Man Found Shot to Death

Accomack County Man Found Shot To Death
An Accomack County man was found shot to death Saturday in an incident that was initially reported as a traffic accident.

Special Agent Robert Wessells of the Virginia State Police said the incident was called into the 911 Center at about 11 a.m. August 29 by some citizens” he would not identify.

He said the body of Malcolm Palmer, 43, of New Church was found in a 2004 Nissan Altima. As soon as Trooper Bryan Lewis arrived at the scene at the 7000 block of Dream Road in the Wattsville area,he knew that the victim had not died “in a fatal accident," Wessells said.

Kathy Hox of the medical examiner’s office in Norfolk said an autopsy was done Monday. The cause of death was a “gunshot wound to the head,” she said.

Sgt Michele Cotten of the state police said the original report told of a single vehicle accident in which a driver ran off the road. She said it was “later determined that the victim was killed before being put in the vehicle.”

Wessells said Palmer worked odd jobs for Ray’s Shanty, a local restaurant. There have been no arrests in connection with the incident. The Accomack Sheriff’s department is assisting the state police in the investigation, the agent said.