Jacob Morley, a convicted murderer serving a life sentence, was recaptured on Tuesday in Missouri after escaping from a Tennessee prison more than a week earlier, authorities said.
Morley, 28, was apprehended outside Kansas City, Missouri, before midday by the state highway patrol. He had been on the run since slipping through a fence at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tennessee's far north-western corner on 25 October.
Escape and vehicle theft
Surveillance video showed Morley stealing a truck from a farm near the prison while still in his prison clothes. He abandoned the vehicle last week in Marion, Illinois, about 120 miles (193km) north of the prison.
State and county officials provided few details on how they located Morley, saying only that automated license plate readers showed he was traveling through the state.
Murder conviction
Morley was serving a life sentence for killing co-worker Cody Birchfield in 2022. Birchfield's body was found in a box under Morley's home after he had been missing for a few weeks. The two lived in Carter county, in eastern Tennessee.
When Morley saw deputies at his home, he led officers on a chase that ended in North Carolina, authorities said. He was convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism and evading arrest.
Prison system scrutiny
After his escape, law enforcement agencies searched buildings and other structures near the prison, which is in Tiptonville, about 90 miles (145km) north of Memphis in flat farmland near a bend in the Mississippi River. Prison officials offered a reward of up to $17,500 for information leading to Morley's arrest.
Morley's escape is the latest blemish for Tennessee's prison system. Several violent attacks between prisoners and by employees have been reported in recent years at Northwest Correctional Complex. A grand jury in July returned dozens of indictments for five prisoner killings and other violent acts.
Following the failed execution of Christa Pike in September, the department of correction's commissioner, Frank Strada, resigned after less than three years on the job.
