A man has been arrested after allegedly killing a hiker and calling cops pretending he himself was chased off a cliff by a bear, in order to cover up the crime.
Nicholas Wayne Hamlett, 45, is accused of calling 911 in late October claiming to be Brandon Andrade and saying he was hurt while trying to escape the animal.
Detectives who responded to the Charles Hall Bridge area in the small mountain town of Tellico Plains, Tennessee, found a body with the ID of Brandon Kristopher Andrade.
But Andrade’s identity had been stolen and used on various occasions, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
‘Once detectives laid eyes on the body, the injuries that the deceased had was not consistent with a bear attack, was not consistent with a fall,’ stated Monroe County Sheriff Tommy Jones II last month.
‘It was very easy to rule out.’
The victim’s cause of death was determined to be blunt-force trauma to the head.
A manhunt ensued for the suspect, identified as Hamlett, who was wanted for violating parole in Alabama and using Andrade’s stolen identification. The hunt was carried out across Alabama, Montana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Florida and Alaska, and went for almost three weeks.
(Picture: Monroe County Sheriff’s Office)
In Columbia, South Carolina, a hospital worker recognized Hamlett and he was taken into custody on Sunday, according to police there. He was set to be extradited to Tennessee.
The victim has been identified as Steven Douglas Lloyd, 34, of Knoxville.
Investigators believe that Hamlett lured Lloyd into the woods near Cherohala Skyway.
Lloyd’s family said was diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder, a mental health condition that caused him to sometimes wander off from home.
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‘The family was shocked to learn that their beloved son’s life had been taken by someone that Steven trusted,’ stated the sheriff’s office.
A US Marshal in East Tennessee, David Jolley, called Hamlett ‘a very good con man’ who was able to get Lloyd to trust him.
The FBI verified Hamlett’s identity using fingerprint evidence.
Hamlett has pending charges for first-degree murder.
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