True Crime Junkie

TRUE CRIME JUNKIE

WITH JOHNNY FLETCHER

BONUS EDITION!

CASEY WHITE & VICKY WHITE

It's unlikely that Evansville will ever get more national attention than it did for being an assumed safe haven for two high-profile fugitives. But the fact that our local law enforcement - and, most notably, a keeneyed civilian (all hail the car wash manager) - figured prominently in the capture of Casey White and Vicky White is what really put our little corner of Indiana on the map. Let this be a lesson to all the criminals out there: don't even think about taking up residence, however brief, in Stoplight City! Because we will, we will, stop you...stop you! (A little play on Queen's "We Will Rock You" in case that failed to translate to the page.)

As a noted true crime junkie, I still can't believe what transpired in this case - incredibly, the pair's abandoned truck was sitting at a car wash for days on Weinbach Avenue just five minutes south of the News 4U office. Madness. (Fact: I passed by that business several times during the period when the vehicle sat unattended, noticeably sticking out of one of the wash bays. If only I had looked over instead of keeping my eyes on the road like Rich Risemas taught me all those years ago at Memorial. Regrets, I've had few...) By the way, you're familiar with Casey White and Vicky White, right? I suppose I should have provided more context at the beginning but it's hard to imagine anyone in this area not being in the loop by now. Moving on... This case is so disturbing - and yet so fascinating - on so many levels. It goes without saying that Casey White is a grade A dirt bag, just a miserable human being. (Side note: His mother tends to disagree, insisting that her son is simply misunderstood. In reality, according to mom, he's a good person who keeps getting mixed up with bad women. Aye yai yai. Where to even begin?) Regardless, his involvement in this prisonbreak drama is easy to understand. Like many convicts before him, Casey manipulated a guard to get things he wanted in jail and, ultimately, to get out of jail. He had nothing to lose - no big mystery there. But Vicky? Guarantee she'll be the subject of numerous documentaries down the road because the idea that a woman of her stature - she was reportedly a model employee and well-respected - would throw it all away for a life on the run with zero chance of a good outcome is just unfathomable. How to explain it?

Of course, we all know how this saga ended, with Vicky putting a bullet through her brain after a brief car chase off of Highway 41. (Her final moments are sure to be debated due to the content of the 911 call.) Casey, however, surrendered peacefully, though he intended to engage in a shootout with the cops were it not for the vehicle overturning. Safe to say he's not a suicide kind of guy - too narcissistic. Jail must not be so bad, after all.

LET THIS BE A LESSON TO ALL THE " CRIMINALS OUT THERE: DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT TAKING UP RESIDENCE, HOWEVER BRIEF, IN STOPLIGHT CITY!