Escaped Killer Sparks Multi‑State Manhunt, Exposing Prison Security Gaps
Jacob Morley’s flight from a Tennessee prison has triggered a nationwide search and raised questions about institutional safety.
A multi‑state manhunt is under way for Jacob Morley, an escaped convicted killer who fled on Sunday.
Authorities say Morley slipped through a Tennessee prison fence, was caught on camera walking out, then stole a landscaping truck that was later found abandoned more than 140 miles away in Marion, Illinois.
Morley is serving a life sentence for the 2022 killing of his co‑worker Cody Birchfield, who worked alongside him.
The story was reported by NBC’s Maggie Vespa for TODAY.
Original reporting
BBC News
Manhunt under way for Tennessee killer who escaped prison through a fence
Morley was given a life sentence for the 2022 killing of his co-worker Cody Birchfield.
Read the original →NBC News
Investigators Find Abandoned Truck of Escaped Prisoner
A multi-state manhunt for an escaped convicted killer is intensifying as investigators race to catch Jacob Morley after they say he was caught on camera waking out of a Tennessee prison on Sunday. Authorities say the landscaping truck that the convicted killer stole after his escape has been found abandoned more than 140 miles from the prison in Marion, Illinois. NBC’s Maggie Vespa reports for TODAY.
Read the original →
Facts this version was allowed to use
- Jacob Morley is an escaped convicted killer.
- A multi-state manhunt is under way for Jacob Morley, an escaped convicted killer.
- Jacob Morley escaped a Tennessee prison through a fence.
- Jacob Morley was given a life sentence for the 2022 killing of his co-worker Cody Birchfield.
- Cody Birchfield was a co-worker of Jacob Morley.
- Jacob Morley escaped on Sunday.
- Investigators say Jacob Morley was caught on camera walking out of a Tennessee prison.
- Jacob Morley stole a landscaping truck after his escape.
- The landscaping truck Jacob Morley stole was found abandoned more than 140 miles from the prison in Marion, Illinois.
- NBC's Maggie Vespa reported the story for TODAY.
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