Story Published:
May 9, 2008 at 6:00 PM CDT
Story Updated:
May 9, 2008 at 10:09 PM CDT
SPRINGFIELD – Charges could soon be filed for the murder of a well-known attorney last summer. Someone shot Rolland Comstock in his home north of Springfield last July. Physical evidence from the crime scene is finally back from the state crime lab and provides good enough leads that investigators and the prosecuting attorney think charges could be filed within a month.
For Rolland Comstock's closest friends and family, it could mean justice for the man who they say always stood up for it.
It's been 10 long months for Becky Frakes, who worked for Rolland Comstock for 33 years.
“He was my boss, my mentor, my friend, like a second father to me. We've been through a lot together,” said Frakes.
The final time that she saw Comstock is the only memory of him that she wishes she could forget.
"I spent an hour trying to call him and the line was busy. I just assumed the phone was down and I drove out there so I could report the phone being out -- and found him,” he said.
He had been fatally shot inside his gated home near McDaniel Lake.
"It totally blows you away. It'll never be the same. I can't get the image out of my head,” said Frakes.
She says the only ones there besides her were his two precious hybrid wolves.
"One of the wolves was grieving and crying out and I'll never forget that sound,” said Frakes.
Physical evidence collected from Comstock's home on the day that his body was found led detectives down a promising path.
"We feel pretty good about the information that we've gathered; with the interviews, we're going to have a solid case,” said Greene County Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Jim Arnott.
"We're coming to the point where we will have a case submitted to us in the next month,” said Prosecuting Attorney Darrell Moore.
Frakes hopes it provides an answer for which she's been looking.
“It's in my prayers every night that the person or persons who did this will be found,” she said.
Arnott says the case will be handed over to prosecutors with enough evidence for a motive but that's all he will say for now.
Many people knew Comstock collected limited edition and rare books. Frakes says ome of those books have been donated to Drury University where Comstock graduated. Most of them went to a book seller on the East Coast.
Comstock’s home will eventually be sold at auction.
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PAST REPORTS
Murder,
rape probes await crime lab test results
Detectives
fan out to try to find Comstock's murderer
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