“I was running from a bear,” a 911 caller said, muffled, following an apparent fall at a waterfall. However, authorities assert that the caller was a murderer who had staged a fatal fall. Yes, authorities discovered a body. It was not him.
You can listen to the audio below. A 911 dispatcher from Polk County, Tennessee, transferred a call to her Monroe County counterpart on October 18. Authorities say that a hiker named Brandon Andre claimed to have fallen off a cliff. In fact, investigators believe the caller was Nicholas Wayne Hamlett, 45.
The audio below includes photos of Hamlett that deputies released during the search for him.
In this audio, the Polk County dispatcher tells her counterpart, “He has two percent left on his cellphone.” He fell off a cliff near some waterfalls. He fell on his head. He is in significant pain and reports that he is unable to lift his legs.
The Monroe County dispatcher ended up asking the caller (alleged Hamlett) for more information on his location.
“I’m at the waterfall,” he stated in the audio.
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Authorities received the call near the Charles Hall Bridge on the Cherahola Skyway in Tellico Plains. First responders arrived, searched the area, and discovered a dead man with the identification of Brandon Kristopher Andrade on his body.
However, upon further investigation, law enforcement found that the victim was not Andrade and that they had stolen and used the ID multiple times elsewhere. They claim Hamlett had been using the ID and was wanted in Alabama for a parole violation.
Investigators eventually identified the victim as Steven Douglas Lloyd, 34, as shown below.
According to investigators, Hamlett made friends with Lloyd with the intention of killing him and stealing his identity. According to detectives, Hamlett lured him out into the woods and devised a plan to conceal the murder. He allegedly wanted to collect life insurance money in Andrade’s name.
Hamlett was apprehended in South Carolina, thanks to the assistance of a hospital employee who identified him as a wanted individual. Taylor Ann Fiber, his wife, faces charges for assisting him in evading law enforcement.
