STILL MISSING: Convicted Killer Dodging Cops in Brazen Prison Escape

Right now, a convicted murderer serving. life in prison is on the loose and the. manhunt has just crossed state lines. Officials say he slipped through a. prison fence in the dead of night, stole. a truck, drove over 100 miles before. anyone caught up to him. But now, that. truck has been found abandoned out in. Illinois and authorities say he has. vanished. We are bringing in a former. FBI special agent and SWAT tactical. operations team leader to break down how.

an escape like this could even happen in. the first place and how do you catch. this guy? Welcome to Sidebar presented. by Law & Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. We're tracking some major developments. in a story that we covered yesterday. The manhunt for 28-year-old Jacob Allen. Morley. This is continuing. They are. adding new layers to the scope of this. search. Remember, the convicted killer. escaped from the Tennessee Northwest. Correctional Complex Sunday night. We're.

recording this right now, Wednesday. Still hasn't been caught. Officials say. he breached the perimeter fence still. wearing his prison uniform, walked about. 2 miles through fields, and then stole a. white pickup truck from a nearby farm. That truck, of course, has now been. located by the TBI, the Tennessee Bureau. of Investigation, which we're going to. talk about more, but still no sign of. Morley. He was serving a life sentence. for murdering his coworker, Cody. Birchfield, and burying his body under.

Morley's own home. And we are now. hearing from the people who knew the man. that Morley murdered, Cody Birchfield. They are terrified. There was a. long-time friend of Birchfield, Diana. Reed, told NewsNation that she is, quote, "absolutely horrified that Morley. is back on the streets." She said, "This. man brutally murdered my long-time. friend, Cody Birchfield, someone I had. known since I was a child. My biggest. concern is public safety. I want people. to recognize his face and understand.

what he is capable of. In a Facebook. post, Reed wrote, "How does a man. convicted of murder and sentenced to. life in prison just escape? I am. absolutely disgusted, furious, and. heartbroken over the news that Jacob. Allen Morley has escaped from a. Tennessee prison. For some of you, this. is just another headline scrolling. across your news feed. For me, it's. personal. Jacob Morley was convicted of. murdering Cody Birchfield, one of my. long-time close friends. Cody wasn't. just an acquaintance or someone I knew. around town. He was someone I had known.

since I was a little girl, someone I. grew up with, someone whose friendship. meant more to me than I can put into. words. Cody's life was brutally taken in. 2022. His family and friends had to. endure the unimaginable pain of losing. him, followed by the long process of. seeking justice. And now, after finally. seeing the man responsible convicted and. sentenced to life in prison, we're. having to process the fact that he's out. there again. How does this happen? It's a good question. There's a. childhood best friend, Daniel Russell,

told KFVS 12 in reference to Morley's. escape, quote, "I was never going to. have to see his face again, and then I. wake up yesterday morning, and it's. everywhere for all of us to see again. And knowing he's out on the street, and. he may do it to somebody else's family. If he will kill somebody the way he. killed Cody, he's a monster. He will do. it again when the first opportunity. comes." Now, I want to talk about where. this manhunt is seemingly headed because. it's now crossing state lines. Tuesday. afternoon, the TBI confirmed something.

that is sending this search in a. different direction. The stolen truck. That apparently stolen truck has been. found, and it's not in Tennessee. That. white 2008 Ford F-350, the one with. Lindamood Planning Company on the door, was found abandoned in Marion, Illinois. It's roughly 120 mi north of the. Northwest Correctional Complex, the. prison. It's about 90 mi southeast of. St. Louis. Marion Police Chief David.

Fitz said surveillance video showed the. truck parked neatly behind a shopping. center at 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Someone reported it around 11:00 a.m. And that is where the trail goes cold. Fitz told the media he has vanished. We. haven't had any reports of stolen. vehicles or anything else suspicious. around here. So, how did he get from a. farm in Lake County, Tennessee all the. way to Southern Illinois? Did he have. help? Did he get into another vehicle? How's he surviving? Clothes, food,

shelter, money? Is he with someone right. now? Is he staying in someone's house? Look, the TBI is asking anyone with. information to call 1-800-TBI-FIND. And they are warning the public that. Morley is considered dangerous. He's. described as approximately 5'11", weighing about 240 lb, green eyes, brown. hair. They've added him to the state's. most wanted list. There is a reward of. up to $2,500 for information leading to.

his arrest. But authorities are. emphasizing, if you see him, do not. approach him. Call authorities. But as. this manhunt now expands across state. lines, the question everybody's asking. is, how does this happen? How does this. convicted killer slip through the fence. of a state prison, steal a truck, and. just disappear? And it's not just the. escape itself, it's the timing. Because. this is happening at a time when the. Tennessee Department of Correction is. already under intense scrutiny. Department of Correction Commissioner. Frank Strada announced his resignation. just weeks ago after less than 3 years.

on the job. His resignation came days. after Tennessee's failed attempt to. execute Krista Pike on September 30th. Pike survived after being given two. doses of pentobarbital. The state is now. conducting an independent investigation. to what went wrong there. Our friend, Long Crime Host Dan Genet Levy, has been. covering that extensively on Crime Fix. if you're interested in learning a. little bit more about Krista Pike. But. you go back to Morley. So, the Tennessee. Department of Correction, which oversees. the Northwest Correctional Complex, the. exact facility where Morley escaped.

from, has had its own history of issues. According to reporting by AP, several. violent attacks between inmates and by. employees have been reported in recent. years. A grand jury in July returned. dozens of inmate for five inmate. killings and other violent acts in 2025. and this year. Just last month, prison. officials told the Tennessee Senate. subcommittee they have 470 open jobs. among their 6,000 person workforce. So, as we get into how this could happen and.

what the search looks like right now, we're going to take a step back and. remind everyone exactly who Jacob Morley. is, okay? Why he was in that prison in. the first place. Why he is such a danger. to the public. Morley's 28 years old. He's from Carter County in the far. northeast corner of Tennessee. And. before he was an inmate, the BBC reports. he worked at a pallet manufacturing. company, and that is apparently where he. met his victim, Cody Birchfield. Cody. Birchfield was 34 years old. According.

to his obituary, he was a millwright. working shutdown jobs across the. southeast. His family described him as a. simple man who loved the little things, someone who would give you the shirt off. his back, someone who showed up when you. needed him. His sister said in her. victim impact statement that the two men. developed a friendship while Birchfield. was training Morley at work. But then in February of 2022, Cody. Birchfield disappeared. He was last seen. in Elizabethton. When investigators from the Carter. County Sheriff's Office went into his. home, they saw indications that a.

violent crime had occurred inside, and. they knew something was terribly wrong. On March 2nd, 2022, deputies showed up. at Morley's home, and Morley ran. Led. police on a chase that crossed state. lines and ended in North Carolina, where. he was arrested. Kind of eerie to be. thinking about, considering what's. happening right now that he's on the. loose. And after that arrest, investigators. found Cody Birchfield's body. It was. buried in a box underneath Morley's own. home. Turns out it had been there for.

weeks. A pathology report cited in court. records says that Birchfield died from a. gunshot wound to the back of the head. So, you're talking like an execution. According to Carter County court records. reviewed by the BBC, the bullet casings. found at the scene matched a gun that. was found inside Morley's house. Morley's former girlfriend, Landry. Shepherd, testified at his trial. She. told the jury that Morley said at one. point, and I'm quoting the court record. here, "He bleeping killed him." Morley. was convicted in 2025. First-degree.

murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering. with evidence, aggravated burglary, evading arrest, vandalism. WJHL reports. that Morley was also convicted of theft. of property over $1,000. He was. sentenced in June of 2025 to life in. prison with the possibility of parole. And according to prison records, he. wasn't eligible for release until. December 2083. So, this is the man that we're talking. about. This is the man who escaped on. Sunday night. A man convicted of. shooting his co-worker in the back of.

the head, burying him under his home, and then leading police on a multi-state. chase. And now he's out. And the people. who loved Cody Birchfield are having to. relive this. How does something like this happen? So, how does something like this happen? Right? That's one of the many questions. I have. That's what we're going to try. to break down. And I want to bring on. somebody who has spent a career in. crisis situations, tactical operations, Daniel Brunner, former FBI special. agent, crisis management expert, FBI. SWAT tactical operations team leader,

extensive experience. And by the way, you can also check him out. He's got. this new YouTube podcast. It's Brunner. Fronte. Thank you so much for taking the. time, Daniel. Always appreciate it. First of all, let me just start here. It's Wednesday. You shocked we haven't. caught him? >> No, because he got a head start, obviously, on us, and he was able to uh. get a truck, you know, the work truck. that he was able to jump into and get a. 2 and 1/2-hour head start because they. found the truck, obviously, 2 and 1/2. hours away from the prison.

So, he has somewhat of a plan of what he. was going to do. Uh so, he has fled the area, obviously. And the. now this the obviously the the the the. net is going to widen to look for family. members. You know, apparently his family. is out east, but he headed north. So, is. he heading to the Canadian border? Is he. heading north then to hit head east? I. don't know. So, those are the lot of. things that are going to be part of the. investigation. Uh am I surprised that he hasn't been.

found? No, I haven't because he he got. into a vehicle that was a was a. carjacking, if you want to say the truck. the work truck of opportunity. Someone. left the keys in it. It wasn't look like. he had planned on you know, the there. wasn't a vehicle left for him. >> So, you don't think he had got help on. the outside? Like that has been a. thought a thought. >> It it could be, but I highly doubt it. because it he would have had some sort. of escape vehicle. He would have had. some sort of means of transportation out. of the area. He found a work truck that.

he happened to have access to and. somebody left the keys in it. And he got himself 2 and 1/2 hours away. So, obviously he's got a quite a bit of. a head start. If he hadn't had that work. truck, he would still be within the 5. mile radius of the of the prison and he. would get caught a lot faster than he. would be now. >> All right. So, this is a paid. advertisement for Rumble Wallet. They're. sponsoring this episode of Sidebar. Have. you ever wondered why people used to put. money under the mattresses? Some people. think it's from, you know, being. paranoid, but really it's about having. control over their own money. And with. Rumble Wallet, you have that same.

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minute. Then you'll claim your $10, open. chat, hit pay with Rumble Wallet to send. it. The software's only good for the. first 500 wallets, so act now. Scan the. code, use Sidebar 10, claim your $10 in. USAT. Restrictions apply. There are a. limited number of entries available. Terms and conditions apply, too. So, see. the descriptions or visit. rumble.com/promo. official rules for details. Let's just. take this step-by-step. I mean, no pun. intended. He walked 2 miles through. farmland to steal that truck or. allegedly steal that truck at around. 1:00 a.m. Nobody reported that, right?

Nobody reported seeing that in window. And I I kind of wonder, is that because. of that area? Right? I don't believe. it's like a large metropolitan city with. cameras everywhere and a million. passerby, a million uh you know, witnesses. It's kind of like rural. It's. kind of remote, right? I mean, is that. not surprising that he was able to walk. that distance? >> I I Yeah, I don't think it's it's that. much of a distance because there isn't a. lot of sets of eyes on him. So, there he. isn't walking through neighborhoods. He's isn't walking through uh different. communities. So, he's walking in a lot.

more rural situation. Maybe he'll be a. quarter mile off the road uh to to avoid. vehicle traffic. Um. there's a lot of things, but I think the. the biggest thing that would be uh for. me, one of the questions of you know, obviously there's a lot of questions. that we have to be had in you know, as. far as the manhunt is concerned, but. also the investigation as to how this. happened and what failures were at the. prison. But more importantly, why was. there such a failure a a gap in when he.

was discovered to be missing to the. announcement. That to me is the biggest. thing is because as soon as you make the. announcement, then you have everyone's. eyes in the community looking if there. are missing trucks, missing cars. So, I. think that that probably led to the. delay in reporting of that truck because. no one knew about the the the missing. individual, the missing inmate. >> Yeah. >> So, there needs to be the accountability. both at the prison for how we got here. and then after the discovery of was it.

Did they take their time? Did they not. realize it? Was it during sleep hours? So, a a lot of questions to be answered. >> Definitely. And uh something that I. don't think we got a chance to really. talk about in our last episode um was. that this truck was found abandoned in. Marion, Illinois. So, 120 miles away, across state lines. I know you kind of. touched upon it, but what does it tell. you about the distance, the direction, his mindset? And And one of the. underlying questions I have is, you. know, what about money? What about gas? What. about food? What about clothing? What is.

somebody like that doing in that. position? And again, that truck being. found there, what does that tell you? >> Well, I think that it it tells you that. that he. for me, I believe that this appears to. be a. you know, an escape of opportunity. I. don't think that he appears to have. planned this. I don't know if he had. support from the outside, because if he. had support from the outside, in other. words, if somebody was there support. providing them financial support or food. or substance, they would have probably. provided him an escape means, whether it.

be a vehicle I mean, that he could. escape. It appears that this work truck. was just a target of opportunity, and. then he hopped in the vehicle, and then. he fled north. It is in my understanding. that there are his family and associates. are to the east. He could be heading. north to get onto Interstate 80 and then. cut east. Maybe he's misleading the the the. investigators. Maybe he drove north 420. miles, abandoned the vehicle, and then. misleading them, and then turned right. and headed west or headed east.

to mislead the investigators, knowing. that they would be on his tail within. 1 to 2 hours. He knew he had a head start, but he. obviously wanted to, you know, I'm we're. thinking worst case scenario. Is that is. how as a as a fugitive manhunt I've done. this before. I think worst case. scenario. If I think the worst is. possible, that he is leading us north. intentionally to mislead us, then if. he's just doing it because he's just. hey, I here's a road, I'm going to head. in this direction, then everything else. is going to fall into place. If I.

prepare for the worst, I you know, hopefully I'll get the best. So, maybe. he is just. found a road and just headed in one. direction. He doesn't have a phone, he. doesn't have GPS, he doesn't know what. direction is north from south from east. from west. It's possible that that is. just, you know, ill-preparedness by by. him. >> Yeah. >> But, the investigators have to obviously. prepare for the worst and expect he's. heading north to mislead them. >> But but but how does he just vanish. without any resources? I mean, if he. goes into a store to try to get food or.

steal food, wouldn't that be caught? Um is he going sneaking into houses? Is. he looking in dumpsters? One of the. concerns that I have is obviously this. is a person who's incredibly dangerous. And is it possible that he could be. going into homes and maybe loved ones. are are calling family members in the. area or and saying, you know, I haven't. heard from them in a while. Like did he. take anyone hostage in the house? I I. really don't know. But it makes me. wonder he he there's only a limited. amount of time. He's going to need. resources and I don't know how he gets.

them. >> Yeah, that's the problem. That's exactly. where it's going to where he's going to. get caught. Because if he doesn't have. the resources, if he didn't prepare for. this, if he didn't have assistance on. the outside, he's going to run out of. resources. Like Luigi Mangione ran out. of resources, got tired, made a mistake, and that's when you get caught. When you. pull your mask down at the wrong time. with the wrong person looking at you. And then you're that's caught. The. problem with this the problem with this. situation is this. He has got a 2 and. 1/2 hour head start on all the the the.

the fugitive the man hunters that. they're down there. And he could be in. any direction. Most people in the. communities that surrounding the area. without maybe within the within a few. miles of the truck, yes, they'll be on. alert. But everyone else will be like, "Well, we'll take unfortunately the. stance of well, it's probably not here.". And they're not going to really be. alerted. They're not going to be on. edge. Also, he could be in another. vehicle. So he could literally be in. California by now. He could be in Maine.

right now. He could be in Florida right. now. So anything is possible. He could. be in any community at any time. He. could have changed his appearance as as. we've seen when he walked out of the. prison, he had a long beard. He could. have easily changed his appearance in in. a minute. >> I can't imagine he's still wearing a. prison uniform right now. >> Right, exactly. I mean, it it it's going. to be logical that he's going to. probably get changed. He probably stole. some clothes. He may have gone into. a Goodwill and gotten a change of. clothes. Listen, this individual may be.

may be very savvy, may be a good talker, may be able to finagle some some food. from some people. and and then unbeknownst to them that. this is the individual that's the. fugitive. This story is just starting to. really get talked about today. Yesterday. was starting the conversation, but his. face is not out there prominently as. much as it should be, as much as it will. be over the next 24 to 48 hours. And. hopefully his face will be more out.

there. But that's when I believe that. he'll make a mistake. When he's hungry, he's tired, he's cold, he'll make a. mistake and someone will turn him in. >> We talked about how his victim. the victims, you know, loved ones are. are really, you know, they're they're. appalled at what's happening. But I also. wonder are they. >> concerned? The chances that he would go. to anybody that was connected to. Birchfield, right? The person that he. killed. Target them, go after them. Unlikely, I'd imagine. Or do you think. like law enforcement is surrounding.

those homes or or no? Is that a far. stretch? He would probably There's no. indication he would go anywhere near. them or anywhere near where he's from. >> Well, listen, as like I said, the. investigator, I prepare for the worst. and hope for the best. And that would be one of my people that. I put an officer on their house. I would. have an officer present to provide them. safety. Do I believe that he would go. after. that victim? No, I don't believe it's. likely. But we have to prepare for the. worst, hope for the best.

Do I need, you know, 10 armed security. guards around? No, that's over That's. overextending, you know, your your your. your element. But I believe that having. a subsequent increase in security and. alert around that family, whether that. be whatever makes them comfortable, if. that be go to a hotel and lock down or. have a police officer sitting outside. their house 24 hours a day from the. local police department. But something. has to be, you know, until this. individual is taken into custody, the.

proper precautions need to be taken. >> And aside from just the heartache and. the trauma of something like that. happening, let me go to this point. How's this possible? How's it possible that he's able to. escape from a prison through the fence. and walk the miles through open fields. without being immediately caught? I. mean, it seems shocking to me that he. was able to do this. And look, I I. talked before about some of the problems. in that area and that with that. facility, but how's this possible? >> Well, it's it's definitely possible. We've seen numerous fugitives. I mean,

we saw that a fugitive 3 years ago in. Pennsylvania literally scale a wall like. Spider-Man to escape a prison. When. these prisoners are in these these. facilities, they spend time day in day. out looking at everything and seeing the. routine and seeing the rhythm. And. that's the problem is if if the. corrections officers is as good as they. are and as as fantastic of a job that. they do, if they get fall into a routine and just. mundane in and out, the prisoners detect.

that. The prisoners see that and they. look for opportunity. They look for. weaknesses. This may have been in a a. situation where it was just an. opportunity where he found himself an. open door. Or this could have been months in the. planning where he was looking at the. schedule, looking at the officers and. saying, "At such and such a day and such. and such a time, these officers leave. that door propped open or they leave. this situation here and I can walk right. through here." And prisoners have. escaped from prison for for, you know, hundreds of thousands of year and it's.

going to happen. It's going to happen. and it continuously in the future. It's. just the level of security, the level of. attention to detail is that that the. prison takes and the Department of. Corrections or the Bureau of Prisons or. the corrections officers take it to make. sure that the. all the all the eyes are dotted and the. tees are crossed. >> All right, real quick. I have an. announcement for all of you out there. who have supported me over the years, supported the projects I've been a part. of. First of all, you guys are the best. Thank you so much. But I thought, why. don't I switch things up? Why don't I.

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Jesse. It's just $44.99 for the entire. year. So, I'm really looking forward to. this. Hope you can be a part of it, and. I'll see you then. This is a guy who. murdered another individual and put his. body underneath a house, put, you know, led police on a chase. How much of a. danger is he to the community? Do you. think this is somebody that could strike. again, that could kill other people? >> Absolutely. I think this individual is. extremely. um dangerous, that he's willing and. capable of taking someone's life. when he is put into a corner, and he may.

be willing to take another life, and not. willing to go back to jail. Um. it's it's it has to be prepared for the. worst, and and those officers. approaching this individual have to. expect that this individual is armed, and have to go along those lines that. this individual is not going to go back. to prison willingly. Uh they escaped, and they're a murderer, and they're. you know, especially um a heinous. murderer in that it's not just an you. know, an accidental death or something.

This individual was callous about on his. homicide, and he was especially, um you know, brutal about it and how he. disposed of the body. So, this. individual should absolutely be taken. seriously as dangerous. And if someone from the community is. watching this, and they see this. photograph, and they see the individual, even if you're armed personally, you got. your you're armed at home, don't engage. with him. Don't engage with him. Contact. 911. Keep an eye on him. Or just see him.

if he's walking or any community. Everyone knows their own communities. that they're best. If you see an. individual who's walking along the. street or walking through a field that. just doesn't supposed to be there, call. 911. Let them handle it. They and. they'll be the ones that are experienced. and trained in the in the way. But, don't take matters in your own. hands unless your life is in danger or. your family's life is in danger where. these individuals, like you said, he. could be going into homes to feed. himself and clothe himself. >> It just to be clear, you don't think. it's likely he's going to go to a major.

metropolitan city, right? He would he. would probably go for more rural areas. where there's less eyeballs. >> That would be my that would be my guess. is that he's going to stay away from the. areas where there are cameras, stay away. from the areas where there are high-vis. uh you know, facial recognition, police departments that are you know, extremely well trained. So, my my. supposition is yes, that he's going to. stick to the rural communities. He's. going to stick to where there's space. between the homes, where he could travel freely at night.

and hunker down during the daytime until. he's able to find. wherever he is final destination is, whether it's and I I highly doubt that. he's going to family because he knows. that his family is going to be. extremely look at put under the. microscope. So, I doubt that he's going. after family or friends. He's going to. try and relocate to another area, but. unless he has a plan, he's literally. doing this hour by hour, minute by. minute, and eventually he's going to. make a mistake and that's when he gets. caught.

>> So, you think he's going to get caught. eventually? >> Yes. Yes, I think he's going to get. caught. There's another story that would. just happened. in California when individual was on the. run for 14 years. Uh and he was recently. interviewed on television. as a chef and that individual was caught. after 14 years because he made a. mistake. Now, am I saying that he's. going to be caught in 1 month? I don't. know. Am I saying he'll be caught in a a. couple years? I don't know. I but he is going to make a mistake and. that's where law enforcement will catch.

him. I suspect he'll be caught within. the next month because there's so much. attention, and I hopefully he is his. face is put on the internet as much as. possible, and it's circulated, and he will make a. mistake, and I suspect within the next. week or two he'll be in custody. >> Daniel Brunner, thank you so much for. taking the time. Before I let you go, let everybody know where they can find. you and uh your new podcast. >> My pleasure. Yeah, my podcast is on. YouTube. It's Brunner Enfrente. It's a. Spanish podcast that is translated into. English, where I talk about law. enforcement, military matters, and.

things that come from the FBI. perspective. I talk to a lot of. individuals overseas and interviews. So, so a lot of great people that are. planned on coming on uh hostage rescue. team operators are going to be coming to. uh join me. So, it's going to be a great. one. It's Brunner Enfrente. It's on. Instagram and on YouTube. Thank you very. much. >> That's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so. much for joining us. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.