Convicted murderer escapes prison through fence, steals truck

A man serving a life sentence for killing his co-worker four years ago has escaped from a prison in northwest Tennessee by slipping through a fence, authorities said. Investigators have since released surveillance footage that showed him stealing a truck in the early hours of Tuesday morning. 

Officials realized Jacob Morley, 28, was unaccounted for around 11:30 p.m. Sunday at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, the Tennessee Department of Correction said in a statement.

Investigators looked at security cameras and saw Morley escape while wearing his prison uniform, officials said. They did not release any other details, including how Morley got through the fence.

Later, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released surveillance tape showing Morley stealing a white 2008 Ford F-350, with Tennessee plates and a Lindamood Planting Company logo on the door, at around 1 a.m. local time on Tuesday. The vehicle was stolen from Lake County, which includes Tiptonville, investigators said.

The bureau said Morley remained on its "most wanted" list as of Monday, and officials have offered a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to his arrest. In a statement, it urged residents of the area from which the car was stolen "to check home security systems, including doorbell cameras and trail cameras, for any sightings of Morley or the stolen truck."

Prison officials said law enforcement throughout the area has searched buildings and other structures near the prison about 90 miles north of Memphis in an isolated, rural area of flat land tucked near a bend in the Mississippi River near Missouri.

Morley is 5-foot-11 and 240 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes.

Morley was sentenced to life for killing co-worker Cody Birchfield in 2022. Birchfield's body was found in a box under Morley's Carter County home after he had been missing for a few weeks.

Along with first-degree murder, Morley was also convicted of aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism and evading arrest. When Morley saw deputies at his home in 2022, he led police on a chase that ended in North Carolina, authorities said.

Several violent attacks between inmates and by employees have been reported in recent years at Northwest Correctional Complex. A grand jury in July returned dozens of indictments for five inmate murders, assaults against staff and inmates and other violence.

Northwest Correctional Complex can house 1,776 men and can house minors who have been convicted as adults, according to the Department of Correction. In 2023, an audit of Tennessee prisons found the department was struggling to fill open positions at the prison and had a 61% vacancy rate for correctional officers in that fiscal year.