to feel her loss and wrestle with her legacy. - I hate that the world is gonna know Vicky now as this person who facilitated the escape of, you know, a monster. I wish they would've known the Vicky that we all knew back prior to all this happening. The superwoman. - I loved her. I loved her dearly. She did wrong, but I loved her dearly. - If I could say anything to her, I would tell her how much I loved her. Because I did. But I miss her very much. And I'm not the only one. But I trust she's in a better place. - And with Casey White back behind bars for so long, that outstanding murder charge for killing Connie Ridgeway was suspended, with officials deciding he's already serving what amounts to life without parole. And that's our show for tonight. Thank you so much for joining us this Monday. Until next week, kia ora. Nga mihi. Captions by Able. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air.