Trial for suspect charged in Crystal Rogers’ disappearance to begin Tuesday
The trial for a man charged in Crystal Rogers’ disappearance is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Bowling Green.
Steven Lawson, 54, of Chaplin, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence in the case.
He was arrested in Indiana in December 2023 and was the third of three suspects to be charged as a result of a long investigation involving state and federal agencies.
Rogers, 35, of Bardstown, went missing in July 2015. Her body has never been found, but she is presumed to be dead.
The two other men charged in Rogers’ disappearance are her former boyfriend Brooks Houck and Joseph Lawson, Steven Lawson’s son. Houck is charged with murder and tampering with evidence, while Joseph Lawson is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and complicity to tampering with evidence.
Nelson County Circuit Judge Charles Simms III previously decided to sever Steven Lawson’s trial from the trial of Houck and Joseph Lawson because of statements he made that are inadmissible in court.
The joint jury trial for Houck and Joseph Lawson is scheduled to take place in late June.
The trials for all three suspects are being held in Warren County.
Steven Lawson’s trial will begin with jury selection at 8:45 a.m. central time.
After a jury is seated, the prosecution and defense will be given the chance to make opening statements before expert testimony.
Summary of Steven Lawson’s case
Before Lawson’s arrest, he consented to interviews with authorities and prosecutor Shane Young under the assumption he was being offered immunity. Young confirmed he did offer deals to Steven Lawson, but only on the tenet he be “100% honest.”
There are video and audio clips where Lawson allegedly gave conflicting statements during jail phone calls and interrogations with Kentucky State Police detectives.
In one instance, Steven Lawson tells investigators that Tammy Lawson, Steven Lawson’s late wife, was on the parkway to find him and fight him for not bringing her “booze.” In a different interview, he said Tammy Lawson was never on the parkway.
In the jail phone call to his wife, Lawson tells her he thinks he messed up his deal by lying. Young said Tammy Lawson was also complicit in the disappearance of Rogers. She died in 2017.
Lawson’s former attorney Ted Lavit vehemently disagreed with the prosecutor’s evidence, and asserted his client told the truth.
Lawson attempted to have his case dismissed because of the originally promised immunity by prosecutors in exchange for cooperation. Simms disagreed, saying Lawson breached the verbal immunity contract.
The judge referenced several instances of dishonesty by Lawson, including:
- The nature of the relationship between Houck and Lawson
- Why he was on the Bluegrass Parkway near where Rogers’ car was later found
- The identities of those involved in parking the vehicle
- Whether Lawson knew about a missing skid-steer
- Why Lawson spoke with Houck in an early morning call on July 4, 2015.
Last month, Lawson requested evidence found inside Rogers’ vehicle in 2016 to be tested for a DNA profile. Simms ruled that determining who the hairs belonged to wouldn’t make a difference in the case and denied Lawson’s request.
“Even if DNA testing successfully revealed who the hairs belonged to, this information would not exclude Lawson’s alleged involvement herein,” Simms wrote in his ruling as a reason for not delaying the trial.
