Jacob Morley, a Tennessee inmate captured in Missouri after escaping from prison, faces a federal firearms charge, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Western District of Missouri.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Jacob Morley, a Tennessee inmate captured in Missouri after escaping from prison, faces a federal firearms charge, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Western District of Missouri.
Jacob Allen Morley is charged with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. The complaint, filed Nov. 3, alleges he possessed a shotgun and two rifles in Missouri after previously being convicted of a felony.
Morley was serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole for the 2022 murder of Cody Birchfield in Carter County when he escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced his capture near Norborne, Missouri, on Nov. 3.
In an affidavit supporting the complaint, Deputy U.S. Marshal Aaron Riley said authorities received information on Nov. 3 that Morley was in the Kansas City area. License plate reader alerts helped investigators locate a white Ford F-350 in a parking lot in Liberty, Missouri, where they identified Morley as the driver, Riley wrote.
Authorities followed the truck east, with a Kansas City police helicopter assisting, according to the affidavit. Riley said Morley turned onto a gravel road near Norborne and drove off the road, where the truck became stuck in mud.
Officers ordered Morley out of the truck, and he complied and was taken into custody without incident, the affidavit says.
An inventory of the truck found a 12-gauge shotgun and two rifles on the front passenger seat, along with shotgun ammunition in the rear seat, according to Riley’s affidavit.
Riley wrote that he and another deputy interviewed Morley at a Missouri detention facility that afternoon. After being advised of his Miranda rights, Morley agreed to speak and admitted escaping from the Tennessee prison and stealing the truck and the three firearms in Marion, Illinois, according to the affidavit.
The supplied documents do not include a court date or a response from Morley or an attorney to the federal allegation.
It is also unknown at this time if Morley had any connection to Missouri that would have led to him traveling there.
WSMV’s sister station WBBJ previously reported, citing 29th Judicial District Attorney General Danny Goodman Jr. and sources involved in the investigation, that hours passed between a prison count that found Morley missing and notifications to outside law enforcement. Goodman told WBBJ that Morley had reached Marion before authorities outside the Tennessee Department of Correction were contacted.
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