Jacob Morley: Life Sentence Murderer Cut Fence to Steal Work Truck

A white 2008 Ford F-350 with Tennessee plate 138BBQV is the vehicle Jacob Allen Morley stole to escape custody in Tiptonville, Tennessee.

Morley, 28, is serving a life sentence for the 2022 murder of Cody Birchfield. He slipped out of the Northwest Correctional Complex on Sunday night.

Prison staff found the cell empty at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday. They launched an emergency search immediately after the count revealed his absence.

Security footage showed Morley cutting through a perimeter fence while wearing standard prison clothing. He was on foot for roughly an hour before he reached a vehicle.

Around 1 a.m. on Monday, video from the 400 block of Keystone Drive captured Morley stealing the truck. The location is about two miles south of the prison.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation marked Morley as a danger to the public and placed him on the state most wanted list. He stands 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds.

He has brown hair and green eyes. The stolen truck bears the name Lindamood Planting Company on its side and carries an air compressor in the bed.

Morley was convicted in 2025 for first-degree murder, burglary, vandalism, tampering with evidence, and evading arrest. His former girlfriend, Landree Sheperd, testified that he told her he killed Birchfield.

Birchfield vanished in February 2022 after being last seen in Elizabethton. Carter County deputies found signs of a violent crime in his home. Morley was arrested in March 2022 after a chase into North Carolina. Birchfield's body was later found under Morley's house.

Federal and state agencies are assisting in the search. The public can report information by calling 844-832-3463.