By Ahmed Abdelsalam
A convicted murderer who escaped from a Tennessee prison last week was apprehended in Missouri on Tuesday, authorities announced.
Escape and manhunt
Jacob Morley, 28, slipped through a fence at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville on October 25 while wearing prison clothing. Surveillance video showed him stealing a truck from a nearby farm, which he later abandoned in Marion, Illinois, about 120 miles north of the prison.
Automated license plate readers tracked Morley’s movement through Missouri, leading state highway patrol troopers to arrest him outside Kansas City before midday on November 3. Officials did not disclose further details of the capture.
Murder conviction and prior escape
Morley was serving a life sentence for the 2022 killing of his co-worker, Cody Birchfield, whose body was found hidden under Morley’s home in Carter County, eastern Tennessee. After the murder, Morley led deputies on a chase that ended in North Carolina.
He was convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism, and evading arrest. A reward of up to $17,500 had been offered for information leading to his recapture.
Prison system scrutiny
The escape adds to mounting criticism of Tennessee’s prison system. The Northwest Correctional Complex has seen multiple violent incidents in recent years, and a grand jury in July returned dozens of indictments related to five prisoner killings. The state’s correction commissioner, Frank Strada, resigned in September following a failed execution.
