Crystal Rogers case: Steve Lawson trial updates
11:49 a.m. ETBoth the prosecution and defense have rested their case.
The judge has given jury instructions and closing arguments are set to begin at 11:05 a.m. CT.
Following closing arguments, the jury will then begin deliberating.
10:48 a.m. ET
Steve Lawson has taken the stand himself to talk about how he met Brooks Houck through his son Joseph Lawson. He also talked about the night Rogers' went missing.
He said Joseph Lawson called him that night saying he was broke down on the Bluegrass Parkway and needed help. He admitted to pushing Rogers' driver's seat up.
"I'll take the blame for that," he testified.
Lawson talked about Houck wanted Rogers gone and how he would have to talk to another man, Charlie Girdley. Girdley testified earlier in the week about that conversation.
Steve Lawson takes the stand to testify in his defense during first trial in Crystal Rogers case. | May 30, 2025
"You've got some of the meanest people in the world working for you," he said he told Houck. "Then I went and told Charlie and he laughed it off."
Lawson said Houck never asked him directly to help kill Crystal Rogers.
"No, he never said that," he said.
Lawson says the property on Thompson Hill Road was known as a "chop shop" and his son would often take cars up there to steal them.
His attorney questioned why he didn't talk to police sooner, which Lawson replied that he "didn't want to man up and admit that I had" touched the car.
Lawson said he doesn't know who killed Crystal Rogers.
"I don't know if she's dead," he testified.
Steve Lawson is charged in the death of Bardstown mother Crystal Rogers.
During cross-examination, Lawson said Joseph Lawson told him to call Houck to let him know the job was done.
"So I did just that," Lawson explained to prosecutors.
After helping to move Rogers' car, he said he went back to the property on Thompson Hill Road to continue drinking.
Phone records show he went back and forth from there several times throughout that day.
A prosecutor questioned if Lawson and Houck agreed to lie to investigators about their midnight call during a deleted phone call on July 8, 2015.
"He said you can say you were calling about an apartment," Lawson replied, adding that he lied to protect his son, not Brooks Houck.
9:15 a.m. ET
The jury is expected to return to court at 8:30 a.m. CT.
Court ended early Thursday due to at least two witnesses for the defense not being able to appear due to scheduling conflicts. Those witnesses are expected to testify this morning.
Once the defense wraps their case, the trial will then move into closing statements and it's possible jurors could begin deliberations later in the afternoon.
