Escaped Tennessee inmate captured, authorities say

Jacob Allen Morley, the convicted murderer who escaped from a Tennessee prison, is in custody, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Tuesday.

The capture came more than a week after he escaped on Oct. 25 from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville — a town of about 3,500, roughly 100 miles north of Memphis — and allegedly stole a truck that was later found abandoned in Illinois.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced that Morley was in custody on Tuesday and said it would provide additional details soon.

Prison officials discovered Morley, 28, was missing around 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 25. Security video showed he had breached a perimeter fence, the Tennessee Department of Correction said in a statement.

“He has been added to the Tennessee Most Wanted list and should be considered dangerous,” it said.

Morley was convicted in 2025 of murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and aggravated burglary in the killing of co-worker Cody Birchfield, 34, in 2022, according to court documents shared by the Carter County Clerk’s Office in Tennessee.

In an interview with NBC News, Birchfield’s sister, Carrie Norman, called her brother’s killer “a very dangerous man.”

“And if he gets ahold of any kind of weapon, he will kill somebody,” she said.

The white Ford F-350 truck that Morley allegedly stole had passed the Hornbeak Fire Department in the town of Hornbeak, Tennessee, shortly after the theft early Monday. Hornbreak is 12 miles east of Tiptonville.

The fire department on its Facebook page posted timestamped still images from security video showing the truck driving by.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Tuesday that the truck was found abandoned in Marion, Illinois, about 123 miles north of Hornbeak.

It was left behind a business, police there and in Tennessee said.

Morley was accused of shooting Birchfield in the back of the head. Birchfield’s body was found in a large metal box under Morley’s residence in northeast Tennessee, court documents state.

A motive was unclear, and Morley claimed self-defense during trial. He reported that had been hospitalized multiple times for mental health issues, including bipolar disorder, and had no prior felony offenses, according to the records.

Morley was sentenced to life in prison following his conviction.