Rachel White

And he said it seemed like Nick was telling Brooks to get up and leave.

Nick later said that he was just trying to protect his brother.

But obviously, investigators were curious if Nick knew anything.

So they interviewed him a week later.

Yeah.

So the sheriff's office asked him for a DNA sample during one of their searches a year after Crystal disappeared, and he cooperated.

His home was searched by the FBI years later.

But perhaps the most surprising time I heard his name come up was during a pretrial hearing for his brother, Brooks.

This was right after Brooks had been arrested, so like eight years or so after Crystal's disappearance.

The special prosecutor told the judge in open court that an undercover officer had purchased a gun from Nick that was similar to a gun used in connection to another mysterious death in Bardstown.

The gun was very similar to the one used to kill Crystal's dad, Tommy Ballard, who was shot dead while hunting in 2016, about 16 months after Crystal disappeared.

Just a horrible situation, tragic for the family.

So an unindicted co-conspirator is someone prosecutors believe participated in a criminal conspiracy, but they've not been charged with a crime.

Maybe the prosecution doesn't have enough evidence to bring the charges or just wants to focus on the defendant currently on trial.

But it's potentially controversial.

The person can't really defend themselves because they haven't been charged.

And she said that at the time, she and Nick were in the middle of packing up to move when he left, telling her he was going to help Brooks with a rental property.

Bowman testified that she repeatedly tried to reach him, but many of her calls went unanswered or went straight to voicemail.

Correct.

So their point is that Brooks couldn't have done what he did by himself.