Man serving a life sentence for murder slips through a fence and escapes
a Tennessee prison
[October 27, 2026]
TIPTONVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A man serving a life sentence for
killing his co-worker four years ago has escaped from a prison in
northwest Tennessee by slipping through a fence, authorities said.
Officials realized Jacob Morley, 28, was unaccounted for around 11:30
p.m. Sunday at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, the
Tennessee Department of Correction said in a statement.
Investigators looked at security cameras and saw Morley escaped while
wearing his prison uniform, officials said. They did not release any
other details, including how Morley got through the fence. |
This booking photo released by the Tennessee Department of Corrections
on July 24, 2025, shows Jacob Morley. (Tennessee Department of
Corrections via AP) |
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Prison officials offered a reward of up to $2,500 for Morley's
arrest. They said law enforcement throughout the area has
searched buildings and other structures near the prison about 90
miles (145 kilometers) north of Memphis in an isolated, rural
area of flat land tucked near a bend in the Mississippi River
near Missouri.
Morley is 5-foot-11 (1.8 meters) and 240 pounds (109 kilograms).
He has brown hair and green eyes.
Morley was sentenced to life for killing co-worker Cody
Birchfield in 2022. Birchfield's body was found in a box under
Morley's Carter County home after he had been missing for a few
weeks.
Along with first-degree murder, Morley was also convicted of
aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism and
evading arrest. When Morley saw deputies at his home in 2022, he
led police on a chase that ended in North Carolina, authorities
said.
Several violent attacks between inmates and by employees have
been reported in recent years at Northwest Correctional Complex.
A grand jury in July returned dozens of indictments for five
inmate murders, assaults against staff and inmates and other
violence.
Northwest Correctional Complex can house 1,776 men and can house
minors who have been convicted as adults, according to the
Department of Correction. In 2023, an audit of Tennessee prisons
found that the department was struggling to fill open positions
at the prison and had a 61% vacancy rate for correctional
officers in that fiscal year.
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