Bardstown- Part 3

He started his own home building company, TMB Construction, LLC and worked on his farm.  When Crystal went missing, Tommy was active in trying to find her and keep her at the forefront of people’s minds.  If he wasn’t physically searching, he was on the internet searching for information.  Tommy documented everything and it turns out that he had a box full of notes, pictures, DVDs, etc.

Then in 2016, Tommy started getting a little paranoid.  He felt he was getting close to something, and told Casey on the phone that they were going to do a big search, but he wouldn’t tell him where over the phone.  He became very outspoken about safety and insisted that his family get security cameras installed and carry firearms.  In the Fall he told Sherry that he felt like he was being followed.  He even installed a dash cam in his personal truck.

On Saturday, November 19, 2016, 54-year-old Tommy went hunting with his 11-year-old grandson, Trenton in a field on their private property.  Tommy was an avid hunter (almost every Saturday during hunting season) and with that and his attitude toward safety and caution, he knew the rules and regulations of hunting back to front and they were wearing their bright orange vests.  According to Trenton, they were walking into the clearing when Tommy stopped Trenton because he thought he saw movement.  Tommy looked through the scope of his rifle, and that’s when there was a shot.

Casey and his son were on the property too, but not with Tommy and Trenton.  They heard the shot from where they were.  Trenton went to get help, calling 911 and family members.  He called Sherry and said “Mamaw!  Papaw’s been shot!”  Unfortunately, Tommy died not long after the EMS got there.  The shot had gone in Tommy’s torso and exited out of his back, but police won’t reveal the direction the bullet came from or type or ammunition or weapon.  Police did confirm that the shot was not self-inflicted.  Tommy’s rifle was never fired that day, and his grandson’s rifle was not even loaded yet.

The crime scene was searched for over 30 hours and K9s were brought in.  Tommy was buried the next week and during the procession, many supporters carried signs to show that they were still there to continue Tommy’s mission of searching for Crystal.  For the police, the first thing to do was to make sure this wasn’t a hunting accident.  They brought in Fish and Wildlife to investigate the area and determine if there was someone hunting illegally on the Ballard’s land.   Sherry noted that everyone knew that they hunted there every Saturday during hunting season.  Otherwise, this “death investigation” has also been very tight lipped on information that is released to the public.

Police put out public notices searching for anyone who may have driven past that area on that date and at that time that may have heard/seen something.  They even reached out to shipping companies to see if their semis’ dash cameras caught anything.  Tommy’s personal dash camera wasn’t running the day of the shooting.  There are theories about what happened, but some specific thoughts were that Tommy was assassinated (there were tons of hiding spots and this was a routine thing that Tommy did) possibly for finding new information and getting too close to an answer?  Was it Brooks or Nick?

During the Oxygen documentary, Casey even pointed out limbs on trees near the road that had been freshly sawed.  The trees lining the road were generally thick and almost impossible to see through, but in this section there was a huge gap.  November 2016 came with one of Brooks’ rental properties burning down and it was thought that maybe Brooks was trying to destroy it so a search warrant was issued, but that was all that was released.  In July of 2017, a bunch of the signs for Crystal were pulled up and broken.  Surveillance footage showed that a girl named Crystal Maupin (the new girlfriend of Brooks Houck – another Crystal) was responsible.  She pleaded guilty to “illegal taking” and was given a 60-day suspended sentence and a 2-year conditional discharge.

In November 2017, Brooks was accused, but not by the police.  Signs showed up all over town that suggested he was responsible for Crystal’s disappearance and suspected murder.  Sherry presented the idea that maybe Tommy was revealing corruption or something and that Crystal was linked to Jason Ellis.  Perhaps she overheard something from Brooks and Nick.  Nick worked with Jason Ellis (not closely, but in the department).

In 2018, the case of Crystal Rogers was covered on “On the Case with Paula Zahn” and an Oxygen documentary, “The Disappearance of Crystal Rogers.”  Dr. Phil also covered the case and the family appeared on his show.  This wasn’t because there was more evidence or any breaks in the case, but it did bring attention back to the case.  At some point, the police finish their processing of Crystal’s car and return it to the family.  They keep it stored away in the exact condition they received it in.  During the Oxygen documentary, they asked to look at the car with a forensic specialist, Joey Stidham.  

Just looking at the car, Stidham said that it wasn’t processed correctly.  There was no dust from fingerprint testing and there was still carpet completely intact.  Stidham said he wasn’t surprised though because the Kentucky State Police have limited resources and the crime lab will only test 10 (ten) pieces of evidence.  They sprayed the car with Blue Star to check for bodily fluids.  They found a big chunk of carpet in the trunk that glowed so that was removed.  They also took all the trash that was in the car still and vacuumed the car since they could still see the dirt and leaves and stuff.  The car looked untouched by a forensic team.  The forensic team with Stidham gathered BAGS and BAGS of things they considered evidence.  Stidham said, “We shouldn’t have seen any of this in the car.”  Unfortunately, none of their testing revealed anything.  The glowing trunk didn’t test positive for blood or anything.

Stephanie Bauer and the detective working with her, Dwayne Stanton, discover that an inmate sent a letter to the Ballard family back in February of 2016 saying that he had information about Crystal’s disappearance.  He writes that he heard that Crystal wasn’t in Bardstown anymore, but had been taken to an abandoned property in White Mills.  The inmate also mentions details from the murders of Jason Ellis and Kathy and Samantha Netherland such as: a cellphone jammer was used for the Netherlands, there was no forced entry there, and there were 3 people involved in planning the murder of Jason Ellis and did so in his basement.

The Ballards said they tried to visit the inmate in 2016, but right before they were to visit, he was moved to another jail.  Stephanie attempts to set up a meeting with the inmate for the documentary and right before their meeting date, he’s moved to another jail!  When she is finally able to talk to him on the phone, the inmate is leary of sharing certain details over the phone, but does give a lot of information that would need to be verified.  He tells Stephanie that he heard about some of this from his cousin who was later killed in 2017.  

The following are the things he told Stephanie and then what she discovered when she tried to verify the information:

• He said that Crystal’s car was planted on the highway, but she was taken to an abandoned garage where she was cut up and burned and the building was burned down as well. – Stephanie and Dwayne were led to the place where the building was burned down and there were remnants of a burned down building.  When they looked up the spot on Google earth and other places they found that a garage (like a mechanic shop) used to be there
• He heard that Jason Ellis was close to solving a string of storage shed burglaries that were tied to drugs and the drug trafficking in Bardstown.  – His family had never heard anything about the storage sheds and the police say that they, of course, looked into Jason’s past cases and history, but found nothing to lead them to closing the case
• According to him, Jason had an informant. – No one knew anything about this
• Jason’s murder was a hired hit – The family always felt like it was a hit and the police believe that as well.  Sheriff Ed Mattingly even said that in the beginning, he would have never believed one of the officers would do that, but after Nick’s behavior, he’s not sure now.
• The Netherlands’ murders were part of a gang initiation – Holly thought that might be an idea before this.  She said that both her sister and her mom were verbal advocates against some gang there
• They were tortured and tied to chairs – Holly doesn’t really like to think about their last moments and she doesn’t know all the details, but the cops did ask her about the location of specific chairs.
• Trinkets were stolen as trophies – Nothing appeared stolen, but it’s possible…
• The cell jammer was placed at the front door – The police had no comment on this

The Kentucky State Police and the Sheriff’s office both wanted to get a meeting with the inmate, but the inmate said he would only talk to someone he hasn’t talked to before because he doesn’t trust the ones he has already talked to.  He hasn’t talked to Snow so he said he’d talk to him.

In October of 2018, Snow got a bunch of reporters together and allowed them to ask questions about the case as a way to address things that were brought up in the Oxygen documentary.

• Some evidence was still being analyzed at Quantico
• Offended that the Oxygen special suggested that they didn’t correctly process Crystal’s car
• In the first 18 months of the investigation, he put in 400 hours of overtime
• He said that they received positive and negative feedback after the special, but most of the harshest was from outside the area
• Judge Executive Dean Watts said that the Oxygen program didn’t accurately depict the amount of time, resources, and energy they had put into this case
• No new evidence was brought by the program during their investigation
• The network people never contacted him with the confidential informant’s information
• Snow said that when Tommy was alive the two of them talked regularly and that if Tommy had found anything worth chasing, he would have let Snow know

In July of 2018, Brooks was indicted for petty theft after he (allegedly) stole shingles from a hardware store to which he pleaded not guilty.  He has since been acquitted of this charge.  The custody battle over Eli continues to drag on as well and on February 12, 2019, the judge ruled that Sherry is not allowed to visit with Eli until the custody case is done.  Judges determined that the animosity between Brooks Houck and the Ballards makes for an unhealthy environment for Eli to go between.  Houck testified that “after returning from visits with the Ballards, Eli is sullen and uncooperative. Houck further stated that Eli is extremely accusatory, asking him, ‘What did you do to my mommy?’ and that, ‘Everyone wants to know.'”

As of July 3 of this year, it’s been 5 years since Crystal disappeared and no trace of her has been found.  There is a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in Crystal’s case and a $20,000 reward for Tommy that was raised by his brothers. (tipsfortommy@outlook.com)

(877) 570-TIPS – Nelson County Sheriff’s Office tip line

Sherry spoke to the Kentucky Standard about this anniversary saying that she’s been in close contact with the investigators and she’s happy about where the case is going.  She said she believes she will get justice for Crystal and inturn, get justice for Tommy.  She pointed out that they only have one shot to get a conviction.  If they bring someone to trial and they are acquitted, that’s it.