Trial could start next month for San Antonio woman accused of murder-for-hire plot

Police say Ruth Ann Comer tried paying a carnival worker to kill her son and daughter-in-law

SAN ANTONIO – It’s been nine years since 68-year-old businessman Jerry Collins was murdered on the Northeast Side.

Police say on January 28, 2012, Collins was found dead inside of his trailer home behind his business, Rittiman Hardware.

Investigators said his throat had been slashed and the knife was left right next to his body.

That gruesome scene was eventually discovered by his girlfriend at the time, Ruth Ann Comer.

According to police records, she was suspected of hiring someone to kill Collins, but she was never charged.

However, one year later in August of 2013, Comer was arrested for a different murder-for-hire plot.

This time, police say she tried paying a carnival worker to kill her son, Jacob Thomas, and his wife, Kristina Moore.

They believe it was an attempt to cover up her tracks from Jerry’s murder.

The indictment states that Comer allegedly paid her daughter-in-law $10,000 to find someone to kill Collins.

Court records show the charges were dropped in 2014 but the cases reopened in 2017, securing a new indictment in 2018.

Comer now faces two counts of solicitation of capital murder.

During a competency hearing, she was found fit to stand trial. However, her defense attorney contested that finding.

Meanwhile, Comer remains out on bond and if courts reopen, her trial could start next month.

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About the Authors:

Roslyn Jimenez is a news producer at KSAT. Before joining the team, she was a producer and video editor at KIII-TV and a radio intern in Corpus Christi. She graduated from Del Mar College with an Associate's degree in political science and liberal arts. Roslyn is family-oriented and loves spending time with her fiancé and chihuahua Paco.

Erica Hernandez is an Emmy award-winning journalist with 15 years of experience in the broadcast news business. Erica has covered a wide array of stories all over Central and South Texas. She's currently the court reporter and cohost of the podcast Texas Crime Stories.