Man who faked bear attack death to cover up murder is caught

by · Mail Online

An accused killer has been captured after stealing a man's identity and faking a bear attack to cover up the murder.

The suspect, 45-year-old Nicholas Hamlett, was caught in Columbia, South Carolina, Sunday night, police said, ending a multistate manhunt following the death of 34-year-old Steven Douglas Lloyd.  

The search for Hamlett - which lasted nearly three weeks and spanned states including Montana, Alabama, Alaska, Kentucky, North Carolina and Florida - started in Tennessee near a 43-mile byway that connects the state's Tellico Plains to North Carolina.

On October 24, police received a call from the area at around 11:30pm from man, later found to be Hamlett, claiming to be Brandon Andrade. 

He told dispatcher that he had been injured after a bear chased him off a cliff, a story investigators determined Hamlett made up.

When police arrived on the scene, they found Lloyd's body with an ID belonging to Andrade. Police later learned that Andrade's ID had been stolen and was used multiple times by Hamlett. He is believed to have stolen it to escape parole.

The suspect, 45-year-old Nicholas Hamlett (seen here in this collage of photos provided by cops in Knoxville, Tennessee,  was caught in Columbia, South Carolina Sunday night
His arrest ended multistate manhunt called in response to the death of 34-year-old Steven Douglas Lloyd, a vulnerable man who police say Hamlett killed

Police say that Hamlett earned Lloyd's trust by acting as a friend, while he wanted by authorities in Alabama for a parole violation.

The Monroe County Sheriff's Office named Hamlett's victim as Lloyd on November 4, while also laying out how they believed the crime occurred.

Officials said Hamlett lured Lloyd to the heavily wooded area along the Cherohala Skyway, where he killed him to assume his identity.

Police revealed that while speaking with Lloyd's family, they learned how he had been a foster child suffering from trust issues due to his upbringing.

Lloyd, who was also diagnosed with a mental health disorder known as Reactive Attachment Disorder, was known to sometimes leave home and live on the streets in his native Knoxville.

That's where he encountered Hamlett, police determined - speaking with dozens of people at a local shelter who said they recognized Lloyd as a regular resident.

They described the 34-year-old as a quiet, respectful person, with several saying they had seen him in the area in the weeks before his death.

Police say that Hamlett earned Lloyd's trust by acting as a friend, before luring him to a secluded stretch of forest on the Cherohala Skyway, seen here
Hamlett, posing as a man named Brandon Andrade with a matching ID, told cops a bear attack caused him to fall off a waterfall. Pictured, a waterfall near where the incident occurred
Pictured, investigators who oversaw the case, including Monroe County Sheriff Tommy Jones, seen behind the podium. He explained in a statement how a hospital worker alerted authorities after spotting the suspect, '[bringing] this manhunt to a peaceful end' 

'It's amazing,' David Jolley, a United States Marshal in East Tennessee called in to assist with the case, told WBIR-TV of how the suspect supposedly earned Lloyd's trust.

'He's a very good con man,' he said, billing Hamlett as a master manipulator.

Authorities added how the identification belonging to Andrade had been stolen and used several times before, already raising red flags following Hamlett's call.

Hamlett, meanwhile, had been wanted in Alabama for violating the terms of his parole, following similar instance in 2009 that saw him charged with attempted murder.

Police in the state at the time said Hamlett also used an alias to lure a man to a park with claims he would sell him insurance.

Instead, the suspect threatened the male victim with a gun and baseball bat, with plans to walk him to a nearby wooded area where he had already dug a shallow grave.

Court records obtained by USA Today describe how the man fought back, striking Hamlett unconscious.

The beating was so severe that Hamlett had to be taken to a local hospital by helicopter, where he put in a medically induced coma.

After he woke up, he was charged with attempted murder and kidnapping, before accepting a plea deal that saw him instead charged with felony assault.

Four prior felonies saw him sentenced to 20 years in prison, before being released on parole. It remains unclear when exactly he was released.

Hamlett, meanwhile, had been wanted in Alabama for violating the terms of his parole, following similar instance in 2009 that saw him charged with attempted murder. As of Monday, Hamlett was still being held without bail in South Carolina, awaiting extradition
Relatives of the victim, seen here, said he sometimes left home to live on the streets, due to struggles with mental health. That's where cops say he met Hamlett, before becoming a target in his alleged plot

Hamlett was caught for Lloyd's killing after he was spotted in a hospital. 

'After observing Hamlett at a local hospital, a good citizen alerted the authorities and brought this manhunt to a peaceful end,' Sheriff Tommy Jones said Sunday.

After the hospital employee reported the sighting, police were able to detain Hamlett and confirm his identity using fingerprint technology.

'The sharing of Hamlett's wanted poster led the public, who is our most valuable resource, to act as our eyes and ears,' Jones added.

Once this was done, the extradition process for the Knoxville resident back to Tennessee began, as he remains in holding almost 300 miles away.

As of Monday, Hamlett was still being held without bail in South Carolina.