The West Virginia woman who woke up from a two-year coma and identified her brother as the person who put her in that state said she did it because “it’s bad,” according to a criminal complaint.
Daniel Palmer, 55, remained in a Jefferson County jail Monday, charged with the attempted murder and malicious wounding of his sister, Wanda Palmer, two years ago, officials said.
She awoke from a coma last month and eventually identified Daniel Palmer as the person who hit her on June 10, 2020, leading to Daniel Palmer’s arrest last week, court records showed.
Wanda Palmer was found severely beaten in her trailer outside Cottageville, so badly beaten and covered in blood that officers assumed she was mortally wounded, according to a complaint.
Wanda Palmer.Jackson County WV Sheriff’s Office
“Wanda, while breathing, made this sound commonly known as the ‘death rattle,'” the complaint said. citing colloquial language for the final cough sounds a person can make moments from death.
She was taken to a hospital and remained in this comatose state for two years, until she miraculously began to regain consciousness last month.
Deputy HL Faber, on June 27, “was informed by the worker that Wanda Palmer had begun to utter some words and appeared to respond appropriately when questioned,” the complaint said.
Wanda indicated [that] he remembered living in his trailer near his mother’s house. She indicated that she remembered being injured there,” the report added.
“She mentioned her head (the area of her body where she was injured). When asked who had injured her, she [stated] his brother. He then identified his brother as Daniel. When asked why Daniel assaulted her, Wanda said he was mean.”
Court records as of Monday did not show that Daniel Palmer had yet hired an attorney. He was being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Palmer made his initial court appearance Friday and became combative, forcing several deputies to drag him out of the courthouse.
Palmer has long denied any involvement in his sister’s beating.
Investigators said the brother had always been a person of interest and that a witness claimed “she saw Daniel Palmer at the front door of Wanda’s trailer at midnight on the night she was assaulted,” according to the complaint
Still, that account wasn’t enough to get Palmer arrested until last week.
“Wanda Palmer, during the brief interview, appeared oriented to her situation,” the complaint said. “She [answers] the questions were consistent and relevant. She asked for prayer.”
