Indiana judge’s shooting linked to motorcycle club and failed bid to block trial testimony, authorities say

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A high-ranking member of a motorcycle gang is accused of plotting to kill an Indiana judge after an effort to obstruct a domestic abuse trial failed, authorities alleged in court documents obtained Friday.

A probable cause affidavit alleges that Thomas Moss, 43, conspired with others to kill Tippecanoe County Superior Court Judge Steven Meyer and his wife on Jan. 18, two days before the trial was scheduled to begin.

Meyer and his wife were shot through the closed front door of their home in Lafayette, northwest of Indianapolis, according to the affidavit. Both were injured and released from the hospital.

Moss and two others — Blake Smith, 32, and Raylen Ferguson, 38 — were charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and other crimes. They face possible gang and firearm-related sentencing enhancements if convicted.

Amanda Milsap, 45, was arrested on charges of bribery and obstruction of justice. A fifth person, Zenada Greer, 61, faces charges of assisting a criminal and obstruction of justice.

It was not immediately clear if they have attorneys to speak on their behalf. A lawyer who represented Moss in a previous case declined to comment.

According to the affidavit, Moss is a high-ranking member of the Phantom Motorcycle Club, an affiliation the document says he acknowledged in an interview with police.

The affidavit identifies the club as an “outlaw” group that engages in “criminal activity.”

Moss, who is also allegedly tied to a gang affiliated with the Almighty Vice Lord Nation, had been scheduled to go to trial on Jan. 20 on 2024 charges of domestic battery, unlawful possession of a firearm and other crimes, filings show.

A couple of weeks before the shooting, Milsap allegedly told the victim in that case that Moss and the Vice Lords wanted to pay her $10,000 not to testify.

According to the affidavit, the victim refused and Ferguson traveled from Kentucky to Indiana with Greer, with whom he shares a home, several days before the shooting.

Ferguson is affiliated with the Vice Lords, the affidavit alleges.

Smith, an alleged member of Phantom Motorcycle Club, allegedly bought the short-barreled shotgun that authorities believe Ferguson used to shoot Meyer and his wife, according to the affidavit.

Ferguson, allegedly wearing a hooded flannel, earmuffs and a silicone face mask depicting a white man, knocked on Meyer’s door and said he was looking for his dog, the affidavit states, citing the judge’s home security camera.

“Judge Meyer informed the male they did not have his dog, and immediately after responding to the male, gunshots were discharged from the porch through the door,” the affidavit states.

Authorities found the shotgun, mask and other items nearby, according to the affidavit.

Two days before the shooting, security video captured a person with a similar gait to Ferguson’s knocking on Meyer’s door with a food delivery, according to the affidavit. The judge told the person he had the wrong address.

The same person appears to have gone to the home of the victim in the 2024 case on Jan. 12, according to the affidavit. A security video showed the person wearing what appeared to be a silicone mask while breathing heavily and knocking on the door, the affidavit states.

The woman did not answer, and the person left, according to the affidavit.

In a statement released by the Indiana Judicial Branch on Tuesday, Meyer said the “horrific violence will not shake my belief in the importance of peacefully resolving disputes. I remain confident we have the best judicial system in the world, and I am proud to be a part of it.”