TBI says the public provided information but did not disclose payment status
The Tennessee Department of Correction’s reward for information leading to Jacob Allen Morley’s arrest increased by $15,000 on Wednesday. The agency had previously offered up to $2,500 (£1,900).
Following his escape, Morley had been added to the TBI’s most wanted list. The TBI said members of the public provided information during the investigation, but the agency did not say whether the reward had been paid.
On Tuesday, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said officers had apprehended Morley “without incident” in Carroll County, Missouri, at 11:34 a.m. local time. The TBI announced Wednesday that Morley was in custody after an operation involving local, state and federal agencies.
The TBI said a tip reported that Morley was hiding on an Illinois property from which a truck had also been stolen. The truck’s licence plate was then tracked through automatic plate-reader technology as it traveled through Missouri, where local authorities were dispatched to follow.
Authorities recovered three firearms that had previously been reported stolen from the vehicle, the TBI said. Photos published by authorities showed Morley handcuffed and being led out of a field by officers.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the manhunt had involved officers from the Kansas City Police Department, Independence Police Department, FBI, US Marshals Service and Homeland Security Investigations.
More than a week before his capture, Morley escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, about 90 miles (145 km) north of Memphis. The Tennessee Department of Correction said security footage showed Morley, 28, wearing his prison uniform, breaching the prison fence around 11:30 p.m. on 25 October and later stealing a vehicle from a nearby farm.
BBC News reported that Morley was convicted of first-degree murder over the 2022 killing of his colleague Cody Birchfield and received a life sentence. He was sentenced in June 2025, and his request for a new trial was denied in May.
Carter County court records reviewed by the BBC showed that Birchfield’s body had been found in a metal box under Morley’s home. A pathology report cited in court said Birchfield died “as a result of a gunshot wound to the back of the head.” Bullet casings matched a gun found in Morley’s house.
Birchfield’s sister said in her victim impact statement to the court that the two 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 was not the first time Morley had 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 capacity for up to 1,776 inmates, ranging from low security to maximum security, CBS reported. CBS said the prison had seen numerous acts of violence in recent years and that in July a grand jury returned dozens of indictments over assaults on staff and the murders of five inmates.