Details have emerged about how accused murderer Nicholas Wayne Hamlett wound up in the hospital

Nicholas Wayne Hamlett, a fugitive wanted for the murder of Steven Douglas Lloyd in Tennessee, was captured at a South Carolina hospital after being found unconscious and severely dehydrated. According to the U.S. Marshals Service, when authorities approached Hamlett, he claimed to have amnesia.

The investigation into Lloyd’s death began on October 18, when a 911 call came from someone identifying as Brandon Andrade, who claimed to have been chased off a cliff by a bear while hiking. When responders arrived, they found a man dead, and the ID found on the body was Andrade’s. However, the deceased was later identified as Steven Douglas Lloyd, not Andrade, and the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head — injuries inconsistent with a bear attack or falling from a cliff, as the 911 caller had stated.

Further investigation revealed that Hamlett, who had been using Andrade’s stolen identity, had murdered Lloyd, planted the ID on the body, and made the 911 call to mislead investigators. Hamlett, wanted in Alabama for a parole violation, fled the scene, sparking a manhunt across multiple states. He was tracked to South Carolina, where he was eventually found in early November, unconscious from dehydration. After being treated at the hospital, his identity was confirmed through fingerprints, leading to his arrest.

Hamlett, who had a violent history, including a 2012 conviction for attempted murder in Alabama, is now facing murder charges for Lloyd’s death. Authorities suspect that Hamlett befriended Lloyd, who had a rare psychological condition that made him vulnerable, lured him into the woods, and then killed him.