Autopsy: Knoxville victim killed in bizarre alleged murder plot suffered brain injuries

The Knoxville man who authorities say was targeted in a bizarre murder-for-profit scam in Monroe County suffered numerous blows to the head that caused his death, a final autopsy report shows.

Authorities found Steven Lloyd’s body at the base of a waterfall in Cherokee National Forest the afternoon of Oct. 19.

They believed incorrectly at the time that the body was that of a Montana man named Brandon Andrade. That’s because murder defendant Nicholas Hamlett created an elaborate ruse to try to make investigators think that Andrade, upon whom he’d taken out millions in insurance policies, was dead after being chased by a bear and falling off a cliff, prosecutors allege.

The case gained national attention as the bogus report of the bear chase emerged.

Hamlett is being held on a first-degree murder charge in Monroe County.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office has previously said Lloyd died from blunt force trauma.

The autopsy conducted this fall by Dr. Amy Hawes of the Regional Forensic Center in Knoxville more specifically identifies Lloyd’s wounds.

Lloyd’s killer inflicted numerous blows and “chop” injuries to the back and side of his head, the autopsy indicates. He’d suffered a skull fracture. The wounds caused significant and fatal brain injuries, Dr. Hawes found in her exam.

Lloyd’s clothed body was found at the base of the waterfall under a rock ledge, the report shows.

The distance from where his body lay to the cliffside above was about 60 feet, but investigators determined he hadn’t actually fallen.

Another red herring: Police found a Montana driver’s license for Brandon Kristopher Andrade, age 40, in a clothes pocket on the body. Andrade, however, was found to be “alive and well,” the report states, although it’s not clear where.

Further review showed the victim was Lloyd of Knoxville.

Prosecutors and police allege Hamlett, who previously has been convicted of attempted murder in an unrelated Alabama case, concocted the killing to make money. He’d taken out insurance policies in Andrade’s name for more than $8 million, a warrant states. He hoped to use Lloyd’s body as a means of collecting.

As part of his scheme, the state alleges, Hamlett placed a cell phone call late Oct. 18 claiming to be Andrade, stating that he’d been chased by a bear in the national forest and was seriously wounded after falling off a cliff. He claimed he was losing consciousness.

Authorities haven’t said how they think he got Lloyd, who was known to be experiencing mental health issues leading him to live on the streets, to go to the waterfall before killing him.

Hamlett fled the Knoxville area but was eventually caught in South Carolina. He’d hidden in woods in the Columbia, S.C., area until becoming exhausted and dehydrated, at which point he emerged and ended up by the side of the road, where he was found and taken to a local hospital, according to David Jolley, U.S. marshal for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

While staying in the hospital, he was spotted and identified by hospital personnel, Jolley said.

At recent court appearances since being returned to Monroe County, Hamlett has acted disoriented and preoccupied, twitching and mumbling to himself, leading to questions about whether he’s ill or malingering.

“He’s a very good con man,” Jolley said recently.

His wife, Taylor Fiber, is accused of helping Hamlett evade authorities by providing him with a bus ticket to leave Tennessee and camping supplies.