Authorities recaptured Jacob Allen Morley, a convicted murderer who escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, on October 25. Morley, 28, was serving a life sentence for the 2022 killing of his colleague, Cody Birchfield.
Security footage showed Morley breaching the prison fence around 11:30 p.m. on October 25, wearing his prison uniform. He then stole a vehicle from a nearby farm. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) announced his capture on Wednesday after an operation involving local, state, and federal agencies.
The TBI received a tip that Morley was hiding on an Illinois property, from which a truck had also been stolen. Automatic plate-reader technology tracked the truck's license plate through Missouri, where authorities followed. Morley was apprehended by the Missouri State Highway Patrol in Carroll County on Tuesday at 11:34 a.m. local time, reportedly without incident. Three previously stolen firearms were recovered from the vehicle.
Morley was convicted of first-degree murder for Birchfield's death, which occurred in 2022. His sentencing was in June 2025, and a request for a new trial was denied in May. Court records indicated Birchfield's body was found in a metal box under Morley's home, with the cause of death a gunshot wound to the back of the head. Bullet casings found in Morley's house matched a gun recovered from the scene.
Morley's prior convictions also include vandalism, tampering with evidence, aggravated burglary, and evading arrest. His arrest in 2022 also followed a police chase that crossed state lines into North Carolina.
The Northwest Correctional Complex has a capacity of 1,776 inmates and has experienced significant violence in recent years. A grand jury returned indictments over assaults on staff and the murders of five inmates in July.