US jailbreak drama ends with death of guard who fled with inmate
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WASHINGTON • A drama that riveted America has ended in tragedy, with a female prison guard arrested with a fugitive ex-con she allegedly helped to escape dying after she shot herself as police moved in to nab them at the end of a 10-day manhunt.
Vicky White and Casey White, who were not related, were arrested on Monday in Evansville, Indiana, after crashing their car into a ditch as police acting on a tip were in hot pursuit, officials said.
Vicky White, 56 and described as romantically involved with the fugitive prisoner, shot herself, said Vanderburgh County sheriff Dave Wedding. The county coroner's office later confirmed her death.
White the prisoner, 38, sustained minor injuries in the arrest.
"We got a dangerous man off the street today. He is never going to see the light of day again," said Sheriff Rick Singleton of Lauderdale County in Alabama, home to the scene of the original jailbreak.
White has had numerous run-ins with the law, and had been sentenced to 75 years in prison for kidnapping, burglary and attempted murder, among other crimes. No shots were fired by law enforcement officers, and no police or bystanders were hurt.
The arrest was made thanks to a tip after the couple were spotted at a hotel, Sheriff Singleton said.
The prison guard, who had a spotless record, was suspected of helping the long-time criminal escape custody on April 29, her last day of work before retirement.
On her last day at work, Vicky White fabricated a court-ordered psychological evaluation for Casey White. She said she needed to drive him to the appointment.
But the two never returned, and the authorities realised they had disappeared that afternoon.
Vicky White's mother Pat Davis was in disbelief. "I thought at first it was a mistake," she told a local TV channel. "She's never done anything (wrong), I bet she's never even had a speeding ticket."
Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe told CNN a jailbreak like this is a tough mission today. "It's getting harder every year to pull these things off successfully, with the ubiquitous nature of video surveillance, and the ability of the media and quite frankly social media to get that sort of intelligence out to the public in a real-time manner," he said.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
