Professor caught up in fatal attacks ‘thankful to be alive’
Theodore Norvell and his sister recovering in hospital in California
Theodore Norvell wants to thank his well-wishers.
Norvell was seriously injured earlier this week, in an attack inside his sister’s home in Laytonville, Ca.
In the same attack, his brother-in-law and nephew — 52-year-old Coleman Palmieri and 17-year-old Teo Palmieri — were killed. His sister, Cindy Norvell, was also seriously injured and rushed from the scene.
“Thank you to all who have written messages of support for me and my family. For those who do not know, we were attacked on Saturday night. And lost a great deal. We lost my wonderful brother-in law, Coleman. We lost his and Cindy's son, Teo, a young man who was just getting started in life. Cindy and I are healing from serious injuries and are lucky to be alive,” he wrote in a posting to Facebook Thursday.
“We are also lucky that our daughters Saskia and Rhiananon are physically healthy and were able to help prevent the situation from becoming even worse. I have to thank the wonderful trauma team led by Dr. Schmidt and the thoracic team led by Dr. Korver and the other staff in ICU and beyond at Santa Rosa Memorial and also the staff in Redding (Mercy Hospital) where Cindy is healing, and also the rest of the family and many friends who have helped or simply sent messages of support.”
Norvell’s home is in St. John’s, where he works with Memorial University of Newfoundland, as a professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering.
He was on vacation in California, visiting his sister and her family, along with his 15-yearold daughter. His daughter was not injured in the attacks inside his sister’s home but along with her 14-year-old cousin, is being credited with calming down the assailant, leading to his arrest.
Talen Barton, 19, was arrested at the scene. Barton was in the foster system and had been staying with the Palmieri family for more than a year. He is being charged with two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of false imprisonment.
A GoFundMe page, “Norvell/Palmieri Healing Fund,” made to help the family with medical bills, reached more than $30,000 in donations as of 4 p.m. NLT on Thursday. The stated goal is to raise $50,000 in support.
“The only antidote to this kind of tragedy is to have friends, family and community come together to offer love and support,” said page creator Alison Pernell in an email. She has described herself as a friend of the family.
“I started the GoFundMe campaign as a way to help channel all the love and goodwill toward the family,” she stated in an email.
“The success of the campaign is a testament to what wonderful people they are.”