NORMANDY PARK, Wash. — "He used to walk the neighborhood," said longtime neighbor Mary Ann McKay. "And just recently he needed to go into a motorized wheelchair."
Hamlin's long, fruitful life came to a violent end Saturday inside his waterfront home.
His son said Hamlin, his granddaughter, Bethany, and Shane Chamberlain, the estranged spouse of Hamlin’s caregiver were together when suddenly, Chamberlain turned violent.
He shot and killed Hamlin then turned on Bethany with a crowbar, nearly severing her ear, authorities said.
Bethany stopped 9-year-old Ronan Bishop on his bike and begged for help.
"She was wearing a T-shirt and tons of blood on her back," said Ronan.
He ran home, she followed and his brother, 14-year-old Atticus Bishop, answered the door and let her hide inside.
"I called 911 and I said that we probably need police," said Atticus. "Because there was a guy with a crowbar attacking people and also an ambulance because she's bleeding heavily."
Philip Hamlin was in his 30s when he installed Seattle's first cable television network in the Alki neighborhood in 1949, family said – but it was not the same as the large scale cable networks we have now. Hamlin's daughter said he was probably best known for the stereo systems he designed and installed for the Seattle Symphony and Pacific Science Center.
Now his sudden, violent death has left his neighbors shaken.
"It's very sad someone would shoot someone," said McKay, "in their own home."
Hamlin outlived his wife and three of his five children.
His alleged killer could make his first court appearance Monday afternoon.
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