Follow-up: Escaped Murderer Morley Had Crossed State Lines Before Local Police Were Alerted, Prosecutor Says; Reward Rises to $17,500

TIPTONVILLE, Tennessee — Tiptonville, a town in Lake County, Tennessee, is home to the Northwest Correctional Complex, from which Jacob Morley, serving a life sentence for murder, escaped late on Sunday, October 25. District Attorney Danny Goodman Jr. told CNN on Friday, October 30, that Morley had already reached Marion, Illinois, by 4:40 a.m. on Monday, but local law enforcement was not notified until 6:15 a.m. — by which time he had long crossed the state line.

Goodman said his biggest concern was the large gap between when the corrections department knew and when local agencies were told: had local police known as quickly, they would have had about two more hours to patrol, and a good chance of catching Morley before he left the county. According to Goodman, during a routine 9:30 p.m. cell count on Sunday, an officer knocked on Morley's cell and asked how many inmates were inside; an inmate falsely claimed two were present, but Morley was not in the cell. Staff confirmed he was missing around 11:30 p.m. and alerted an internal investigator around 2 a.m., but state agencies and the district attorney's office were not notified until 5:30 a.m. Security footage showed Morley cut through the prison's security fences and hid among pallets and a trash cart behind the main kitchen before fleeing in his prison uniform; what tool he used to cut the fence, and how he obtained it, remains unknown.

Morley then stole a 2008 white Ford F-350 in Lake County and drove north. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) said the truck was found abandoned on Tuesday in Marion, about 130 miles north of the prison. Marion police Lt. Justin Dwyer said surveillance video showed the truck had apparently been abandoned around 4:40 a.m. Monday, and police did not find it until about 10 a.m. Tuesday — meaning it sat in southern Illinois for more than a day. Video evidence indicates Morley headed toward a highway after leaving the truck. Dwyer said officers have searched neighborhoods, knocked on doors and followed every lead, and although there is no indication Morley is still in Marion, police will continue to assume he is.

The Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) posted on social media on Friday afternoon that Morley is 'considered dangerous and could be anywhere,' asking truck drivers and travelers who were in Marion on Monday morning to review dash-camera footage for suspicious activity and urging the public to remain vigilant and check vacant homes and outbuildings. Morley is on the TBI's Most Wanted list, with a combined reward of $17,500 offered by the Tennessee governor's office, the TBI and the U.S. Marshals Service for information leading to his arrest; tips can be called in to 1-800-TBI-FIND (1-800-824-3463).

Morley is the second inmate to escape TDOC custody this month. The department's commissioner resigned after last month's botched execution of Christa Pike, and Governor Bill Lee announced on Friday the appointment of Christopher Hansen as interim commissioner. Morley was convicted of the 2022 killing of his co-worker Cody Birchfield — first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, evading arrest and vandalism — and sentenced to life in prison; Birchfield's body was found weeks after he went missing, in a box under Morley's house. Birchfield's older sister, Carrie Norman, told CNN affiliate WCYB that learning her brother's killer had escaped made her feel 'sick to her stomach,' and the family urged anyone with information to contact authorities.

Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 图：位于田纳西州莱克县 Tiptonville 的莱克县法院（资料图）。照片：chiacomo，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。

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