Four Mongols MC Members Charged in Kidnapping-Murder of ‘Lurch’

The kidnapping and murder of Stephen Cole, a fellow Mongols Motorcycle Gang member known as ‘Lurch,’ has led to federal murder and racketeering charges against four new defendants in a sprawling Clarksville, Tennessee gang probe. A 62-count second-superseding indictment unsealed yesterday in Nashville charges William Nelper, aka ‘Flip,’ 49, of Trenton, Kentucky; William Boylston, aka ‘JC,’ 27; Jason Meyerholz, aka ‘Country,’ 43; and Christopher Wilson, 35, all of Clarksville, with orchestrating Cole’s violent abduction and execution in November 2017.

According to the indictment, on November 19, 2017, Boylston, Meyerholz and Wilson seized Cole at gunpoint, stripped him of his shoes, wallet, and cell phones, then transported him to Nelper’s residence in Trenton, Kentucky. There, the men allegedly murdered Cole, burned evidence, and disposed of his body. All four are charged with kidnapping resulting in death; Boylston, Meyerholz and Nelper face additional charges of murder in aid of racketeering, each carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison and possible death penalty exposure.

The charges are part of a broader racketeering conspiracy tied to the Clarksville chapter of the Mongols MC, a violent outlaw motorcycle gang with a documented pattern of drug trafficking, robbery, and intimidation. The indictment alleges criminal activity stretching from March 2015 to the present, including large-scale drug distribution, firearm possession by felons, and money laundering. Nelper is specifically charged with drug trafficking and laundering proceeds from the enterprise’s illicit operations.

Nelper, Boylston and Meyerholz are charged with racketeering conspiracy, while Meyerholz also faces a separate count for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. The indictment builds on a prior January 2018 superseding indictment that charged 15 other Mongols members and associates with related offenses, including murder, kidnapping, and narcotics trafficking. As of January 18, 2018, all original defendants were in custody—except Cole, whose disappearance now stands exposed as a gang-sanctioned killing.

Law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, the Clarksville Police Department, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the Kentucky State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katy Risinger of the Middle District of Tennessee and Trial Attorney Robert Tully of the DOJ’s Organized Crime and Gang Section.

An indictment is not a conviction. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. However, the charges paint a damning picture of a criminal enterprise bound by violence, loyalty oaths, and a trail of bloodshed across the Tennessee-Kentucky border. If convicted, the four new defendants face life behind bars—or execution—for their alleged roles in Cole’s murder and the Mongols’ reign of terror.