S2E5: The Assassination of Tommy Ballard

Summary

Blood Trails S2E5: The Assassination of Tommy Ballard (May 14, 2026)

Host: Jordan Sillars (MeatEater)
Summary by Podcast Summarizer

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Episode Overview

This gripping episode of Blood Trails, hosted by Jordan Sillars, investigates the 2016 shooting death of Tommy Ballard, a devoted father, hunter, and crusader for justice in Bardstown, Kentucky. Ballard was killed while searching for his missing daughter, Crystal Rogers—a case already mired in local intrigue and possible links to other unsolved murders in the area. Through firsthand accounts, expert analysis, and original reporting, the episode explores Tommy’s life, the aftermath of his assassination, and the tangled web connecting several violent crimes along the Bluegrass Parkway.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Morning of the Murder

• Setting the Scene (01:35–04:03)
  • On a November morning in 2016, Tommy Ballard is shot while heading to his deer stand with his young grandson. Law enforcement and family immediately suspect foul play due to Tommy’s role in investigating his daughter’s disappearance.
  • “Obviously, I think most everyone assumed, or at the very least had a very heavy feeling that it was related to the Rogers case.” — John Snow, Nelson County Sheriff’s Office [02:39]
  • Tommy’s wife, Sherry, was alerted by their grandson: “Pawpaw has been shot and I don't know what to do.” — Shay McAllister, reporter, relaying Sherry’s account [04:24]

Tommy Ballard: The Protector and Crusader

• Portrait of Tommy (08:06–13:20)
  • Interviews reveal Tommy’s steadfast, calm, and caring nature. Known as a “protector” by both his family and community, Tommy relentlessly led searches for Crystal.
  • “He was such a dad through and through, such a protector of his family and so kind, and it was such a gut-wrenching loss for so many of us.” — Shay McAllister [08:34]
  • Tommy experienced tragedy before: his sister’s unsolved murder in the 1970s shaped his determination. “When they took Crystal, truly he never had a moment's rest.” — Tom Roby, brother-in-law [10:48]
  • Tommy led "Team Crystal" in weekly search efforts and worked closely with the media to keep the case in public focus.

The Shooting: Accident or Assassination?

• Investigative Theories (13:38–19:08)
  • Early reports dubbed the shooting an accident. However, evidence and Tommy’s history suggest an orchestrated assassination, not a hunting mishap.
  • Roby and others conclude the shot came from a concealed spot off the Bluegrass Parkway, likely by someone familiar with Tommy’s habits.
  • “This was no accident. This was absolutely a murder.” — Tom Roby [15:54]
  • Pieces of orange tape and marks in the trees support a theory of a planned ambush.

Ties to Other Bardstown Murders

• Context of Violence (19:45–22:36)
  • The episode draws links between Tommy’s killing, Crystal’s disappearance, and the 2013 ambush of Officer Jason Ellis—another unsolved murder on the same highway.
  • “If you can imagine...it's the perfect ambush point. This is like a turkey hunter. You’re just going to sit up here and wait for that old gobbler to come by. Well, that's what I think they did.” — Tom Roby on Ellis' murder [20:37]

Crystal Rogers’ Case & The Hauck Connection

• Family, Suspects, and Frustration (24:35–31:28)
  • Crystal, Tommy’s daughter, was last seen July 3, 2015. Her boyfriend, Brooks Hauck, is quickly named a suspect, but the lack of progress frustrates the Ballards and community.
  • “Brooks Haug is building a multimillion dollar rental house and construction empire...while he's named the main suspect in their daughter's disappearance...” — Shay McAllister [27:45]
  • Tommy is unrelenting in publicly blaming Brooks: “He let people know that he thought Brooks Hauck killed his daughter.” — Tom Roby [29:13]
  • Law enforcement at times find Tommy’s activism both helpful and a hindrance to the investigation.

Breakthrough in Crystal’s Case

• Federal Intervention and Indictments (33:36–36:29)

  • The FBI's 2020 involvement breathes new life into the case, using sophisticated public engagement and intelligence-gathering.
  • Charges were eventually brought against Brooks Hauck and two employees (Joseph and Steve Lawson) for conspiracy, murder, and tampering, with compelling circumstantial and some physical evidence.
  • Notably, Tommy and local hunters were pivotal in tracing a critical car as evidence.

• Courtroom and Verdicts (42:48–43:54)

  • Brooks is convicted and sentenced to life; relief is palpable in Bardstown, but Tommy’s murder remains unsolved.
  • “When the jury did the sentencing phase...the jury recommended life in prison...the jury saw through him.” — Tom Roby [43:37]

The Question of Justice for Tommy

• The Role of the Hauck Family (47:31–56:16)

  • Testimony implicates multiple members of the Hauck family (including Brooks’ brother Nick, a former police officer, and mother Rosemary).
  • A rifle purchased from Nick Hauck strongly resembles the murder weapon, but ballistic evidence is inconclusive—lacking critical striation matches.
  • “They believe that the weapon they have is the right caliber...but they just cannot link it by striations...most likely, the condition of the projectile is the issue.” — Derek Pleasance, ballistics expert [55:24]

• The Challenge of Prosecution (57:08–58:23)

  • Tommy’s case is difficult; the calculated nature of the killing, lack of witnesses, and scant forensic evidence complicate prosecution.
  • “If you take them to trial and they get acquitted, that's the end of that case. They could go out on the courthouse steps and scream, I did it and I'm glad I did it. And there is nothing else you could do to them.” — John Snow [57:26]

Ongoing Investigations & Hope for Resolution

• Future Prospects (58:23–61:17)
  • The Ballard family and FBI offer financial rewards for information. New forensic technologies, advanced DNA and ballistic analysis—even national interest in similar cases—may eventually provide a break.
  • “Nobody ever thought that we would prosecute Brooks Haughty for Crystal's murder either. It really is a long game. I still hope that someday we'll get those answers and be able to prosecute the individual or individuals that are responsible for his murder.” — John Snow [60:53, 61:17]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “He was such a dad through and through, such a protector...and it was such a gut-wrenching loss for so many of us.” — Shay McAllister [08:34]
• “He never gave up hope, he never gave up faith.” — Tom Roby on Tommy’s perseverance [10:48]
• “This was no accident. This was absolutely a murder.” — Tom Roby [15:54]
• “If you take them to trial and they get acquitted, that's the end of that case. They could go out on the courthouse steps and scream, I did it and I'm glad I did it. And there is nothing else you could do to them.” — John Snow [57:26]
• “Nobody ever thought that we would prosecute Brooks Haughty for Crystal's murder either. It really is a long game…” — John Snow [60:53]
• “We still want to bring her home...And then at the same token, okay, now can we get focused on Tommy's case?” — Tom Roby, post-verdict [44:08]

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Timeline of Important Segments (Timestamps MM:SS)

• 01:35: Introduction to Tommy’s murder and initial police suspicion
• 04:03: Description of the scene and impact on family
• 08:06: Tommy’s character and leadership in the community
• 13:38–19:08: Analysis of shooting, Roby’s investigative role, physical evidence
• 19:45–22:36: Connections to Officer Jason Ellis’s murder
• 24:35–27:21: Crystal Rogers’ disappearance and community suspicion toward Brooks Hauck
• 27:45–31:01: Tommy’s public crusade, activism, and law enforcement response
• 33:36–36:29: FBI involvement, major investigative developments
• 42:48–43:54: Brooks Hauck’s conviction and community reaction
• 47:31–56:16: Focus on Nick Hauck, the suspect rifle, and expert analysis of ballistics evidence
• 57:08–58:23: Prosecution challenges and evidentiary hurdles
• 58:23–61:17: Hope for new leads, future technologies, and speculative connections

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Conclusion

This episode deftly weaves the story of Tommy Ballard’s assassination, the haunted quest for his daughter, and the broader context of unsolved violence in Bardstown. It captures the heartbreak, resilience, and slow grind of small-town justice in the face of chilling conspiracy and local power. The episode ends with both frustration and hope—justice for Tommy remains elusive, but the groundwork laid and advances in forensic science suggest closure might still be possible.

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For more information, images, and maps relating to the case, visit the case file at themateater.com/bloodtrails. Tips or information on this or other cases can be sent to [e-mail].

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End of Summary

Transcript

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[Jordan Sillers]

Now in November of 2016, Tommy Ballard was hunting for something more important than a deer or a turkey. And it's that hunt that may have gotten him killed. That's next on blood trails. It was the second Saturday of Kentucky's deer season in 2016, and John Snow expected to spend it in his tree stand. The sergeant in charge of investigations at the Nelson County Sheriff's Office had gotten up before dawn with his son and the pair were just settling into their perch in the tree when he heard a familiar ringing.

[John Snow]

When the dispatch called that early in the morning, I knew it probably was not going to be a good phone call.

[Jordan Sillers]

The dispatcher said a 54 year old man named Tommy Ballard had been walking to his own tree stand with his grandson when he was shot in the chest. Normally, John would assume he was dealing with a hunting accident. Tragic but not unheard of. But he knew right away that Tommy's death was anything but normal.

[John Snow]

Obviously, I think most everyone assumed, or at the very least had a very heavy feeling that it was related to the Rogers case.

[Jordan Sillers]

For the previous 16 months, Tommy had been frantically searching for his daughter, Crystal Rogers hadn't been heard from or seen since July 3, 2015. Her car had been found the next day abandoned along the Bluegrass Parkway, the same highway that ran beside the property where Tommy was hunting. His search efforts were the subject of regular news reports, and he'd recruited an army of volunteers to help him find his missing daughter.

[John Snow]

He was very, very passionate about finding his daughter and finding who was responsible for it, or proving who was responsible for it.

[Jordan Sillers]

I should say proving, not finding. Tommy believed he knew who was responsible for his daughter's disappearance, and he wasn't shy about telling anyone who would listen. That landed him maybe literally in the crosshairs of some very dangerous people.

[John Snow]

He was very much aware that some of the things that he was doing to try to find her would put him in danger.

[Jordan Sillers]

His hunting partner that day was one of Crystal's children. The 12 year old boy had gotten up with his grandpa and the pair had donned their camo and driven out to the 18 acre family property two miles south of Bardstown, Kentucky. They parked near the edge of a field and were walking across it to a patch of forest on the other side.

[Shay McAllister]

And then he heard a gunshot and sees that his grandpa is laying on the ground.

[Jordan Sillers]

That's Shay McAllister, who was at the time a reporter for a local TV station. Outside of law enforcement, she knows more about Tommy's case than anyone. And she spoke with Tommy's wife, Sherry. In the aftermath of this incident, Sherry

[Shay McAllister]

gets that call and her heart just drops because the guys had just left the house not 30 minutes earlier and she feared something was wrong. And on the other end of the phone, her grandson told her, pawpaw has been shot and I don't know what to do.

[Jordan Sillers]

Sherry raced to the property where she found that police and EMS had already arrived.

[Shay McAllister]

There's an ambulance there. But she notices everyone is moving really slow. Nobody's operating like this is a big emergency. And that was so confusing to her. And she runs down the hill. She runs up to Tommy. She remembers that he looked fine. He looked like himself. He just looked like he was laying on the ground. So she's shaking him, she's begging him to wake up. And eventually police officers come over and pull her off of him and say, I'm sorry, you know, he's gone. And immediately everything changes.

[Jordan Sillers]

Sherry was already dealing with the loss of her daughter. Now her husband and Crystal's biggest advocate was gone. Her family was under attack in a real physical, horrifying way.

[John Snow]

Whoever did it clearly waited for them to get closer to the tree line from where they had parked before they did it.

[Jordan Sillers]

Tommy's grandson told investigators that right before Tommy was shot, his grandpa had spied something in the tree line along the road. The other side of that tree line was nothing but a ditch along a highway. It wasn't a place anyone would be out for a walk or a hunt, but it might have been a place someone would lie in wait. Someone who knew where Tommy would be hunting that morning.

[John Snow]

He had hunted there pretty routinely, was my understanding.

[Jordan Sillers]

Tommy parked in the same place he always did and was heading towards the same blind in the same patch of forest.

[John Snow]

I don't know exactly who else knew about it, but it was clear that the family knew where it was at.

[Jordan Sillers]

Investigators didn't voice their suspicions immediately, but it looks for all the world like an assassination. Whoever had pulled that trigger had been close enough to Tommy to know that on a Saturday in November, he loved nothing more than hunting with his grandson. The circle of people who knew that and would also want him dead was very, very small.

[Shay McAllister]

Tommy was killed because of his drive, ambition, and courage in leading this investigation into the murder of his daughter. And law enforcement have confirmed they believe the two are connected.

[Jordan Sillers]

It will be 10 years this November since Tommy Ballard was shot in the chest and died in front of his grandson. The road to justice for that horrific crime has been long and full of surprises. An undercover operation to secure the murder weapon, the explosive prosecution of the man responsible for Crystal's murder, and the troubling suggestion that Tommy's death is connected to a second assassination along this same highway have shown new light on this tragedy. But in the end, the person responsible for slaying the husband, father, and grandfather may have been at the center of this story the whole time. I'm Jordan Sillers, and this is Blood Trails. The Assassination of Tommy Ballard, Part 1. The Protector. Many of the investigators who gathered at the scene of Tommy's murder were, like John, already familiar with the father of Crystal Rogers. While they may not have known him well, they had interacted with him as they worked together to find the missing woman. Many were impressed by how the father could keep his composure even after losing his daughter.

[John Snow]

He was usually pretty soft spoken even when he was not happy with things that were going on. You know, even it was clear he was upset, but he would not get loud or. Or, you know, abusive in that. In that way. So he was always pretty calm about things.

[Jordan Sillers]

Shea had likely gotten to know Tommy as well as any of the investigators. She'd been reporting on Crystal's Disappearance from the beginning. And she'd come to think of Tommy not just as a source, but as a friend.

[Shay McAllister]

Tommy was a protector. He was very powerful presence. He took things very seriously. But in the same breath, you know, after we finished talking about, you know, the search that he was doing, the evidence he had found that his newest question for law enforcement, he would ask, how's your family? How are things back there? How was the drive down? You know, don't forget it's going to be really, really cold next weekend. You probably want to run your water, trickle your water, you know, he was, he was such a dad through and through, such a protector of his family and so kind, and it was such a gut wrenching loss for so many of us.

[Jordan Sillers]

That tall, soft spoken father didn't just advocate with his words. He was well respected in the community as the owner of a home building company. And he used his position and connections to make real progress in his daughter's case.

[Shay McAllister]

He was truly leading his own investigation. He had a group of volunteers known as Team Crystal who would come together every single weekend and search a new property. He was searching both in the county where she went missing and the surrounding counties. He was organizing the people behind it and he was collecting tips.

[Jordan Sillers]

Tommy understood that working with the media would keep Crystal's case top of mind. And he spoke on a regular basis with journalists like Hsieh. He understood what was needed, in part because he'd been in this situation before.

[Tom Roby]

What fueled the fire, probably more, was in 1979, Tommy's oldest sister Sherry went missing.

[Jordan Sillers]

That's Tom Roby, Tommy Ballard's brother in law. Roby had married Tommy's sister and the two men had gone to the same high school in the late nineteen nineteen seventies. During Tommy's Jr. Year, his other sister had been killed by her husband, and it had taken the state police five years to close the case. The first great tragedy in Tommy's life devastated his family. And the Ballard patriarch wasn't about to let the same thing happen again.

[Tom Roby]

He was a man at peace with his family. He was happy with his life. And then when they took Crystal, truly he never had a moment's rest. And he's reliving his sister's scenario, almost mimicking his daughters. I can't imagine the pain. A lot of people just throw into town, give up. They're just mentally exhausted. And he fought through it. He never gave up hope, he never gave up faith.

[Jordan Sillers]

Some people respond to tragedy by turning in on themselves and becoming bitter or bad tempered. But Tommy did The opposite.

[Tom Roby]

He was a very giving individual and he didn't want appreciate, he didn't want acknowledgement. You know, he did a lot of things that nobody knew about charity wise assisting. Like even with the Bardstown Police Department when I was there, he would allow them access to a storage unit to store large Christmas items that, you know, shop with cop and helping needy families for Christmas. So bicycles, you know, large items.

[John Snow]

Yeah.

[Tom Roby]

Never asked for a penny or anything. He just bent over backwards to help. He would donate and anything he could to help help needy kids.

[Jordan Sillers]

He enjoyed deer hunting and turkey hunting, but Robey says he wasn't interested in big antlers or long spurs.

[Tom Roby]

He didn't care about killing a 120 inch eight pointer to say, you know, he'd be happy, be happier to knock down a big doe or a couple of does. But he loved hunting with his son Casey and his grandchildren. He relished that. I know a couple times they'd be turkey hunting and they would double, you know, and you know, Casey may have a bird that had an inch and a quarter spurs and you know, Tommy had seven, eight spurs or so, three quarter inch spurs. He didn't care. He would just tickle to death. His son got a great bird. You know, they got to experience things like that together.

[Jordan Sillers]

Roby said Tommy would sometimes go out with a crossbow, but he especially liked his.270 Winchester rifle. He didn't own a huge amount of property, but he had several spots where he knew he could reliably shoot a doe. That's exactly what he was doing the day he was killed.

[Tom Roby]

This thing was like a honey hole. If you wanted to go and get a doe real quick, it was easy. It was just something about that area. If you wanted to take a grand kid and let him go shoot something, it was a good spot.

[Jordan Sillers]

Even in the midst of his search for Crystal and the grief he must have wrestled with every day, he took the time to take his grandson hunting and offer him a sense of normalcy, at least for a few hours.

[Tom Roby]

I think more than anything, he loved going and being with, you know, the kids or the grandkids. He was truly a just a really great guy. Yeah, he's the type of guy that everybody wants to be around would like.

[Jordan Sillers]

Part 2 the Shot Roby and his wife received the call about Tommy early that Saturday morning and rushed out to the scene.

[Tom Roby]

And by the time we were about two miles away from the farm there, Barbara's brother Michael called her and, and told her, said it's too late. He's Gone, he's gone. My mind was racing like, was it a hunting accident? What's, you know, you don't know.

[Jordan Sillers]

Law enforcement didn't immediately call Tommy's death a homicide. And local media outlets initially reported that the shooting had been accident. Investigators ruled out Tommy's grandson as a potential shooter. And it was clear that Tommy didn't shoot himself either accidentally or otherwise. But if you look at this property on Onx, you'll see that there is a wooded 74 acre parcel just across the highway in the same direction the bullet came from. Roby had to wonder, at least at first, if his brother in law was the victim of bad luck rather than malice.

[Tom Roby]

I thought, you know, is it the magic bullet scenario?

[Jordan Sillers]

Robi got permission to search that other property and he soon found a deer stand.

[Tom Roby]

I marked my location and it was like 800 yards. And so I'm thinking just take it best at the time, a 7 mag at 800 yards you're going to have what, 60 inches of drop. And I'm like, there's no way the shot came across this Bluegrass Parkway and drop down through there. I'm like, there's no way.

[Jordan Sillers]

Of course it's possible a neighboring hunter was closer than 800 yards. It's also possible a rifle went off accidentally while being pointed at some upward angle which would have increased the potential range. Hunters are unintentionally shot every year, but when it's not self inflicted, it's often by another hunter who misidentifies his target. That's not a scenario that seemed likely here. Since the shooter would have had to fire across four lanes of a highway, the odds of Tommy being struck by a totally random stray bullet were astronomically low. What's more, no neighboring hunters ever came under suspicion. And as you already heard, Tommy had spied something in the tree line and his work on Crystal's case had made him some enemies. Taken together, all of these factors clearly pointed to homicide.

[Tom Roby]

This was no accident. This was absolutely a murder.

[Jordan Sillers]

Roby didn't know how the shooter had pulled it off, but as he sat in his car and watched investigators process the scene on the morning, morning of Tommy's murder, he began to formulate a theory.

[Tom Roby]

And so I'm looking and I see a little hole in the wood line. The farmer Tommy's killed, It was like 16 or maybe 18 acres and it ran parallel to the Bluegrass Parkway on the eastbound lanes. And I'm like, that shot came from the damn Bluegrass Parkway. There's no doubt in my mind that shot came from the bluegrass.

[Jordan Sillers]

Robey's theory came from a place of experience. Though he'd recently retired, he spent many years as an investigator with the Bardstown Police Department, as well as a special deputy with the U.S. marshals. He didn't know what evidence the Kentucky State Police had collected, but once they were done, he conducted his own investigation with one of Tommy's sons, a man named Casey Ballard.

[Tom Roby]

I went right to the area where I saw this gap, you know, that kind of caught my attention. And not far from it there, there was a tree that had a slight chunk of bark that had been knocked away. So I stood like I'm aiming a rifle right there. I said, somebody, whoever did this is about 8 to 10 inches taller than me. I said, somebody leaned here and shot.

[Jordan Sillers]

Roby wondered whether the missing piece of bark had been knocked away by the stock of a rifle as the recoil pushed it back into the tank tree. The next day, he and Casey came back to test their hypothesis.

[Tom Roby]

And I said, I'm going to take this cheap scope and gun out here and I'm going to hide. I wasn't in camo. I said, I'm going to hide out here in the woods and I'm just going to see how clear I can see, you know, and it's still not daylight. The lunar loading was so bright. You know, when I'm looking through this cheap scope, I can only imagine what a high dollar scope would do. But this cheap scope, I could see so detailed. And I was like, there's no doubt in my mind this is exactly where this shot.

[Jordan Sillers]

As Robey searched the area he believed the shot came from, he found another piece of evidence that someone had stood at that spot along the highway.

[Tom Roby]

There was a piece of orange landscaping tape right there, and it looked like mud on a couple of the runs of wire, you know, the interwoven wire fence. And I'm like, somebody's crossed this right here shot and then crossed back.

[Jordan Sillers]

A car parked on the side of the highway would likely have been noticed. So Roby guessed the shooter was dropped off before Tommy drove out to that property. He waited in the tree line until he saw Tommy walk within range and fired.

[Tom Roby]

I made my mind up then and there. This is exactly where the shot came from. I don't know if the police have come to the same conclusion, but as someone who's investigated a lot of different things and different crimes and worked with federal agencies and state police and other local agencies, there's no doubt in my mind. And it was basically a hundred yard chip shot. Even the most beginning deer hunter with any deer cartridge that would be, you know, if you got extended rest, should be a chip shot.

[Jordan Sillers]

I reached out to the Kentucky State Police to speak with the investigator in charge of Tommy's case, but I was told that they've declined most media requests over the last few years. Hsieh told me she's never been allowed to speak with anyone at the ksp. And as of this recording, I haven't received an official response to my request. What happened to Tommy was unbelievable, almost like a movie, and certainly not something that anyone predicted in Bardstown, which the USA Today once called America's most beautiful small town. But what's even more incredible is that something similar happened just three years before and on the exact same highway.

[Shay McAllister]

The Bardstown cases start with the ambush of a police officer in 2013. His name was Jason Ellis. He was a Bardstown city police officer and he was working the night shift. So he's on his way home from work. He's taking the exit ramp that he takes every single day and notices tree limbs in the road. And investigators believe he turned on his lights and sirens, got out of his police cruiser to go and move the tree limbs off of the exit ramp. And at that point he was ambushed. He was shot and killed and left for dead right there in the road. And his case is still unsolved today.

[Jordan Sillers]

Jason was killed around 2 in the morning on May 25, 2013. And Robie was one of the officers who responded to the scene.

[Tom Roby]

If you can imagine, it's almost like a cloverleaf ramp off of the interstate. Well, there's some high rock walls there also. And I'm thinking to myself, and I'm looking up and I'm like, this is the perfect ambush point. High points. I'm like, hell, this is like a turkey hunter. You know, you're just going to sit up here and wait for that old gobbler to come by, Will, that's what I think they did. They. I think there was probably more than one. So if you drug brush on either side of the ramp, someone was ready to shoot. And I can't prove that, but that's my belief. Under a bright moonlit sky, there's no doubt in my mind. That's my belief what happened. And to go further, you know, that night, if somebody had even hinted or suggested that a police officer may have been involved, I'd have been ready to fist fight you right there. But after things that I have witnessed, experienced and seen, then nothing surprises me these days.

[Jordan Sillers]

Two innocent men gunned down by disappearing assassins, all within the span of three years. Between that time, a young woman had been kidnapped and was presumed dead, and her car had been found along the same highway where the murders had taken place. But the location and means of death weren't the only thing that connected these three cases. From the moment Crystal disappeared, her family suspected that her boyfriend might be involved. This boyfriend, a man named Brooks Hauck, had a brother in the Bardstown Police Department named Nick, who had worked with Jason Ellis. Like the Bluegrass Parkway, the Hauck brothers tied these crimes together. Investigators didn't know exactly how or why, at least not at first. But they knew the Hauk family was the first place they should start digging. That's next after the break.

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Amazon Health AI presents Painful Thoughts why

[Amazon Health AI User]

did I search the Internet for answers to my cold, sore problem? Now I'm stuck down a rabbit hole filled with images of alarmingly graphic source in various stages of ooze. I can clear my search history, but I can never unsee that.

[Amazon Health AI Narrator]

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[Jordan Sillers]

Part 3 the Crusade Crystal Rogers was 35 years old when she went missing she was Tommy and Sherry's oldest child, and she'd spent her whole life in Bardstown, while Shay never got a chance to meet Crystal. She told me that everyone mentioned how much Crystal loved her five kids.

[Shay McAllister]

She couldn't wait to be a mom. Being a mom was her favorite thing in the world, and it was a very defining characteristic because every job she had, it was important to her that it would not interfere with being a mom. So, for example, when she was working as a landlord, kind of helping run a rental house business, and she would have to take her tenants to court to evict them, she would take her kids with her. And the judge just knew that, you know, that was part of doing work with her. So she really valued that part of her life. Her kids were incredibly important to her.

[Jordan Sillers]

She'd been married previously, and not all of her children were from the same relationship. But Shea said that despite these personal difficulties, Crystal still valued family above all else.

[Shay McAllister]

Her cousins were her best friends. She confided in her mom and her dad when things weren't going right in her relationships, and she was just very close with her family.

[Jordan Sillers]

Crystal began dating Brooks Hauck a few years before she disappeared. She'd rented a house from him, and once the two became acquainted, she worked for his rental house business. The two moved in together, and soon they had a son, Crystal's youngest. But the relationship had been souring in the months leading up to her disappearance.

[Shay McAllister]

It wouldn't be until many years later when we started hearing from other people who had had conversations with Crystal, that she was worried that he was cheating on her. She wanted out. She thought that he was going to be trying to get rid of her, you know, in a way that where she could. He could still keep their shared child.

[Jordan Sillers]

Crystal was reportedly not well liked by the other members of the Hauk family, including Brooks's mother, Rosemary. Rosemary was keen for Brooks to get full custody of her grandson, but that was unlikely while Crystal was still around. When Crystal disappeared, the Ballards immediately suspected Brooks. And they weren't the only ones.

[Shay McAllister]

It happened about three months after she went missing. Brooks Haug was not part of any searches at the beginning. He really kept to himself, stayed quiet. And then about three months after she is reported reported missing, the sheriff names him the main suspect in her disappearance and that Brooks Hauck's brother, whose name is Nick Hauck, is considered a person of interest.

[Jordan Sillers]

Crystal was presumed dead. No arrest or conviction could bring her back. But with this news, the Ballard family could at least hope for justice to be served. Officials said they'd collected eight pages worth of circumstantial evidence pointing to Brooks, and the Ballards expected a quick arrest, but that didn't happen. Days, weeks, months went by, and still Brooks Hauck was walking the streets of Bardstown.

[Shay McAllister]

This is so frustrating for the family, this is so frustrating for the community because not only is he not arrested at this time, Brooks Haugh is building a multimillion dollar rental house and construction empire in this small town. He is living his life to the fullest. He is raising the son that he and Crystal shared. He goes to bat in court to keep Crystal's family away from the little boy. And they are watching him just live this big, full life while he's named the main suspect in their daughter's disappearance and presumed murder.

[Jordan Sillers]

This is key to understanding what Tommy did next with his own sister's murder. In the back of his mind, he didn't just launch a search effort to find his daughter's remains. He launched a crusade against the man he believed was responsible.

[Shay McAllister]

And he wasn't just saying that, which, you know, he did multiple times. He put up billboards, paid for billboards that had Crystal's face and said, detectives say Brooks Hauk is responsible for the disappearance of Crystal and know help us make the arrest. There was signs all over town that said, you know, Brooks Hauk is a killer. It was not just this, you know, kind of quiet belief. He was very outspoken about it, and

[Tom Roby]

everybody in the family knew he did it. But how can you prove it and how, you know, and you don't want to. You don't want to do some things to jeopardize the case by becoming too vocal and making allegations that, you know, so Tommy didn't give a shit about that. He let people know that he thought Brooks help killed his daughter.

[Jordan Sillers]

You can't blame a father in this situation for taking matters into his own hands. But he nonetheless created an unprecedented situation for law enforcement.

[John Snow]

I don't know that I have ever had a case in my almost 30 years now where a family got that actively involved in it.

[Jordan Sillers]

Jon Snow was one of the lead investigators on Crystal's case. He told me that Tommy's crusade was sometimes helpful, sometimes not.

[John Snow]

Well, it was really kind of a mixed bag. There were times when things that Tommy and Sherry and the other family members were doing that generated really good information. There were times that some of the information that they would get would end up being not pertinent to the investigation. And we would spend some time on it, you know, rather than spending it on other things that we thought might be more helpful to the investigation.

[Jordan Sillers]

Roby was also a longtime investigator, so he understood the dangers of what Tommy was doing. But he was also Tommy's brother in law and Crystal's uncle.

[Tom Roby]

I had words with another police officer along those lines, and then I said, don't give me that shit. If that was your child, you would be doing everything you could. You know damn well you could. And I said, and if you wouldn't, then you're a piece of shit. I said, so don't give me that shit that he's going too far. Nobody's going too far.

[Jordan Sillers]

Tommy's actions may not have always been comfortable for law enforcement, but they were effective.

[Shay McAllister]

We would hear years later that some of his work became critical to building the case to indict people and arrest people for Crystal's murder. You know, that was shocking to us to hear because he wasn't an experienced investigator. He was a home builder. But more than that, he was a desperate dad and he was going to do anything and everything to find his daughter.

[Jordan Sillers]

With this background in mind, you can see why everyone pointed the finger at the Houcks when Tommy was murdered. They had motive, but they also had means.

[Tom Roby]

Brooks Hout knew where that farm was and he knew that Tommy often took his grandchildren. So I think that the Houcks truly thought or was afraid Tommy was going to get close. They knew he was never going to stop. But Tommy, he was never going to be on the back burner. He was going to be pushing ahead.

[Jordan Sillers]

Was Tommy murdered by the Hauks because he was about to expose them for killing his daughter? Or had Brooks and his brother been falsely accused and Tommy was murdered for some other reason that had yet to be exposed? Those questions haunted Bardstown, and they weren't about to be answered anytime soon. That's because even after Tommy was murdered, investigators appeared to make little progress on the case. Not just for weeks or months, but for years. The Ballards were left with a missing daughter and a slain husband. And it didn't seem like anyone could offer them the resolution they were so desperately searching for. Part four, the prosecution of Brooks Hauck to find Tommy's killer. Investigators believe that focusing on Crystal's case could be a productive strategy.

[John Snow]

What you're really hoping for, and I think, you know, what we had always hoped for, was that if we broke one of the cases, perhaps it would lead us down the road to breaking the other cases.

[Jordan Sillers]

But the evidence wasn't working in their favor. They had Tommy's body But little else. In Crystal's case, they didn't even have that. Despite her father's best efforts, her remains hadn't been found. And Shea told me that by 2019, the cases appeared to be going cold.

[Shay McAllister]

At this point, the investigation appeared to be at a standstill. We had not gotten new information on either case in several years. It was really difficult to even get the investigating agencies to do interviews about it, because they would just tell us, we have nothing new to report.

[Jordan Sillers]

Hsieh launched a podcast called Bardstown in 2019 to shine light on Crystal's case. The journalist didn't confirm it, but I have to think that the attention from that podcast helped shake things up. Sure enough, less than a year later, the FBI got involved and things began moving in the right direction.

[Shay McAllister]

And it was very clear that they were working toward an arrest, that they were doing interviews and search warrants and making major moves to gather the evidence they needed to indict Brooks Haug. This includes massive digs, FBI activity out in the public in Bardstown, both on properties we're familiar with, such as the Hauck family farm, and new properties that we had never heard of, like a neighborhood where Brooks Haug had been building homes when Kristol disappeared.

[Jordan Sillers]

It's not that local and state law enforcement hadn't been doing anything, but the FBI offered more resources, more manpower, and more technology. It also felt like they were making more progress because federal agents were far more public with their investigation. In fact, according to Shea, they developed a plan to release information strategically to move the case forward.

[Shay McAllister]

They put up a website where people could turn in tips for Crystal. And they used that website for many things beyond accepting tips. Of course they were accepting tips. They were collecting leads. But they were also looking at who was on the website, and what exactly were they looking at when they would release things to the media, they were releasing very strategic pieces of information to see what certain people would do with it and what phone calls would they make and how would they react.

[Jordan Sillers]

For the first time in years, it felt like progress was finally being made.

[Shay McAllister]

So it was no longer this. Does anyone care about this? Is anyone working on this? We weren't wondering that anymore. We were just wondering, when will they have enough to bring the indictment?

[Jordan Sillers]

Three years later, in 2023, those indictments started coming down.

[Shay McAllister]

And first, it's a name we've never heard of. That's Joseph Lawson, a completely unfamiliar name. Nobody knew who he was, including the Ballard family.

[Jordan Sillers]

Joseph Lawson was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical Evidence in connection to Crystal's disappearance. The Bardstown community spent the next two months wondering whether they'd accused the wrong man until September when Brooks Hauck was arrested and charged with murder. Two months after that, another man, Steve Lawson, Joseph's father, was also charged with complicity to commit murder. Joey and Steve Lawson were employees of Brooks Hauck, but it wasn't immediately obvious how they helped him murder Crystal and hide her body. What was clear was that investigators had collected a mountain of circumstantial evidence against Crystal's former boyfriend.

[Shay McAllister]

For example, there was witnesses who talked about how Crystal thought she was going on a special date night with Brooks. That night she had canceled plans with a friend because Brooks wanted wanted to take her on a rare night out, just the two of them. And then there's forensic evidence showing that they end up going to his family farm. There's no proof that she left that farm alive and we know that because, because we could see her cell phone moving from her house with Brooks and we have surveillance video of them going to the farm. And then there's nobody sees her alive after that.

[Jordan Sillers]

Brooks was the last person to see Crystal alive. He was also caught lying about what he was doing the day she disappeared.

[Shay McAllister]

He had turned his location services off. However, he didn't know that Google location was ultimately recording him. And when he provided police with an alibi, they were able to disprove it.

[Jordan Sillers]

Brooks had given an initial statement to police in 2015 describing what he was doing on July 3. He said he'd been visiting various businesses around town and handling evictions for his rental company. In reality, his phone data showed that he'd spent most of the day at his family's farm. He'd left the farm in the afternoon and but then returned around 7:30pm where he stayed until close to midnight.

[Shay McAllister]

He said they went to the farm, they spent the night out on the property, they fed the cows, they packed up and went back home and had their two year old son with them. Brooke says that he went to bed. Crystal was still up on her phone playing games on the cell phone. And when he woke up the next morning, morning she was gone.

[Jordan Sillers]

But even this claim didn't hold up under scrutiny. Crystal's phone was recovered from her car and investigators determined that she'd been using it until around 9:30 that evening when it appeared to run out of battery. It was turned back on around 11.50pm but then manually shut off at the same time. It was clear to investigators that Crystal hadn't really used it. After 9:30, which cast doubt on everything else. Brooks claimed there wasn't much physical evidence in this case, but there was some. And investigators got it thanks to Tommy and a pair of raccoon hunters. These hunters were out near the Hauk's farm the night Crystal disappeared. One of them testified at trial that they'd spotted a white Buick parked on a gravel road. They thought it was weird for a car to be parked there on a Rainy Night at 10:30pm so when they heard about Crystal's disappearance and they contacted police, Tommy heard about this development and he posted on Facebook asking for help locating the car and identifying its owners. A few days later, a detective received a tip that the car belonged to Brooks Hauk's grandmother, but it had recently been sold. Fortunately, investigators were able to track down

[Shay McAllister]

that car years later would be examined as evidence in the case.

[Tom Roby]

And.

[Shay McAllister]

And a cadaver dog hit on the trunk of that car.

[Jordan Sillers]

Blonde hairs were also found in the car. That could have been crystals. But forensic scientists were unable to determine if the DNA was also a match.

[Shay McAllister]

There was DNA found that could not for sure be matched to Crystal, but also could not be ruled out.

[Jordan Sillers]

Perhaps the most damning piece of evidence, at least from the public's perspective, came from a separate trial. Joey and Steve Lawson had been accused of helping Brooks move Crystal's car. The plan was, according to prosecutors, to drive the sedan far away from Bardstown and get rid of it. But they ran into a problem about eight miles west of town. The car blew a tire on the Bluegrass Parkway.

[Tom Roby]

I truly think that God caused that blowout because if that car hadn't been found, that may not have led to this case. That car could have been found, disposed of in so many other places. And I think that's what their intention was. And I think God intervened and that tar blew out and they left it there. And that was the beginning of the end. It just took a long time and a lot of hard work.

[Jordan Sillers]

Crystal's killers couldn't follow through on their original plan, so they had to improvise. Phone records show that Joey Lawson called his dad several times that night, and then Steve called Brooks and spoke to him for about 13 seconds. Prosecutors argued that Joey had been driving the car by himself and he was calling his dad to ask to be picked up. Steve then called Brooks, presumably to figure out a plan B. In the end, Crystal's car was abandoned on the side of the road with her purse, phone, and keys still inside. It was also left running to make it look like the woman had for Some reason left in a hurry. Here's the important part of this story. While Joey Lawson joined Brooks in denying every part of the prosecution's theory, Steve admitted to trying to hide his son's involvement.

[Shay McAllister]

Steve Lawson takes the approach with his own defense that, yes, he's guilty of tampering with physical evidence. Brooks Haug asked him to help move this car. He agreed to do that, but he had no idea of any plan to kill her. And he was not, not part of any plan to kill her.

[Jordan Sillers]

Steve admitted to driving out to where Joey had pulled over Crystal's car the night she disappeared. He said he moved the driver's seat forward to make it look like Crystal had been driving. And he also removed a mini baseball bat that Joey apparently was known to carry. He denied having any knowledge of Crystal's murder, but the jury didn't buy it. He was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to 17 years in prison. This testimony raised several awkward questions for Brooks Hauck. If something nefarious didn't happen that night, why would Joey Lawson be driving Crystal's car out of town? Why would he leave it on the side of the road with all of Crystal's things in it? And why would Steve lie about what happened if Brooks and Joey weren't involved? The problem was Steve's testimony was not admissible evidence in Brooks's trial. And even if it was, the case wouldn't have been a slam dunk. Almost no murders are prosecuted without the body of the victim. And there was very little hard physical evidence proving Brooks killed the mother of his son. According to Tom Roby, the Hauks knew they were still in a good position.

[Tom Roby]

I think they were so smug, they thought they were going to beat him. When they would release the jury, he would stand up prim and proper, looking straight ahead, you know, and then soon as the jury got out of eyesight, he would look over at the whole section, the family and friends of Crystals, and just make a shit eating smirk grin, you know, just. Just trying to goat someone, you know, And I thought, you arrogant bastard.

[Jordan Sillers]

Robey said that arrogant demeanor lasted all the way until the jury came back from four hours of deliberation on July 8, 2025.

[Tom Roby]

In regard to Commonwealth vs Brooks William

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Hauck, we the jury find the defendant

[Tom Roby]

guilty of murder, principal or accomplice.

[Jordan Sillers]

We the jury find the defendant guilty of tampering with physical evidence.

[Tom Roby]

And then when the jury did the sentencing phase, they were out, just, I mean, a very, very short time frame, which, you know, the jury recommended life in prison. And I think five additional years for tampering with evidence. So, you know, the jury saw through him.

[Jordan Sillers]

Brooks got life, and Joey, who was being tried at the same time, received a 25 year sentence. Roby said the guilty verdicts were a relief for everyone in the community. That was true of the Ballards as well, but their emotions were more complex.

[Tom Roby]

When we came back to town, the folks in Bargetown, the main street north, north third street was lined. We drove all the families, we all drove back from the Bowling Green courthouse. And it was just, I mean, it. I think there was not a dry eye in a vehicle. Literally hundreds and hundreds of people lying in the street celebrating his conviction. But we still don't know where she's at. We still want to bring her home. If she's. She is dead, she's presumed dead. We want to bury her with some dignity. And so that's still missing. And then at the same token, okay, now can we get focused on Tommy's case? Now can we get Tommy's case?

[Jordan Sillers]

What John and the other investigators had hoped for hadn't happened. Brooks Hauck had been convicted of murdering Crystal. But that investigation hadn't turned up enough evidence to charge anyone with her father's murder. Investigators weren't shy about their beliefs. They told journalists like Shea that the Hauks were responsible for Tommy's assassination. Proving that would be more difficult, but they already had evidence pointing to someone else who was implicated at the beginning of this case but has so far escaped consequence. We'll be right back.

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[Jordan Sillers]

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[Jordan Sillers]

Part 5 Nick Hauck, Brooks Hauck wasn't the only member of the Hauk family to be implicated in the Bardstown murders. Brooks's mother, Rosemary, was named as an unindicted co conspirator. And the jury heard testimony that she asked one of Brooks's employees if he knew anyone who could, quote, get rid of Crystal. And as you heard at the beginning, Nick Hauck, Brooks's brother, was named as a suspect all the way back in 2015. At Brooks's trial, the public learned that from the very beginning, the family had tried to hamper the investigation.

[Shay McAllister]

There was these little lies that the Hauk family was caught in. There was situations where they were secretly recording their encounters with police. They were talking about how they needed to be on the same page. They were laughing about investigators following what appeared to be phony tips.

[Jordan Sillers]

These alleged attempts to impede law enforcement stretched back to when Nick Hauck was still an officer with the Bardstown Police Department. He refused to cooperate with interviews, take a polygraph, or allow his cruiser to be searched for evidence. He relented when his job was threatened, but he didn't stop meddling to keep himself and his brother out of trouble.

[Shay McAllister]

When Brooks Hauck was in a police interrogation and he gets a phone call from his brother, Nick Hauck, and Nick asks him, are you still there at the police department? And Brooks says, yes. And Nick says, well, you need to get out of there. You know, you've done enough answering questions. You've got nothing else to tell them. You should leave. And he hangs up. And Brooks tells the officer, you know, my brother's advising I should leave. And the officer tells him, you're not under arrest. You're free to leave if you want. And he said, yes, I'm gonna. I'm gonna go ahead and leave.

[Jordan Sillers]

This was a Bridge too far for Nick's superiors at the police department, and they began the process of firing him. Tom Robey said he never worked a shift with Nick and didn't know him well, but he was an assistant chief at the time. So he sat in on some of these proceedings.

[Tom Roby]

And I was there with the chief when he was talking to Nick, and I was sitting behind him. And I'll never forget, Nick was just, like, so cool. Like, cool as a cucumber as he's talking. He was just blank. And then when Chief McCoban mentioned failing the polygraph and knowing where Crystal is, all of a sudden, one of his feet, like a dog, he just started shaking. He couldn't control that reaction. And I said to myself, then I said, you son of a bitch, you're involved. You know, there's no doubt in my mind how he reacted to that.

[Jordan Sillers]

Nick was eventually fired from the police department, but despite his extremely suspicious behavior, he was never charged with a crime. He was allowed to walk free in Bardstown, where, according to Roby, he seemed to revel in antagonizing Crystal's family.

[Tom Roby]

Six or seven years ago. And this was in the Lowe's parking lot. And I'm walking in. I didn't realize that I had parked beside his truck. And I'm walking into the Lowe's, and he saw me. He comes walking toward me with his hand out. And, you know, my nickname's Boo. Everybody calls me Boo. He said, hey, hey, Boo. How you doing? And I don't know. And I said, get the. Get the f away from me, you f. F. I ain't shaking your effing hand. And it surprised him. He wasn't expecting it. But when I came out of the store, he was leaning against the tailgate of his truck, which I'm parked right. I had parked right beside him. So my ego, my arrogance, and my anger and everything else, I thought, oh, you. You son of a. You're not gonna punk me. I just started walking at a dead line, and we made eye contact, and I was just. I mean, I was running, but I was walking with purpose. And he jumped in his truck and took off and spun his tires and took off. And I. You know, maybe he was thinking I was just going to walk out and he was going to try to do or say something, but. And that's the last time I've had any contact with him at all. Brooks was notorious for walking up to the family. Hey, how you doing, buddy? You know, after Crystal was missing, just almost like he was trying to Irritate them and hurt him.

[Jordan Sillers]

I tried reaching out to Nick to ask him about these accounts, but as you might imagine, he's hard to get a hold of. He's kept a low profile in the wake of his brother's trial and as far as I know, has never given an interview to the media. We don't know exactly why investigators named Nick as a suspect or what role he played in Crystal's disappearance. However, in a shocking moment from a routine hearing in 2023, a prosecutor released information about how Nick was involved in Tommy's assassination. We were waiting for testing to come back on the farm we believe was used to murder Tommy Ballinar. A farm that we purchased from Nicholas

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Howe, who was using a fave name.

[Jordan Sillers]

We sold the rock. We don't know the circumstances of this sale or how investigators knew it was Nick using a fake name, but we have good reason to believe it's the same rifle.

[Shay McAllister]

They ran testing on it, and it matched four out of the five markers that would make it a match for the gun used to kill Tommy Brookhouse.

[Jordan Sillers]

Defense attorneys filed a motion noting that this rifle had been tested by by multiple law enforcement agencies, and the results were inconclusive. What's more, the prosecutor didn't say what these criteria were or which one wasn't met. It's tough to judge from the outside how persuasive this evidence is, but we can speculate. Towards that end, I reached out to Derek Pleasance. Derek runs an expert witness service called P2 Consulting, but he spent 20 years as a special agent and investigator for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or the atf. Prior to that, he served in the Army Special Forces as a Green Beret. So it's safe to say he knows his stuff when it comes to firearms.

[Derek Pleasance]

So when that projectile is recovered, if I recover in a pristine condition, what I'm looking for are the five characteristics.

[Jordan Sillers]

Four of those characteristics are relatively easy to identify on a projectile. The caliber, of course, along with the number, direction and width of lands and grooves. Lands and grooves refer to the spiraling grooves inside a barrel that spin the bullet and leave corresponding marks on the copper jacket of the projectile. These four characteristics can point to a specific make and model of firearm, but that's about it.

[Derek Pleasance]

Those four characteristics, those are class characteristics. I'm going to be able to have an idea of what I'm dealing with, but that only gets me in the game. The fifth characteristic, which is the one that's most difficult, is also the one that is essentially the firearms, fingerprints and that's the striations on the projectile.

[Jordan Sillers]

The bore of a rifle isn't perfectly uniform. It has small imperfections that leave tiny, almost microscopic striations on the bullet's jacket as it travels down the barrel. In a perfect world, a ballistician can use a microscope to compare a recovered projectile with a projectile they fire through. A suspected crime gun. If the striations on those two bullets match, the recovered projectile was most likely fired through that suspect's gun. Of course, this isn't a perfect world. As most hunters are well aware, projectiles

[Derek Pleasance]

are considerably more difficult. Like one of the things you touched on is when, hey, if you shoot game and then when you, you go to dress it and you happen to recover your projectile, it's often mangled. You know, it is shocking sometimes the deformity that can occur with that or even a high velocity round will come apart.

[Jordan Sillers]

The prosecutor didn't say this, but Derek thinks it's likely that the bullet recovered from Tommy's murder is too deformed to clearly see its striations.

[Derek Pleasance]

What I can infer from the information that I have is they believe that the weapon they have is the right caliber. It meets all those characteristics, but they just cannot link it by striations. I could be wrong, but my professional opinion would be the striations are what keeping them from being definitive. And what's keeping that from being definitive is likely the condition of the projectile.

[Jordan Sillers]

They haven't ruled out the rifle they purchased from Nick Hauck, but they clearly don't have enough evidence to say with certainty that his rifle fired the bullet that killed Tommy. They need more to go after the other Hauck brother in a court of law. And no one else has been named as a suspect. But Roby doesn't need any more convincing. His conviction is grounded in his experience with Nick, his law enforcement background, and where the shooter stood when he pulled the trigger.

[Tom Roby]

So in my mind I'm thinking if it's somebody in law enforcement, this is going to be an easy shot. I mean, because I initially, right off the bat, I thought Nick Count's name as who I thought was involved.

[Jordan Sillers]

Part 6 the waiting game there's an old saying that says the wheels of justice turn slowly but grind exceedingly fine. I don't know who came up with that, but I think they were onto something. The wheels of justice in the Bardstown murders have indeed turned slowly. That's frustrating to all involved. But it might be necessary to get the fine flower of justice everyone is hoping for. John Snow says he doesn't have any doubt that investigators are doing everything they can to figure out who killed Tommy.

[John Snow]

I know most of the detectives that are involved in the, in Tommy's murder and I, I'm 100 convinced that if something comes in tomorrow, somebody's going to be checking on it tomorrow.

[Jordan Sillers]

Detectives and prosecutors haven't moved forward, he believes, simply because they don't have enough evidence and the stakes are too high to be wrong.

[John Snow]

You have to be relatively certain that you're going to convict that individual because if you take them to trial and they get acquitted, that's the end of that case. They could go out on the courthouse steps and scream, I did it and I'm glad I did it. And there is nothing else you could do to them.

[Jordan Sillers]

The problem is Tommy's case may be even more difficult to prosecute than crystals. If Robey is right and the assassin was dropped off, took the shot and was picked up again, there will be little evidence for investigators to find. A single shot from a bolt action rifle won't leave any brass. And DNA is tough to collect in an outdoor location.

[John Snow]

This certainly appeared to be a very calculated thought out homicide. And when you have one of those, it compounds the difficulty in proving that case.

[Jordan Sillers]

The Ballard family is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Tommy's murderer. Separately, the FBI is offering $10,000. It's still possible someone comes forward, maybe a passing motorist saw something or the killer confesses to a friend in a moment of weakness. But Hsieh is doubtful anyone involved is about to have a change of heart.

[Shay McAllister]

The people who were involved and the people that have been named publicly as being involved were all members of the Hauk family. And this very tight knit family will never tip over on each other.

[Jordan Sillers]

But there are other means of extracting new information from evidence already collected. John pointed out that DNA testing is always improving and scientists might come up with new ways to match a bullet to a game gun. Derek also mentioned this, but he cited a reason why we might see an advancement in bullet analysis in the near future.

[Derek Pleasance]

We just had the Charlie Kirk assassination and the government is facing that same challenge that investigators are facing in Mr. Ballard's homicide. The technology. Because a high profile case at a national level may make a leap because of resources being brought to the table. TABLE that can also be applied in Mr. Ballard's case.

[Jordan Sillers]

It's also possible that investigators will find a new lead from one of the other Bardstown murders. Because remember, Crystal's case isn't the only one that might be connected to Tommy's in 2024.

[Tom Roby]

The special prosecutor noted that during the discovery to Crystal's case included evidence related to Jason Ellis's murder. So in my mind, I'm thinking, was, were the Houcks involved one way or another in killing Jason Ellis, and did Crystal stumble across something or overhear something? You know, speculation, you know, can run wild. But when you have a prosecutor that says that, then going back to 2015 and 2016, there does seem to be a connection.

[Jordan Sillers]

There are still threads to pull in Tommy's investigation. The prosecutor on Crystal's case, Shane Young, was also assigned to Tommy's. According to Shay, he told the Ballard family that he's actively working to secure the evidence he needs to go to trial. And when he does, that wheel of justice might just turn back around on those responsible. Until then, Tommy's friends, family and the people of Bardstown are waiting and hoping.

[John Snow]

You know, nobody ever thought that we would prosecute Brooks Haughty for Crystal's murder either. It really is a long game. I still hope that someday we'll get those answers and be able to prosecute the individual or individuals that are responsible for his murder.

[Jordan Sillers]

Thanks for listening to this episode of Blood Trails. If you'd like to see images from this episode, including photos of Tommy Crystal and a map of relevant locations along the Bluegrass Parkway, head over to themateater.com bloodtrails and click on the case file for this episode. Huge thanks to Tom Roby, Jon Snow, Derek pleasance, and Shay McAllister for their time and willingness to speak with me. Shay's podcast Bardstown is the authoritative source on the Crystal Rogers disappearance and subsequent investigation. We focused on Tommy's case in this episode, but there's much more to dig into which you can check out on Bardstown. As always, send me an [e-mail] if you have a tip about this case or know about another you think we should cover. See you next time. Stay safe out there. Foreign

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