Tennessee Manhunt Launched After Inmate Escapes Perimeter Fence

Prison officials confirmed that Morley was unaccounted for on Sunday night, prompting an emergency headcount and search within the facility on Monday. The Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) verified that security cameras captured Morley breaching the prison’s perimeter fence and escaping while still in his prison uniform. The Tennessee Highway Patrol has deployed aviation assets and state troopers to assist in the ongoing search, according to officials. According to prison records, Morley’s supervision level was classified as “low,” with a projected release date set for December 2083. In June 2025, Morley was sentenced to life imprisonment for the first-degree murder of his colleague, Cody Birchfield, whose body was discovered in a box beneath Morley’s residence in 2022, as reported by CBS News and the BBC. Murder charges were accompanied by convictions for vandalism, evidence tampering, aggravated burglary, and evading arrest. This marks the second instance of Morley evading authorities. His previous arrest in 2022 followed a police pursuit that extended into North Carolina. Earlier this month, Gregory Redden, 69, who is serving a 15-year sentence for aggravated robbery, escaped custody but was recaptured in the following days. In September, convicted murderer Christa Pike survived a failed lethal injection, an event that led to the resignation of TDOC Commissioner Frank Strada.

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