Man has stroke at work, spends 5 days in locked office, dies

PORTLAND, Maine — A computer specialist had a stroke in his office but wasn’t discovered until five days later, then died at a hospital, relatives and authorities said Wednesday.

David Norton, 45, of Portland, was barely alive when police found him Oct. 10 inside his University of Southern Maine office. He died Oct. 15 at Maine Medical Center.

Norton had a stroke the Friday before Columbus Day and was found in his locked office by USM police the following Wednesday after a co-worker reported he’d missed a meeting and couldn’t be reached, said Norton’s mother, Linda Norton, of Kingfield.

She’s asked USM to develop a policy for police to check every university office every day.