LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) – The defense team for Casey White has asked that he be transferred from Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer to Cullman County Jail to help prepare for White’s upcoming capital murder trial.
The defense motion says they checked with Lauderdale County District Attorney and Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton to ensure neither has an issue with transferring White. The defense said it has also spoken to Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry and learned “he is ready and willing to house Mr. White.”
White escaped from the Lauderdale County Jail on April 29 with the help of then-corrections employee Vicky White, no relation. Vicky White was killed during a police chase after an 11-day manhunt for the two that ended in Evansville, Indiana. He was sent back to Donaldson Prison after his capture.
Court records show that White’s defense team wants him moved to Cullman County Jail as they prepare for White’s capital murder trial in connection to the 2015 stabbing death of Connie Ridgeway scheduled to begin on December 12 in Lauderdale County Circuit Court.
“The trial preparation for Casy White’s Capital Murder case and Felony-Murder case is extensive,” White’s lawyer Mark McDaniel told News 19. “Communication with our client is critical to our preparation. Nick Heatherly and all members of the Defense Team have worked diligently on this Transfer Motion and we certainly maintain the transfer of Casey White is in the best interest of justice.”
News 19 spoke with former Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely in May about his past correspondence with White, after White was imprisoned for 75 years for a 2015 crime spree. White apparently had safety problems at Donaldson at that time. Blakely told News 19, “It’s my understanding, according to Casey, he had been shanked a couple of times while there in prison. He didn’t like it down there and wanted to get back in a county jail.”
White’s correspondence with Blakely included an alleged confession in 2020 to the Ridgeway killing. That confession paved the way for White’s move to the Lauderdale County jail where Vicky White later helped him escape.
