Police in West Virginia say a woman who had been in a coma for two years has woken from it and named her brother as the one who attacked her.
Wanda Palmer, 51, said in June 2020 that her brother had assaulted her at their home close to Cottageville, West Virginia. Palmer was "attacked, hacked, and left for dead," according to police, according to a statement published on the Facebook page of the Jackson County Sheriff's Department.
According to police, they discovered Palmer on her sofa in a "upright position" with significant wounds from what appeared to be an axe or hatchet. She was still alive and breathing shallowly when authorities arrived, according to Jackson County Sheriff Ross Mellinger, who told CNN that they initially believed she had passed away.
According to Mellinger, the weapon was never found by police.
The night before she was found, a witness claimed to have seen Palmer's brother, Daniel, on her porch around midnight, Mellinger said. The sheriff claimed that Palmer's home had no phone records, surveillance cameras, or eyewitnesses.
Police looked into a number of people but were never able to bring any charges. According to Mellinger, his office received a call from Palmer's care facility a few weeks ago stating that Palmer was able to talk with authorities.
Palmer could only provide yes-or-no responses, but her testimony was sufficient for the police to arrest Daniel, Mellinger told CNN.
According to arrest records CNN was able to obtain, Daniel Palmer III, 55, was arrested on Friday and charged with attempted murder and malicious wounding.
According to the Jackson County sheriff, he was charged and given a bond of $500,000. The sheriff added that it is unknown how he pled.