Escaped Tennessee Killer Hid for 10 Days, Then Apologized Before Capture
WHO:
CNN - Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada resigned after the failed execution of Christa Pike.
CNN - Jacob Morley, 28, was serving a life sentence for killing coworker Cody Birchfield.
ABC News - Williamson County Sheriff Jeff Diederich said Morley’s route to Marion was “kind of a mystery” and said investigators had no evidence that anyone helped him.
CBS News - Tennessee District Attorney General Danny Goodman Jr. said he plans to file additional charges.
ABC News - Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Kim Wheeler-Elder said all “available information” about Morley’s whereabouts while at large had been released.
CNN - Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesperson Justin Ewing said Morley was taken to the Lafayette County jail in Lexington, Missouri.
WHAT:
CNN - Pike’s execution left her unconscious and on a ventilator in a hospital; she was later released from the hospital and returned to a maximum-security prison.
ABC News - Morley was captured near Kansas City, Missouri, after evading authorities for more than a week; authorities said he was compliant when arrested.
CNN - Investigators found evidence Morley drank beer, prepared garlic bread and other food, and left an apologetic handwritten note after taking a truck from a farm.
CBS News - Authorities suspected Morley also stole clothes and three firearms from the farm; two rifles and a shotgun were later recovered from the truck.
ABC News - Morley admitted to a deputy U.S. marshal that he escaped prison and stole the Marion truck and the firearms, according to a probable-cause affidavit.
CBS News - Morley faced a federal charge in Tennessee of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution and a federal Missouri charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Online court records showed no Missouri state charges had been filed.
ABC News - Morley was convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism and evading arrest. Birchfield’s body was found in a box under Morley’s home after Birchfield had been missing for several weeks.
WHERE:
CNN - Morley escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in northwestern Tennessee and was later believed to have stayed in a hunters’ shed at a farm near Marion, Illinois, about 127 miles away.
ABC News - Authorities said Morley was driving near Kansas City, more than 350 miles from Marion; he was arrested after traveling west on Interstate 70.
CBS News - The truck became stuck in mud, and Morley was taken to the Lafayette County jail in Lexington, Missouri.
CNN - After deputies approached him at home, Morley led officers on a chase that ended in North Carolina.
WHEN:
CNN - Strada resigned the same month as Morley’s escape.
ABC News - Morley escaped on October 25; authorities said he remained at large for more than a week before his capture.
CNN - Morley was convicted of killing Birchfield in 2022.
WHY:
CBS News - Authorities had not determined why Morley traveled to Marion or later drove near Kansas City.
HOW:
CNN - Morley escaped by slipping through a prison fence in prison clothes, then stole a truck from a farm near the prison and abandoned it in Marion.
ABC News - Diederich believed Morley walked about 3 miles to the Marion-area farm after abandoning the first truck. Security cameras recorded him walking away from it and at locations along Route 13; fields and woods made him difficult to spot.
CBS News - Troopers used roadside cameras and a helicopter to locate Morley after receiving information he might be traveling west on Interstate 70.
(UPDATED November 5, 2026 23:05 UTC)
Escaped killer Jacob Morley was captured near Kansas City after more than a week on the run. Authorities say he escaped a Tennessee prison, stole a truck and firearms, and left an apologetic note. Tennessee’s corrections commissioner resigned after Christa Pike’s botched execution left her hospitalized and on a ventilator.
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(UPDATED November 5, 2026 17:05 UTC)
Escaped murderer Jacob Morley was captured near Kansas City after more than a week on the run. He allegedly stole a farm truck and firearms, leaving an apologetic note before traveling west. Authorities recovered guns and took Morley to jail; Tennessee prosecutors plan additional charges.