LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Court records are revealing more details about the gun that may have been used to kill Tommy Ballard, the father of missing Bardstown woman Crystal Rogers.

The details were included in court documents filed Tuesday by attorneys for Brooks Houck, who has been charged with Rogers' murder, requesting a new judge in his trial. The motion asks Judge Charles Simms III be disqualified, claiming years of bias and contempt against Brooks Houck by Simms.

Brooks Houck's brother, Nick Houck, was named in those documents by his brother's attorneys. Prosecutor Shane Young has said Nick Houck is being investigated in connection with the death of Tommy Ballard. 

Less than 18 months after Rogers went missing, Ballard was shot and killed in November 2016 while hunting with his grandson on family property in Nelson County. The case has also long gone unsolved, but Young argued there is a link between the Houck family and Ballard's death.

While police initially called Ballard's death a hunting accident, the FBI has since ruled it a homicide. Nick Houck has not been charged with any crime.

During Brooks Houck's arraignment in court on Oct. 5, Young said prosecutors are "waiting for testing to come back from the firearm we believe was used to murder Tommy Ballard." 

Young said the rifle was purchased from Nick Houck, who was using a fake name. Brooks Houck's attorneys said in court documents filed Tuesday that Young said the gun was "sold to an undercover agent." Young said the gun is the same caliber as the gun used in Ballard's death and, so far, matches four of the five criteria they were looking at in comparison.

Brooks Houck's attorneys said they've learned "this gun has already been tested once by the Kentucky State Police and twice by the Federal Bureau of Investigations. On each occasion, the tests came back as inconclusive. Regardless, this has nothing to do with Brooks Houck."

Nick Houck, a former Bardstown Police officer, was suspended from the department in September 2015 and fired in October 2015, accused of interfering with the Rogers investigation. 

Rogers' body has still not been found.

Brooks Houck remains behind bars on a $10 million cash bond, charged with Rogers' murder. His attorneys continue to argue that Simms unfairly ties Nick Houck's alleged actions to Brooks Houck. They also said "Judge Simms appears to believe that Brooks Houck should be kept in jail on an unconstitutional bond based upon the judge's beliefs that Nick Houck has committed uncharged misconduct."

Simms has not commented on the allegations of bias.

Days after his arrest, before his arraignment, Brooks Houck's attorneys requested his $10 million cash bond be reduced to $500,000 with GPS monitoring if he is released. But Simms issued a ruling Oct. 9 denying the request, expressing concern for the safety of other people involved in the case if Brooks Houck was able to post a reduced bond and be released on home incarceration. The attorneys have since filed an appeal, asking for the Kentucky Court of Appeals to review Simms' ruling.

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