Escaped Tennessee killer found hiding in Illinois shed, sheriff says
Officials say Jacob Allen Morley stole a truck, took firearms and wrote an apology letter before being arrested without incident in Missouri.
Jacob Allen Morley, a convicted killer, escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, on Oct. 25. He was recaptured on Tuesday and arrested without incident, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Investigators believe Morley hid for a time in a hunters' shed near Marion, Illinois, roughly 127 miles from the prison. Williamson County Sheriff Jeff Diederich said evidence suggests Morley drank beer and cooked garlic bread there. Morley also allegedly took clothes and three firearms from a farm and left a handwritten apology letter after taking a truck.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation officials said Morley stole a pickup truck near the prison around 1 a.m. on Oct. 26. Police found that truck abandoned in Marion the next morning. Missouri troopers used FLOCK cameras to locate his vehicle on Interstate 70 and in Liberty, Missouri. Morley is serving a life sentence for the 2022 murder of Cody Birchfield.
Key points
- Morley escaped a Tennessee prison on Oct. 25 and was recaptured on Tuesday.
- He allegedly hid in a hunters' shed near Marion, Illinois, and took firearms and a truck.
- FLOCK cameras helped Missouri officers locate his vehicle.
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Summarized with AI from the sources above and reviewed before publishing.
