FLORENCE – About a year after a daring jail escape mesmerized the nation, Casey White pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony escape charge in Lauderdale County.
The plea came in an agreement to have his felony murder charge in the death of jailer Vicky White dismissed. The escape charge has a maximum life sentence with a possibility of parole. His current parole eligibility is set for 2061 but the life sentence from the agreement will push the year back.
White will also go on trial in August for capital murder in the slaying of Connie Ridgeway in Rogersville in 2015. He escaped from the Lauderdale County Jail while awaiting trial in that case.
He was also behind bars on a 75-year sentence for convictions from other charges in 2015, including attempted murder.
White’s attorney Robert Tuten said he was surprised by the deal.
“You’re probably just as surprised by (Thursday’s) turn of events as we are,” Tuten said. “Things happened really fast … The judge is having us come back for sentencing at a later date.”
Sentencing is set for June 8.
With Vicky White’s assistance, Casey White escaped the Lauderdale County Jail on April 29, 2022. The two were captured 11 days later – May 9 – in Evansville, Ind.
