A convicted murderer who escaped from a Tennessee prison on Oct. 25 was apprehended on Tuesday after hiding in a shed near Marion, Illinois, where he reportedly drank beer and made garlic bread, officials said.
Jacob Allen Morley, 28, serving a life sentence for the 2022 murder of Cody Birchfield, was recaptured without incident. Authorities utilized FLOCK cameras to track Morley's movements after he fled the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol received information from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation that Morley might be traveling west on Interstate 70 near Independence, Missouri. The suspect's vehicle was located using FLOCK cameras, and officers deployed to the area. Further use of FLOCK cameras led undercover officers to locate the suspect vehicle traveling south on Missouri 291 in Liberty.
Investigators believe Morley traveled approximately 127 miles from the prison to a shed used by hunters near Marion, Illinois. Williamson County Sheriff Jeff Diederich stated that evidence indicated Morley consumed beer and prepared garlic bread, along with other food items, during his time in the shed. Morley also allegedly took clothes and three firearms from the property and left a handwritten letter of apology.
Morley is serving a life sentence for the first-degree murder of Cody Birchfield, as well as convictions for burglary, vandalism, tampering with evidence, and evading arrest. Birchfield disappeared in early February 2022 and was last seen in Elizabethton, Tennessee. Investigators found indications of a violent crime at Birchfield's home, and his body was later discovered under Morley's residence.
Morley was initially arrested on March 2, 2022, after a police chase that extended to the North Carolina state line. The stolen truck he used after his prison escape was found abandoned by law enforcement officials early the morning after the escape in Marion, Illinois, but Morley himself was not immediately located.