GUILTY KY - Crystal Rogers, 35, Bluegrass Parkway, 3 July 2015 #4 *arrest in 2023* Brooks Houck on Trial

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  • #821
Never mind - I figured it out... :)
 
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  • #822
Mods, any chance we can start a new thread as Brooks Houck’s trial for the murder of Crystal just started minutes ago? Thanks.
 
  • #823
Opening Statements


Rosemary spoke to a man named Danny, who is on the prosecution's witness list and may be called to testify, about looking for someone to get rid of Rogers.
As for the conspiracy to kill Rogers, Lesousky said it all started with Rosemary Houck's conversation with the other man.
"Evidence will show Rosemary was in a conspiracy with Brooks to get rid of this young lady," he said.
 
  • #824

Crystal Rogers case: Trial updates​

11:10 a.m.
Tune in for a live midday trial update at 1 p.m. on the free WHAS11+ app. Click here to learn more.
10:41 a.m.
Prosecutors have finished with opening statements, talking to the jury for roughly an hour.
"One of the most important things you bring into this courtroom is your God-given common sense," Prosecutor Jim Lesousky said, adding Rogers' case is very sad. "Make sure you bring it with you."
According to Lesousky, the plan to kill Crystal Rogers began around two weeks before July 3, 2015.
sketch of brooks and joseph.webp
Credit: Sydney Young
Sketch of Brooks Houck (left) and Joseph Lawson (right) during opening statements of second trial in Crystal Rogers case. | June 25, 2025

Lesousky said Brooks Houck's mom, Rosemary, didn't have a good relationship with Rogers. He said she believed Rogers was "beneath them." He said Rosemary spoke to a man named Danny, who is on the prosecution's witness list and may be called to testify, about looking for someone to get rid of Rogers.
"He tells her, if you have enough money, you can get anything done," the prosecutor added.
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Credit: WHAS11 News
Brooks Houck is charged with murder in connection to the 2015 disappearance of Crystal Rogers.

Lesousky said on July 3, 2015, Rogers ran into a friend at Walmart while running errands. As they spoke, she received a call from Brooks Houck. After the call, Rogers said he wanted to have a kids-free romantic evening that night.
He said Rogers was excited as their relationship had been strained at the time.
"They didn't go out to a romantic get-together. No that's not where they went. They went to the Houck farm," Lesousky said.
According to prosecutors, the couple got to the farm around 7:30 p.m., but they believe that's where Rogers' died.

He said Houck left the farm around midnight. However, after he left the farm, the prosecutor added that Houck spent 15 to 20 minutes in the parking lot of the Old Kentucky Home campground.

Around the same time, Joseph Lawson and his father Steve Lawson speak on the phone for around three minutes.
Then Steve Lawson calls Houck and they talk for around 13 seconds, Steve Lawson then drives to the Bluegrass Parkway.
Lesousky said a few days before Rogers' went missing, Brooks Houck had the darkest tint put on his truck.
"He needed to tint that window to make sure other people didn't see that empty seat," the prosecutor argued.
Lesousky also said prosecutors will prove Houck lied to Nelson County detectives during his first police interview.
According to Lesousky, two days after Rogers' disappearance, Houck told then-Nelson County detective Jon Snow that he, Crystal and their son got home at midnight. He said he went to bed and Rogers was playing a game on her phone.
However, evidence shows Rogers' phone was turned off by 9:30 p.m.
"That completely contradicts what Brooks Houck told Detective Snow on July 5," the prosecutor said.
As for the conspiracy to kill Rogers, Lesousky said it all started with Rosemary Houck's conversation with the other man.
"Evidence will show Rosemary was in a conspiracy with Brooks to get rid of this young lady," he said.
The jury is expected to hear a conversation between Brooks and Rosemary Houck, talking about his brother, former Bardstown Police officer Nick Houck's car.
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Credit: WHAS11 News
Brooks Houck's mom, Rosemary, and his brother, Nick, remain under investigation in Crystal Rogers' disappearance. | May 28, 2025

"[Rosemary] asks -- what about this blanket?" Lesousky told the jury.
Rosemary and Nick Houck have never been charged in Rogers' case, however, prosecutors have named them as "unindicted co-conspirators" who are still under investigation.
Lesousky also told the jury about how the Houck family secretly recorded their testimony to the Nelson County grand jury.
"Why would they do that?" he asked. "They wanted to make sure they got their story straight."
He said the recordings were found in several different places, including inside Rosemary and Nick Houck's homes.
The prosecutor also shared that Nick Houck's phone was turned off early on July 3, 2015 until the late-afternoon the following day, nearly 24 hours later.
 
  • #825
  • #826

Crystal Rogers case: Trial updates​

1:03 p.m.
Opening statements have wrapped up. Court will return from a lunch break at 1:30 p.m. CT, or 2 p.m. ET.
Prior to the lunch break, the prosecution called its first witness, Rogers' daughter Kyleigh Fenwick.
Fenwick said Houck had talked to her about adopting her, but once Houck and Rogers' son was born everything changed.
"I never had a father figure. I thought he was going to step up to the plate," she testified.
According to Fenwick, on July 4, 2015, she tried to call Rogers but didn't get an answer. She kept trying to text and reach out to her mom but nothing. She said her and her mom normally talked all day, every day.
Fenwick said she also tried reaching out to Houck, but he never responded.
12:30 p.m.
Brooks Houck's attorney, Steve Schroeing, argued the case presented by the prosecution is built on pressure from family and the media to solve Crystal Rogers' disappearance.
"Her family was panicked," he argued. "There was an explosion of publicity on this case like Kentucky had never seen."
According to his attorneys, Houck was the answer to a mystery authorities couldn't figure out. Schroeing added that the case has replaced facts and truths with assumptions and guesses.
Schroeing detailed an alternate version of what happened the night of July 3, 2015 for the jury.
brian butler.webp
Credit: Jessica Farley, WHAS11 News
Houck's attorney Brian Butler in court for a hearing in the Crystal Rogers case. | May 8, 2025

He said Houck, Rogers and their son went to the family farm and walked around. When Brooks went to bed that night, he woke up in the morning to find Rogers and her car were gone.
Houck called her twice, his attorney said, adding that he wasn't concerned because she had gone out before.
According to the defense, the Nelson County Sheriff's Office spent thousands of hours investigating Rogers' case.
All the while, Schroeing said Houck was "very cooperative" and allowed then-Detective Jon Snow to search his properties without warrants.
The defense argued in the first four years of investigating there was no body, no evidence of her death, no murder weapon, and not a single eyewitness who could say she was harmed.
defense attorney schroeing.webp
Credit: Sydney Young
Steve Schroering, defense attorney for Brooks Houck, talks to the jury during opening statements. | June 25, 2025

He said Houck didn't search for Rogers after her disappearance because the Nelson County Sheriff's Office advised him not to and to stay away from search parties because of the animosity that had built up between the families.
Houck's attorneys said he tinted his truck windows days before her disappearance because their son had a significant eye condition that made him sensitive to light, adding that it was Rogers who wanted the windows tinted.
Schroeing said Nick Houck's phone was turned off for nearly 24 hours around the time Rogers' disappeared because he was in a fight with his girlfriend and was ignoring her blowing up his phone.
cdeda537-b097-4f30-b713-ecc557ec7bc5_1920x1080.webp
Credit: WHAS11 News
Brooks Houck's mom, Rosemary, and his brother, Nick, remain under investigation in Crystal Rogers' disappearance. | May 28, 2025

He also argued there's "more context" to Rosemary Houck's comments about the blanket in Nick Houck's car. He said the Houck family was paranoid and started recording everything, including the grand jury testimonies, because there was so much pressure on them.
The defense said Rosemary Houck was a mother who knew her sons were "targets" of a massive investigation and worried police would find a single hair that would lead to an incorrect conclusion.

Schroeing said the evidence they do have, is text between Rogers and Houck with "loving words." He said there are fingerprints on Rogers' phone that don't match anyone in Houck's family or either of the Lawsons. He said there were fingerprints in the car that match their sons, and only Rogers' DNA was found in her car.
According to the defense, a change in the dynamic in the investigation that came in 2023 when Kentucky State Police investigators allegedly switched from "approved police tactics to manipulation." He argued the massive dig on Thompson Hill Road was an effort to find evidence to match the prosecution's new theory.
"Nothing is found," Schroeing said. "They were wrong again."
The defense also offered a different explanation as to why the Lawsons' phones pinged near the Bluegrass Parkway.
Schroeing said Steve Lawson's girlfriend at the time hid a shared car from him on a road near where Rogers' abandoned car was found. He said the two Lawsons went there to get that car.
Their phones were picked up by cell towers on the Bluegrass Parkway because they were the closest, Houck's defense argued.
During Steve Lawson's trial, however, the new theory from Houck's defense was never mentioned.
Lawson himself testified to going to the Bluegrass Parkway to pick up his son who had broken down in Rogers' car and needed help. Lawson also admitted to pushing Rogers' driver's seat up.
"I'll take the blame for that," he testified in May.
 
  • #827
  • #828

Crystal Rogers case: Trial updates​

3:42 p.m.
Former Nelson County detective Jon Snow is also back on the stand. He testified during Steve Lawson's trial in May and led the investigation into Rogers' disappearance during the first few years of the unsolved case.
Snow talked about receiving an "unusual" missing persons case on July 5, 2015.
jon snow.webp
Credit: Sydney Young
Former Nelson County detective Jon Snow, who led the Rogers' investigation, testifies during second murder trial. | June 25, 2025

He said Rogers' father, Tommy Ballard, and brother were at her abandoned car on the Bluegrass Parkway and noticed right away it had a flat tire.
"It appeared it went flat while in motion," Snow testified. "The purse, cell phone, were in the car and keys in the ignition."
3:30 p.m.
The Commonwealth has called several more witnesses to the stand since coming back from lunch.
Christina Holley, a friend of Rogers, and Rogers' cousin Amanda Greenwell both testified about conversations they had with Rogers on July 3, 2015.
Holley said she'd known Rogers for years and grew up with Houck. She said Rogers and her son were "glued to the hip," adding that she was an amazing mother. Holley said when Rogers became pregnant with their child, Houck was nervous but warmed up to the idea.

christina.webp
Credit: Sydney Young
Christina Holley, a friend of Crystal Rogers, testifies before the jury at the Houck & Lawson trial. | June 25, 2025

According to her, Houck told Holley he didn't like that Rogers had four other kids and said he had enough money to get their son away from her if they ever split.
On July 3, 2015, Holley was at Rogers' house with her and her children. she talked about taking the kids out to get pizza, but Rogers told her they couldn't because Houck wanted a kid-free night.
Greenwell testified that she ran into Rogers on July 3, 2015 while at Walmart.
"[Rogers] said she and Brooks were going on a surprise date. She didn't know what they were doing or here they were going," Greenwell said. "She was very excited."
 
  • #829
Is it news to anyone else or just me that the Houck Family Farm raised and sold pigs? I remember in Brooks initial interview they discussed whether they had cattle and Brooks claimed he and Crystal had fed them that night. Might explain why both Houck brothers are so smug and confident that Crystal’s body would never be found.
And as far as the dark tint on Brooks truck, medical records could prove or disprove an eye condition. If true why wouldn’t Crystal’s car have had the same darker tint especially given she and Eli were attached at the hip?
 
  • #830
I absolutely believe that Brooks didn't want anything to do with any of the kids except his son and is at least one of the reasons he wanted to be rid of Crystal. I truly hope Nick and Mom get called to the stand. I will always believe that Nick's soul is as black or blacker than Brooks because I think he was involved in the other 4 murders in Bardstown - and I think the first three are related to something dirty Nick was up to.
 
  • #831

Crystal Rogers case: Trial updates​

5:21 p.m.
Court has adjourned for the day. Testimony resumes with former detective Jon Snow at 8:30 a.m. CT, or 9:30 a.m. ET, on Thursday.
Before the court adjourned, however, Snow testified about the first search of the Houck family farm on July 7, 2015.
Snow said they were looking for evidence of something that might have been burned there. Police did find a large burn pile, but he said it was mostly just construction material.
The former detective also spoke about the dozens of tips police have received since Rogers' disappearance, which have been everything from "she's working at a Waffle House in Rhode Island" to "she's working at a nursing home."
He said, however, investigators have been unable to verify Rogers made it home on July 3, 2015.
Snow also talked about the weather the night Rogers went missing, showing video of a dog park near the Houck family farm. It's clearly raining in the video, but Houck's truck can be seen at the park around 4:30 p.m.
Around that time, Houck also visits the family farm, which can be seen on surveillance video near the farm.
The same video shows the truck leaving the farm around midnight towards Bardstown, with Snow adding that Houck's story "has been consistent" to this point.

4:50 p.m.
Snow's testimony continued with the former detective talking about what was found in Rogers' abandoned car.
He said her cell phone was turned off, despite there being a charger in the car. Tests run on the car for DNA turned up with little evidence to point out who exactly was driving the vehicle.
We did learn that police found a Walmart receipt in Rogers' purse with a checkout time around 4:30 p.m. New surveillance video from inside the grocery store was played for the jury.
Snow said Houck was cooperative with investigators, allowing them to search his truck and home, but nothing was found.
The jury also watched a nearly hour-long portion of Houck's police interview with the Nelson County Sheriff's Office.

"It was a little unusual that he had not reported her missing," Snow recalled, but said the interrogation seemed otherwise mundane.
 
  • #832
In the weeks before Rogers vanished on July 3, 2015, Rosemary Houck, Brooks' mother, talked to a man named Danny Singleton who worked for her son, and asked if he would find someone to "get rid of Crystal," Lesousky said.

Singleton said "with enough money, you can get anything done," Lesousky claimed.

"That was the beginning of the conspiracy to kill Crystal," he told the jury.

Lesousky said Rosemary Houck and and Rogers did not get along and she also told someone Rogers "won't be around anymore" and "we'll raise (their child) up right." Rogers and Brooks Houck had a young child together.

After Rogers disappeared, police searched the cruiser of Nick Houck, Brooks' brother, when he worked for the Bardstown Police Department.

Lesousky said jurors would hear a recorded conversation with Brooks and Rosemary Houck talking about the search, in which a worried Rosemary Houck asked, "What about the blanket?"

"Why would they be concerned about a blanket?" in Nick Houck's vehicle, Lesousky asked the jury. He said Rosemary and Nick Houck are considered co-conspirators, but haven't been arrested "at this point."
*continued at link:
 
  • #833
Lesousky said Houck installed dark tints on his truck windows days before Rogers disappeared, likely to block people from seeing what occurred inside the truck. Schroering said the tint job was simply to accommodate his young son’s medical condition that made his eyes sensitive to sunlight.

“If you look at it through a sinister view, then you come to a sinister conclusion.”
 
  • #834
  • #835
Thursday, June 26th:
*Trial continues (Day 2) [for both] (@ 8:30am ET) - KY – Crystal Maria Rogers (35) (reported missing July 3, 2015; car (with flat tire) was found July 5, 2015 on Bluegrass Parkway near mile marker 14 with keys in ignition & her belongings (phone & purse) in car, Bardstown). – *Brooks William Houck (33 @ time of crime/41/now 43) arrested, charged & indicted (9/27/23) & arraigned (10/5/23) with felony murder & tampering with physical evidence. Plead not guilty. Bond $10M Cash Only! Reduction of bond (to $500K) denied (10/9/23). KY Supreme Court denied (3/12/24) review of bond reduction. Was transferred (9/27/23) from Nelson County jail to Hardin County Detention Center. Was transferred (12/13/23) to Oldham County Detention Center. Transferred on 6/18/25 to Warren County Regional Jail. Nelson County
*Joseph Stephen Lee Allen Lawson (24 @ time of crime/32/now 34) arrested, indicted & charged (7/24/23) with criminal conspiracy to commit murder & charged (6/21/23) with complicity in tampering with physical evidence. Bond $50K unsecured bond (tampering) & $550K Cash bond (conspiracy). Bond reduced (2/12/24) to $250K Cash bond. Plead not guilty. Held in Grayson County Kentucky Detention Center. Transferred on 6/18/25 to Warren County Regional Jail. Nelson County
Trial set to begin on 6/24/25 & ended on 6/24/25. Jury: 12 jurors & 3 alternates.
Trial began on 6/25/25. Trial will be held in Warren County. Trial: 4 days this week [6/25 to 6/27]], 4 days next week [6/30 to 7/3] & the first two days of the week following the 4th of July weekend [7/7 & 7/8/25].
Nelson Circuit Court Judge Charles Simms III presiding. Special prosecutor Shane Young. Assistant Prosecutor Jim Lesousky. Houck’s defense attorneys Brian Butler, Michael Denbow & Jennifer Henry Jackson & J. Lawson’s defense attorney Kevin Coleman.

Case & Court info from 7/23/20 thru 6/18/25 & Jury Selection (6/24/25) reference post #820 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...y-3-july-2015-4-arrest-in-2023.690447/page-41

6/25/25 Wednesday, Trial Day 1: Opening statements by Assistant Prosecutor Jim Lesousky [post #824 page 42] & Houck's attorney Steve Schroeing [post #826, page 42]
State witnesses: Kyleigh Fenwick, Rogers' daughter. Christina Holley, a friend of Rogers. Amanda Greenwell, Rogers' cousin [post #828, page 42]. Former Nelson County detective Jon Snow. The jury also watched a nearly hour-long portion of Houck's police interview with the Nelson County Sheriff's Office. [posts #828 & 831 page 42].
Trial continues on Thursday, 6/26/25.

*Steven Eugene Lawson (48 @ time of crime/53/now 54) – Trial began on 5/27/25 & ended on 5/30/25. Found GUILTY of conspiracy to commit murder & tampering with physical evidence charges. Sentencing hearing on 8/6/25.
 
  • #836
#Justice4Crystal
 
  • #837

Crystal Rogers case: Trial updates​

10:40 a.m.
Snow is back on the stand, and starting the second day of testimony by showing the jury more video from Houck's police interviews.
During a July 7, 2015 interview with Kentucky State Police, Houck was asked what the worst thing that's ever happened to him, but he couldn't answer the question.
The following day, Snow said he reviewed phone records for Rogers and Houck. That's when he noticed the midnight phone call on Houck's phone. Snow told the jury that up until then, Houck didn't mention that call.
snow.webp
Credit: Jessica Farley, WHAS11 News
Former Nelson County Detective Jon Snow stands outside the courtroom for Day 2 of second trial in Crystal Rogers case. | June 26, 2025

Snow said he called Houck for another interview, which was also played for the jury.
"What I'm really struggling with is what you guys were doing on the farm," Snow tells Houck during the interview.
The former detective said Houck took roughly an hour-and-a-half to write a full statement of what happened on July 3, 2015. Houck then began reading it out loud as Snow was observing from another room.
lawson.webp
Credit: Sydney Young
Joseph Lawson wears headphones as the courtroom listens to Brooks Houck's police interview in 2015. | June 26, 2025

Prosecutor Shane Young handed out copies of the statement to jurors.
After the interview is complete, Snow said he reviewed the footage and noticed that Houck was adjusting an audio recorder in his pocket when he walked into the room.

shane young.webp
Credit: Jessica Farley, WHAS11 News
Special Prosecutor Shane Young walks outside the courtroom ahead of Day 2 in the Houck & Lawson trial. | June 26, 2025

8:30 a.m.
Witness testimony picks back up at 9:30 a.m. ET, or 8:30 a.m. CT.
Jurors will continue hearing from former Nelson County detective Jon Snow, who led the police investigation into Rogers' disappearance for the first few years.
On Wednesday, Snow talked about what was found inside Rogers' abandoned car and the 2015 police interview he conducted with Brooks Houck days after Rogers was reported missing.
 
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  • #838

Crystal Rogers case: Trial updates​

10:40 a.m.
Snow is back on the stand, and starting the second day of testimony by showing the jury more video from Houck's police interviews.
During a July 7, 2015 interview with Kentucky State Police, Houck was asked what the worst thing that's ever happened to him, but he couldn't answer the question.
The following day, Snow said he reviewed phone records for Rogers and Houck. That's when he noticed the midnight phone call on Houck's phone. Snow told the jury that up until then, Houck didn't mention that call.
View attachment 598137
Credit: Jessica Farley, WHAS11 News
Former Nelson County Detective Jon Snow stands outside the courtroom for Day 2 of second trial in Crystal Rogers case. | June 26, 2025

Snow said he called Houck for another interview, which was also played for the jury.
"What I'm really struggling with is what you guys were doing on the farm," Snow tells Houck during the interview.
The former detective said Houck took roughly an hour-and-a-half to write a full statement of what happened on July 3, 2015. Houck then began reading it out loud as Snow was observing from another room.
View attachment 598138
Credit: Sydney Young
Joseph Lawson wears headphones as the courtroom listens to Brooks Houck's police interview in 2015. | June 26, 2025

Prosecutor Shane Young handed out copies of the statement to jurors.
After the interview is complete, Snow said he reviewed the footage and noticed that Houck was adjusting an audio recorder in his pocket when he walked into the room.

View attachment 598139
Credit: Jessica Farley, WHAS11 News
Special Prosecutor Shane Young walks outside the courtroom ahead of Day 2 in the Houck & Lawson trial. | June 26, 2025

8:30 a.m.
Witness testimony picks back up at 9:30 a.m. ET, or 8:30 a.m. CT.
Jurors will continue hearing from former Nelson County detective Jon Snow, who led the police investigation into Rogers' disappearance for the first few years.
On Wednesday, Snow talked about what was found inside Rogers' abandoned car and the 2015 police interview he conducted with Brooks Houck days after Rogers was reported missing.
I've never heard of someone recording their interview with police. If you tell the truth, you don't need to remember what you said. They had to know right away that he was not telling the truth. Man, it's a shame it took so long to arrest him because Crystal's dad may not have been murdered if they could have got him sooner.
 
  • #839

Crystal Rogers case: Trial updates​

12:42 p.m.
Be sure to join WHAS11's Alexandra Goldberg at 1 p.m. ET for a midday trial update. She'll provide a brief recap of what's happened so far during this morning's testimony.
You can watch it live here in the video player above.
12:04 p.m.
The prosecution continues playing snippets of Houck's police interviews for the jury.
During one portion of the interview, Houck is explaining what he, Rogers and their son were doing at the farm. He said there was a fire and once it went out they packed up and left.
"It seems a little late to be leaving the farm around midnight with a baby," Snow tells Houck.
"No, his eyes were wide open," Houck responded.
brooks houck.webp
Credit: Sydney Young
Brooks Houck listens to witness testimony during second day of his trial in the death of Crystal Rogers. | June 26, 2025

Houck then tells the detective that they didn't stop anywhere after leaving the farm and just went straight home.
Prosecutors also play the phone call between Steve Lawson and Houck while Houck is being questioned by police.
Snow said what stood out most during that conversation is how it started.
"[Lawson] immediately started talking about getting a house instead of answering the question he was asked," the former detective said.
steve lawson.webp
Credit: WHAS11 News
Steve Lawson is one of three men charged in the death of Bardstown mother Crystal Rogers.

Prosecutor Shane Young then plays the portion of Houck's interview where his brother Nick Houck, a then-Bardstown Police officer, calls to advise Houck to end the conversation -- which he does.
Snow testified that before that phone call, Nick Houck was never suspected to police in Rogers' case.
The jury then hears Brooks Houck's interview with Nancy Grace where he is questioned about the night Rogers' went missing. He said the night was "nothing special" and didn't realize Rogers was gone until the next morning.
Surveillance video was also shown in court where Houck's truck can be seen followed by Nick Houck's police cruiser.
On July 9, 2015, Snow called Nick Houck into the station for questioning. Then-Bardstown Police Chief Rick McCubbin also made the decision to have Houck's police cruiser processed for evidence. Young shows the jury photos of the car's trunk.
Several days later, authorities search the Houck family farm but find nothing.
"[Houck] asked what it would take to clear his name," Snow said. "I told him to provide more details in his statement."
"Did he do that?" Young asked.
"He did not," Snow said.
Snow testified that there's been no sign of Rogers existence since the night of July 3, 2015. He said the IRS tried tracking her social security number, but there were still no signs.
"Why were you so focused on July 3 into July 4?" Young asked.
"Houck says he goes home with her, but we could never verify that and no one ever saw her past that day," Snow responded.
 
  • #840
 
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