A woman woke up from her two-year coma to identify the person who attacked and nearly killed her in June 2020. She told the police it was her brother.
Wanda Palmer, 51, has been staying in a long-term care facility with no hope of a full recovery following her attack. However, she surprised everyone when she woke up and detailed exactly what happened to her. She confirmed to investigators that it was her brother, Daniel Palmer, 55, who savagely bludgeoned her with a machete.
The West Virginia woman started becoming conscious on June 27, 2022 and was uttering some incomprehensible words. Her carers informed the cops of her health's improvement. By Tuesday, July 12, she was able to tell the police important and relevant details surrounding her attack coherently despite her brain damage.
Wanda said her brother was a mean person with a history of violence. Before his arrest, Daniel was already identified as a person of interest in Wanda's attack, but they needed more evidence to establish a solid link.
"From an investigator's standpoint, this is about as rare as it gets," Sheriff Ross Mellinger told Fox News. "I think it's a true testament to the perseverance and the strength of the victim herself.
BREAKING:Jackson Co. deputies have arrested Daniel Palmer for the attempted murder of his sister, Wanda Palmer, 2 years ago. Wanda has been in a coma since the brutal attack nearly killed her. Sheriff tells me she was able to recently identify her attacker & arrest was made today pic.twitter.com/8yd4POSC1r
— Leslie Rubin (@LeslieRubinWCHS) July 15, 2022
The strained relationship between the Palmer siblings
In January 2019, Wanda hinted at her strained relationship with Daniel in a Facebook post. She accused her brother of trespassing and damaging her home and said God had given him what he needed to deal with. Friends and other family members said that Daniel was a "bad person" who was cruel to her sister.
Mellinger, who led the investigation in 2020, told West Virginia Metro News that they had "a little bit of an idea what happened" to Wanda, but each track towards a piece of evidence ended up dry. The officer said they didn't have eyewitness accounts, and no one else was with Wanda at home.
Her property also had no surveillance footage, and there were no cell phone records to tie the attacker to the assault. Eileen Palmer, their mother, lived next door to Wanda and said she did not hear anything. However, some neighbors said they had seen Daniel in Wanda's house before the attack.
Daniel Palmer charged with attempted murder
Neighbors found Wanda on her front lawn in a pool of her own blood. When Mellinger and his team got to the crime scene, they thought she was already dead.
When the police questioned Daniel after his sister's statement, Mellinger said he didn't fight or refuse. As with his previous interviews, he denied having been in his sister's house on the date of the attack, but this time, the police charged him with malicious wounding and attempted murder.
Daniel's bond has been set for $500,000, and he has been detained at the South Central Regional jail in West Virginia, per Eyewitness News.
