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the early morning hours of May 25, 2013, Jason Ellis, a

0:41

33-year-old police officer, finished

0:46

his shift for the Bardstown Police Department

0:48

and headed home in his cruiser. During

0:51

his drive, Jason encountered a pile

0:53

of tree limbs blocking the road. He

0:55

turned on his police lights, parked his

0:58

car diagonally to block the road, and

1:00

stepped out to clear the limbs so no one would get hurt.

1:03

As he bent down to pick up the debris, a gunman

1:05

shot him multiple times. Jason

1:08

died at the scene and was

1:10

later found by a passing motorist. It's

1:13

been almost 11 years since Officer Jason

1:15

Ellis was killed, and investigators

1:17

are still searching for the people responsible.

1:30

Hey everyone, welcome back to Detective

1:32

Perspective. My

1:53

name is Derek LaBassar. I'm a licensed

1:55

private investigator and former police detective. Each

1:57

week I'll be covering an unsolved case and story

1:59

format. I'll then give you my

2:01

perspective on the investigation and provide contact

2:04

information for the individuals or organizations connected

2:06

to the case so that if you

2:09

have any tips you can contact them directly and

2:11

maybe you can help solve the case. If

2:13

you're someone who's interested in true crime,

2:15

specifically unsolved cases and you would like

2:18

to hear my opinion on those investigations,

2:20

please consider subscribing whether you're watching

2:23

on YouTube or listening on Apple

2:25

Podcasts, Spotify or whatever platform you

2:27

use. Okay, this week's

2:29

case, Officer Jason Ellis. Probably

2:32

not hard for you to figure out why I'm covering

2:35

this one. It's 11 years old, so

2:37

relatively new in the scheme of cold

2:39

cases. But yeah, I'm covering

2:41

it because it's a fallen police officer and as

2:43

I just said for anyone who doesn't know, I'm

2:46

a former police detective. I have a lot of friends in

2:48

law enforcement. I was one of

2:50

them out there and you know, I know

2:52

how hard that job is and I know how

2:54

dangerous it can be and whenever

2:57

I hear about someone like this who

3:00

by all accounts was doing the right thing and was

3:02

a great person to

3:04

have their life ended just because

3:06

potentially, possibly because of

3:08

the occupation they chose, it's

3:10

really unfortunate. It's a hard pill for me to

3:13

swallow personally again because of my connection

3:15

to it. I've known about this case for years.

3:17

I heard about it when it happened. I was

3:19

a police officer when it

3:21

happened, so very familiar

3:23

with it. Although I didn't know

3:25

all the specifics like I'm gonna cover here tonight,

3:28

so this was a good refresher for me as well.

3:30

But it's pretty simple. The reason I'm covering

3:32

this case is because although

3:34

when I get into my perspective, this one may

3:37

be a hard one to solve at this point,

3:40

I know that if I don't put my version of it

3:42

out there, if I don't put my voice on top of

3:44

this, I would feel some type of way

3:46

and I would feel like I'm not doing my part. So

3:49

I'm obviously doing this for you guys to make you aware

3:51

of this case if you're not already, but

3:53

I'm also doing it for myself. So

3:56

with that all out of the way, let's dive into this week's

3:58

case. Jason Scott Ellis,

4:00

born on September 22, 1979, grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, with

4:02

his two sisters

4:07

and their parents, Denny and Pam. From

4:10

a young age, Jason showed talent in baseball and

4:12

became a star player in high school, earning

4:14

the title of Player of the Year in 1998. After

4:19

graduating in 1998, Jason

4:21

played baseball for the University of

4:23

Cumberland and Williamsburg, Kentucky, where

4:25

he set multiple records. After

4:28

earning a bachelor's degree in communication in

4:30

2003, Jason signed with the

4:32

Cincinnati Reds to play minor league baseball.

4:35

A year later, Jason married his

4:37

college sweetheart, Amy, and they later welcomed

4:39

two sons. Jason

4:42

eventually left the Cincinnati Reds and his

4:44

family settled in Bardstown, Kentucky, a small

4:46

town with approximately 13,000 residents. Jason

4:50

volunteered as a youth baseball coach and

4:53

in 2006, he fulfilled his lifelong dream

4:55

of joining the police department. Within

4:58

a year, he became Bardstown PD's

5:00

only canine officer, partnering with

5:02

his German shepherd, Thigo. Amy

5:05

described Jason as a police officer who went

5:07

by the book, but was also

5:09

a friendly and humorous person. Even

5:11

during stops, he would approach his work with

5:14

a light-hearted demeanor, making people laugh in the

5:16

process. According to the

5:18

Bardstown police chief, Jason was one of

5:20

the department's top officers when it came to arrest

5:23

numbers. He averaged about a dozen

5:25

drug-related arrests each month, which helped

5:27

put a dent in the town's issues with narcotics. In

5:31

2008, just two years into his law

5:33

enforcement career, Jason received the Officer

5:35

of the Year Award. He

5:37

also earned the Governor's Award for impaired

5:39

driving enforcement on two occasions. Throughout

5:42

the years, Jason remained devoted to removing

5:44

drugs from the streets and ensuring his

5:47

community safety. In

5:49

the late afternoon of May 24, 2013, Jason reported for work

5:51

at the police department. Typically

5:56

he'd bring Figo with him, but the canine SUV was

5:58

in the shop, so he was not a So

6:00

Figo stayed home and Jason drove a

6:02

marked cruiser shared by multiple officers. After

6:05

completing a routine shift, Jason left work

6:07

at 2 a.m. and headed home, still

6:09

wearing his police uniform. However,

6:12

he would never reach his destination. Just

6:14

after 2.30 a.m., a driver

6:16

took Exit 34 off Bluegrass

6:19

Parkway, a sharp exit located between

6:21

Rocky Hills. The

6:23

driver encountered a police car parked diagonally

6:25

in the road with its flashing blue

6:27

lights activated, but there were no officers

6:29

in sight. Concerned, the

6:31

driver got out and looked around. That's

6:34

when he discovered 33-year-old Jason's body lying in

6:37

front of his cruiser near a pile of

6:39

trimmed tree limbs. Now, initially,

6:41

the driver thought that the limbs might have fallen on

6:43

Jason or that he might have been struck by a

6:45

car. The exact details at this

6:47

point were unclear. All the driver

6:49

knew was that Jason was dead. So

6:52

using the car radio, the driver reported

6:54

an officer down. Bardstown

6:56

police and Kentucky State troopers quickly arrived

6:58

at the scene. When they

7:00

examined Jason's body, they determined that he sustained

7:03

gunshot wounds in his armpit where the Kevlar

7:05

vest dipped down right under his arm and

7:08

also his head. Subsequent autopsy

7:10

results concluded that he had been shot

7:12

multiple times with a 12-gauge shotgun. Now,

7:15

real quickly, for anybody who's not familiar

7:18

with us, when we wear a vest, you can actually

7:20

see mine right behind me

7:22

there if you're watching on YouTube. The vest,

7:24

you can kind of see, it's a little blurry back there, but

7:27

it kind of wraps around you and it kind of

7:29

straps under where your rib cage is. But unfortunately,

7:31

there is a little bit of a gap there

7:34

where your arm, you know, under your armpit there

7:36

where they kind of have to leave it open

7:39

because if it was right up under your

7:41

armpit, it would be extremely uncomfortable every time

7:44

you moved around, especially when you sat in your

7:47

vehicle. Every time you sit in your police cruiser,

7:49

your vest kind of hits the top of your duty belt

7:51

and it causes it to push up. That's

7:53

why they also have to leave a little bit of a

7:55

gap right below your neck. So it's

7:58

unfortunate because it leaves. you vulnerable in

8:00

those two specific areas, the armpits and

8:02

that neck area and almost around a

8:05

little bit below your belly button as

8:07

well. It just really sucks because

8:09

you hear about a lot of these police officer

8:11

involved shootings where the officer is killed and

8:13

it's sometimes during a shootout

8:15

where the officer is firing back at

8:17

the suspect so their arms lifted and

8:20

unfortunately the suspect gets a round off

8:22

that goes under their vest or through

8:25

the gap in the vest and kills

8:27

the officer because now obviously goes right into the

8:30

important organs that keep you alive. And

8:33

it's just really unfortunate and frankly

8:35

it's just a really unlucky situation.

8:38

Now according to the Associated Press, Jason's

8:40

service weapon was still holstered indicating that

8:43

more than likely he did not anticipate

8:45

the shooting. And unfortunately there

8:47

was no video footage of the shooting because

8:49

the cruiser that Jason was driving at the

8:51

time was an older model and it didn't

8:53

have a dash cam installed. Now

8:56

based on the evidence at the crime scene,

8:58

authorities determined that after Jason took exit

9:00

34 on his usual route home, he

9:02

encountered the limbs in the middle of the road. So

9:05

he activated his lights, parked diagonally to

9:07

block the road and got out

9:09

of the vehicle to clear the road hazard. While

9:12

bending down to move the tree limbs, he was shot

9:14

from above, which suggested that the

9:16

gunman had likely been positioned on a nearby hill.

9:19

It was clear to investigators that Jason was

9:21

ambushed with no opportunity to reach for his

9:23

service weapon or radio for help. The

9:27

incident marked the first time a Bardstown police

9:29

officer had been killed. In

9:31

response, the police chief instructed his 25

9:33

officers to respond to calls and pairs

9:35

and remain vigilant. Officers

9:38

also took turns staying with the Ellis family

9:40

at night to ensure their safety. The

9:43

Kentucky State Police took over the investigation

9:45

with the assistance from the Bardstown Police

9:47

and federal agencies like the FBI and

9:50

the ATF. On

9:52

May 26, the Kentucky State Police held a

9:54

press conference where they announced that Jason's murder

9:57

had been a premeditated ambush. However,

9:59

they were still working to determine whether Jason

10:01

was a specific target and

10:03

asked for the public's help in identifying any

10:06

potential suspects. The KSP

10:08

further mentioned their belief that someone was present

10:10

in the area of Exit 34 before

10:12

the murder. They urged

10:14

anyone who saw anything suspicious, such

10:17

as an unintended vehicle or loitering

10:19

individuals to contact the police immediately.

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May 28, the Bardstown Police Department held a

11:25

press conference announcing a reward of over $30,000.

11:29

The police chief provided an update mentioning

11:32

that the department was working tirelessly around

11:34

the clock to find answers. According

11:37

to the Associated Press, the chief mentioned receiving

11:39

numerous tips and a few leads but nothing

11:41

they could quote, get excited over just yet.

11:44

At this point, they had no motive and

11:46

no suspects. During the

11:49

conference, Jason's wife Amy addressed the crowd. She

11:52

emphasized that no words could adequately convey

11:54

the amount of sadness and anger she

11:56

felt. Amy said despite

11:58

not wanting to live another second without her

12:00

beloved husband, she recognized the need to stay

12:02

strong for her two sons, who were only

12:05

six and seven years old. On

12:07

May 30th, Jason's funeral took place on

12:09

what would have been his seventh anniversary

12:11

as a police officer. Approximately

12:14

800 police cruisers and other

12:16

emergency vehicles from across the country participated

12:18

in a 20-mile procession to

12:20

the cemetery where Jason was laid to

12:23

rest. This route was

12:25

lined with American flags and mourners. During

12:28

the funeral, Jason's canine partner, Figo,

12:30

was present. He slowly

12:33

approached the casket and gently pawed at it. Following

12:36

the ceremony, Figo retired from

12:38

police work and was allowed to stay with

12:40

the Ellis family. On

12:43

June 4th, the Kentucky State Police announced the

12:45

$125,000 reward and revealed that the tree limbs

12:47

discovered at the exit 34

12:51

did not belong to any trees in that

12:53

immediate area. This told police that

12:55

the limbs were brought there from somewhere else. The

12:58

police urged Nelson County residents to contact them

13:00

if they had tree work done around the

13:03

time of the murder or if they witnessed

13:05

any tree trimming or removal activities. KSP

13:08

further mentioned that they were meticulously reviewing

13:10

all of Jason's previous arrests to identify

13:12

any red flags that could lead them

13:14

to a suspect. But

13:16

in the end, they didn't find anything suspicious.

13:19

And while Jason had made some high-profile arrests

13:21

before his murder, they weren't

13:23

more notable than what any other officer

13:26

had done. Now, I will say, although that

13:28

might have been the case, it

13:30

only takes one, right? It could have been a routine

13:33

traffic stop for all we know where the

13:35

operator of the vehicle didn't like the

13:38

way that Jason had spoken to

13:40

him. And maybe that person has festered

13:42

over it for weeks or months or maybe even

13:44

years and was just looking for

13:46

an opportunity. So although I understand

13:49

where investigators are coming from, where there wasn't

13:51

something that popped off the page as far

13:53

as, oh, this could be

13:55

a potential suspect, that's fine. But

13:58

again, it doesn't take a serious case. case

14:00

to lead to a serious crime. It's

14:03

not about what happened, it's how that person felt

14:05

and everyone reacts to every situation

14:08

differently. So something that on paper

14:10

to them may have looked

14:12

routine again to the

14:14

person that was affected by it, the suspect

14:16

in the case, they might have taken

14:18

it personally and this could have been their response. There's

14:20

no way to know for sure. Any

14:23

case that we're involved in, any

14:25

arrest that we make, you

14:27

could be creating a future enemy.

14:29

That's the danger that comes with being a

14:31

police officer. In addition to scrutinizing

14:33

Jason's arrests, the police interviewed Amy to ask

14:35

if she knew anyone Jason had been having

14:38

problems with or any red flags she may

14:40

have noticed prior to his murder. She

14:42

said no, Jason never talked about his

14:44

work ever and he said

14:46

it was to shield her but Amy later told

14:48

KPNS that this made her feel shut off from

14:51

this part of his life. Amy

14:53

also mentioned that they never talked about what would happen

14:55

if Jason were to lose his life. They

14:58

didn't have a will and all they

15:00

had was a very small life insurance policy. She

15:02

said he never wanted to talk about death so

15:05

when he died they didn't have a plan in place.

15:08

Now as a former police officer I

15:10

can confirm this. This is something that's

15:13

very common amongst police officers.

15:16

I've been through a lot of dangerous situations

15:18

and I can tell you that a

15:21

lot of my family members and friends didn't

15:23

know about those situations until they read them

15:25

in my book that I wrote much later

15:27

in life after I was retired. I

15:30

had a few of them come up to me and say hey what

15:33

the hell I didn't know that happened to you or I didn't know

15:35

you had this hit put on you or I didn't know you were

15:37

in this situation or how it affected you and it

15:39

is a common thing amongst police officers we do

15:42

it as a way of compartmentalizing what we experience

15:44

at work. We don't want to bring that home

15:46

with us and I will

15:48

tell you that there's a psychological element to it

15:50

where we're more likely to talk about it with

15:53

other police officers because they will

15:55

quote-unquote understand it's just a mentality

15:57

that you develop as a police officer. And

16:01

then there's the element where you don't want to scare

16:03

your significant other or your family or your friends when

16:05

you go home because it's

16:07

not only stressful on you as

16:09

the police officer, but You

16:12

say to yourself like what's the point of stressing them out

16:14

when I'm at work? There's nothing they can do to help

16:16

me once I'm there. I'm there and

16:18

regardless of how much you're loved if you get

16:20

into a bad situation The

16:23

only person that's gonna be able to help you in

16:25

that moment is you or your or your fellow officers

16:27

So why burden family members or

16:29

friends with something that there's really no

16:31

they don't have any control over it So

16:34

this could have been a situation where he didn't want

16:36

to talk about what was going on at work because

16:38

he didn't want To worry his wife completely understandable And

16:41

I also think there's an element that many of you can

16:43

relate to where you don't like to

16:45

put bad vibes into the universe right, you don't want

16:47

to talk about dying or something bad

16:49

happening because there's a lot of people and I'm

16:52

one of them where You know

16:54

if you're constantly thinking in a negative mindset

16:56

you create that that opportunity for

16:58

it where I'd rather focus on the positive

17:00

And I'd rather be optimistic. Hey, I'm not

17:02

gonna get hurt. I'm not gonna die. I'm

17:04

gonna be fine I'm gonna be safe and

17:07

that might have been Jason's mentality, but in hindsight

17:10

Thinking from a logistical perspective even though

17:12

I felt similar to Jason I

17:15

did also make sure that I had a life insurance

17:17

policy in that Jana knew what

17:19

she would have to do if I passed away even though I

17:22

was only 20 years old when I got hired it's

17:24

just a necessary part of the job and It's

17:28

an unfortunate thing, but it's it's like any

17:30

job. You don't know what's gonna happen So

17:32

it's better to be prepared so

17:34

that if God forbid something does happen to you

17:36

your your family's taken care Now

17:39

in addition to going through Jason's arrest records

17:41

and speaking to Amy The Kentucky

17:43

State Police also dug deep into Jason's background

17:46

for anything that might provide a motive for

17:48

his murder Such as gambling

17:50

debts drugs or affairs, but

17:52

they found nothing the KSP later

17:54

said quote Jason Ellis really

17:56

was that guy a devoted family

17:58

man an honest police a young

18:01

baseball coach, a pillar of the

18:03

community. In mid-June, the Kentucky

18:05

Standard reported that Bardstown Police had been receiving

18:08

death threats through letters,

18:10

phone calls, and social media, implying

18:13

that, quote, there was more to come, meaning

18:15

more murders to come. While the

18:17

specific language used in the threats was

18:19

not disclosed publicly, Bardstown Police

18:21

turned them over to the FBI. However,

18:24

as far as I can tell, no significant developments

18:26

resulted from these threats. By mid-June, more

18:29

than a month had passed since

18:31

Jason was murdered. The Bardstown

18:33

Police Chief expressed frustration that they hadn't made

18:35

significant progress in finding

18:37

answers for the family, the department, or

18:40

the community. In late August,

18:42

the FBI announced efforts to generate new leads,

18:44

which included a billboard campaign and an additional

18:46

reward of $50,000 in the case, bringing

18:49

the total to $218,000. Despite

18:53

these efforts, no one came forward with

18:55

information needed to solve this case. The

18:58

Bardstown Police Chief told WCPO that he found

19:00

it troublesome that the reward was set at

19:02

such a high amount, yet no one came

19:04

forward with the information they needed. This

19:07

lack of cooperation indicated to him that

19:10

the quote, murders run deep. Now,

19:13

I know what he's trying to say here. He's

19:16

trying to say that maybe this is

19:18

a bigger collaboration that took

19:20

place. Maybe there's multiple people involved. Maybe

19:22

there's bigger forces at play here where

19:24

people are afraid to come forward

19:26

with information. Who

19:29

am I to say that's not possible? He knows that

19:31

community much better than me. I

19:34

will say this, and I'll get more into this at

19:36

the end during my perspective, but there's

19:38

a real possibility that no one came

19:40

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19:43

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for qualified students including the GI Bill. Now

20:15

after all this media attention slowed down over

20:18

the next few months until November when the

20:20

Kentucky State Police released a YouTube video asking

20:22

for the public's help in solving the case.

20:25

KSP described the video as an attempt to

20:27

cast a wide net in their search for the

20:29

culprit who might have fled the area or could

20:32

still be living locally. They

20:34

said quote, we're just weighing all of our options

20:36

and trying to get as much exposure as we

20:38

can to see if we can catch a break.

20:41

And although police did receive tips from the

20:43

video, they did not obtain the leads they

20:45

were hoping for and the case continued to

20:47

stall. May 25th,

20:49

2014 marked one year since

20:52

Jason was ambushed and killed on exit 34.

20:55

Amy told the Courier-Journal quote, we're

20:58

just trying to put our shattered lives back together. I

21:01

lost the love of my life. The boys

21:03

lost their daddy. We're trying

21:05

to stay positive, trying to heal as

21:08

best as we can. That

21:10

month, the Lexington Herald-Leader released a long

21:12

form article outlining where the case stood

21:14

one year after the murder. The

21:17

Kentucky State Police revealed that they think more than

21:19

one person was involved. They stated

21:22

quote, it certainly could have been

21:24

a lone gunman scenario, but logistically, it

21:26

would have been very difficult to carry out the

21:28

plan. Based on some of the

21:30

things we know about the scene, it appears to

21:32

us that at least two people were involved. However,

21:36

they would not discuss any further details. KSP

21:39

also said that they felt with a

21:42

quote, high degree of certainty that the

21:44

ambush was meant to target a law

21:46

enforcement officer, but they couldn't say

21:48

for sure if the specific target was Jason.

21:51

Several officers from multiple agencies used

21:53

exit 34 after work, and

21:56

there's nothing in Jason's background to indicate

21:58

that he was the specific target. Now,

22:01

unfortunately, reporting on Jason's murder slowed

22:03

down drastically after the one-year mark.

22:06

And by May of 2015, two

22:08

years had passed since Jason was ambushed and

22:10

killed. In a video released

22:12

by Amy and the Kentucky State Police, Amy

22:15

described the pain endured by both her and

22:17

Jason's loved ones since his tragic death. She

22:20

made a heartfelt appeal to those with information,

22:23

urging them to come forward and help the family

22:25

find closure. Amy said, quote,

22:28

time cannot close our wound. It

22:30

has been two years since our family was devastated

22:32

by a senseless ambush of my husband. She

22:35

emphasized that Jason's family and friends are

22:38

unable to heal without understanding who killed

22:40

him and why. Amy

22:42

went on to state, quote, we still struggle

22:44

with the need to understand before the healing

22:46

can truly begin. In

22:49

an announcement accompanying the video, the Kentucky State

22:51

Police expressed the hope that its release would

22:53

generate new leads. They

22:55

said someone somewhere had

22:57

crucial information about the murder and

22:59

even the smallest detail could be the key to making

23:02

an arrest. Despite

23:04

Amy's heartfelt pleas, no one came forward with

23:06

the information needed to solve the case. But

23:10

that didn't stop Amy and the police from

23:12

continuing to speak out about Jason's unsolved murder.

23:15

In May of 2017, just

23:17

two days before the fourth anniversary of

23:19

Jason's murder, his canine partner,

23:22

Figo, passed away at the age of 11 after

23:25

a prolonged illness. A

23:27

graveside service was held for Figo

23:29

and his remains were placed in an urn next

23:32

to Jason's headstone. The

23:34

years continued to pass without any answers. And

23:37

eventually the FBI took over investigating

23:39

Jason's case. In

23:42

2020, the assistant special agent in charge

23:44

revealed that Jason's murder might

23:46

be connected to two unsolved Bardstown

23:48

cases, the disappearance of Crystal

23:50

Rogers and the murder of her father,

23:53

Tommy Ballard. The agent expressed

23:55

the belief that solving one of these three

23:57

murders could potentially bring resolution to the others.

24:00

But unfortunately, he didn't provide any further

24:02

details. Now if you don't already

24:04

know this already, which I'm assuming the majority of you do, Stephanie

24:08

and I recently covered the Crystal Rogers

24:10

case on Crime Weekly, and if you haven't

24:13

had a chance to listen to those episodes, here's a

24:15

quick rundown. In July of

24:17

2015, Crystal Rogers went missing from

24:19

Bardstown. On the same day

24:21

that Crystal was reported missing, her car

24:24

was found abandoned with a flat tire

24:26

at mile marker 14 on the Bluegrass

24:28

Parkway. Crystal's keys,

24:30

phone, and purse were still inside the

24:32

red Chevy Impala. While

24:34

Crystal's remains have never been located, she has

24:36

long been presumed dead, and Crystal's boyfriend Brooks

24:39

Hauck was named as a person of interest

24:41

in her disappearance. Now

24:43

just a few months after Crystal went

24:45

missing, Brooks' brother, Nick, was fired

24:47

from the Bardstown Police Department where he served

24:49

as a police officer for interfering

24:51

with the investigation into Crystal's disappearance.

24:55

Now just over a year later,

24:57

in November of 2016, Crystal's father,

24:59

Tommy Ballard, was shot and

25:01

killed while preparing for a hunting trip

25:03

with his 12-year-old grandson on the family

25:05

property in Bardstown next to the Bluegrass

25:08

Parkway. It has long been

25:10

believed that Tommy's murder is related to

25:12

Crystal's disappearance. Now despite

25:14

the special agent in charge potentially linking

25:16

Jason's murder to the disappearance of Crystal

25:18

and the murder of Tommy, the

25:21

investigation into Jason's case continued to

25:23

stall. Then

25:25

in October of 2022, Jason's

25:27

memorial, which is located off

25:30

Exit 34, was vandalized. This

25:32

left his family with a lot of questions. They

25:35

wondered why someone would vandalize his memorial

25:37

now nine and a half years after

25:39

his murder. Amy

25:41

conveyed a powerful message to the vandal when

25:43

speaking to WDRB. She

25:45

said, quote, "...you cannot take away the

25:47

man that he was. You cannot

25:49

take away our memories. And

25:51

you cannot take away the way that we will continue

25:53

to honor and remember him and the man that he

25:55

was." Now despite

25:58

offering a reward for information leading to the murder of the to

26:00

the Vandal, up to this point, no

26:02

arrests in that case have been made. Just

26:05

a few months later, in January of 2023,

26:07

the Kentucky Attorney General appointed

26:09

a state attorney to serve as a

26:11

special prosecutor for the murders of Jason

26:13

Ellis, Crystal Rogers, and

26:15

Tommy Ballard. Again,

26:18

no details regarding the possible connection

26:20

between the three cases were provided.

26:23

On May 25, 2023, an

26:26

entire decade had passed since Jason was murdered.

26:29

Amy shared with Spectrum News 1 that

26:31

no one expected to find themselves here

26:33

10 years later, still without answers. Initially,

26:36

everyone believed this case would be solved within

26:38

days, or at worst, a couple months. Amy

26:41

expressed that despite the difficulty of lacking answers,

26:44

she chooses to focus on who Jason was

26:46

and what he stood for. She

26:48

and Jason's loved ones refuse to let evil,

26:51

bitterness, and anger take root within their hearts.

26:54

Now I want to circle back to Crystal

26:56

Rogers, which I spoke about earlier because in

26:59

September of 2023, Crystal's boyfriend,

27:01

Brooks Hauck, was arrested for her

27:03

murder. And during a court

27:05

hearing for Brooks, the prosecution revealed that

27:07

they were in possession of a gun

27:09

they believed was used to kill Crystal's

27:11

father, Tommy Ballard. Now the

27:13

interesting part here is prosecutors also revealed

27:16

that they had purchased the gun from

27:18

Nick Hauck, who I mentioned earlier was

27:20

not only the brother of Brooks Hauck,

27:22

but also a former Bartstown police officer.

27:25

Now obviously the progress made in Crystal

27:27

and Tommy's cases brought hope to Jason's

27:29

family. His sister Kelly told the

27:31

media that without going into too much detail,

27:33

there seemed to be similar people connected to

27:36

Jason and Crystal's cases. Jason's

27:38

other sister Lacey questioned why Jason's

27:40

case hadn't been solved yet. She

27:43

said, quote, they don't

27:45

want it solved. They're bearing stuff under

27:47

the rug, or there's more behind the

27:49

curtain. There's too much that's going to

27:51

come out. And that's what makes me nervous.

27:54

Lacey added that when the case was finally

27:56

solved, she wants people to remember Jason for

27:59

the incredible person. and he was, not

28:01

the tragedy that happened. Unfortunately,

28:04

that's the latest update we have in Jason's

28:06

case. Authorities are still searching for

28:08

the person or people who ambushed him on exit

28:10

34 and his

28:12

family continues to fight for justice. All

28:18

right, so let's dive into the perspective. And I only

28:20

have a few points to make, but I have a

28:22

pretty interesting theory to pose to you guys. And I

28:24

don't know, maybe someone who's listening

28:26

or watching this who's involved with the case, will

28:29

know if this has been looked into before and

28:31

if it hasn't, maybe it will now

28:34

once I bring all this out. So first off, let's

28:36

talk about the big reveal

28:38

at the end here about Crystal Rogers and

28:40

Tommy Ballard. Again, a lot of you are

28:42

coming over from Crime Weekly. You

28:45

probably already know about this case. And

28:47

as I said at the end with

28:49

this case, prosecutors revealed that

28:52

they had purchased a gun from

28:54

Nick Houk that they believe

28:57

was potentially used to murder Tommy

28:59

Ballard. They didn't say anything

29:01

about Jason Ellis. What's interesting about

29:03

that little section that they

29:05

revealed at court was

29:07

they mentioned, they didn't say the caliber or anything,

29:09

but I believe they mentioned the

29:11

word rifle. They said, we

29:14

purchased the rifle from Nick Houk. Well,

29:17

that wouldn't line up with Jason

29:19

Ellis' murder if you remember, because he was

29:21

killed from what we understand with a 12

29:23

gauge shotgun. So it was a different gun.

29:26

So we know that's not the connection, but here's

29:29

what's interesting. And I'm gonna come back to

29:32

Nick Houk at the end of this, but follow me, stick

29:34

with me on this. I

29:36

don't necessarily believe that

29:38

there's multiple people involved. I don't know the

29:40

crime scene and I don't know the specifics

29:43

that they know. So I always qualify it

29:45

by saying that. Yes, if it

29:47

was heavy tree limbs or whatever it might've

29:49

been, or maybe they're

29:51

thinking that one person slid the tree limbs

29:53

in front of the car right before it

29:55

showed up, while the other person stayed on

29:58

the hill and shot. Jason

30:00

as he approached I guess

30:02

that's possible, but I would argue Now

30:05

more than likely this is one person maybe two

30:08

But I'm going with one for the sake of

30:10

this conversation and this person

30:12

is one of two people in my mind there's

30:14

some type of serial killer who's done

30:17

something like this before and it's a

30:19

thrill kill where The intention

30:21

wasn't law enforcement. The intention wasn't Jason

30:23

Ellis. The intention was just to

30:26

kill someone. That's all it was They didn't care who

30:28

it was and under that theory they

30:30

would basically put out these tree limbs to distract

30:32

someone to get someone to get out of their

30:34

car and as soon as they did

30:36

they would kill this person and be on their way and if

30:39

that's the case here what law enforcement needs to

30:41

look into is other

30:44

cases where a Similar

30:46

modus operandi a similar mo was

30:48

conducted maybe in Bardstown maybe in

30:50

Kentucky or maybe somewhere

30:52

in surrounding states some other case where

30:56

the victims involved were killed from a distance

30:58

by a gun and it doesn't appear that

31:00

they had any enemies or There

31:02

would be any reason for anyone want to want to

31:04

hurt them So this like I said,

31:06

this could just be some coward who likes

31:08

to kill people from a distance for their

31:10

own gratification It could be as simple as

31:12

that and if there's only one

31:14

person who knows what happened the suspect and

31:17

there's really no connection To Jason

31:19

or law enforcement. That's maybe why

31:22

Agents are having such a hard time Identifying

31:25

this person. That's one scenario The

31:29

other one which I find very

31:31

interesting is if

31:33

it was connected to law enforcement

31:35

more specifically Jason It

31:38

would be someone who would have to know his

31:41

schedule and more importantly that

31:43

he was working that night and In

31:46

addition to that know what time he's getting

31:48

off work because it's not your standard nine-to-five

31:50

I can tell you firsthand Many

31:52

police officers work, you know eight to

31:54

four four to midnight midnight

31:56

till eight in the morning or they'll do an overlap

31:59

shift where they're working working from 8 p.m. to 2

32:01

a.m. it's all over the place

32:04

it's sporadic sometimes officers will work

32:06

their regular shift and then work a detail

32:08

for a couple hours so unless

32:10

you really know the inner workings of

32:12

that Bartstown Police Department you wouldn't know

32:14

what time Jason was

32:16

getting off okay so if that's

32:19

the case and where to

32:21

believe that there's something in

32:24

the case file that we're not aware of that connects

32:26

Crystal Rogers and Tommy Ballard to

32:29

Jason Ellis I would

32:31

assume that connection is Nick

32:33

Luke because again he was a

32:36

Bartstown police officer and

32:38

although the gun in these two crimes

32:40

might be different I wonder

32:42

if that connection is Nick

32:44

help himself the

32:46

question becomes what was the

32:49

relationship between Nick and Jason prior to

32:51

Jason's murder I don't even know if

32:53

Nick was on the job when Jason

32:56

was there these are all details that

32:58

I don't have access to but investigators

33:00

would and if there was a

33:02

connection there if they did know each other what

33:05

was their relationship like was there animosity

33:07

was there any issues or

33:09

was there something that would correlate

33:12

these two things where you could say yeah

33:14

Nick would have a reason to

33:16

want to take out Jason I don't know again I

33:18

don't know what that reason would be but again

33:22

the people inside that station or the

33:24

people investigating these two cases they

33:26

definitely would now the only thing

33:29

I'll say to that is we have to remember that

33:31

crystal disappeared in 2015 and Tommy was killed

33:33

in 2016 so whatever

33:38

the connection is Jason was murdered

33:40

years before any of that

33:42

happened and I do wonder

33:45

that if while investigators were looking into

33:48

crystal and Tommy's cases they

33:50

started to see some similarities some patterns

33:53

with Jason's case and maybe

33:55

although it was never announced to the public

33:58

there were some internal rumsiness about

34:01

the potential involvement of a colleague,

34:04

right? Why wouldn't law enforcement put

34:06

that information out to everyone

34:08

else? Two reasons. One, it's an

34:10

open investigation. Secondly, think

34:12

about the ramifications. There's

34:14

a possibility that this

34:16

was an inside job, that

34:19

another police officer potentially or could have

34:21

shot Jason. Is that, that's

34:23

on the table? And think about

34:26

the distrust and uneasiness that

34:28

would cause within that community. You

34:30

can't do that. You definitely can't go

34:32

public with that type of information unless

34:35

it's concrete. So that's kind

34:37

of where I stand on this case. And

34:39

to kind of summarize it all, I do

34:41

believe it was a lone gunman, but I

34:43

do reserve the right to change if new

34:45

information that wasn't previously publicized comes out. But

34:47

what we know right now and the fact

34:49

that no one's came forward with this big

34:52

of a reward in this community

34:54

is just, it's crazy to me. And

34:56

it really only leaves a couple of possibilities again,

34:59

it's one or two people and they're just

35:01

really close or it's just one person. And

35:03

unless you catch that individual, they're never gonna

35:05

confess to it. That's to me the most

35:07

likely scenario. And then as

35:09

it relates to Crystal Rogers and Tommy Ballard,

35:12

we know that Brooks and Nick are both in

35:15

a lot of trouble right now. Brooks is in prison.

35:18

Nick has not been arrested for anything yet. But again,

35:20

they already announced that they believe

35:22

charges against him could be coming down

35:24

the road very soon. And

35:26

I wonder once they do, if everything starts to

35:28

come out in the wash, will

35:31

we see some reverse engineering that

35:33

links back to Jason Ellis' case?

35:36

I sure hope so. Not only for

35:38

the Bardstown Police Department, not only

35:40

for the community, but most importantly

35:42

for Jason's family and friends. So

35:45

listen, I really wanna solve this case. I know you

35:48

do as well. So here's a quick recap. On

35:50

May 25th, 2013, Officer

35:52

Jason Ellis was driving home when he

35:55

encountered a pile of tree limbs blocking

35:57

the road on exit 34 of the

35:59

Bluegrass. Parkway in Bardstown, Kentucky.

36:02

While attempting to remove the limbs, he

36:04

was shot several times by a 12-gauge

36:07

shotgun. So if you

36:09

or anybody you know has

36:11

information concerning this case, please

36:14

call 1-800-CALL-FBI and just remember

36:16

there's still a reward available. And

36:18

finally, I want to send my thoughts

36:20

to Amy and Jason's two sons and

36:22

obviously Jason's family and friends. We

36:25

know it's been too long. One day is too

36:27

long. But we want you to continue to

36:29

fight, continue the hope, and as you

36:31

guys said, continue to remember Jason for the man that

36:33

he was. But we're with you.

36:35

We're with you until the end, until Jason

36:37

gets the justice he deserves. Everyone

36:40

be safe out there, and I'll see you soon.