Fugitive Nicholas Wayne Hamlett, arrested at a South Carolina hospital for the murder of Steven Douglas Lloyd last month in Tennessee, was found unconscious and dehydrated, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. And when asked who he was, Hamlett claimed to have amnesia, federal officials said.
On Oct. 18, 911 in rural Tennessee received a call from a man calling himself Brandon Andrade, who said he’d been chased off a cliff by a bear while hiking and was injured. When police arrived, they found a man dead with Andrade’s ID, but the deceased person wasn’t Andrade, but Steven Douglas Lloyd.
After Hamlett, apparently, made the 911 call posing as Andrade, dispatch related the following message, “Units en route to the area of Cherohala Skyway at Falls Branch Road. Have a male subject that fell off a cliff. He is unable to move. He was running from a bear. He has 2% battery – unable to get him back on 911,” Knox News reported.
Dispatch also added, “… en route in the area of Cherohala Skyway and Falls Branch Road. Cherohala Skyway and Falls Branch Road to assist Turkey Creek. Got a call from Polk County. They’re advising male subject fell off a cliff while he was running from a bear. Not able to move his legs. Did hit his head. He’s going to be at the falls …”
Lloyd’s cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head, and according to the investigation, his injuries were inconsistent with a bear attack or a fall, as Hamlett, posing as Andrade, in the 911 call said.
Hamlett, an Alabama fugitive wanted for a parole violation, used Andrade’s stolen ID for years, and authorities determined that Hamlett killed Lloyd, planted Andrade’s ID, and called 911, possibly to throw investigators off his trail.
After Lloyd was identified, a multi-state weekslong manhunt was launched seeking Hamlett’s whereabouts, and authorities said Hamlett should be considered armed and dangerous.
Hamlett has family in South Carolina
With Hamlett now in custody, a clearer picture of his movements in the days and weeks after Lloyd’s murder has emerged. According to South Carolina news outlet WIS10, Hamlett took a Greyhound bus from Tennessee to South Carolina, where he reportedly has family connections, on or about Oct. 19. On Halloween, Hamlett was spotted in Chapin, SC, and investigators searched for him, but failed to locate Hamlett in the area.
On or around Nov. 10, Hamlett was found unconscious at St. Andrews Park in Columbia, SC, and taken to the hospital, suffering from severe dehydration. He reportedly told hospital staff he didn’t remember anything and might have amnesia.
Medical staff checked records, thinking Hamlett might be missing, and that’s when they recognized him from his wanted poster. Hamlett’s fingerprints confirmed his identity. He was arrested on Nov. 10 and the U.S. Marshals Service says he will be extradited to Tennessee to face murder charges stemming from Lloyd’s death.
In 2012, Hamlett pleaded guilty to attempted murder in Alabama, in a case where he beat a man with a bat and tried to bury him alive. He was paroled in 2016, and has been on the run since then. Lloyd, who sometimes lived unhoused, experienced Reactive Attachment Disorder, a rare psychological condition, leaving him vulnerable to manipulation. Allegedly, Hamlett befriended Lloyd, lured him to the woods, and then killed him.