Larry Simon was arrested in Tennessee after a Hays County grand jury returned a new capital murder indictment in the decade-old case.
KYLE, TX — A 52-year-old Louisiana man has been arrested and again charged with capital murder in connection with the 2015 deaths of two people in Kyle, more than two years after an earlier charge against him was dismissed for further investigation.
Larry Simon was arrested in Bedford County, Tennessee, after a Hays County grand jury returned a new indictment in the deaths of James Wright, 45, and Tina Combs, 44, according to Kyle police and local news reports. Simon remained in the Bedford County Jail pending extradition to Hays County, where the criminal case is expected to proceed. The indictment is an accusation, and Simon has not been convicted in the case.
The investigation began June 25, 2015, when Kyle police responded to a welfare check at Wright’s home on South Sledge Street. A relative had been unable to reach him for several days. Officers entered the home and found Wright and Combs dead. Authorities later ruled both deaths homicides. Police said Simon, who had lived with and worked for Wright, was identified as a person of interest early in the investigation.
The case remained under investigation for years before police first arrested Simon in February 2021. He was already being held in the Hays County Jail on unrelated charges when investigators obtained warrants accusing him of capital murder. Police said at the time that detectives and Texas Rangers had spent years following leads and gathering evidence in the case.
That prosecution did not reach trial. In March 2024, 453rd District Court Judge Sherri Tibbe signed a motion dismissing the capital murder charge. Court information reported at the time listed the reason as further investigation. A jury trial had been scheduled for later that month. Because the dismissal allowed investigators to continue working on the case, prosecutors could seek a new indictment if they later believed the evidence supported another prosecution.
Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett said investigators continued reviewing the case after the dismissal. He told FOX 7 Austin that detectives worked to address questions about the evidence, which included conducting additional interviews and seeking more information and clarity. That work eventually led investigators back to a Hays County grand jury and a new indictment against Simon.
Finding Simon after the indictment presented another challenge, Barnett said. Police did not have a permanent home address for him, and relatives did not know his exact location. Authorities eventually located him in Bedford County, Tennessee. Kyle police announced his arrest Sept. 2 and said he would be returned to Hays County to face the renewed charge.
Barnett praised detectives for continuing the investigation over the years, saying the arrest reflected their commitment to the case. Relatives of Combs also told FOX 7 Austin that the renewed prosecution brought hope for some measure of closure after more than a decade. Combs and Wright were childhood friends who had reconnected before their deaths, according to the station.
Authorities have not publicly detailed what new evidence led the grand jury to return the latest indictment, and the Hays County District Attorney’s Office had not publicly explained the full circumstances behind the renewed prosecution as of the latest reports. Simon remained jailed in Tennessee pending extradition, and no Texas trial date had been publicly announced.
Author note: Last updated September 3, 2026.