Monroe County murder suspect in custody after being identified at South Carolina hospital, police say

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WVLT) - The suspect in a Monroe County murder was taken into custody Sunday afternoon at a hospital in South Carolina.

According to the Columbia Police Department, Nicholas Hamlett was located and identified at a hospital in Columbia, South Carolina, and taken into custody.

Hamlett is accused of killing 34-year-old Steven Douglas Lloyd, of Knoxville, on the Cherohala Skyway in Tellico Plains on Oct. 18.

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The sheriff’s office said Hamlett met Lloyd, befriended him and lured him into a wooded area to take his life and identity.

Hamlett then allegedly killed Lloyd and used his identity to claim to be a distressed hiker being followed by a bear.

CPD said Hamlett is in the temporary custody of the U.S. Marshals Service Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force.

The sheriff’s office added that arrangements are being made to extradite Hamlett back to Monroe County.

Hamlett was also wanted out of Alabama for a parole violation in connection to several charges, including two counts of attempted murder, two counts of second-degree forgery and once count of first-degree kidnapping.