Wanted Killer’s Prison Break Caught on Camera

Right now in Tennessee, a convicted. murderer who is serving a life sentence. is on the loose. Law enforcement says he. slipped through a prison fence in the. dead of night, still wearing his. uniform, and then just vanished. We are. tracking this manhunt, and we're going. to take you through everything we. [music] know. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. Big breaking news out of Tennessee. We're bringing this one to you quickly. here. This is about as intense as it.

gets. Time is of the essence. Authorities in Lake County are hunting. for a convicted murderer. They say he. slipped through a prison fence in the. middle of the night, still wearing his. prison uniform and then just vanished. But he didn't just go on foot. No. Take. a look at this here. This is. surveillance footage released by the. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the. TBI, appearing to show [snorts] Jacob. Mley stealing a truck to make his. getaway. And there are even surveillance. images of the truck driving. These were. captured on camera by the Hornbeek Fire.

Department who turned over the footage. to law enforcement. Now Mley isn't just. any man. This is a guy who is serving a. life sentence for a killing where the. victim's body was found buried under the. killer's own home. Mley is out. He is. considered dangerous. The TBI is warning. the public that if you see him, do not. approach, but call 911. Now, who is he? Well, 28-year-old Jacob Alan Moley was. behind bars for Life at the Northwest. Correctional Complex out in Typtonville, Tennessee. That's a facility in the far.

northwest corner of the state. It's near. the Missouri border. And according to. the Tennessee Department of Correction, staff discovered that Mley was out of. sight, nowhere to be found. That this. was at around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 25th. So, they immediately. conducted an emergency count, searched. the facility. Security camera footage, which has been reviewed by the TDOC, appeared to confirm what they say. happened. Officials say Moley breached. the perimeter fence and exited the.

facility. Again, still wearing his. prison uniform. And the prison released. these still images from the overhead. surveillance cameras showing Mley in a. blue shirt, light colored pants. You can. see he's wearing a beanie there, glasses, white sneakers as well. But as. for how he got through the fence, that's. still an unknown. authorities haven't. said yet. Now, at around 1:00 a.m. Monday, roughly 2 miles south of the. prison, surveillance video seen here, and I'm going to show you this again, captured him stealing, allegedly. stealing, a white 2008 [snorts] Ford.

F350 pickup truck from the 400 block of. Keystone Drive in Lake County. The truck. has a Lindamood Planning Company printed. on the door. There's an air compressor. in the bed. You can see images of it. You can see images of it here from the. TBI. About 20 minutes later, the. Hornbeak Fire Department, roughly 15. miles from the prison, captured video of. that truck driving past the fire station. at around 1:18 a.m. That's the last. confirmed sighting. Now, Mley was.

convicted for the 2022 murder of a man. named Cody Birfield, a 34year-old from. Elizabethton, Tennessee. Birfield. disappeared in February of 2022. Investigators ended up finding signs. that something violent happened inside. his home. And his body ended up being. found buried in a box underneath. Morley's house. And when deputies showed. up at Mley's home, he led police on a. chase that ended in North Carolina. That's where he was arrested. He was. sentenced in June of 2025 to life in.

prison for firstdegree murder. received. additional time for aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, evading arrest, vandalism, and as the search continues. for this convicted criminal. We know. that law enforcement has searched and. cleared buildings in the area. The. Tennessee Highway Patrol has deployed. aviation assets, state troopers. Mley is. described as approximately 5' 11 in. tall, weighing about 240 pounds, brown. hair, green eyes. The TBI has officially. added him to the state's most wanted.

list. They're offering a reward of any. information leading to his capture of up. to $2500. A lot to get into. We have an update. right now. The truck that authorities. say was stolen by Mley has now been. found abandoned in Marian, Illinois. This is according to the TBI. They still. say his location remains unknown. Okay, let me bring in retired NYPD detective. Dave Sarnney to talk about this, who's. also an adjunct professor at John J. College of Criminal Justice. I got to. start here. How's this possible? How's.

this possible that a convicted murderer. can apparently, reportedly go through a. fence and grab a truck and make out of. there while wearing his inmate clothes. and escaping from a facility that houses. almost 2,000 people. >> And thanks for having me. This is a. problem in corrections. Correction is. one of the more difficult jobs you can. have within the criminal justice system. because you're dealing with these. prisoners, uh, inmates, and they range. from murderers to rapists to, uh, felony. assault guys, you know, murder, you.

know, robbery guys. So, the problem is. staffing. Apparently, their staffing is. relatively low because of their under. their low staffing. Uh, you have. problems. And when it comes to. correction facilities, you don't have. enough staff, which means boots on the. ground personnel. You have situations. like this. Apparently, this might be the. second the second escape in a week. Um, and the problem is, again, they have. surveillance video, but that doesn't. mean anything because it doesn't stop. anybody. Opportunity is what prisoners. look for to escape. This might have been.

the opportune moment within that day or. time because I always look at why they. did it that day, that that moment in. time to do it, uh, to escape. That's why. he went underneath the fence, apparently. So, you're going to look at. this from the correctional standpoint is. you're going to look at everything he's. ever done, his correspondences. You're. going to look at the staff that night. You're going to see anything. You can go. back to any video surveillance of that. location around that time prior to days. past to see if there was any uh it was. if that there was a a loose link in the. chain to say, say so to speak. You know, that's the problem with these cases. And.

probably. >> Well, is that usually what you see? Somebody loosens up a section of the. fence or you know, a lot of people say, "Wait a minute. Isn't there barbed wire? Isn't there some way that they actually. physically can't make it past the fence? >> That's the thing. It's like you can go. underneath the fence. How far does that. fence go? And that's the problem. How. many, you know, when we talk about sight. security, how many times that has that. been checked to see if everything there. is proper? Do they have the barb wire? Is there digging or anything around that. location that may be susceptible to.

possible escape? You know, you look at. movies like The Great Escape, an old. movie, and it took time for them to do. this. So that's the thing show it took. time. So we don't know how much time was. spent on doing this. Was it a momentary. thing? Was it just a lapse in security. at that moment or was this an area that. was worked on and looked up by the. escape at this point? >> So how far do you think he can get? Right. At the time of this recording, he's still on the loose, but you. convicted murderer. Right. At one point. during his criminal case, he evaded law.

enforcement. He has uh apparently a. vehicle. They talk about surveillance. capture at certain points. How far can. an inmate get on his own, without a cell. phone, without cash, seemingly wearing. inmate clothing, unless, you know, he's. able to obtain clothing somewhere else, which begs the question, how, where, how. does this usually work out? >> Well, that's the thing. Also, did he. have assistance out on the outside? And. that's why they're going to look at any. correspondences he's had or visits he. had where might this might have been. planned out because he took about it.

took about two hours and six miles to. find that vehicle. So, we've had that. vehicle for an extended period of time. No one's seen it since or at least. within the last hour or so since we're. doing this. Nothing's been seen about. that. The problem is a desperate man. If. he has no assistance, this is a person. of desperation. So, they're going to. find an opportunity. And it was good. that the it was actually a very good. idea for Tennessee, the state, to. actually put this out immediately. because you put out immediately, you you. you warn the public so they could look. for someone who might something might be.

out of the ordinary around their house. And I always tell the public when you're. notified of these things, notify the. police by 911. Do not attempt to. intervene. Do not attempt to stop them. Location, description, so then law. enforcement get there. Uh how how far he. can go? It's as long as he can go until. he's till he's um observed or. apprehended. And that's the problem. >> But what does he do about food and. shelter and clothing? Does he go into a. house? Does he go rumage through the the. trash? What do uh escapees usually do? >> Well, that's the issue is did he have.

help? Does he out? Does he have a place. to go? >> Let's say he doesn't Let's say he. doesn't have help. >> Then then you've got a problem because. now you have a desperate man. And that's. the problem. When you're talking about a. convicted murderer who escaped from a. prison and he has no alternative. He. steals a car, he steals a vehicle, steals a truck, and now he is out there. and he needs some place to go. And. that's why notifying the public to. secure their doors. they have um any. type of uh outside u location, a garage. or anything, lock it up because this.

person is desperate. That's what it. comes down to. If we have if he doesn't. have help outside, the desperation has. increased because of the lack of help. So that's he makes a danger to the. public at at most. >> What about geography? You know, police. prison officials said that uh law. enforcement, they've looked through. these buildings, these other structures. that are near and around the prison. Again, it's about 90 miles north of. Memphis. It's an isolated rural area, flat land. It's near a bend in the. Mississippi River, again, near Missouri.

That's not necessarily like a a large. metropolitan urban city as far as I can. tell. How does that change the search? How does that change the concern? >> Well, that's you're going to have you. have dogs that are going to be out. there. You're going to have drones that. are out there. you're going to have a. massive amount of uh police interaction. or police action by trying to locate. him. And that's the thing, the vehicle, if that vehicle is left behind, how far. could he have gone and when was the last. time the vehicle was seen? That's what.

you look at also. So, you're going to. get tire tracks. There's a chance, and I. only say this, there's a chance there's. GPS on that truck already because. usually commercial vehicles want to have. an idea of where that car, that vehicle. is at all given times. They may have had. that GPS system in it. We don't know. that's helpful to law enforcement if it. is. If there's not, that truck is easily. observed and easily seen by the public. because we've already put photos out of. it and the public know about it. So, the. more eyes are on it and I think if you. increase the the reward for the.

apprehension, you'll have even more eyes. and more people who will look arrested. >> I was going to ask you, the TBI, the. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. announced that he's on this most wanted. list. They're offering a reward of up to. $2,500 for information that leads to his. arrest. that that it's it's relatively. low. >> Yeah. Sometimes when you're talking. about wanted posters and wanted flyers, they have a standard. I think as this. investigation goes further, you will. probably see an increase in that reward. Uh that's why this might have been just, you know, a standard boiler and plate.

type of uh wanted individ wanted flyer. in a sense. We call them wanted flyers. in New York. So that might have been. just what it is. and then they're going. to up it as the as the intensity. increases and he's not been apprehended, they're going to probably increase that. that uh reward. >> The fact that you have federal well. reportedly federal, state, and local. authorities searching for him. Um how. how does that work in terms of. coordinating it? How does that work in. terms of the resources that are used? It. seems to me that's a beneficial thing to.

have, you know, all these different. agencies a part of it. The Tennessee. Highway Patrol is now joining the search. effort. How does that all affect the. search and the likelihood that he's. apprehended sooner rather than later? >> Well, you have to coordinate the search. in general. You're going to have a a. home base in a sense. You're going to. have the task force that's out there and. they're going to somewhere somewhere. along the locations that been searched. and you're going to double down on going. back to those locations been searched. because one of the places best place to. hide is a place already been searched. So, you're going to do that large.

massive search and then you're going to. do it again. And then you're going to go. back and repeat that as you extend it. further out the line because if you. don't find within a certain range, let's. move the radius a little 5 10 miles. more. But then go back and do it again. because that's these type of escapes. You know, even though it's a rural rural. area and it's a prison, you're dealing. with a murder, a convicted murderer who. has killed and he could kill again. So, that was so important to put that. release out to the public. And the more.

agencies you have, the more eyes you. have and the more more the public's eyes. on it. That's the reason why that reward. will probably up be upped for it. Do you. think that there's a possibility he's in. a house somewhere, whether the family. knows or know or does not know, like an. occupant knows or does not know. Um, and. I wonder if this is a time for family. members who contact your loved ones in. that area and make sure you hear from. them. >> I I would do that. I can't speculate, but there's always you want to make sure. your family's safe and secure. So, if.

there are people who live around that. area, you know, look around, see if. anything on your cam, if you have a Ring. camera or surveillance cameras, look at. those cameras and contact your family. If you have family in that area, just. contact, see everything okay? You're all. right? Because communication is. important. And even though we don't know. where he is right now, we don't want to. make sure that no one is hurt by him. just happen stance coming to a location. or house. >> Yeah. Authorities, they're asking the. residents in the nearby area to review.

home security and doorbell cameras, trail and hunting cameras, and other. surveillance systems. How beneficial. could that be to the search? And how. quickly can authorities get that footage. and access it and analyze it in time? Well, it'll be distance. Uh, if that. person makes a quick notification, they. have access to it. You know, the one. thing about social media and the. availability of video that could be. transferred is a video to be transferred. immediately to law enforcement. Is. there, you know, you could use, you. know, we just happen to just use a cell. phone to to video. That's something you.

can to get this individual uh identified. as far as location and to apprehend him. without incident to anybody. You know, law enforcement, that's what that's what. we're trained to do. We're trained to. arrest and apprehend violators of the. law. And that's the one thing the public. just needs to be aware and conscious of. the fact that it's a safety issue. Do. not interact. Make the phone calls to. police if and when you see this. individual. Location and description. >> Yeah. Sheriff Brian Avery of the Lake. County Sheriff's Office said that the.

public should remain vigilant and. exercise caution, adding anyone who. encounters or believes they have spotted. morally should not approach, confront, or attempt to apprehend him. instead. immediately dial 911 and provide any. relevant information to law enforcement. This is one of those cases where, you. know, we talk so much about how much do. you want to share to the public, right? If there's an ongoing investigation, to. the media, um that it could taint an. investigation. This is one of those. cases where it's the public that may be. key in solving this. >> Absolutely. Because this is not this is.

an an active escaped prisoner. That's. what it comes down to. We know what he. looks like. We know his information. We. have some some details about him with. the vehicle and it's it's so important. to notify the public when you have an. escape prisoner because like we like you. said desperation can be there. We don't. know how desperate he is. It didn't seem. he was desperate taking the car. They. taking the truck. He seemed very casual. and kind of okay with it. But that. doesn't mean anything. When when you. corner somebody dangerous, you don't.

know what their response will be. >> Can I ask you a question about just I'm. thinking about the car for a second. this truck, unless he had help and was. given keys, how's it possible he stole. it? Like, do you think that the keys. were in the car? Do you think he. hotwired it? I mean, again, assuming. this reporting is accurate. >> Well, that's the thing. We don't know. And, you know, that's hopefully, you. know, with that vehicle stolen, they. have the plate. I guarantee you the. company asked the uh employee, did was. the keys left in the car? They may not. tell us that. They may not tell he. hotwired the car. Is it difficult to do?

I don't know because some people are. very good at it. Some are adept at it. We don't know his skills in doing it, but he was able to take the vehicle. So, that's the one thing. The vehicle is out. there. Whether there's a key or not, or. hotwired, we don't know yet. I think. they probably the law enforcement. probably does already. They just haven't. released that part, that important. information because hot wiring doesn't. necessarily mean the car can go very. long distance. It could short out. Who. knows? >> Yeah. Before I let you go, are you. confident that they're going to append. him? >> I believe. Yeah. I with the amount of.

work that's being done on this, the the. next step is once the apprehension is. taking place and I guarantee you it's an. alternative uh investigation is how do. you escape? Did he have did he have. assistance? What can we do to have this. to avoid this avoid the situation? I. believe this is a second one in a week. from that prison. That's a problem. And. I think the major problem is again when. it comes to all cor all all law. enforcement comes to criminal justice. system corrections is the most. difficult. It is the most underpaid uh. profession. It's a difficult job and the. more you need to get people to work it.

There has to be incentivization. That's. why I think the opportunity was there. for this individual to escape. >> Dave Sarnney, thanks so much for coming. on. Appreciate it. >> Thank you very much and stay safe. >> That's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. I'm Jesse Weber. We'll speak to you next time.