Man whose sister woke from coma and said he stabbed her dies mysteriously in custody
The man charged with trying to kill his sister, who recently woke from a two-year coma and identified him as her attacker, mysteriously died while in custody last week.
Daniel Palmer III died Thursday just days after he was arrested in connection to the brutal attack that left his sister, 51-year-old Wanda Palmer, in a coma for two years.
Palmer, 55, was uncooperative while in custody and during booking procedures at the South Central Regional Jail in West Virginia where he was booked on July 15 after being charged with the attempted murder and malicious wounding of his sister.
He had been taken to the Charleston Hospital for undisclosed health reasons on July 20, and died the next day. The cause of death has not been revealed.
Jackson County Sheriff Ross Mellinger told People Magazine that Daniel, who had been a suspect in the assault of his sister, appeared to face several health issues at the time of his death.
‘It was an avalanche of recurring health issues,’ Mellinger said. ‘He generally was not a healthy man to begin with and once he got to jail his health continued to spiral downhill.’
Mellinger added: ‘He was certainly a person of interest early on, but we just didn’t have anything to move forward. We had legitimately nothing to go on other than a person who drove by at midnight on their way home from shift work sees him standing on the porch.’
In June 2020, Wanda Palmer was found at her home badly beaten with either a hatchet or machete, police believe. She spent two years in a coma after the brutal attack, which was never resolved until she woke.
Police said that while there was one witness who said Daniel Palmer was outside her home the night of the attack, the investigation was left at a standstill.
After waking from the coma, Wanda provided information to police, giving single-word answers to deputies questions about the attack.
‘Wanda indicated (that) she recalled living in her trailer near her mother’s place. She indicated she recalled being hurt there,’ according to a criminal complaint.
‘She made mention of her head (where she was injured). When asked who had wounded her she (stated) her brother. She then identified her brother as Daniel.’
When asked why her brother had attacked her, Wanda told authorities it was because he was ‘mean.’
‘From an investigator’s standpoint it is unfortunate we don’t get the chance to see the case through,’ Mellinger said. ‘We turn the focus towards the victim in the case and hope she continues to get better. She has a long road ahead of her.’
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