Escaped Killer Jacob Morley Got 5-Hour Head Start Before Tennessee Police Were Alerted
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Oct 28
Escaped Killer Jacob Morley Got 5-Hour Head Start Before Tennessee Police Were Alerted
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 28
Summary
Tiptonville police said they were not told Jacob Morley was missing until 4:40 a.m. Monday, more than five hours after prison staff realized at 11:30 p.m. Sunday that the convicted murderer was unaccounted for.
Surveillance later showed Morley crossing the Northwest Correctional Complex perimeter fence and stealing a pickup truck around 1 a.m. about 2 miles south of the prison, giving him time to flee before a wider search began.
The stolen Ford F-350 was found abandoned Tuesday morning in Marion, Illinois, but Morley remained at large; Tennessee investigators raised the reward to $15,000 and added him to the state's most wanted list.
Former federal prison warden Cameron Lindsay called the notification delay "100% unacceptable," saying escape protocols require immediate alerts to local, state and federal law enforcement and the surrounding community.
Morley, 28, is serving a life sentence for the 2022 murder of Cody Birchfield, and the escape adds to scrutiny of the Tennessee Department of Correction after last month's botched execution of death row inmate Christa Pike.