Mother befriends death-row inmate suspected of killing her son

By Gus Thomson, Journal Staff WriterHe?s a convicted murderer and rapist who was sentenced to death in Arizona.She?s a retired Auburn tow truck business owner now living in rural El Dorado County.Together, Robert C. Comer and Virginia Diehl have formed a fragile, unlikely alliance.Diehl wants to locate the remains of a former Auburn man who disappeared in 1987. She has written to Comer requesting his help. Comer has responded with information Diehl has shared with authorities about the location of remains.The missing man is Diehl?s son, David Hursell. The 25-year-old construction worker vanished in January 1987 and is believed to have been murdered, his body left in El Dorado County.Comer ? who is trying to convince the State of Arizona to speed his execution ? is purported to be Hursell?s killer.Diehl has nurtured and encouraged the alliance with the prison inmate she believes is her son?s killer in an attempt to solve a mystery that has darkened her world for the past 14 years.?It?s been a help to communicate with him,? Diehl said. ?I?ve always looked at him as a hateful monster who killed my son. But this way I can learn more of the details ? the why and the how. And there has always been the question of whether my son suffered.?Late last month, the El Dorado County Sheriff?s Department combed an isolated area near Georgetown?s Mameluke Hill Road looking for Hursell?s remains. Comer had provided a sketchy location and Diehl roamed the rural countryside searching for an area that matched up. Finally, after several letters and four trips to Arizona by investigators to interview Comer, searchers moved in.They came away after two days with nothing. The site had been identified by Comer as the place where he had shot and left Hursell. Special cadaver-sniffing dogs were brought in and their movements indicated it was likely the right site. But no remains were unearthed during four hours of digging, raking and searching by about 30 volunteers.Diehl said she suspects Comer may just be playing a cruel psychological game with her and investigators ? and may end up taking any secrets he doesn?t reveal to the grave. But that won?t stop her from holding out hope that Hursell?s remains will be found and she can get the answers about his death from his killer.Diehl said the El Dorado County sheriff?s investigation unit has told her that until any new leads turn up, they won?t proceed any further with the investigation. Diehl has drafted a new letter to send to Comer.?It says that there was nothing there and where do we go now,? Diehl said.Diehl, who owned Ginny?s Tow Service in Auburn for 13 years, said she believes Comer has started to open up to her on the killing of her son. Hursell had moved with Diehl and his stepfather, Ray Diehl, to Auburn from Livermore in 1983. He left in 1986 for Sacramento, where he became acquainted with Comer.?David was a very friendly kid and wasn?t afraid of anything,? Diehl said. ?He was warned by a friend about Comer. Comer had a full-body tattoo and had served time for kidnapping a girl under 13 and raping her.?The Diehls had made contact with Hursell before Christmas 1986 and weren?t aware of any problems until an Auburn police officer knocked on their door in January 1987 to tell them their son?s truck was recovered in Arizona. Comer, then 30, was arrested 60 miles north of Phoenix and would eventually be tried and convicted on charges of murder, kidnap, rape and assault.After taking Hursell?s truck, Comer roamed through the Southwest, eventually running out of money at a campground near Apache Lake, east of Phoenix. There, he shot and killed a Florida camper after inviting him to his campfire.Later, he came across a Chicago couple and raped the woman while the boyfriend was bound and forced to look on. He drove off with the woman. She would eventually escape, traveling six miles over rough terrain in bare feet.Soon after his arrest, Comer informed investigators that Hursell?s body was located between Greenwood and Placerville. But days of searching turned up no body. Diehl said with Comer facing the death penalty ? or life in prison if an appeal denies the jury verdict ? California authorities have decided not to charge a convicted murderer on a second count.Diehl said she continues to hold out hope that Comer will reveal more information about her son and answer the questions she has been left to ponder for so many years.After his murder conviction, Comer wrote to Diehl offering to provide information on her son if she paid him $6,000. Diehl wouldn?t pay and the correspondence petered out.?All along, police assured us that a hunter would find my son?s body,? she said. Comer has since said that Hursell?s corpse wasn?t buried.?It would have been better off if he had been buried because animals wouldn?t have moved him,? Diehl said.Last year, Diehl decided to try again with Comer. This time, she appealed to him as a mother who needed to know what happened. Comer?s letters began to appear apologetic, she said.?Every letter gets a little closer to finding my son,? Diehl said. ?Even my children don?t quite understand the connection I?ve made. I still feel anger but it?s not the anger directed at an unknown, killer monster.?