Cell phone analyst experts testify at second day of Steven Lawson trial
Cell phone records show a defendant on trial in the Crystal Rogers investigation deleted several calls around the time Rogers disappeared, including at least one call with the main suspect, according to testimony from the second day of his trial.
Steven Lawson, 54, of Chaplin, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence for the disappearance of Crystal Rogers, a mother of five from Bardstown.
Rogers, 35, was last seen on July 3, 2015, and was reported missing two days later. Her body has never been found, though she is presumed dead.
Her car was found abandoned on the Bluegrass Parkway shortly after she was reported missing.
Wednesday was the second day of Lawson’s trial at the Warren County Justice Center in Bowling Green, and it featured testimony from cell phone analytics experts and former employees of Brooks Houck, Rogers’ former boyfriend and the main suspect in the case.
Nelson County Circuit Judge Charles Simms III previously decided to sever Lawson’s trial from the other two suspects charged with Rogers’ disappearance, 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.
Their joint jury trial is scheduled for late June. Steven Lawson’s trial began Tuesday with opening statements and testimony from Rogers’ mother, Sherry Ballard, and Nelson County Sheriff’s Office Detective Jon Snow.
Steven Lawson’s phone was active around the time of Rogers’ disappearance
Two cell phone analytics experts testified Wednesday about the activity of Lawson’s phone around the time Rogers disappeared.
Melissa Dover, a crime and intelligence analyst with the Elizabethtown Police Department, said there were many calls deleted from Steven Lawson’s phone between July 3 and July 9, 2015.
More than one of the deleted calls involved Houck, including a two-minute call on July 8, according to Dover.
Steven Lawson’s phone was also very active the night Rogers was last seen alive. Dover testified he missed two calls from his son at 11:06 p.m. and 11:54 p.m.
Joseph Lawson called his son again at 12:03 a.m. on July 4 and the two talked for nearly three minutes, according to Dover. At 12:07 a.m. Steven Lawson called Houck and the conversation lasted 15 seconds.
Steven Lawson spoke with his son over the phone one more time that evening at 1:08 a.m. for nearly four minutes, according to Dover. The following evening around 7:15 p.m. Joseph Lawson texted Steven Lawson asking what he’s doing, and Steven Lawson responded with, “same as you, sitting around having a bad day.”
On July 17 Steven Lawson told his son over text to only communicate in person and avoid phone calls or text messages, according to Dover.
The jury also heard from Tim O’Daniel a digital forensics analyst with the Louisville Metro Police Department. He shared his analysis of Steven Lawson’s phone records, which showed his phone traveling around the area of the Bluegrass Parkway, including the area where Rogers’ car was discovered, the night of her disappearance.
One of Houck’s former employees reported suspicious behavior
A few of Houck’s former employees were called to the witness stand Wednesday.
One of them, Stacie Cramer, testified that one day she spotted Houck and Steven Lawson having a conversation in Houck’s truck. The two drove around the neighborhood talking for a while, and Cramer said that wasn’t typical behavior.
Cramer used to build decks and install insulation for Houck’s construction projects. At this particular job site, she was repairing a crack in a ceiling.
When Steven Lawson was walking back to his truck after the conversation with Houck, Cramer asked him if she was in trouble for the ceiling crack. Cramer testified that Lawson said no and that he’s got to go take care of something, referencing a girl with five children.
Rogers has five children.
Cramer said she never saw Steven Lawson at a job site after July 5, the date Rogers was reported missing. Cramer shared her account with Nelson County Sheriff’s Office the following October 2015.
Another former employee, Charlie Girdley, said he was hanging out with Joseph Lawson when he mentioned burying a girl and that they’d never find her.
Girdley and Joseph Lawson later went to pick up Steven Lawson at a property on Thompson Hill Road and saw Rogers’ car at the property.
Girdley said he remembered seeing Houck give Joseph Lawson the keys to Rogers’ car, saying it needed repairs, he testified.
