In the quiet waterfront community of Normandy Park, Washington, the long and fruitful life of 96-year-old Philip Hamlin came to a shocking and violent end on Saturday, January 25, 2014. A pioneer in cable television who was still active in his neighborhood, Hamlin was a man whose cardiologist believed he might live to be 100. That future was brutally cut short inside his own home.
The man later charged with his murder was someone known to the family, 22-year-old Shane Chamberlain.
Chamberlain was the estranged husband of Philip Hamlin's live-in caregiver and had been a guest in the Hamlin home. On that Saturday afternoon, without any apparent provocation, Chamberlain turned violent. He first attacked Hamlin's granddaughter, Bethany, with a crowbar. She managed to escape the house, her ear nearly severed, and sought help from children playing in the neighborhood. Covered in blood, she found refuge in a neighbor's home where 911 was called.
After attacking Bethany, Chamberlain took a. 38 pistol that belonged to Hamlin and shot the elderly man in the face as he sat on his family room sofa. In a chilling turn of events, Chamberlain himself contacted authorities. He called 911 and calmly told the dispatcher, "I'd like to report a murder." When asked who was murdered, he named Hamlin, and when asked who the murderer was, he replied, "I did." When the operator inquired about his motive, Chamberlain simply stated that he "broke."
Police arrived at the serene Normandy Terrace Southwest home to find a grim scene. Philip Hamlin was deceased, and a bloodied crowbar and the pistol were recovered. Chamberlain surrendered to the authorities at the scene without incident. He was subsequently arrested and charged with first-degree murder with a firearm enhancement and first-degree assault with a deadly weapon for the attack on Bethany Hamlin. He was held on $2 million bail and later pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him. The Hamlin family, who had conducted a background check on Chamberlain and found no history of violence, was left to grapple with the sudden and senseless loss of a beloved patriarch.
