BARDSTOWN, Ky. — Editor's Note: Above video originally aired on Sept. 14, 2023.
While a trial date has been set for three men charged in the death of Crystal Rogers, another stunning development to come out of Thursday’s court hearings was an update regarding the evidence in her case.
Special Prosecutor Shane Young said the discovery in Rogers’ case exceeds more than a terabyte of storage.
That evidence includes thousands of documents, hours of police interviews and possible evidence from previous searches from three law enforcement agencies.
According to Young, it also includes investigative files in two other unsolved Bardstown murders Young has been assigned to prosecute: Tommy Ballard and Jason Ellis.
‘Similar people connected’
Jason Ellis was fatally shot in an apparent ambush in 2013. For over a decade, there have been no major developments in the Bardstown police officer’s case.
However, as the suspects in Rogers’ death sat in a Nelson County courtroom on Thursday, Young shared that evidence in Ellis’ case is somehow wrapped up with evidence in her case.
“When we received the case, it took us six months to go through discovery, and that included Ellis and Ballard,” Young said.
It’s a connection the Ellis family has believed in for years.
"It’s hard to not go there, too,” Kelly Eastman, Ellis’ sister, told WHAS11’s Shay McAlister last September. “Because there seem to be similar people connected to each case, in some ways, without saying too much.”
Tommy Ballard, Crystal’s father, was shot on a hunting trip a year after Rogers disappeared.
During a previous court hearing for Brooks Houck, the main suspect in Rogers’ presumed death, Young said prosecutors believe they have the rifle that killed Ballard. He said it was purchased from Houck’s brother and former Bardstown Police officer, Nick Houck.
At this time, no arrests have been made in the Ellis or Ballard cases and none of the men charged in Rogers’ case have been charged in either case as well.
The earliest we could learn more about the evidence -- and how all three unsolved murders may be connected -- is in upcoming hearings, particularly next year when the trial in Rogers’ death is expected to begin.
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