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San Antonio woman on trial for murder-for-hire plot of son, daughter-in-law found guilty

Ruth Ann Comer, 69, will be sentenced by a judge in February

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SAN ANTONIO – A Bexar County jury found a woman guilty of attempting to pay a carnival worker to kill her son and daughter-in-law.

Ruth Ann Comer, 69, was convicted Friday of solicitation of capital murder-remuneration in the 290th district court. She will be sentenced by a judge on Feb. 8.

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According to records, San Antonio police believed Comer tried paying a carnival worker to kill her son, Jacob Thomas, and his wife, Kristina Moore, in an attempt to cover up her tracks from the death of her boyfriend, Jerry Collins.

Collins, 68, was found dead inside his trailer home behind his business, Rittiman Hardware, on Jan. 28, 2012.

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

She was suspected of hiring someone to kill Collins, police said, but she was never charged in that case.

However, in August 2013, Comer was arrested for soliciting the carnival worker to kill Moore and Thomas.

The charges were dropped in 2014 for further investigation, court records show, but the case was reopened in 2017. She was indicted in 2018.

Her original arrest documents indicate a link between Comer and the death of Collins, but the suspected killer was not named in the paperwork, citing an ongoing investigation.

Comer was accused of giving Moore $10,000 to pay someone to kill Collins, as she was slated to gain money from his will, authorities said.

The affidavit states that she approached the carnival worker about killing Moore sometime around April 2013.

Comer gave the man a handgun and told him, “I want Kristina gone, and if you have to, kill Jacob,” the arrest affidavit said. The man later gave the gun to police and recorded his conversations with Comer.

No one has been arrested for his death.

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About the Authors
Rebecca Salinas headshot

Rebecca Salinas is the Digital Executive Producer at KSAT 12 News. A San Antonio native, Rebecca is an award-winning journalist who joined KSAT in 2019.

Erica Hernandez headshot

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.

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