Convicted murderer Jacob Morley escapes Tennessee prison through fence
Jacob Morley, 28, serving a life sentence for murder, slipped through a fence at Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville. A $2,500 reward has been offered for his arrest.
Life-sentence inmate breaks out of northwest Tennessee prison
A man convicted of killing his co-worker and hiding the body beneath his home has escaped from a prison in northwest Tennessee by slipping through a fence, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction. jamaica-gleaner.com reports that Jacob Morley, 28, was discovered missing at approximately 11:30 p.m. Sunday at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville.
Security camera footage reviewed by investigators showed Morley leaving the facility while still dressed in his prison uniform. Authorities did not disclose how he managed to pass through the fence.
Prison officials have offered a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to Morley's arrest. Law enforcement across the surrounding area has conducted searches of buildings and other structures near the complex, which sits roughly 90 miles north of Memphis in a rural stretch of flat land along a bend in the Mississippi River near the Missouri border.
Morley stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 240 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes.
He was sentenced to life in prison for the 2022 murder of co-worker Cody Birchfield. Birchfield's body was discovered in a box underneath Morley's Carter County home after Birchfield had been reported missing for several weeks. In addition to first-degree murder, Morley was convicted of aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism and evading arrest. When deputies arrived at his home in 2022, Morley fled and led police on a chase that ended in North Carolina.
Northwest Correctional Complex has a troubled record. A grand jury in July returned dozens of indictments connected to five inmate murders, assaults against staff and fellow inmates, and other acts of violence reported at the facility in recent years. The complex has a capacity of 1,776 men and also houses minors convicted as adults.
A 2023 audit of Tennessee prisons found the department was struggling to fill vacancies at the facility, recording a 61% vacancy rate for correctional officers during that fiscal year.
Source: Google News JM — Crime