Bardstown- Part 1

Bardstown, Kentucky was named “The Most Beautiful Small Town in America” in 2012 and is known as the Bourbon Capital of the World. Not U.S.; WORLD. With a population of only just over 13,000 (according to the 2018 census), it is also known for more than its fair share of unsolved mysteries and bizarre cases.

There have been questions as to whether the cases are linked, but unfortunately there is no definitive proof one way or the other. We’re going to look briefly into some of the cases and then take a deeper look into the disappearance of Crystal Rogers. Not because one case is more important than the others, but because there is just more information available.

Daniel Dale Cahoe

Daniel Dale Cahoe was born on April 21, 1977 with his identical twin brother, Roger Allen to Roger Cahoe and Joan Hagan. The boys and their brother, Nathaniel “Sparky” were all born and raised in Bardstown. Daniel was described by many people as a “free spirit,” “happy-go-lucky,” and a “drifter,” but he wasn’t homeless or aloof. He just kind of wandered around town and was willing to sleep pretty much anywhere. He loved the outdoors and all those activities like fishing and hunting. Daniel wasn’t one to sit around or be lazy.

Daniel had a couple of jobs he worked on and off, but the one that was the most significant and that he was most known for was working at Boone’s Butcher Shop for the past 10+ years. At Boone’s Daniel did a little bit of everything. Daniel even became friends with the owner’s son, Matthew Boone. Matthew described Daniel as the kind of guy who didn’t get stressed out about things and took one day at a time. In 2011, Daniel was 34-years-old and the most important thing in his life was his 10-year-old son, Daniel, Jr.

On December 24th of 2011, Daniel spent the day with his son and his dad. They made some basic plans for after Christmas and separated knowing they’d see each other at Christmas stuff tomorrow, but Daniel didn’t show up. Despite being a “drifter” and “free-spirit,” Daniel wasn’t the kind of guy who would skip out on things with his family or friends. His family started looking for him in all the places they could think of. They called his phone, but didn’t get any answers. They contacted anyone they knew that Daniel was friends with and started to wonder if maybe Daniel just went off-grid for a while. He was known to do stuff like that, but they did keep trying to reach him.

On New Year’s Eve, there was an incident where the family realized that something was very wrong with Daniel. The incident didn’t involve Daniel though. Daniel’s twin brother Roger Allen got into a fight with Edward “Eddie” O’Bryan over a woman (O’Bryan’s girlfriend) and ended up getting shot in the stomach by O’Bryan. Roger ran to a neighbor and was able to get to the hospital with the bullet lodged in his liver. (O’Bryan was arrested and charged with 1st degree assault, tampering with evidence, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, but eventually pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of assault under extreme emotional disturbance.)

While Roger Allen was in the hospital, the family tried to contact Daniel. Leaving him messages about what happened with his twin. When he still didn’t get back to them, they knew something was very wrong. Daniel and Roger Allen’s dad, Roger said he “knew something was wrong because he [Daniel] would have been there. But he never showed up.”

On January 5, 2011, Tamie Atcher was driving along a very rural road in Spencer County, 15 miles north of Bardstown. This was the kind of road that was mostly only used by locals and was very remote. When she slowed to go around a curve Tamie saw a barn and in a gap in the side of the barn, she saw a body. Tamie alerted the police. The police came and found the body. There was no ID or anything on the body to hint at who he was. It wasn’t until the body was with the medical examiner that it was identified as Daniel. The autopsy showed that Daniel was shot in the head once at point blank range, but the wound was not self-inflicted. No further details were released (like the weapon or ammo or directionality).

Meanwhile, Daniel’s dad was still looking for him. He had started thinking that it was time to report Daniel missing and had decided that he would do that the next day. Then there was a knock on the door. The next day, instead of reporting Daniel missing, he told his family that Daniel was dead. Daniel’s death was labeled as a homicide, and Kentucky State Police Detective Stephen Spurlock and Spencer County Sheriff Buddy Stump worked together and began their investigation.

It was determined that Daniel most likely died on January 2nd. The police didn’t get any new information from the places Daniel hungout or his friends, and no one knew of anyone that Daniel would have known in Spencer County. Apparently, it’s mostly woods and farms there so what would Daniel be doing there? Daniel didn’t even drive so he rarely left Bardstown. There were theories that maybe in his wanderings he wandered up to something he shouldn’t have, but the police determined that drugs didn’t appear to be something that Daniel was into. He smoked weed, but that was it. He did have a tendency to do odd jobs for some cash which could be a tendency of a drug dealer (apparently), but there was nothing that suggested this was how Daniel got money.

The Unresolved podcast presented an interesting theory that maybe Daniel was mistaken for his twin. The 2, identical men had been shot just days apart. The podcast said that investigators don’t think the 2 are linked, but the theory is very interesting. Daniel’s case is still considered an open investigation that occasionally gets investigated, but is one of the unsolved cases on Bardstown’s books. Roger (dad) has raised $5,000 for a reward for anyone with information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Kentucky State Police at (502) 227-2221.

2 years after Daniel was found dead, another tragedy hit Bardstown. This time it was a local police officer…

Jason Scott Ellis

Jason Scott Ellis was born on September 22, 1979, to Pam and Charles “Denny” Ellis. He had 2 sisters, Lacey and Kelly and the family lived in Batavia, Ohio. During his childhood, Jason became a baseball star. He played on his high school team and then in college at the University of the Cumberlands in Wilmington, KY. He even broke records that are still held by him today. While at college, in 2001, Jason went to a Valentine’s Day party held by a friend. At the party, Jason met Amy Phillips. Amy said she knew he was the one for her after their first date. That was probably because even though Amy had accidentally double-booked herself that night for plans with both Jason and her mom, Jason was unscathed. He showed up to pick up both women with a bouquet of roses for each.

By Christmas of 2002, they were engaged and they were married in October of 2004. During this time, Jason had been signed to and was playing with the Cincinnati Reds, but after they were married and Amy got pregnant, Jason quit baseball in favor of his family (he’d always wanted a family). Two weeks after he officially quit baseball, their son Hunter was born. Hunter was born with Down Syndrome and was the love of their lives. 2 years after Hunter was born, they had another boy named, Parker.

After Hunter’s birth, Jason went back to an old childhood dream of being a police officer and in 2006, Jason joined the Bardstown Police Department. He was a K-9 officer with his German Shepherd, Figo. Jason also won Officer of the Year in 2008. He was the “perfect small town cop” according to Tom Roby (Former Captain). Jason and Figo were responsible for a bunch of drug related arrests. Apparently, everyone loved Jason and he was rarely ever in a bad mood. His family told Stephanie Bauer from the Oxygen special that Jason didn’t bring work home. When he was at home, he was at home. Jason worked evening shifts and got off in the middle of the night.

On May 24, 2013, Jason’s canine equipped vehicle was in the shop so he was just in a regular old cruiser that wasn’t equipped for Figo. So, Figo hung out at home. Jason and Amy had kind of passed by each other all day. He was asleep when she got up to take the boys to school, and then he was off to work when she was bringing them home. Then he showed up for a bit at Parker’s t-ball game (which he coached with his friend and colleague, Andrew Riley), but he was called away for work. He and Amy finally connected at around 11 pm. They talked and said their, “I love yous.”

Jason calls dispatch and says “139, thanks” signing off for the night. On his daily route home just after midnight on May 25th, 2015, Jason’s usual exit 34 is obstructed by something in the road. Being the good guy he was, he stopped, turned on his blue lights and got out to clear it away. However, it appears that the pile of branches and tree limbs had been a ruse to get him out of the car for the ambush that was planned. Jason was shot at by at least one unknown assailant with a shotgun or shotguns and hit multiple times in the chest, abdomen, right arm, and head area. He was hit with 2 different types of ammunition and was dead within minutes.

Approximately 10-15 minutes later, a teenage boy being the DD for some adult family members approached the stalled cop car with the lights on and the driver door open. He didn’t get out immediately. Chad Monroe was also approaching at about this time on his way home from his job at the distillery. He pulled up behind the boy’s Toyota and at about 2:36 am, he got out. First Chad checks with the Toyota to see if they knew what was happening, but when they didn’t, he approached the cruiser. Chad found an officer lying in the middle of the road in a pool of blood. He ran back to the Toyota to tell them to call the police then returned to the officer to attempt CPR. The mom from the Toyota climbed into Jason’s cruiser and used his radio to call dispatch.

Andrew Riley is one of the first officers on the scene. He first thought that Jason had been hit by a car and there was gravel all over him, but then he realized he was looking at the buckshot from the shotguns that had killed Jason. Jason still had the tree limbs in his left hand.

There would be a $200,000 reward posted and the police chief vowed justice and vengeance in a press conference, but the case didn’t go very far and went cold. The Bardstown Money Gang and some members were implicated and caught bragging about being responsible a few times, but there was never enough to prove that their talk was anything more than that. The Kentucky State Police said that they looked into all of Jason’s old cases to see if there were leads there. They have 10 – 3” binders full of their investigation into Jason’s case.

4 years after Jason was murdered, Figo died after being ill for a while. He was 11 and had been living with some family members of Jason and Amy’s. He was cremated and eventually buried next to Jason. Amy and the boys moved away and after 5 years, Amy met someone and fell in love. She remarried and Jason’s family has approved of him, saying that if Jason could have picked someone else for Amy, he’d pick this guy. In 2017, Kentucky State Police brought back 2 retired detectives who worked full time on Jason’s case, but not just on Jason’s case. Bardstown had some other unsolved cases that they were also looking into…

Kathy and Samantha Netherland

Kathy Hardin was born in Shelbyville, Kentucky on September 7, 1965. Kathy married a man named Robert “Bob” Netherland and they had 2 daughters, Holly and Samantha. She went on to get Masters degrees in Vocational Rehab, Family Studies, and, later, Special Education. She realized her passion for special education late, but once she discovered it, she made moves to become a special education teacher by getting the Masters and then getting a job at Bardstown Elementary School. Kathy was 48-years-old and had been working there for 7 years by 2014.

Kathy didn’t leave her passion for special education at work. She also volunteered for the Special Olympics and donated money. Kathy was a devout Christian who took her family to the Parkway Baptist Church every Sunday. Unfortunately, in July of 2013, she would be there for her husband’s funeral. Bob had lost a battle with colon cancer leaving Kathy and their daughters, Holly who was a sophomore in college and Samantha who was still in high school.

Samantha was 16-years-old in 2014 (born December 20, 1997) and was one of the best students in her school. She was a member of a number of clubs: the Academic Team, Women in Science, Adventure Club, Young Leaders Program, and the school honor choir. Samantha had also been accepted into an early college entrance program with Western Kentucky University called the Gatton Academy Program. Samantha wanted to be a marine biologist and work at an aquarium. Other than being a superstar student, Samantha loved doing regular teenager stuff like hanging with her friends and playing video games. She also loved Def Leppard as well as other 80s hair metal bands, but specifically Def Leppard. According to the Unresolved podcast, her sister said that Samantha could identify any Def Leppard song just from the opening guitar riffs.

Samantha’s prom was coming up at the end of April, and she and her mom had just gone dress shopping the weekend before, when on April 22, 2014, (Tuesday) neither Kathy nor Samantha showed up for school. Neither school knew the other person was absent until they talked later that day. Samantha was a punctual kid and Kathy always called work if she was going to be late or absent. So the school officials started reaching out to the people on the emergency contact lists and got ahold of Kathy’s dad/Samantha’s grandfather, Norris Hardin. Holly remembers her aunt calling her saying they can’t find Kathy and Samantha.

Norris went to the house to check on the mother and daughter and found that Kathy’s car was still in the driveway. Then he went inside and saw what no parent or grandparent should ever see: Kathy and Samantha had both been brutally murdered. Norris called the police and Kathy’s sister, Stacey Hibbard, who came to the house too. Holly had to be called at school to learn that in less than a year, her whole family was gone. She said that her first thought was that there had been a gas leak or something until the police wanted to question her.

On Monday, April 28, 2014, a funeral was held for Kathy and Samantha (the caskets had to be closed because of the brutality of the murders) and 2 days later they were buried next to Bob. Samantha was buried in the prom dress she had only just bought. On May 2, 2014, there was a memorial ceremony where purple (Kathy’s favorite color) and baby blue (Samantha’s) balloons were released and Samantha’s favorite Def Leppard song played. It is believed that they were murdered at around 8 pm on the 21st of April and 2 months after their deaths (June), the death certificates were released saying that Kathy had been shot multiple times and had a deep cut on her neck while Samantha had appeared to be the main target since she was horrifically beaten with serious head wounds and a slash across her neck. The deep cut to her neck was the cause of death listed on Samantha’s death certificate.

There was no known motive and nothing of value appeared to be missing from the house. The type of ammo and weapon as well as the extent of Kathy’s injuries were all kept confidential, but the level of violence toward Kathy and Samantha suggested that the perpetrator(s) knew them. It also suggested that there was more than one perpetrator due to the report that Kathy and Samantha had been in separate rooms (Kathy in the living room and Samantha in the utility room as if trying to get to the back door) when they were attacked and possibly when they were murdered as well as the report that this all took place in about 10 minutes meaning it’s less likely that only one person was responsible. The speed also hints that the attack was planned.

Holly noted that she doesn’t think that whoever did this knew much about their family and hadn’t been to their house. She said that the house had been built in 3 sections so there were 3 outside doors. Holly said that the family always used the side door instead of the front door, because that was in the oldest part of the house where the house had settled making the door really difficult to open. There was a vehicle that was reported leaving the area around that time and was one of 3 caught on security cameras. This one was finally closer to being identified after a few months: a newish (2006-2013) model black Chevy Impala.

The security camera stills from a nearby convenience store were circulated to look for the car, but the car was never fully identified because they couldn’t make out the license plate. They could tell it didn’t have that chrome strip on the side, it did have a small antenna over the rear windshield, and the windows didn’t appear to be tinted. There were hundreds of tips about this car, but nothing solid. There were 20,000 vehicles that matched the description in Kentucky alone.

On the internet, a websleuth named Muy Curioso did a deep dive into Kathy and Samantha’s social media profiles and found that Kathy had posted about a disturbance at their house on New Year’s Eve.

“Earlier this afternoon we heard a noise. I thought one [of] our two cats had knocked over something. We didn’t find anything disturbed so we thought it was nothing. Boy were we wrong. A little while ago Holly opens our front door to go outside to pick up the mail and finds both glass panes in our screen door shattered. We have taken pics and I have carefully removed loose pieces of glass and the glass frames. All the shattered glass pieces have been swept up off the front porch. Guess I’ll be heading to Lowes tomorrow to find replacements. Crazy how unexpected events happen.”

Kathy eventually just wrote this off as a “rogue gust of wind,” but Muy Curioso wasn’t having that explanation. They researched the wind patterns of the area at the time and determined that in fact, the winds were at a record low. Definitely not enough wind to slam a door and shatter the glass. Kathy posted a picture of their Christmas decorations and the door was fine, but then at the crime scene, there is obvious damage to the wood paneling. At the beginning of this investigation, the police did what they usually do and looked at the people closest to the victims. Unfortunately, in this case, the only family member left was Holly. She said she was questioned a lot. The only motive was that she wanted the inheritance money from her dad’s death, but couldn’t get that with her mom and sister still around. However, Holly was cleared quickly as there was no evidence that she was involved.

Actually, Holly ended up giving most of her $50,000 inheritance toward the reward for information that leads to an arrest. There has still been no arrest made in this case or any leads.

Holly has since gotten married and is still hopeful that there will be answers.

For part two, please click here!