Escaped inmate caught after his truck got stuck in mud
Jacob Morley escaped prison while serving a life sentence for killing his co-worker in 2022
A murderer who escaped prison in Tennessee was captured Tuesday near Kansas City, Missouri, after a 10-day manhunt.
Jacob Morley, who was convicted of murdering a colleague four years ago and sentenced to life imprisonment, was detained at approximately midday after his truck got stuck in mud.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol received word Tuesday morning that Morley was potentially traveling west on Interstate 70 in the Kansas City area. Automated license plate readers and undercover officers on a western Missouri state highway located the vehicle.
Morley was driving a "metal flatbed work truck" featuring a white cab, said Sgt. Justin Ewing, a spokesperson for the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Authorities do not know how he got the truck or where he was headed. Ewing added that while Morley may have ties to the Kansas City area, officials do not think he stopped at any homes.
A Kansas City police helicopter also tracked the vehicle into Carroll County, a small county in northwest Missouri. Morley drove off the road and got stuck in mud, Ewing said, enabling a state trooper to apprehend him without incident. Morley was "compliant" upon arrest, ending the weeklong search.
The 28-year-old convict had broken out of the Northwest Correctional Complex, situated in the far northwest tip of Tennessee, on Oct. 25 by passing through a boundary fence while still wearing prison attire.
Security camera footage captured Morley stealing a farm truck close to the facility, which was later discovered deserted in Marion, Illinois, approximately 120 miles (193 kilometers) north of the penitentiary.
Morley had been given a life term for the 2022 murder of his co-worker, Cody Birchfield. Following Birchfield's disappearance over several weeks, authorities discovered his body concealed in a box beneath Morley’s residence. Both men resided in Carter County in eastern Tennessee.
When sheriff's deputies initially arrived at his property, Morley fled, initiating a vehicular pursuit that concluded in North Carolina, officials said. He was ultimately found guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, evidence tampering, vandalism, and evading arrest.
Following his prison breach, law enforcement agencies scoured nearby structures around the facility in Tiptonville, an agricultural region near a bend in the Mississippi River located roughly 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Memphis. Prison officials had posted a reward reaching $17,500 for information resulting in his capture.
The break-out marks another setback for the state’s correctional infrastructure in Tennessee.
In recent years, the Northwest Correctional Complex has seen numerous violent incidents involving both prisoners and staff members. A grand jury handed down dozens of indictments in July related to five inmate deaths alongside additional violent offenses.
Furthermore, Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada stepped down after under three years in office, following the botched execution attempt of Christa Pike in September.