Authorities Wednesday were still trying to figure out how an escaped Tennessee prisoner convicted of murder evaded capture for more than a week before being found hundreds of miles away in Missouri.
Jacob Morley, who was serving a life sentence for killing a co-worker four years ago, was apprehended Tuesday near Kansas City, Missouri, authorities said. Morley was found after police used roadside cameras and a helicopter to find him and his truck got stuck in the mud. Two rifles and a shotgun were recovered from the truck.
Authorities believe Morley, 28, went to a farm near Marion, Illinois — about 125 miles away — in the days after his escape, spending time in a shed used periodically by hunters.
Investigators found evidence that he drank beer and made garlic bread and other foods — and that he left behind a handwritten note of apology after stealing a truck from the farm, according to Williamson County Sheriff Jeff Diederich. Morley is also suspected of stealing clothing and the three firearms from the property.
Diederich believes Morley walked about 3 miles to the farm after abandoning another truck he was driving following his escape. Security cameras captured Morley walking away from the truck and in a few places along Highway 13, but the terrain — which includes fields and woods — would have made it difficult to detect, Diederich said.
It’s unclear why Morley drove to Marion and why he was driving near Kansas City, more than 350 miles away.
“How he ended up in Marion is kind of a mystery,” Diederich said.
Diederich said there was no evidence Morley received help from anyone.
Morley escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in far northwest Tennessee on Oct. 25 after slipping through a fence in prison clothes. Surveillance video shows him stealing a truck from a farm near the prison, which he abandoned in Marion.
His escape occurred the same month that Tennessee Department of Corrections Commissioner Frank Strada resigned from office following the botched execution of Christa Pike, which left her unconscious and on a ventilator in a hospital. Pike has since been released from the hospital and returned to a maximum security prison as her future remains uncertain.
All “available information” regarding Morley’s whereabouts while he was on the run has been released, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Kim Wheeler-Elder wrote in a text message.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol said it was notified Tuesday morning that Morley was possibly heading west on Interstate 70 in the Kansas City area. Authorities said he was compliant when he was arrested.
Morley was taken to the Lafayette County Jail in Lexington, Missouri, according to Justin Ewing, a spokesman for the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. No charges have been filed against him in Missouri courts, according to online court records.
Before Morley was apprehended, he was charged in federal court in Tennessee with one count of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, according to court documents. Morley was also charged Tuesday in federal court in Missouri with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
A deputy U.S. marshal interviewed Morley at the Lafayette County jail Tuesday and Morley admitted to escaping from the Tennessee jail, stealing the truck from Marion along with the two rifles and the shotgun, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Tennessee Attorney General Danny Goodman Jr. said in a telephone interview that he plans to file additional charges, but it is unclear when Morley will be returned to Tennessee.
Morley was convicted of murdering co-worker Cody Birchfield in 2022. Birchfield’s body was found in a box under Morley’s house after he went missing for a few weeks.
When Morley saw deputies at his home, he led officers on a chase that ended in North Carolina, authorities said. Morley was convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism and escape.
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