Murder Convict Jacob Morley Captured in Missouri

Jacob Morley, 28, was taken into custody in Missouri on Tuesday.

State highway patrol officers stopped him outside Kansas City before midday. Authorities confirmed that automated license plate readers had tracked his vehicle through the state. They did not provide further details on how they located him.

Morley had been on the run since Oct. 25. On that date, he slipped through a fence at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee. He was wearing his prison clothes at the time of the escape. Surveillance video showed him stealing a truck from a nearby farm. He abandoned that vehicle in Marion, Illinois, about 120 miles north of the prison.

The man is serving a life sentence for the 2022 murder of his co-worker, Cody Birchfield. Birchfield's body was discovered in a box under Morley's home in Carter County, eastern Tennessee. The victim had been missing for weeks before the body was found. Morley was also convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism, and evading arrest. When deputies arrived at his home during the initial investigation, he led them on a chase that ended in North Carolina.

Tennessee prison officials offered a reward of up to $17,500 for information leading to his capture. The prison is located in flat farmland near a bend in the Mississippi River, about 90 miles north of Memphis. Law enforcement agencies searched buildings and structures in the area during the search. This escape follows a string of incidents at the Northwest Correctional Complex. A grand jury returned dozens of indictments in July for five inmate killings and other violent acts. Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada resigned in September after less than three years in the role, following the failed execution of Christa Pike.