Alleged Killer Who Faked Death Arrested at Hospital

Police say Nicholas Hamlett claimed to have fallen off cliff while running from bear
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 11, 2024 6:40 PM CST
Alleged Killer Who Faked Death Arrested at Hospital
The sheriff's office released these photos of Hamlett.   (Monroe County Sheriff's Office)

A fugitive suspected of killing a man in Tennessee and trying to cover it up with a story about a cliff and a bear has been apprehended in South Carolina. Police say Nicholas Hamlett, 45, called 911 on Oct. 18 and claimed he had been injured in a fall from a cliff while running from a bear. He gave his name as Brandon Andrade. When authorities arrived at the site in Tennessee's Monroe County, they found a body with Andrade's ID. Investigators said Hamlett had stolen Andrade's ID and used it before. The body, they said, was that of 34-year-old Steven Douglas Lloyd of Knoxville, WBIR reports.

Lloyd had mental health issues and had been living on the streets. Hamlett "met Steven, befriended him, and lured him into a wooded area to take Steven's life and his identity," Monroe County Sheriff Tommy Jones said in a Nov. 4 Facebook post. Authorities said Lloyd died of blunt force trauma to the head, with injuries authorities said were not consistent with a fall or bear attack, USA Today reports. Hamlett, the target of a multistate manhunt, was arrested at a hospital in South Carolina after an employee recognized him.

Hamlett was taken into custody by the US Marshals Service after an officer confirmed his identity with a fingerprint scanner. "The sharing of Hamlett's wanted poster led the public, whom is our most valuable resource, to act as our eyes and ears," Jones said. "After observing Hamlett at a local hospital, a good citizen alerted the authorities and brought this manhunt to a peaceful end." Hamlett was also wanted for a parole violation in Alabama, where he was charged with attempted murder and kidnapping in 2009 and was sentenced to 20 years after pleading guilty to a lesser charge of felony assault. (More fugitive stories.)

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