Larry Simon faces a new capital murder prosecution after investigators continued working a case dismissed for further investigation in 2024.
KYLE, Texas — A Louisiana man accused in the 2015 killings of James Wright and Tina Combs has been arrested in Tennessee and again charged with capital murder, reviving a case that was dismissed more than two years ago while authorities continued their investigation.
Larry Simon, 52, was taken into custody in Bedford County, Tennessee, after a Hays County grand jury returned a new indictment in the deaths of Wright, 45, and Combs, 44. Kyle police said Simon remained in the Bedford County Jail pending extradition to Hays County. The latest indictment returns the decade-old case to the criminal court system after an earlier capital murder charge was dismissed in March 2024 for further investigation.
The case began June 25, 2015, when Kyle police responded to a welfare check at Wright’s home on South Sledge Street. Officers entered the residence after Wright had not been heard from for several days and found Wright and Combs dead. Authorities later classified both deaths as homicides. Combs, who lived in the Arlington area, was visiting Wright in Kyle. The two had known each other since childhood and had reconnected as adults.
Simon became a person of interest early in the investigation. Police said he had been living with Wright and working for him around the time of the killings. Years passed before investigators made their first arrest. In February 2021, Simon was already being held in the Hays County Jail on unrelated charges when Kyle police obtained warrants accusing him of capital murder in connection with the deaths.
The first prosecution did not reach a jury. In March 2024, 453rd District Court Judge Sherri Tibbe signed an order dismissing the capital murder charge. Local court reporting said the stated reason was further investigation. A jury trial had been scheduled for later that month. The dismissal did not amount to an acquittal, and investigators continued examining the case rather than treating it as closed.
Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett said investigators went back through the evidence to address questions that could arise about the case. He said that work could involve additional interviews, physical evidence and efforts to provide more detail and clarity. Authorities have not publicly provided a complete account of what new evidence or information led prosecutors to present the case to a grand jury again.
The continued investigation eventually produced the new Hays County indictment and a search for Simon. Barnett said locating him was difficult because police did not have a permanent address for him and relatives did not know his exact location. Authorities eventually found Simon in Bedford County, where he was arrested before plans were made to return him to Texas.
The renewed prosecution marks another turn in a case that has stretched across more than 11 years. Kyle police and the Texas Rangers worked on the investigation for years before Simon’s first arrest. Police have repeatedly described the case as a continuing priority, including after the 2024 dismissal sent investigators back to the evidence rather than toward a scheduled trial.
The latest arrest does not establish Simon’s guilt. The capital murder indictment is a criminal accusation that prosecutors will have to prove in court. Publicly available reporting has not identified a new Texas trial date, and authorities have not released a detailed explanation of the evidence that persuaded the latest grand jury to indict him.
Simon remained jailed in Tennessee pending extradition to Hays County, where the renewed capital murder case is expected to proceed. Questions also remain about the specific investigative developments that followed the 2024 dismissal and led to the latest indictment.
Author note: Last updated September 3, 2026.