MEMPHIS — US authorities have recaptured a man serving a life sentence for murder after he escaped a Tennessee prison more than a week ago.
A trooper for the Missouri State Highway Patrol took the fugitive, Jacob Allen Morley, 28, into custody around 11:30 a.m., the agency said in a statement.
Morley was convicted of first-degree murder in 2025 for the 2022 death of a co-worker. He was serving a life sentence at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, near the southeastern Missouri Bootheel region, when he escaped.
The Tennessee Department of Correction said security footage showed Morley, wearing his prison uniform, breaching the prison fence around 11:30 pm on 25 October, and later stealing a vehicle from a nearby farm.
Early on Tuesday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) received a tip that Morley had been spotted hiding in a shed at a hunting camp near Marion, Illinois, where he had also stolen a truck containing three firearms, the bureau said in a statement. The vehicle license plate was then used to track him down.
The truck’s licence plate was then tracked through automatic plate-reader technology, travelling through Missouri, where local authorities were dispatched to follow.
Morley was apprehended by Missouri State Highway Patrol “without incident” in Carroll County at 11:34 am local time on Tuesday. Three firearms that had previously been reported stolen were also recovered from the vehicle, the TBI said.
Photos published by authorities showed Morley handcuffed and being led out of a field by officers.
Following his escape, Morley had been added to the TBI’s most wanted list, with the TDOC offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to his arrest.
The TBI’s statement said members of the public had provided information during the investigation, but did not say if the reward had been paid.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the manhunt had involved officers from the Kansas City Police Department, Independence Police Department, the FBI, US Marshals Service and Homeland Security Investigations.
Morley was convicted of first-degree murder over the death of his colleague Cody Birchfield in 2022. He was sentenced in June 2025. His request for a new trial was denied in May.
Birchfield’s body was found in a metal box under Morley’s home, according to Carter County court records.
Birchfield died “as a result of a gunshot wound to the back of the head”, a pathology report cited in court said. Bullet casings matched a gun found in Morley’s house.
Birchfield’s sister said in her victim impact statement to the court that the pair had developed a friendship while Birchfield was training Morley at the pallet manufacturing company where they were both employed.
Besides murder, Morley was also convicted of vandalism, tampering with evidence, aggravated burglary, and evading arrest.
This is not the first time Morley has led law enforcement officials on a manhunt. His 2022 arrest came after a police chase that crossed state lines into North Carolina.
The Northwest Correctional Complex is a men’s prison with the capacity to hold up to 1,776 inmates, from low security to maximum, CBS reported.
CBS said the prison has seen numerous acts of violence in recent years, and in July a grand jury returned dozens of indictments over assaults on staff and the murders of five inmates.
Source: Saudi Gazette