Although criminal charges have failed to materialize in the case of a local attorney and book collector's death, a civil wrongful death case is set to go forward next week.
Faith Stocker has sued her mother, Alberta Comstock, claiming she pulled the trigger in the death of Rolland Comstock -- Stocker's stepfather and Alberta Comstock's former husband.
The wrongful death lawsuit is scheduled to begin with a jury trial June 27. On Friday, a hearing is set to iron out the final details before jury selection on the trial's first day.
Rolland Comstock was discovered lying face-up on his dining room floor by his longtime paralegal and friend on July 3, 2007.
He had been shot four times -- twice in the back of the head, once in the face and once in the abdomen.
The criminal case remains an open investigation, despite the fact that it went before a county grand jury earlier this year and failed to result in any criminal charges.
Alberta Comstock was thrust into the spotlight after a search warrant named her and son Michael in a request for DNA samples.
In paperwork asking for the warrant, the sheriff's office described confidential legal and medical paperwork addressed to Alberta Comstock in a black attaché case found in Rolland Comstock's home.
Michael Comstock's DNA had been considered a preliminary match with DNA on a cigarette butt also found in the home.
Both had reportedly told police they hadn't been in the home for months before the incident, and Alberta allegedly had bought a gun the day before her ex-husband's death.
A compilation of daily news articles from around the United States about deaths (including both people and animals) that appear to occur in the context of a past or present intimate relationship, focusing on 2009-present. (NOTE: this blog is limited to incidents that appear in the media and are captured by our search terms. We recognize this is not an exhaustive portrayal of all deaths resulting from intimate violence.) When is society going to realize intimate violence makes victims of us all?
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