Tennessee inmate serving life sentence escapes and steals truck

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 27 Oct, 16:02 · Archive

Jacob Morley, serving a life sentence for murder, escaped from a Tennessee prison and stole a truck from a nearby farm.

Jacob Morley, 28, serving a life sentence for murder, escaped from Northwest Correctional Complex late on Sunday and stole a truck from a nearby farm, remaining at large on Tuesday. Authorities said Morley slipped through a fence in his prison clothes and walked about 2 miles through fields to a farm near Tiptonville. Surveillance video from the farm shows him opening an unlocked truck's driver's side door and driving off at around 1 a.m. Monday. Firefighters in Hornbeak, about 12 miles east of the farm, reported that investigators confirmed their cameras captured footage of the truck passing their station about 15 minutes later.

Morley is 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighs 240 pounds, has brown hair and green eyes. Authorities have not released details about whether anyone helped him escape. Morley is serving a life sentence for killing co-worker Cody Birchfield in 2022. Birchfield's body was found in a box under Morley's home after he had been missing for several weeks. Morley was also convicted of aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism and evading arrest; during his arrest for Birchfield's murder, he led officers on a chase that ended in North Carolina.

Prison officials have offered a reward of up to $2,500 for Morley's arrest. Law enforcement agencies have searched buildings and other structures near the prison, which sits about 90 miles north of Memphis in flat farmland near the Mississippi River.

How it is being reported

• Tennessee inmate serving life for murder stole a truck after slipping through the prison fenceAuthorities are searching for a convicted murderer who escaped from a Tennessee prison and stole a truck from a nearby farm.Clickorlando · 27 Oct, 15:33
• Tennessee inmate serving life for murder stole a truck after slipping through the prison fenceAuthorities are searching for a convicted murderer who escaped from a Tennessee prison and stole a truck from a nearby farm.News4Jax · 27 Oct, 15:33

In this story: Jacob Morley · Cody Birchfield · Northwest Correctional Complex · Tennessee Bureau of Investigation · Tennessee · Tiptonville · Carter County

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log