April 29, 2022, wasn't supposed to be a significant work day for former Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton.
Having already announced he would not seek a third term and would retire the following January, Singleton looked forward to, in his words, 'riding off into the sunset' from 50 years of law enforcement, beginning in 1972 when he served as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff for Lauderdale County.
There would be no peaceful ride off into the sunset, though. The events of April 29, 2022 made sure of that, when Vicky White, a 16-year veteran of his department, left the Lauderdale County Jail with inmate Casey White, who was already serving a 75-year prison sentence while awaiting trial on a capital murder charge.
The next 11 days found a media spotlight fixed on Florence, Alabama, as news of a national manhunt for the fugitive White and the Assistant Jail Administrator dominated the headlines.
The actions, policies and protocol of Singleton's department and jail became a much scrutinized subject, with the Sheriff caught in the cross hairs of much of those discussions.
Almost two years after Casey White was caught and returned to the Alabama Department of Corrections and Vicky White was buried and gone, Singleton decided to write a book about the escape. Manhunt: The Search for Vicky and Casey White—The Good, The Bad, The Ugly became Singleton's official account of the events that led up to those fateful 11 days, and the aftermath where his leadership and management was called into question more than once.
Singleton held a book signing April 22nd at the Sheffield Public Library, where he spoke about the Vicky White/Casey White ordeal and his reasons for authoring a book about that much-debated subject.
Singleton decided on day one of the manhunt he would be the face of the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office when it came to speaking to the national media. At his first press conference, he told reporters, “It's all on the table, the good, the bad and the ugly.”
In the ensuing days, Singleton honored that pledge, something he believes created a working relationship with the media that played a significant role in Casey White's apprehension on May 9, 2022, in Evansville, Indiana.
Singleton began receiving offers to tell the 'exclusive' story about Vicky White and Casey White even before the two were found in a cheap Indiana motel.
Calls came from multiple media outlets with offers that required Singleton's exclusive access as part of the proposed contract. Singleton received several such exclusive offers even before the 11-day manhunt ended.
Singleton ultimately signed a deal with Netflix for a documentary, Jailbreak: Love on the Run, directed by Dan Abrams. That 88-minute documentary was released on Netflix last year. It wasn't the only documentary or movie based on the Vicky White/Casey White story, but it's, not surprisingly, the 'most accurate' account according to Singleton.
The first question Singleton answered was why write a book about this tragic story?
“150 years from now I want people to know, if they're still talking about this case, what really happened. That's why I wrote the book—to preserve an accurate historical record of what took place,” Singleton said.
There has been no shortage of criticism about Singleton's book, including some Facebook followers of the Franklin Free Press who shared emotions from disgust to outrage about the former sheriff. Some examples of those responses include:
“He shouldn't have written a book since it happened on his watch. Zero respect for him.”
“You did nothing to prevent this. You had nothing to do with the capture. So why are you writing this book? For the money that you did nothing to earn. A man at a car wash found (a truck connected to White/White) and that town's police officers captured him. Please do the right thing and donate the money you receive to a worthy charity—not your own pocket.”
“This is truly disgusting, but doesn't surprise me when (people) will jump on an opportunity to make money off someone else's pain every time!”
Manhunt begins with a look at the background of Vicky White as well as Casey White's long history with the criminal court system. Singleton then describes how the relationship between his second in command at the jail and a capital murder suspect developed, both on his watch and through telephone communication between the two while Casey White was serving a prison sentence at Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Al.
Chapter 8, The Plan, describes how Vicky White and Casey White created the perfect storm of events to facilitate his April 29, 2022 escape. Those events resulted from months of planning, even an April 27, 2022, trial run where she took Casey White out of the Lauderdale County Jail for nine minutes before returning him to the building through the jail kitchen so as to bypass the booking area.
Some of Vicky White's actions and plans would have been difficult, if not impossible, to discover in advance. But much of the duo's escape plan raises questions as to how these events could have happened with competent jail management. Singleton addresses his own responsibility in this chain of events.
“He was in our jail almost five months and somewhere along the line, they concocted this escape,” Singleton said. “You've got a facility that's inadequate to hold (a security risk inmate like White) the way he should be handled and you've got an employee in an authority position who's been compromised. I put too much authority in one person. That's my fault. The judges and court clerk sent court lists to Vicky every day and no one else ever saw them. We just took her word on it.”
Franklin County Sheriff Shannon Oliver said the Vicky White/Casey White story should be a learning tool for all law enforcement.
“There were things that stood out about their relationships and it reminded us the importance of watching close relationships between employees and inmates,” Oliver said. “And that's something we've really stressed since then. If an inmate leaves our jail to go to court or to a doctor visit, there's got to be written documentation to show where they're going.”
Oliver said relationships between female jail staff and male inmates are something that are 'more common than you would think.'
Several years ago, Oliver fired a female jail employee after an investigation showed she transported an inmate to Marion County and engaged in sexual relations with him while he was in her custody.
“We've not had an issue other than one time, but you work a 12-hour shift and you're basically in there with these inmates the biggest part of your day,” Oliver said. “There is a relationship that sometimes builds. It may start out just by talking to them. But inmates know where to really key in and manipulate and try to con them into doing something. It's a constant battle you have to watch out for.”
Singleton and his chief deputy were out of town the morning of April 29, 2022, at a graduation from the Law Enforcement Academy of Lauderdale County's newest deputy.
There were 15 inmates from the jail on the April 29, 2022 court list. Vicky White chose to split the group into two vans, with each van requiring two employees, and that took four jail staffers out of the building that morning. Vicky White told the dispatchers Casey White had a mental evaluation that morning in the Lauderdale County Courthouse. No such evaluation was scheduled. White said she'd escort Casey White into the courthouse and transfer custody to the deputies already there. That never happened. By the time jail staff realized Casey White wasn't returned, he and Vicky were well into Tennessee.
When told Vicky White hadn't returned with Casey White, Singleton said his first thought was the inmate overpowered her, commandeered a car and that she was in grave danger. Within hours, it was apparent Vicky White was a willing participant in the escape.
Singleton disputes the Indiana medical examiner's finding that Vicky White's cause of death was suicide. He believes the bullet's entry into the center of her forehead was inconsistent with an intentional self-inflicted gunshot. Instead, Singleton maintains the gun in her hand went off accidentally while Casey White was climbing over her in an attempt to exist the front passenger door as marshals closed in on their vehicle.
He also believes Vicky genuinely loved Casey White, although he thinks that was only a one-way street.
“Why else would she throw away everything for him? No question in my mind she loved Casey White. And a week after she died, he's back in prison with more than $5,000 in his commissary account sent by different women he had contacted so I don't think she meant anything to him,” Singleton said.
In May 2023, Casey White pled guilty to a charge of Escape First Degree, with the plea agreement calling for the felony murder charge for the death of Vicky White to be dropped. He was sentenced to life and won't be eligible for parole until he's 89, Singleton said.
The self-published Manhunt: The Search for Vicky & Casey White—The Good, The Bad, The Ugly is available locally at Coldwater Books, and on Amazon Books at a cost of $16.95.
