Authorities are still piecing together the details of how a convicted murderer from Tennessee, serving a life sentence, evaded capture for more than a week before being apprehended hundreds of miles away in Missouri. Jacob Morley was taken into custody Tuesday near Kansas City, Missouri, after troopers tracked him using roadside cameras and a helicopter, eventually locating his truck stuck in the mud. Two rifles and a shotgun were recovered from the vehicle.
Investigators believe Morley made his way to a farm in Marion, Illinois, approximately 127 miles from the prison, where he spent time in a shed. Evidence at the farm indicated he consumed food and beverages before stealing a truck and departing. Williamson County Sheriff Jeff Diederich stated that Morley also took clothing and firearms from the property. Authorities suspect Morley walked about 3 miles to the farm after abandoning a different truck he had used immediately following his escape. Surveillance footage showed Morley walking away from the initial truck and along a highway, but the terrain of fields and woods made him difficult to spot, Diederich explained.
Morley, 28, escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tennessee on Oct. 25, leaving the facility in his prison clothes and stealing a truck from a nearby farm. It remains unclear why he traveled to Marion or why he was driving near Kansas City, which is over 350 miles from Marion. Diederich indicated there is no evidence to suggest Morley received assistance from anyone during his escape or time on the run.
Morley was charged in federal court in Tennessee with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution and in federal court in Missouri with being a felon in possession of a firearm. During an interview at a Missouri jail, Morley admitted to escaping the Tennessee prison and stealing the truck and firearms. He was convicted in 2022 of first-degree murder for killing his co-worker Cody Birchfield and faced additional charges including aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism, and evading arrest.