Crystal Rogers Case: Second trial set to start in one week in Warren County

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - One week remains until the second trial in the disappearance and presumed death of Bardstown mom, Crystal Rogers.

The trial of Brooks Houck and Joseph Lawson is set to begin on Tuesday in Warren County. Houck is charged with complicity to murder and tampering with evidence. Lawson is charged with conspiracy to murder and tampering with evidence.

The Nelson County case was moved to trial in a different county due to its extensive publicity in the media, with concerns a fair trial would be difficult to achieve in Bardstown.

That concern may carry over somewhat in this trial, as one of the three co-defendants, Steve Lawson, has already been convicted. In May, a Warren County jury found the elder Lawson guilty of conspiracy to murder and tampering with physical evidence.

“You know, they’re different cases, different lawyers, different facts and a different jury, but now Bowling Green is aware of this case if they were not before,” WAVE legal analyst Leland Hulbert said. “So I would think potential jurors are paying attention to this because it’s a large, high-profile case. And so, to find a jury in a few weeks that doesn’t know anything about it is going to be a challenge.“

A jury was seated in the elder Lawson’s trial in the first half of day one. The trial lasted four days from jury selection to sentencing recommendation. Having two co-defendants in Houck and Lawson will likely extend the timeframe for the upcoming trial.

Information made public in the claims against Joseph Lawson are the most limited at this point. Allegations against him have been best explained through his dad and co-defendants’ own testimony.

Steve Lawson testified that he helped his son manipulate evidence. He told a jury that Joseph moved Rogers’ car at the request of Houck on the night of July 3, 2015. The car broke down on the side of the Bluegrass Parkway when Joseph was driving it, and Lawson said he picked up his son from it, adjusting the driver’s seat to make it appear as if Rogers’ was the last person to be driving it.

A jury heard those admissions both in Lawson’s testimony and through a recorded jail call to his mom.

“This person Mr. Lawson talking to his mother and somewhat confessing to his involvement with the car, I think is damaging,” Hulbert said.

Joseph will have to defend himself against those claims in trial, as he faces a conspiracy charge, just like his dad.

The case will be a bit more complex for Houck, Rogers’ then-boyfriend, charged with complicity.

“Complicity is if they are actually participating and conspiracy is if they actually helped plan it, and are they in this common plan together,” Hulbert explained.

Suspicion around Houck has existed since the very beginning, in the days directly following Rogers’ disappearance.

“Did I not tell you when you come and sit down today that right now you’re the main person of interest?” Nelson County Sheriff’s Detective Jon Snow asked Houck in a police interview shortly after Rogers’ disappearance.

“Yes, that’s right,” Houck answered.

“And I explained to you the reason that you’re the main person of interest, right? You’re the last person to see her alive, alright. And I went through your timeline with you and explained to you that there’s gaps in your timeline,” Snow said.

During that police interview, Houck’s brother, Nick, called and told him to stop talking to police. Prosecutors have since alleged that Nick acted in the case as an “unindicted co-conspirator.”

A few months after that interview with police, Rogers was declared dead, and Houck was named the main suspect.

In the years that have followed, multiple searches have been executed by local law enforcement on Houck properties, including the Houck family farm. The FBI took over the case in 2020 and carried out several more searches on properties around Nelson County related to the case. What may have been uncovered in those searches has not been disclosed publicly.

Investigators have tied Houck to the Lawsons through witness testimony and a 13-second phone call the elder Lawson made to Houck the night Rogers was last seen alive. The two men said they were talking about a rental property for Steve’s step-daughter, a story recorded when Houck called Lawson during his police interview. Prosecutors presented grand jury testimony during Steve’s trial that the two men having the same story for the call was pre-arranged.

Attorneys for all parties have said the case file is extensive, and much of what has been submitted to the court has been done so under seal.

Jury selection begins on Tuesday, June 24.

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