A man wanted for murder after making a fake 911 call claiming to be a distressed hiker was arrested Sunday in South Carolina.
The Monroe County, Tennessee, Sheriff’s Office said Nicholas Wayne Hamlett was taken into custody at a hospital in Columbia after he was identified by his fingerprints.
Hamlett was charged with murder earlier this month after he allegely made a 911 call in Tennessee on October 18 claiming to be Brian Andrade and saying he fell off a cliff while being chased by a bear, as CrimeOnline reported. When search and rescue crews found “Andrade,” he was dead, and an autopsy determined the man died from blunt force trauma.
Investigators quickly learned that the “Brian Andrade” identification found on the dead man was not his and that the ID had been stolen and used by Hamlett, who, it turned out, has a years-long history of stealing identification, often obtaining it by attacking the victim.
Monroe County investigators traced the phone used to make the fake 911 call and spoke with a man they believe to be Hamlett at a home in Knoxville, although he used a fake name and was gone by the time police arrived at the home.
Police later identified the dead man 34-year-old Steven Lloyd. The sheriff’s office said Hamlett met Lloyd and lured him into the woods to kill him and steal his identity.
In the coming weeks, Hamlett was spotted in the Columbia area in South Carolina, but investigators were not able to pinpoint his location and take him into custody until he was recognized at the Columbia hospital over the weekend.
Hamlett also faces a parole violation charge in Alabama.
