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The original was posted on /r/unresolvedmysteries by /u/No-Bite662 on 2024-01-01 15:16:06+00:00.
Rolland Lee Comstock, an attorney known for his book collection, murdered at age 70.
Comstock, 70, a longtime tax and probate attorney and nationally recognized book collector, was found at his home north of Springfield with an apparent gunshot wound.
Chief Deputy Jim Arnott of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department said detectives had developed no suspects or a possible motive for the slaying, which likely occurred late Monday or early Tuesday.
“We’ve got several people that we’re wanting to interview that we haven’t … but no idea at this time on motive or anything like that,” Arnott said Tuesday evening. He added that suicide had been ruled out.
Inside, the slain attorney’s famed book collection appeared to be untouched. Although he earned his paycheck handling tax and probate cases in Springfield for more than 40 years, Comstock was nationally known for a home library that contained over 50,000 items, primarily modern first-editions.
He housed his collection in a two-story addition built in 1993. He was reportedly looking to build an additional wing, or even another home, for his ever expanding collection.
“We couldn’t find anything that appeared to be missing,” Arnott said.
"A long time friend, Ms. frakes, said at the time, , "A brilliant mind got flushed out that night,”
She was the one to find him deceased.
“I opened the door. I looked towards where his desk, his office was, and I hollered Rolland, Rolland, and then I looked down, and he was on the floor. I thought maybe the wolves had knocked him down. He hit his head,” she said, referring to his hybrid pets.
It wasn’t until sometime later that Frakes learned Comstock was shot multiple times.
“I never dreamed. I would never have imagined this. Something went down that night. I don’t know if it was extortion or blackmail. Something happened,” she said.
Comstock was well known across the country for his impressive book collection. KY3 featured his library, said to have tens of thousands of items. Some were very rare.
“This $75 book overnight became a $3,000 book,” said Comstock describing one of his pieces in a previous interview.
Frakes says Comstock and his wife Alberta Comstock were still dealing with the fallout of their divorce when he was killed.
“They were fighting over that mansion on the hill. She wanted it. In my opinion, she thought if he died, she could move in,” she said.
Frakes believes she had something to do with his killing, as did Comstocks’ daughter, Faith Stocker. She filed a civil lawsuit against her mother.
“A jury could find her liable, but a grand jury couldn’t. They didn’t have the information, the evidence, that they needed,” explained Frakes.
The judge vacated the jury’s decision when they didn’t award Stocker any monetary compensation.
The lawsuit also did little to help investigators.
“For a long time, Sheriff Arnott said we’ll have more for you in 30 days. We’ll have more for you in 30 days. Every month give us 30 more days. I’m still waiting,” said Frakes.
Frakes says she will always be grateful for the 33 years she worked alongside her mentor.
“I’m still a probate paralegal for a few more months before I retire. He taught me everything to keep me going in my career after he was gone,” she said.
She says not knowing what happened the night Comstock was killed is a bitter disappointment.
“I made him a promise a long time ago that I was going to fight for justice. Well, that fight is pretty well out of me now. I don’t think he’s going to get his justice,” said Frakes.
Most people would be hard pressed to fill a library in their home. Not book collector Rolland Comstock. He needs two.
Once the walnut shelves of his old library were near bursting Comstock began thinking that maybe he and his wife, Alberta, should add yet another library into their already imposing home on a hill.
“The Library is 32 by 35 feet, with a gallery at the second level,” says Comstock, 63. “It cost $200,000 to build and it probably devalued the house by $300,000.
The library is a sight to behold. Book-laden shelves cover the walls from floor to ceiling.
In his library there are around 50,000 items, of which 90 percent are books. A majority are signed first editions of the author’s work.
If you ask him if he’s got anymore room for books, he’ll look around and answer in a hushed voice:
“I wouldn’t want to say without checking to see if this room is bugged,” Comstock says. “If my wife would hear me say that we’re running very short on room, I think she’d murder me tonight!