Crystal Rogers and Brooks Houck

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Tina, and I'm rich. Welcome to love Mary Kill.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Just the facts.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
Cristel Rogers, mother to five children, disappeared on July third,
twenty fifteen, from the home she shared with her boyfriend
Brooks House and Bardstown, Kentucky. When Brooks woke up on
the morning of July fourth, Cristel was gone and her
car was missing. He wasn't worried. He assumed she'd spent
the night with a friend after they'd had a disagreement.
Her family, however, were very worried and had been searching

(00:43):
for her for over eight years. Bardstown, Kentucky, has had
a series of baffling unsolved murders over the past ten years.
Could they all be linked? Hmm, That's what we're going
to explore today. Bardstown, Kentucky, once known as Beerstown, was
founded in seventeen eighty. It was both of the most
beautiful small town in America in twenty twelve. It's about

(01:07):
an hour south of Louisville in Nelson County. According to
the twenty twenty census, the population is about thirteen thousand,
five hundred. Bardstown is seven miles in area and has
scorchingly hot humid summers but relatively mild winters. It is
the second oldest city in Kentucky and is the head
of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and home to the Kentucky

(01:27):
Bourbon Festival, held every September.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
Oh, we should go there.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
It really sounds like a really quaint place to visit.
There are over seventy distilleries in Kentucky, eleven of which
are in Bardstown. The heaven Hill Distillery boasts over million
barrels of whiskey aging currently in their facilities. Not surprisingly,
bourbon tourism is a major contributor to the local economy,

(01:51):
but that's not the only reason to visit Bardstown. Always
feel like I'm doing a commercial until the Bardstown has
a rich history, with over three hundred buildings on the
naw National Register of Historic Places. It is known for
its vibrant and bustling downtown. Bardstown has a well regarded
Civil War museum, art galleries, and fine dining. My Old
Kentucky Home State Park is a favorite among visitors, known

(02:13):
for its well maintained historic buildings and production about the
life of famous American composer Stephen Foster, who wrote My
Old Kentucky home the Kentucky State song. Do you know
that song?

Speaker 4 (02:26):
I do?

Speaker 1 (02:27):
One establishment, The Old Talbot Tavern, built in seventeen seventy nine,
is the oldest bourbon bar in the world and the
oldest western stagecoach stop in America. The tavern is proud
to have once hosted Abraham Lincoln and his family and
has a wall riddled with bullets shot by Jesse James Wow,
and it's rumored to be haunted. Despite looking like a

(02:48):
town from a Hallmark movie, residents have felt uneasy since
a string of tragic events beginning in twenty thirteen.

Speaker 3 (02:56):
Interesting, I really do want to go.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
I know, it sounds really that. You should see the picture.
It just looks really quaint. And you spent a fair
amount of time in Kentucky.

Speaker 3 (03:03):
Yeah, in Lexington, which I guess is about an hour
away from Bardstown as well. And yeh, I mean, Kentucky
is a beautiful state.

Speaker 1 (03:10):
It really is.

Speaker 3 (03:11):
And people love the bourbon. And in Lexington, at least
the people I worked with that were locals there like
bourbon was like fine wine to them. You know, people
go on about wine. It was like they're so knowledgeable
about all the different you know, flavor profiles.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
With bourbon sometimes when you traveled there. Yeah, And one
time we didn't. We drove through Lexington, right and I
think we were going to the Smoky Mountains and we
stopped and what did we have?

Speaker 3 (03:36):
We had buttercake.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
It was delicious, Yeah, some of them. And it was like,
had like a bourbon sauce on it. Yep, it's going
to make that for you. But time it was a
lot easier to throw some cheese.

Speaker 3 (03:49):
Next time we do a Kentucky case, one of us
has to make.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
Buttercake, we could just make buttercake just because we could. Okay.
So I wasn't sure how to go about this case
because there's a lot of tangents. So I'm just going
to go in chronological order, Okay, Starting with Jason Ellis.
Jason Scott Ellis was born on September twenty second, nineteen
seventy nine, to Pam and Charles Ellis. He grew up

(04:13):
in Ohio with his two sisters, Lacey and Kelly. Jason
was an All American boy who loved his family. In baseball,
and he was really good. He won Conference Player of
the Year in nineteen ninety eight. He went to college
at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky, where
he played baseball. He broke records that remained to day,
and when he was there, he met his future wife, Amy.

(04:36):
Jason was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds and he played
for their farm team for two years. He left his
baseball career behind when Amy was pregnant with their first son, Hunter.
Jason became a policeman, which was his lifelong dream. The
Ellis family settled in Amy's hometown of Bardstown. They welcomed
their second son, Parker, Jason's mini me, two years later,

(04:57):
completing their family. Jason was a beloved seven year veteran
of the Ardstown Police Department. In two thousand and eight,
he won the title of Officer of the Year. Jason
was dedicated, kind and known to be a prankster. In
May twenty thirteen, Jason Ellis stopped by his son's little
league game during his four PM to two am shift.

(05:19):
He and his best friend and fellow police officer, Andrew
Riley coached the team. A few minutes into the game,
Jason was called off of the field to handle a call.
Typically he had his canine partner, Figo with him. But
on this day he had the day off. Because Jason's
specially equipped canine car was in the shop, he drove
a regular Cruiser that was not equipped with a dashboard cam.

(05:41):
Jason called Amy around eleven thirty pm to catch up
with her. They hadn't had a minute to connect the
whole day. He told her that he loved her and
he would be home soon. Jason ended the day with
an unpleasant, drunken disorderly call and then radioed off for
the night. He was tired after the long night. His
only thoughts were of his sweet wife, Amy and his
two sons as he exited the blue Grass Parkway at

(06:02):
mile marker thirty four toward home. I just told you
off Mic that I might get emotional. I could feel it,
but I'm gonna try really hard not too. But Jason
just sounds like just a great guy.

Speaker 3 (06:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (06:15):
He knew Figo would be waiting up for him and
Amy would have fallen asleep on the couch. The exit
was dark and heavily wooded. The road was empty of vehicles.
Jason's very eyes spotted a barricade of large tree limbs
in the middle of the country road. He could have
gone around but Jason didn't want anyone else to be
inconvenienced in the morning, so despite his exhaustion, Jason exited

(06:36):
his cruiser and began picking up the tree limbs when
he was stunned by a barrage of gunshots, lighting the
dark Knight and hitting him all over his body. The
shots likely came from two guns from different directions. The
ambush was well planned. Jason's autopsy later revealed that the
bullets were shot from different ranges and the bullets were
from two guns. Jason was shot in the head, chest, arm,

(06:58):
and abdomen. He died within minute of the attack. He
was found with a branch in his hand. He hadn't
even had enough time to react and grab his revolver.
He was the first police officer ever killed in the
line of duty in Bardstown. Rumors floated through the town
that there was corruption in the police department, but there
was also a rumor that Officer Nick Howke, brother of

(07:20):
Brooks Houk, who will talk about a lot later, didn't
get along with Jason. Jason was a golden boy, and
Nick's HR file was thick and full of disciplinary actions.
They worked the same shift and they were hired about
the same time, But what motive did Nick have to
gun down his fellow officer. Drug use in Kentucky is high,

(07:40):
even in the quaint town of Bardstown. Jason was a young,
motivated officer. He and Figo worked the drug beat, and
he was determined to make Bardstown free of drugs. That
probably had something to do with his murder. But that's
me speculating. We really don't know.

Speaker 3 (07:54):
We still don't know.

Speaker 1 (07:55):
We still don't know. Drugs found their way into the
Bardstown Police departartment. In twenty fourteen, an officer, Tony Satterley
was forced to resign after it was discovered that he
had illegally obtained one thy eight hundred hydrocodone pills and
two hundred and sixty oxy cotton pills. He was indicted
on ten counts of prescription drug fraud. He entered an

(08:17):
Elford plea. Do you remember what an Elford plea is?

Speaker 3 (08:20):
I think it's like you're pleading guilty, but you're not admitting.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
To Yeah, exactly, and all but two of the charges
were dropped once he entered a treatment program and stayed
out of trouble, which he did. The Barstown Chief of
Police said the comb through the files that Jason was
working on and didn't find a viable suspect. Jason's rider
remains unsolved. This is the part make it emotional. Figo,

(08:45):
Jason's loyal canine partner, died four years after Jason. He
don't say I'm getting emotional restrang Sorry. He retired after
Jason's death and lived with the Ellis family. He was
cremated and his ashes were placed in an urn next
to Jason's grave.

Speaker 3 (09:01):
Oh that's very sad.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
Amy, Jason's widow, relocated. Being in Bardstone was just too
hard for her. She has struggled with depression, anxiety and
PTSD since his death. But five years later, Amy has
remarried and I think she sounds like she and the
boys are doing well.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
Well that's good. I know you're just getting into this,
but is there Do we think this was a targeted
shooting or was it? It was definitely target so it
couldn't have been just a random thing.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
No, it was not random, because you know someone put
the put these branches in the middle of the road.

Speaker 3 (09:33):
Yeah, but how did they know he was going to
be driving by right at that time?

Speaker 5 (09:36):
Well?

Speaker 1 (09:36):
Good question? And what do you remember what I said
about Nick how he was a police officer. He worked
the same shift, right, he wasn't on that night, he
knew when Jason was getting off, he probably had received
the radio call or he you know, had the capability
to receive the radio call when Jason radio it off
for the night. Yeah, Okay, And that again is totally

(09:59):
me speculating, which I know I'm not supposed to do,
but it's really hard not to speculate in this case.
And when we get through the rest of the case,
we'll come back to this and revisit.

Speaker 3 (10:08):
It and see what you think, Okay.

Speaker 1 (10:11):
Kathy Netherland, forty eight, and her sixteen year old daughter Samantha,
lived alone in Bardstown. Kathy was recently widowed. Her husband,
Robert Netherland, died in July of the previous year after
a battle with colon cancer. Kathy's oldest daughter, Holly, was
away at college. The Netherlands were a nice, close knit
family and beloved members of the community. Both Robert and

(10:33):
Cathy were dedicated volunteers for the Special Olympics. Kathy was
a special education teacher at Bardstown Elementary. She was known
for her kindness, loyalty, and silliness. At times, she was
very devoted to her students. Samantha, a sophomore at Bardstown
High School, was an excellent student. She had recently been
admitted to the prestigious Gatton Academy at Western Kentucky University,

(10:55):
an early college entrance program, which was a huge accomplishment
considering she was still the loss of her father. Samantha
was a member of the academic team, chorus, and the
Young Leader's program. She planned to become a marine biologist.
Samantha worked very hard, but was a normal teenager who
liked hanging out with friends, playing video games, and listening
to music, especially Deaf Leopard. The mother and daughter enjoyed

(11:19):
volunteering together at the local Humane Society. Kathy and Samantha
bought Samantha's prom dress on Easter weekend. A week later.
She would be buried in it Oh. On the morning
of April twenty second, twenty fourteen, Kathy didn't show up
for work. This was unlike her, so the school called
her parents, who lived nearby. Her father rushed to her
house and discovered both Kathy and Samantha's brutally tortured and

(11:42):
murdered bodies. Kathy was shot multiple times and Samantha had
been bludgeoned in the head and severely beaten both of
their throats bristlet Oh my goodness. Although the police did
not release many details about the attack, Samantha's death was
remarkably more brutal, suggesting that perhaps she was the targeted victim.
The attack was quick. Police estimated it lasted about ten

(12:05):
minutes and occurred at eight pm. They believed there were
at least two assailants. Nothing of value was taken from
the house, not even Kathy or Samantha's purses.

Speaker 3 (12:16):
Yeah, that is horrible. And when did you say this happen?
What year was it?

Speaker 1 (12:19):
Twenty fourteen? Okay, so you know, about a year after
Jason's murder. The only evidence the police shared with the
public was an image of a black Chevy Impala of
an unknown year with an unidentifiable license plate leaving the
area after the murders. It was never found. Years later,
a jailhouse informant alleged that they had been murdered as

(12:39):
part of a gang initiation, but there is no evidence
to support this claim. The brutal murders of Kathy and
Samantha rocked the small community, especially the students and teachers
at both schools who loved and respected the Netherlands. Holly
Netherland had lost her whole family in less than a year,
but cruel whispers started around the town that she was
somehow inv to get the insurance money. Holly was two

(13:02):
hours away at college preparing for finals when the murders occurred,
and was cleared by police. Frustrated by the mounting gossip,
she donated the sum of her inheritance, about fifty thousand
dollars to the reward fund. The Netherlands had no enemies.
They were well loved in Bardstown, which makes their murder
so baffling.

Speaker 3 (13:20):
Yeah, it just seems so such a random thing.

Speaker 6 (13:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
It was the second murder in the small town within
a year, and sadly there were more to come. Investigators
in Webbsleuth's alike have tried to connect the Netherlands murders
to the murder of Jason Ellis, but there just doesn't
seem to be a connection. Although Amy Ellis, Jason's widow,
sometimes worked as a substitute teacher at Bardstown Elementary, her
oldest son has down syndrome, so it seems likely that

(13:46):
the two women would have known each other, but the
Netherland murders also remain unsolved.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (13:52):
Crystal Ballard was born April fourth, nineteen eighty to parents
Sherry and Tommy Ballard and Bardstown, Kentucky, where her parents
for lifelong restisdence. She was raised alongside her younger siblings,
brother Casey and sister Brooke. The Ballads were a close
knit family, choosing to spend their free time together. Crystal
had long blonde hair, twinkling blue eyes, and a bubbly personality.

(14:14):
She was shy, soft spoken, kind, funny, a good friend,
and a wonderful mother to her five children, three girls
and two boys. Her mother said she never met a stranger.

Speaker 5 (14:24):
Crystal is my oldest growing up. She made friends easy,
but she was just always shy, very down to earth girl.
She started being a mom a young age, and I
was still living at home mom and day when she
had her first kid. And she loved children. She had
five of them, and there's times where she worked two

(14:47):
jobs at once.

Speaker 6 (14:49):
She just went the best for her kids.

Speaker 5 (14:53):
Me and Crystal always was close. I was very lucky
to have her.

Speaker 6 (14:58):
For a daughter.

Speaker 1 (15:00):
That was Sherry Ballard, who is Cristel's mom, and she'll
break your heart because she is such a good mom
and she has fought so hard for her daughter. And
we kind of have a lot of clips in this
episode that are pretty important to play, and I wish
I could have included more of Sherry because she's just
a gem. Crystal was unlucky in love. However, she had

(15:23):
a string of bad relationships and a failed marriage. Cristel
thought her luck had changed when she met Brooks House.
Crystal rented a house after her divorce for herself and
then her then four children from Brooks. He was different
from the other men Cristel had been with. He was polite, smart, successful,
and came from a prominent family in Bardstown. He was
a builder and owned over one hundred rental properties in

(15:45):
Bardstown and several houses. Crystal and Brooks began dating. Scherry
and Tommy approved of Brooks. In the beginning. Sherry said
they would sit around the table and talk for hours.
Cristel became pregnant and she and her children moved in
with Brooks. She began working for him managing rental properties.
After their son was born, Brooks was devoted to baby

(16:07):
Eli and they were happy. In the beginning, things were
going well in Brooks's life, and he even had a
run for sheriff.

Speaker 7 (16:14):
My name is Brooks Houck, and I looked forward to
becoming your next Nelson County Sheriff.

Speaker 8 (16:19):
I'm a proud knightive of Nelson County, and my family and.

Speaker 7 (16:22):
I are excited about what the future holds for our community.

Speaker 1 (16:27):
I hate him. Cracks began to appear in their relationship.
Brooks wasn't interested in being a stepdad of Crystal's children
and creating constant tension between them, and their relationship became volatile.

Speaker 3 (16:38):
What year did they get married, Well.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
They didn't get married. They were just boyfriend and girl.
Ok this is around twenty fifteen.

Speaker 3 (16:46):
Twenty fifteen, Okay.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
Crystal didn't like the way Brooks treated her children. He
didn't think he should have to support all of the
kids and was miserly with them, even keeping food separate
from them. Sherry and Tommy sensed the chasm growing between them.
Crystal told Sherry that she was going to leave him,
and she knew his secrets. She had access to his
financial records. Sherry to this day regrets not finding out

(17:09):
what those secrets were. Crystal allegedly kept a secret journal
containing Brooks's financial records, but it's never been found. On
July fourth, twenty fifteen, thirty five year old Crystal's family
became alarmed when no one, not even her children, could
get a hold of her by phone or text. Surveillance
video from Walmart the previous day showed Crystal at four

(17:30):
thirty six pm and her children buying groceries. A neighbor
witnessed her carrying the bags into the house at five pm.
According to Brooks, at seven pm, Crystal Brooks and baby
Eli went to the Hawke family farm ten miles away.
He said, they fed the cows and they built a fire.
But I would like to point out that it was

(17:52):
rainy that day, and he said that, you know, they
had like this big bonfire there.

Speaker 3 (17:56):
Yeah, Brooks said.

Speaker 1 (17:58):
They returned home after midnight. He said he went to
bed and Crystel and baby Eli stayed up. Eli was
playing and Cristel was on her phone. So I know
that Cristel is mom to five and Eli is the youngest.
I think he's about two and a half at this time,
so it's at least twelve thirty.

Speaker 3 (18:18):
Yeah, normally a time a two and a half year
old would be up.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
I don't think two and a half year olds could
stay awake that long, right, like that whole night. And
there was a tape of Brooks saying, Oh yeah, he'd
love to play all night, and if we didn't go
to bed, he wouldn't go to bed.

Speaker 3 (18:35):
And I just already a couple of holes in his story.

Speaker 1 (18:39):
Right because I think she was a good mom, and
I don't think she would allow her kid to be
up that late. Brooks awoke at around six am. I
noticed that Cristel wasn't home and her car was missing.
Eli was in bed with him, but he wasn't too worried.
He assumed she was with her cousin, Sabrina. He said
whenever they disagreed, she would go to her house. He
didn't hear from her all day, but assumed she needed

(19:01):
a cooling off period from a disagreement they'd had the
previous night about the kids.

Speaker 3 (19:05):
Do we know any more about this disagreement, like what
it was about other than just being about the kids.

Speaker 1 (19:11):
I think they just had a continuing disagreement about, you know,
just as a lot of couples do in this situation,
like you're not nice to my kids, you know, their kids.
Be nice to them. You don't have to be rude
to them. Yeah, And for me, there's a couple of
red flags, Like, so there's seven people living in this
house and it's a three bedroom house, and Brooks has

(19:31):
I mean he has money and he has a lot
of real estate. Yeah, so it just seems like, why
wouldn't you be in one of your bigger.

Speaker 3 (19:39):
Houses, right, Yeah, that doesn't make much sense.

Speaker 1 (19:43):
Or you know the fact that they were boyfriend and
girlfriend and they weren't engaged after being together for about
I think they were together about three years and they
had a child together. So we don't like Brooks.

Speaker 3 (19:54):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (19:56):
A family member saw Crystal's car, a Maroon two thousand
and seven in Pala, abandoned by the side of the
road on the Bluegrass Parkway with a flat tire, and
they called Sherry to alert her. Tommy and Casey rushed
to this. Tommy and Casey do you know those? So
it's Crystal's dad, okay? And Casey is Crystal's brother, Okay.
They rushed to the scene and found the car unlocked

(20:17):
with her purse, keys, and cell phone inside. Casey was
immediately suspicious because the seat was much further back than
how Crystal typically drove it, which is a mistake a
lot of people make.

Speaker 3 (20:29):
Well, it's very similar to the other Kentucky case we did,
the Melegnado case that was exactly the same thing. Her
car was found abandoned and the seat was much farther back.

Speaker 1 (20:38):
I think it happens a lot. I guess, Yeah, idiots
forget to they moved the car. Yeah, the tire was flat,
but not flat enough to have to abandon the car,
and there was plenty of gas in the tank. Casey
actually told a story about how Crystal had had her
flat tire previously and she refused to stop on the

(20:59):
highway and up going and it kind of ruined the rim.
But she was like, well it wasn't safe to stop,
so in case, it was like, I don't think she
would just stop there.

Speaker 5 (21:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:07):
When sent dogs searched the area around the car, they
did not pick up crystal scent. Serry and Tommy gathered
friends and family to begin searching for Crystal along the
Bluegrass Parkway and around Bardstown. There was no sign of her.
On July fifth, Sherry decided to go to the police
station and report Crystal missing. She ran into Brooks at
the gas station and asked him what he knew. He

(21:30):
said he hadn't seen Crystal since July third, but he
didn't seem too worried. Cherry noticed baby Eli in Brooks's
car at that moment, she knew something was seriously wrong.
Brooks never had Eli with him. Eli was always with Crystal.
The Ballards, the Bardstown community, and law enforcement can continue
to search, weather permitting, daily for six months, Crystal was

(21:53):
never found.

Speaker 9 (21:55):
Today you can see an underwater search and recovery vehicle
behind me. Divers have spent several hours searching in the
water nearby. Family and friends of Crystal Rogers are conducting
their own search by land. Not only is this lake
near Crystal's boyfriend's farm, he says, police also took an
item into evidence that was found on the lake shortly

(22:17):
after she went missing.

Speaker 5 (22:22):
We've been a melody like numerous times. The cadaver dogs
hit on that lake every time. They come out here.
Every time.

Speaker 6 (22:32):
One of the things that always bug tell me and
Srey both is when the divers came to dive, they
only dove a certain sections. That is one thing that
ate him to the court.

Speaker 5 (22:47):
I've personally tried to get that lake drained. I had
one of the detectives tell me, Surri, I don't think
anything we did with that lake would satisfy you Until
I find my daughter. I don't think nothing will satisfy me.

Speaker 1 (23:05):
Poor woman, she has been through it.

Speaker 3 (23:08):
Yeah, you got to love a mother who will do
anything to find her kid.

Speaker 1 (23:13):
They're gonna make me cry. Brooks never helped on the searche.
He said he didn't feel welcomed by the Ballard family.
So Brooks, as you can already say, you know, sense
that there's nothing likable about him, and it really bothers
me that he never had a good story never you know,
he just yeah, just woke up and she was gone, yea.

Speaker 3 (23:32):
And he just doesn't seem concerned about it at all.
She must have just gone somewhere.

Speaker 1 (23:36):
Never appeared, you know, to look for her. And just
that he didn't even feel like it just felt like
a lot of entitlement, like he didn't even feel like
he had to pretend.

Speaker 2 (23:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (23:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (23:48):
The town of Artstown took Crystal's disappearance personally. The community
rallied around Tommy Sherry and their family, offering them boundless support.
A group called prayers for Crystal, has searched tirelessly for
her or any shred of evidence. Ardstone is covered with
a myriad of signs and billboards. Some say prayers for Crystal,
and others are strategically placed seeking information, like along the

(24:11):
Bluegrass Highway. Brooks house seeks special bright yellow sides mounted
just for him whenever he leaves his house. Oh, remind
me to come back to them, okay, because if I
read them now it would be some spoilers. On July eighth,
Brooks went to the police station for questioning. He lacked
emotion but was cooperative. Here's a clip of Brooks talking

(24:34):
to Nancy Grace about the investigation.

Speaker 10 (24:37):
Joining me right now. In addition to her parents, saw
Tom and Sherry Ballard, her boyfriend that she lived with.
They're in their three bedrooms suburban home. Brooks, howk is
with us? So, Brooks, you go to bed and she's
still playing games on her phone. The next morning, around
eight o'clock, you notice that she's missing. Did you report

(24:59):
her missing?

Speaker 11 (25:01):
No, ma'am. Why That is a great question and one
that I definitely want to hit the public and the media.
I was not in the least little ditch alarmed in
any way, shape or form. We have had a stress
relationship at times, and one of the ways that Crystal

(25:25):
has always chose to the colport to deal with that
is by going to a young woman's name Sabrina. That
is her cousin, her dad's brother's daughter, whom she's very
close to. That She's spent the night there on several occasions.

Speaker 10 (25:45):
When you say several, do you mean one, three, twenty.

Speaker 11 (25:49):
In the neighborhood of four to six.

Speaker 10 (25:52):
Some people have accused you of not being involved enough
in the search efforts. What's your response?

Speaker 11 (25:58):
That is a great question and one I'm certainly appreciate
you asking me. And that is all of my efforts
and searching for her has been done behind the scenes
with the Nelson County Sheriff's Office. I've been one hundred
percent completely honest with everyone. I've been one hundred percent

(26:23):
a cooperative. I have not responded to a lot of
the negativity and all this animosity because I want the
ancestus to remain on Crystal safe return home.

Speaker 1 (26:36):
So lover hate Nancy Grace. The look of disdain on
her face during that tape was just amazing, and I
do love her for that, because she's just obviously full
of bullshit. And for the record, Sabrina, Crystal's cousin was
her closest friend. Sabrina clarified that Crystal had come to
her house when she and Brooks were fighting, but it
only happened twice, and Crystal was there for more than

(26:59):
two hours, or she never spent the night.

Speaker 3 (27:01):
I'm not a big Nancy Grace fan, and her voice
just grates on my nerves. But he just seems really
just smarmy, and he just seems icky.

Speaker 1 (27:11):
Well, like I said earlier, he's just never shown one
ounce of concern for her and didn't lift a finger.

Speaker 6 (27:17):
And I just.

Speaker 4 (27:20):
The way he.

Speaker 3 (27:20):
Says like, I'm so glad you asked me that. I'm
just you know, he just comes across as really fake.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
He's horrible, disgusting, and again, just this sense of entitlement
is just palpable. During the police interrogation, Brooks' brother Nick
called him, can you leave that?

Speaker 3 (27:40):
Like actually during the.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
He's like and then the police. Yeah, he just he
just calls him while he's at the police.

Speaker 6 (27:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (27:47):
See well, yeah, when we talked about him in regards
to Jason Ellis, Yeah, he's a Bardstown police officer, and
he told Brooks that he should leave the police station.
And this clip again, it's a little long, but it's
I think it's pretty important.

Speaker 4 (28:00):
You got out of no I act. I'm'a I'm up here.
I know that you can do. I'll look for him
to this interview with uh the detective of detective Snow,
do is it to do?

Speaker 7 (28:12):
You?

Speaker 6 (28:12):
Ever?

Speaker 4 (28:12):
You tell me that's there? You come me. That's what
I need to do. I know, I I know, I don't.
I know, I I I'm not.

Speaker 5 (28:20):
I know that.

Speaker 4 (28:21):
But the way if I look at it is I
I'm innocent. I ain't done nothing wrong.

Speaker 9 (28:25):
But you know.

Speaker 4 (28:28):
I know you told me innocent. People have got jammed up.
But if you're telling me to leave, I'll get up
to lead if you will be, if you will me
to I know I'm going through the walk, but I'm
trying to get this guy to help me. I don't
think she. I don't think she's ran off with another guy.
I don't. I don't believe that. You can't make me
think that. But yeah, I means I mean such, I
mean something, So libe, I'll do exactly what you're telling

(28:52):
me to do, right, now if you want, make get
up and leave. But I don't think this that I
don't know. I don't make these people love INDI just
just to skin me for no reason. Car Thank you,
I think thanks, Charle. Thanks. I don't know, my brother.

Speaker 3 (29:12):
That was quite an Academy Award winning performance.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
It's just ridiculous.

Speaker 3 (29:17):
That sounded so staged and scripted.

Speaker 1 (29:20):
Well, I believe he called exactly at seven pm two,
would you? I mean, you've never been in a police interrogation.
Neither have I, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't answer
my phone.

Speaker 3 (29:31):
Yeah, it's not really a good time to answer.

Speaker 1 (29:33):
I'm surprised they let him. Yeah, of course the phone
call made him look suspicious. The next day, Nick was
asked to come in for questioning, and he refused. Nick's
commanding officer told him, in no uncertain terms that he
would cooperate with the investigation because that was his duty
as a police officer. Nick agreed to take a polygraph

(29:54):
test and failed. Oh here's another clip.

Speaker 3 (29:58):
You know where Crystal is?

Speaker 4 (29:59):
Right now? Are you hiding any information that would happened
to Crystal? See, he didn't tell me that she would
on both of those questions. So the cat out of
the bag. As far as your guilty knowledge, talk crazy.
What's crazy about it? Explaining to me the accusations you're making. Yeah,
I'm just sat, you know, involved in this. I absolutely
not it.

Speaker 5 (30:19):
Well you told me before you had not being to
do with it, all right, Yes, Well now we're past
that because I've already shown him that he did have
something to do.

Speaker 4 (30:28):
I haven't been completely true by a couple I've been
one hundred percent listening what I'm saying. Do you listen
to what I'm saying. I've been one hundred percent at me? Well,
because you're telling me I'm lying, and I know I'm not.
I know the truth. And if you don't want to
believe it, that you're issue. It's not mine. It's not
just me. I showed you, dude, I don't give a
damn much computer saying.

Speaker 3 (30:46):
Don't give a damn what your computer is saying.

Speaker 1 (30:48):
Then to clarify, that was Nick the brother.

Speaker 3 (30:50):
Yeah, so that's interesting. So the person questioning him, that's
like probably a colleague of hits, right.

Speaker 1 (30:56):
Yeah, the whole thing is just very it's just crazy.

Speaker 4 (30:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:01):
Nick was fired from the Bardstown Police Department in October
twenty fifteen for interfering with the investigation. On the same day,
police announced that they believed Cristel was no longer alive
and that Brooks Hawke was a suspect in her murder,
but he was not charged, an unusual step for the
police to take.

Speaker 3 (31:18):
That is very unusual.

Speaker 1 (31:19):
Yeah, a white Buick was seen around the Hawk farm
on the night of July third, and that was the
night that Brooks and Crystal were there feeding the cows
and having their fire. Anna Whiteside's grandmother to Brooks and Nick,
owned such a car that was sixteen years old. She
would not cooperate with the investigation, pleading the fifth The
car was sold to a dealership days after Cristel disappeared.

(31:42):
Convenient The police were eventually able to locate and search
the car, but nothing of interest was found. Police searched
the Hawk family farm but again found nothing of interest.
Let's take a quick break. We left off talking about

(32:04):
the investigation into Crystal's disappearance. Really, no clues have been
found up to this point, and Brooks is the number
one suspect, her boyfriend of three years. So we talked
a little bit earlier about the signs and I didn't
want to jump the gun and tell you what the
signs said that were around his house until we got
to the part about Nick and Brooks. But one of

(32:29):
the signs says Nick knows what happened, and another one
quotes Brooks and says, all of my efforts and searching
for her have been behind the scenes with the NCSO
Nelson County Sheriff's Office. Yet another says five things a
murderer would say. I would never harm Crystal. I am innocent,

(32:49):
I am one hundred percent honest and everything I say,
I am one hundred percent not guilty. I didn't do
anything to anybody. The last one says detectives say, Hope
killed Rogers. And here's a clip of Brooks being a
very smug asshole.

Speaker 4 (33:08):
Right.

Speaker 2 (33:09):
I'm good.

Speaker 1 (33:09):
Hi, my name is Jessica.

Speaker 2 (33:11):
Frustate you you too, So, I am.

Speaker 10 (33:15):
Working on a podcast all right about Crystal, and I
just wanted to see if you had a minute to chat.

Speaker 12 (33:21):
I really really appreciate you reach out. That means a
great deal to me. And I really really concern and
appreciate your time. That means a great deal to me.
Who and I can get my phone, I can give
you Sherry Ballard is who you need to speak to.

Speaker 7 (33:36):
Okay, And if you give me one thing, hey, Crystal,
get my phone, please, and then that way I can
give you all the contacts those people are going to
be much more of help to you. And it's no
secret in this town community that I've been named the suspect.
To understand that, how do.

Speaker 1 (33:55):
You feel about that?

Speaker 5 (33:57):
With all the signs and everything.

Speaker 7 (33:58):
I'm asking you, just talk to sure? Okay, Okay, So
hounds like I have a whole.

Speaker 11 (34:03):
Number of.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
What a guy?

Speaker 3 (34:06):
Huh, yeah, what a guy. I really appreciate you asking
the questions.

Speaker 1 (34:12):
So I saw you raise your eyebrows at me when
he said, Crystal, can you get my phone? Crystal is
his newest who's he's got a new Crystal is ironic? Yeah, well,
it's kind of similar to how you dated a person
named Tina before you married me.

Speaker 3 (34:30):
Right, Yeah, so common name, but Crystal's not very common.

Speaker 1 (34:34):
It is very strange. And she also is taller and
blonde and pretty, so interesting. In twenty eighteen, Brooks was
indicted on four felony counts and four misdemeanor counts of
theft after he was accused of taking two hundred bundles
of roofing shingles from a low store. The case went
to trial and he was found not guilty, but he

(34:56):
is not allowed to return to a low store. In
twenty nineteen, a home that Brooks was building burned down.
Police called it arson. The fire chiefs it probably was
one of Brooks's disgruntled employees. I don't imagine he's a
good person to work for. No, I am about to
break your heart a little further. After Crystal disappeared, finding

(35:18):
out what happened to her became more than a full
time job for Tommy Ballard. It became his obsession. He
left no stone unturned as he searched for his daughter.
His investigation was thorough and earned him the respect of
law enforcement. Tommy had boxes full of research. He was
a tireless advocate for his daughter. Tommy considered a run
for sheriff because he wasn't happy with the way the

(35:39):
investigation was being handled. Cherry assisted Tommy, but she was
also busy raising Crystal's children. Tommy and Cherry had full
custody of some of the children and partial custody of others,
so they must have just been exhausted emotionally and physically
spent from the search for their daughter and the emotions

(36:00):
of raising all the kids and handling all of their trauma.

Speaker 3 (36:05):
Yeah and three.

Speaker 1 (36:08):
On November nineteenth, twenty sixteen, days before Thanksgiving, Tommy fifty
four and his ten year old grandson, Trenton Crystal Son,
set off before sunrise to meet Casey and his son
Brendan to go hunting. Scherry remembers Tommy stuffing his pockets
full of Little Debbie snacks for his grandson's before she
kissed him in exchanged I love you's. The Ballard's owned

(36:29):
farmland a few miles away that was adjacent to the
Bluegrass Parkway, where they frequently hunted. Sharry lay in her
bed after the boys left on the chilly autumn morning
and fell back asleep. She was awakened by her phone
thirty minutes later. It was her grandson Trenton. She could
scarcely make out his words through his sobs. She pieced
together that Tommy had been shot. Cherry leapt into action

(36:51):
and told Trenton to stay calm and that she'd be
right there. After she called nine one one, she ran
out of her house and raced to the farm not
even stopping for a red light. She was there in
three minutes. Casey, the police and EMTs were already on
the scene when she arrived, but they were too late.
Sherry dropped to Tommy's side and tried to shake him awake.

(37:12):
Sherry's husband of nearly forty years died within minutes from
a single bullet through his heart.

Speaker 3 (37:17):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1 (37:19):
Trenton told investigators that Tommy heard something and nudged his
grandson to stand behind him, and then raised his scope
to get a better look, but it was dark and
he couldn't see anything. The bullet had come from somewhere
along the tree line. Sherry and her family were enraged
when police initially thought his death was a hunting accident,
but they have since called it her murder. The property

(37:42):
is secluded and densely wooded, and hard to find if
you don't know where it is. The Ballards are sure
the attack was planned, probably because someone was nervous that
Tommy was about to solve Cristel's disappearance. Tommy told Cherry
he thought someone was following him in the days before
he was murdered. Law enforcement tinue to investigate Tommy's murder

(38:02):
but have no leads that they have shared publicly. What
this has changed since I started working on this story,
But more on.

Speaker 3 (38:11):
That later, Okay, gosh, I just can't believe that it's
so horrible.

Speaker 1 (38:14):
It is so horrible. Tommy was a great man, a
great father, and a wonderful husband. I don't know how
Sherry goes on because she there's so many Like again
I said, like, I didn't share as many clips of Sherry,
but she's she's just been devastated and so now she's
raising Crystal's kids on her own. I'm sure she has
help from her you know, her extended family and the

(38:35):
community really has rallied around her. But yeah, it's just devastating.

Speaker 3 (38:39):
Do Brooks and his brother have an alibi for the
time that.

Speaker 1 (38:44):
I'm so glad you asked that. I don't know. And
here's the really frustrating part about all of these different
happening murders. We don't know because the policemen really tight lippt.
We don't know what the investigation had really unveiled, which
was super frustrating. But we were going to release the story,

(39:07):
we were going to record last week, but then there
was a hearing just yesterday on October fifth, and I'm
so glad we waited. But more on that later. In
twenty twenty, the FBI took over the investigation. One hundred
and fifty agents executed nine search warrants on three properties,
and conducted over fifty interviews. The IRS, FBI, and the

(39:28):
Nelson County Police Department were all present when they spent
over twelve year twelve hours at the home of Brooks.
Howc boxes and boxes were carried out of his house.
Brooks remained outside of his home during the search, keeping
a watchful eye and trying to be friendly with the authorities.
The family farm in Nick Howke's home have also been

(39:49):
searched multiple times, as well as a storage unit that
was owned by Crystal. And again, it's frustrating because we
don't know what evidence they have. I was living yesterday
at the arraignment that the indictment would be unsealed and
we would have more information. Yeah, but we don't know
what evidence they have.

Speaker 3 (40:07):
But we think that law enforcement has been quiet, not
like when you were first talking about the local law enforcement.
I was wondering if there was some corruption or you know,
because of the connection with Brooks and his brother and everything.
It almost seemed like maybe law enforcement was helping to
cover things up. But do you think it was more
that they were just tight lipped because they didn't want

(40:27):
to reveal any details.

Speaker 1 (40:29):
I think the latter. But it's I mean, it's possible
if there is corruption in the police force, and it's
so hard in today's world because they do read read
it and web slue and whatnot. And a lot of
people have alleged that there's corruption the police department, but
there's no proof of that. But the FBI have taken
over the case largely.

Speaker 3 (40:46):
Yeah, that's a good in cooperation.

Speaker 1 (40:48):
With the Nelson County Police Department too. Brooks house built
and owns many properties that were under construction when Crystal vanished.
In August of twenty one, the Woodlawn Springs subdivision became
the focus of the FBI. Back hose, sonar equipment and
eighteen kdaver dogs were brought in to search the subdivision.
The driveway of one home was completely dug up. In

(41:12):
twenty twenty, the FBI returned to the Hawke Farm for
a five day search. In September of twenty twenty two,
the FBI announced that the search in Bardstown had ended
with several items of interest sent to Quantico Virginia for testing.

Speaker 3 (41:26):
Well, that's a good sign.

Speaker 1 (41:27):
It's a good sign. We don't know what any of
those things are, though, which is kind of frustrating. One
of my sources for this story is the Oxygen docuseries
The Disappearance of Crystal Rogers. It's a six part series.
Investigators learned that Sherry Ballard has possession of Crystal's car,
and what they discovered on this show was that it

(41:48):
was never thoroughly searched. The Kentucky State Police crime lab
only in takes about ten pieces of evidence for most investigations,
and Crystal's car looked like the car of a busy
mom of five children, but very little evidence was taken
from the car.

Speaker 3 (42:04):
That's really strange. Yeah, and that's the car they found
abandoned with a flat tire by the side of the road.

Speaker 1 (42:08):
Yeah, exactly. There was like shoes in it and like,
you know, soda bottles and just all sorts of you know,
like it just looked like a busy mom's car. During
the show, a cadaver dog was brought in and the
dog jumped into the trunk, like, you know, alerting that
there might have been a body in the trunk, but
they did a thorough examination of the car and they

(42:29):
took out the carpet and they didn't find any blood. Okay,
So the show was like a lot of oxygen shows.
It was interesting, but then it was also there were
a lot of red herrings. Yeah, yeah, to keep it dramatic, right,
but I reckon that's where a lot of the clips
came from. But you know, if you're interested in this case,
I do recommend it. It was it was good, but

(42:50):
it just it did feel a little.

Speaker 3 (42:53):
Sensation exactly.

Speaker 1 (42:54):
Yes. Sadly, Crystal's mysterious disappearance isn't the first in the
Ballard fan. In January of nineteen seventy nine, Tommy's older sister,
Sherry Ballard Barnes no relation to his you know, just
the same name as his wife, just nineteen, went missing.
She was seven months pregnant with her first child. Her
estranged husband, Eddie Barnes, was not ready to be a

(43:16):
father and didn't want to pay twenty five dollars a
week in child support. Cherry had recently moved back into
her parents home in Bardstown. She didn't want a divorce.
She wanted to work on her marriage. Sherry's car was
found fifty miles from her home a week after she
went missing, submerged in the Ohio River near Clarksville, Indiana,
with her blogging belongings inside. Her remains were found years

(43:39):
later in nineteen eighty two on a farm just outside
of Bardstown. Eddie Barnes and his friend George Weir were
each charged with two counts of first degree murder for
Sherry's murder and the murder of her unborn child. The
men abducted Sherry by bludgeoning her on the head and
then shooting her. They drove her to George's farm, burned
her body, and spread her remains in the field. The

(44:00):
trial was held up due to the double murder charge.
The legality of charging Barnes and were with the death
of an unborn fetus was challenged, and eventually it was
decided that they would be tried solely for Cherry's murder.
Barnes and Weir were both found guilty of first degree
murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility
of parole in nineteen eighty four. In two thousand and four,

(44:22):
and Cherry's honor, the Kentucky state legislature passed the Cherry
Ballard Fetal Homicide Act, which honors the onboard fetus of
as a murder victim. If a pregnant woman and her
fetus are killed, the killer is charged with a double homicide.
Isn't that crazy?

Speaker 3 (44:37):
Like this poor family, I know, yeah really, and I'm
just thinking too, this small town, like all these murders,
and yeah, it's really crazy.

Speaker 1 (44:46):
Tragically, decades later, Crystal's car was found not far from
the location of her aunt's murder. Allegedly, Brooks asked several
people about Cristel's ant's murder like he was kind of
obsessed with it.

Speaker 3 (44:56):
Wait, Brooks asked several people about it.

Speaker 1 (45:00):
It almost seem like he was trying to gather information
about it. And then when Bristol disappeared.

Speaker 3 (45:05):
Like he was almost trying to make it look like
it was linked.

Speaker 1 (45:07):
To it or that it was and seemed that way.

Speaker 4 (45:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (45:09):
Yeah, interesting.

Speaker 1 (45:11):
So to Tommy, Crystal's dad, his parents are still alive.

Speaker 3 (45:16):
Oh okay, and.

Speaker 1 (45:17):
So really I really feel for I think his name
is Till. Till and Betty, I hope I have that right,
you know. They they've lost their daughter, yeah, lost their granddaughter.
And they lost their son. That's a lot of tragedy.

Speaker 3 (45:32):
It's a lot of tragedy.

Speaker 1 (45:34):
In January twenty twenty three, a special prosecutor was appointed
by the Kentucky Attorney General to assist in the prosecution
of criminal charges related to the deaths of Crystal Rogers,
Tommy Ballard, and Jason Ellis. The murders of Kathy and
Samantha Netherland were not included in the special prosecutor's purview.
Community members have long thought that all of these murders

(45:55):
must somehow be connected.

Speaker 3 (45:57):
It seems like the Netherlands one. I don't see a
connection there, but it just it is odd that all
these kind of brutal murders took place in such a
small town.

Speaker 1 (46:06):
You're right, though, the Netherland murders are there's just an outlier.
It seems like harder to connect them.

Speaker 3 (46:13):
But the fact that there were two people involved in
the Netherlands murder also that does make me think, like
the who was the Jason Ellis There were two people
involved in that one as well, so it does make
me wonder.

Speaker 5 (46:24):
A little bit.

Speaker 1 (46:26):
Assistant Special Agent in Charge Brian Jones said, quote, it
is very rare to have all these cases that are
potentially connected in a small community like Nelson County, I
think that potentially solving any of these cases could bring
resolution to the other ones. End quote. Sherry Ballard is
very happy with his decision and said quote, I have
met with mister Young on several occasions, and I do

(46:47):
believe he is dedicated and is taking this case very serious.
I feel like Tommy and Crystal's case is in excellent hands.
I get so discouraged that things take so long, but
I do feel like we are finally headed in the
right direct action.

Speaker 3 (47:01):
Let's hope so.

Speaker 1 (47:02):
In September twenty twenty three, Joseph laws In thirty two
was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder along
with tampering with physical evidence. He pleaded not guilty and
was given a bond of five hundred thousand dollars. Interestingly,
no victim was given in the indictment, but the date
matches the date of Cristel's disappearance. His father worked for

(47:23):
Brooks Houck in twenty fourteen. He will appear in court
again on October twenty sixth, twenty twenty three. Lawson was
in an accident in twenty twenty one, resulting in his paralyzation.
He was arranged from a hospital bed and now is
in specialized police custody. He was probably arrested first and
in hopes that he'll cooperate, especially considering his health issues.

Speaker 3 (47:48):
Yeah, so he was paralyzed after Crystal's murder a few
years after. It sounds like so and his dad worked
for Brooks.

Speaker 1 (47:56):
I believe he did. And I think that Joseph probably
did some jobs for Brooks too. Okay, so I think
he was probably arrested first to.

Speaker 3 (48:06):
Try to get him to flip on somebody else.

Speaker 1 (48:09):
Yeah, who do you think that might be?

Speaker 7 (48:10):
Well?

Speaker 3 (48:10):
I mean I wonder about his dad too though, if
his dad worked for Brooks, like maybe he was involved also,
But obviously Brooks is the main guy.

Speaker 1 (48:18):
On September twentieth, on Nelson County grand jury decided there
was adequate evidence to indict Brooks. How Brooks, forty one,
the number one and only suspect since day one of
Crystal's disappearance, was finally charged on Wednesday, September twenty second,
twenty twenty three. He was charged with murder and tampering
with evidence. He was arrested without incident while working on

(48:41):
a construction site. He was first taken to the Nelson
County Jail, but later transferred to the Hardin County Detention Center,
a different jail than his co conspirator Joseph Lawson, is
being kept in. His bond was set at ten million
dollars cash only, which is about as high as a
bond can be. Yeah, his attorney filed a fourteen page

(49:01):
appeal stating that ten million dollars is excessive and Brooks
is not a flight risk. He asked that his bond
be lowered to five hundred thousand dollars and for Brooks
to be given work release. He said that Brooks's business
could go wonder if he's not there to work.

Speaker 3 (49:16):
Poor Brooks.

Speaker 1 (49:17):
I know Brook's not worth is possibly around eight to
ten million dollars, and he has the means to flee,
the prosecutors argued. So just yesterday, October fifth, Howke's arraignment
was held. The judge did not allow cameras in the courtroom,
much to my dismay, due to them out of public

(49:39):
attention in this case. He also made the decision to
keep the endictments sealed, again much to my dismay. Brooks
how appeared via video. He entered a plea of not guilty.
Special prosecutor Shane Young cautioned the judge that there is
more than one terabyte of data in discovery. So we
talked about it this last night, and what did you

(50:01):
How many pages did you say was in one terabyte
of data?

Speaker 3 (50:04):
It was eighty three million, three hundred thirty three thousand,
three hundred and thirty three point three three pages of data.

Speaker 1 (50:12):
How is that even possible?

Speaker 3 (50:13):
It's a lot. Well, I mean it could include like
video and images and things like that, but still that's
a lot of data.

Speaker 1 (50:20):
So the judge at a pre trial hearing for February eighth,
twenty twenty four, Shane Young said the prosecution will be
ready for trial by summer of twenty twenty four. Howke's attorney,
Brian Butler, said there is no way Brooks would receive
a fair trial if they went to trial that quickly.
He said he would make a motion to move the
trial to a different county. The judge said he needed

(50:41):
time to read and ponder Howke's bond issue. He also
said that he was worried about the safety of the
witnesses in this case. So I hope that he is.
I don't think that he will be given a lower bond.

Speaker 3 (50:53):
Yeah, I wouldn't think so. I mean, I wouldn't be
surprised for a crime like that if you don't get
if you don't get any bond. But it sounds like
they made it so high that he's essentially not going
to be able to get out and.

Speaker 1 (51:04):
Cash only because they know that he has a lot
of assets.

Speaker 3 (51:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (51:07):
So there were two bombshell moments at the arraignment yesterday.
First Prosecutor Shane Young said Brooks's sister, brother, mother, brother
in law, and mother's boyfriend all secretly recorded their grand
jury testimonies under the direction of Brooks. Oh grand jury
proceedings are secret, and in Kentucky and probably everywhere it's legal,

(51:29):
it's illegal to record them. The Hawk's recording of the
grand jury, if proven, could be punishable by law.

Speaker 7 (51:36):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (51:38):
Here's a brief clip of bombshell number two.

Speaker 8 (51:41):
And right now tonight at four, the murder mysteries in
Bardstown are becoming clearer with each different court appearance. Breaking
news from the arraignment of Brooks House this afternoon in
Nelson County. Help comparing via live video for his first
court appearance in the murder of Crystal Rogers, and then
the surprise no one saw coming prosecutor dropping a major

(52:01):
bombshell in this case which has been full of them
key evidence in the murder of Crystal's father, Tommy Ballard.
Our coverage begins right now at four. Hello ever, buddy,
and thanks for joining us this afternoon. I'm Doug Prophet,
the courtroom pact with family members stunned to learn the
prosecutors have the gun they believe was used to kill
Tommy Ballard, who was actively leading the search for his daughter.

Speaker 3 (52:23):
Interesting, isn't that.

Speaker 1 (52:25):
I was just so happy to hear that news.

Speaker 3 (52:27):
So they have the gun, but they didn't give any
more details about whose gun it was not a lot.

Speaker 1 (52:33):
But what I can tell you is Nick Hawk is
being investigated for the murder of Tommy Ballard. The gun
that was used in Tommy's murder has been linked to
Nick Howke after he sold it, I'm guessing to an
undercover police officer using an assumed name. Oh and I
would like to think that his arrest is imminent.

Speaker 3 (52:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (52:53):
Interesting, what a what a bonehet?

Speaker 3 (52:56):
What a family?

Speaker 6 (52:57):
I mean?

Speaker 1 (52:58):
I just can't believe just isn't it shocking? It is, yeah,
And it's shocking for them in an indict or an
arraignment to have bombshells. And I don't throw around the
word bombshell, but those were, yeah, shocking events. I was
so excited last night when I heard that that, you know, Tommy,

(53:20):
he Crystal and Tommy and Jason Ellis and in the Netherlands,
they all deserve justice, but Tommy. I think I have
a soft spot spot for dads in my little heart,
and it just made me really happy for Sherry and
her family.

Speaker 3 (53:36):
That yeah, yeah, definitely your parents that lose their kids
and do everything that they can to try to figure
out what happened, and then for him to get shot
down in cold blood like that, it's just horrible.

Speaker 1 (53:48):
Yeah, it was one shot. So anyway, the news seemed
to surprise the Ballard family. They were present at the hearing,
wearing pink to honor Crystal. Sherry quietly cried at the
mention of Tommy's name. She still looks completely heartbroken, but
determined to get justice for her beloved daughter and husband,
and because of the amount of discovery, it's likely that

(54:10):
this case will not go to trial. Till sometime in
twenty twenty five, oh Man, which is gonna be hard
hard to wait. In response to Brook's arrest, Sherry Baylor
released the following statement, It's kind of long. To say
today was overwhelming would be an understatement. I have waited
eight long, gruesome years for this day. To see brooks

(54:32):
How put in handcuffs was surreal for me. I've always
known he was guilty. Now everyone will know that. I
don't really even know the emotions I have felt today.
I think probably everyone you could think of. I have
to say thank you to the FBI. God sent me
an angel when they came to my door. I personally
know the work a certain agent put into this case
and the long, tiring hours he spent to make this

(54:54):
day happen. Never once did he forget the fact that
I was a mother and a wife going through the
most tragic time that a mother and wife could go through.
I cannot imagine the toll this took on him. This
day would not have happened without him. Thank you to
all the help we had within his office. His coworkers
worked very hard. I want to thank them for looking

(55:14):
out for me and my family. Thank you also to
the Nelson County Sheriff's Office for assisting and making sure
this day happened. Thank you to the prosecuting attorney and
his office. Thank you also to Daniel Cameron who didn't
ignore my cries for help. To this community that has
shown me so much support and love. I want to
say thank you and God bless you all. You have

(55:35):
given me the strength to get up and carry on
each day. Thank you to my friends and family who
mean the world to me. This is the beginning. This
is the end to the beginning. The days ahead will
be very hard, but God will get me through them.
He has answered my prayers and for that I am
grateful and thankful. Thank you God for helping me keep
my faith and me never giving up on you. You

(55:55):
are the reason that I have survived this tragic event
in my life. To my daughter and husban On, I
just want to say I love you with all my
heart breaks my heart, Tommy, that you wasn't here with
me for this day. Justice is beginning for you both,
and my promise to you is becoming a reality. I
pray you are both together and heaven smiling down at
this day. If only you could be here with us

(56:16):
you will always be a part of my life no
matter where you are. Give each other a hug for me.
Miss you both.

Speaker 3 (56:22):
Very very nice statement, I know, and I.

Speaker 1 (56:25):
Held it together. Yeah, she's just a lovely lady and
she's just been through hell and back.

Speaker 3 (56:31):
So and it really does seem like the FBI and
the investigators were very tenacious in this case to not
you know, just not let it go cold.

Speaker 1 (56:40):
So frustrating to wait eight years, Yeah, wait so long,
and you know there's still not justice, you know, and
there's there's still fighting every day.

Speaker 3 (56:50):
I just hope that the whole, the whole story comes
out eventually, like of the other murders, and you know,
anyone who was involved with them. It sounds like Brooks's
brother is probably going to.

Speaker 1 (57:04):
Be arrested, arrested.

Speaker 3 (57:05):
Yeah, so that's good, but it just it's just so
with all the different murders that, you know, I don't
know if they're all related, but I hope, I hope
it all comes out for sure.

Speaker 1 (57:15):
Crystal the new Crystal Crystal, her name is Crystal Moppin
m A U p I N. She was arrested for
taking down some of the Crystal signs. Yeah, and Brooks
allegedly has transferred some of his property to her because
money is the most important thing that anyone can ever
have in their life. And I this is really this

(57:36):
is another sad thing. But Sherry has not seen Eli
in several and many years. Yeah, of course Brooks, you know,
wouldn't want her to see him. And so right now
Brooks is in jail, Crystal is you know, sadly not
with us, and so I think Crystal Moppin has the sun.

(57:58):
But Chrystal, I'm sorry. Sherry and Brooks' mom, they both
filed for emergency custody of him, and so that's going
to hash out in the court. But Sherry has gone
to court to try to get visitation of Eli and
she has not been able to.

Speaker 3 (58:18):
It's too bad.

Speaker 1 (58:19):
Again, we talked about this earlier, but the police have
been really tight lipped. We know that there's a shit
ton of evidence, but we don't know what it is.
Like they have Crystal's phone, I imagine there's a lot
of evidence on that. The Hawkes have been very uncooperative.

Speaker 3 (58:36):
Shocking, I know.

Speaker 1 (58:38):
Let's see. So this is some of these things that
we always talk about, like the gossip at the end,
but it's alleged that there's possible like Nick how was
involved with a drug cartel and that's why he wanted
Jason Ellis out of the picture. Jason was investigating that.
We don't know the status of that investigation.

Speaker 3 (58:59):
Yeah, honestly, it sounds like a like a Martin Scorsese
movie with like just the corruption and everything. It just
sounds the whole thing just seems like it stinks to
high heaven.

Speaker 1 (59:09):
Well, we'll see, we'll see what happened, if anything happens
with the police department and if there is corruption there. Yeah,
but some of this reminds me a little bit of
like a mini murder case, like you know, just years
and years of Yeah, so figo, Jason Ellis is the
k n he wasn't there that night, and you know,
like he, like Jason, had a different car without the

(59:32):
dash cam. That to me seems very suspicious, like no
one would have known that but someone from the police department. Yep,
again this is this is speculation and I probably shouldn't
even say this one, but the Netherlands murders. So Holly
is the elder, their eldest daughter is that college? Yeah,
she was in college and she was dating someone that

(59:55):
Kathy did not approve of, Okay, And so that's kind
of what the rumors is that her boyfriend may have
killed Samantha and Kathy.

Speaker 3 (01:00:05):
Do we know where was he at college also? Or
was he like local at Bardstown?

Speaker 1 (01:00:09):
I have no idea, Okay, but you know, again, like
a lot of the stuff is just we just don't
have alibis, and you know, a lot of the investigation
just hasn't been made public. So Crystal's children now are
twenty two, twenty one, nineteen seventeen, and Eli is nine.
So a lot of them are you.

Speaker 3 (01:00:26):
Know, for adults.

Speaker 1 (01:00:28):
Yeah, they're young adults, and so our hearts go out
to them, and I hope they're doing well. Sherry has
done a I think a really good job of keeping
trying to keep their lives normal and keeping them out
of the eye of the media.

Speaker 3 (01:00:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:00:41):
Yeah, hopefully that these cases will be solved soon. It
sounds like we're on the way.

Speaker 3 (01:00:47):
Yeah, justice. The wheels of justice turned slowly, but it
sounds like it's getting there.

Speaker 1 (01:00:51):
My main source for today's episode was Shane McAllister, who
is an amazing local reporter in Bardstown. She has a
podcast called Bardstown Season one where she investigates all of
these different crimes.

Speaker 3 (01:01:06):
And that was the clip that we heard earlier, was
her going to knock on Brooks's door.

Speaker 1 (01:01:10):
That was her partner. Okay, but you cut out her part,
like you know that she was narrating the clip, but
we cut that part out. But in the local Kentucky
news station, she works with them, and she was on
the case yesterday and did a lot of live reporting
and she is very excited. She knows Sherry really well.

(01:01:33):
And I have to believe it was a really great
day for the people in Bardstown yesterday when they had
some resolution finally to these horrible crimes have been in
their community for almost ten years now.

Speaker 3 (01:01:47):
Yep, Well, great job. That's a super interesting case.

Speaker 2 (01:01:50):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (01:01:51):
I need to give credit to our listener friend Lisa. Lisa,
thank you so much for your help on this case.
You were great and we really appreciate all of your
help and your port because you're just the best. You're all,
you all are the best. Thank you so much for
listening to this episode of Love Mary Kill.

Speaker 3 (01:02:14):
Please rate, review, follow and subscribe, find us on social media,
or send us an email at Lovemarykill at gmail dot com.

Speaker 1 (01:02:21):
Please consider Supporting us on Patreon dot com slash Lovemrykill.
For five dollars a month, you get early ad free
access and a monthly bonus episode.

Speaker 3 (01:02:31):
Join us next Monday for another episode of Love Marykill.

Speaker 4 (01:03:07):
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