By John Q. Hosedrinker 
Nicholas Wayne Hamlett, 45, was arrested in South Carolina for the murder of Steven Douglas Lloyd, 34, in Tennessee. Hamlett allegedly staged the killing as a fatal bear attack in an attempt to steal Lloyd’s identity. Hamlett had befriended Lloyd, who had a mental health disorder and was known to live on the streets, and lured him to a wooded area where he killed him. Authorities identified Hamlett through his fingerprints and determined he had been using Lloyd’s identification to evade capture on a parole violation.
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A Tennessee man accused of staging a bear attack to cover up a murder has been arrested in South Carolina. Nicholas Wayne Hamlett, 45, was taken into custody on Sunday in Columbia, South Carolina, after being identified at a local hospital. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee had issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of first-degree murder.
The alleged incident began on October 18 when a man claiming to be Brandon Andrade called 911, reporting that he had fallen off a cliff while fleeing a bear on the Cherohala Skyway in Tellico Plains, Tennessee. He claimed to be a hiker who had been attacked by a bear.
The FBI was able to use Hamlett’s fingerprints to verify his identity. Authorities suspect that Hamlett killed the victim and then used their identity to stage the bear attack as a cover-up. This elaborate plan was designed to steal the victim’s identity, but the motive behind this remains unclear.
The case has raised questions about the practicality of the alleged scheme. Stealing someone’s identity after killing them seems counterintuitive. It’s highly likely that the stolen identity would quickly be linked to the murder, making the entire plot quite risky.
The “fake bear attack” angle appears to be an attempt to mislead investigators, but it’s an unlikely scenario. If the victim was murdered and their identity stolen, authorities would likely uncover the truth through forensics and investigative work.
Hamlett’s alleged plan appears to be a bizarre and illogical approach to murder and identity theft. It seems to be a convoluted scheme that would have been easily exposed by investigators. While the details of the case remain unclear, the arrest highlights the lengths some individuals will go to for personal gain, even if it means resorting to violence and deception.