Two suspects in Crystal Rogers’ disappearance face trial starting Tuesday

A decade after the disappearance and presumed death of Bardstown mother Crystal Rogers, a jury will hear evidence next week against two men charged with killing her.

The trials of Brooks Houck, 43, and Joseph Lawson, 34, begin Tuesday in Bowling Green.

Houck, Rogers’ boyfriend at the time of her disappearance, faces charges of murder and tampering with physical evidence. Lawson faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to tamper with physical evidence.

Rogers, 35, of Bardstown, went missing in July 2015. Her body has never been found.

Houck and Joseph Lawson are the two final suspects to face trial after a third suspect, Steven Lawson, was convicted in late May.

Steven Lawson, 54, of Chaplin, was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence May 30 after a jury trial. He is Joseph Lawson’s father.

The jury recommended that Lawson be sentenced to 17 years for conspiracy to murder and five years for evidence tampering, with the sentences running concurrently.

Ahead of the joint trial for Houck and Joseph Lawson, several motions were filed, including requests for bond reductions, a judge’s recusal, separation of trials, further DNA testing and a motion for a change of venue.

A judge agreed that the trial should be moved from Nelson County to Warren County after heavy media coverage of Rogers’ disappearance.

Rogers’ case has been widely covered, including on the national TV stations Investigation Discovery and Oxygen.

The March 2024 motion requesting a change of venue also referenced large billboards throughout Nelson County that showed Rogers’ face and indicated Houck was the main suspect.

Defense attorneys argued the billboards, as well as bumper stickers on cars advocating for Rogers, tainted the ability to select a jury in Nelson County.

The case against Brooks Houck

Since October 2015, police honed in on Houck as the culprit in Rogers’ death. For years between then and Houck’s arrest in October 2023, police searched several of Houck’s properties, including his family’s farm, home, and properties on which his construction company had worked.

Houck and Rogers were dating at the time of Rogers’ disappearance, according to her family. They had a child together, and Houck raised the child after Rogers’ disappearance.

Investigators said Houck was the last person to see Rogers alive, on July 3 or July 4, 2015. She was reported missing by her mother July 5, 2015.

Houck has made few public statements about the investigation into Rogers’ disappearance, but he appeared on Nancy Grace’s TV show shortly after Rogers went missing to defend himself.

He said when he went to bed the night Rogers went missing, she was playing games on her phone. He said when he woke the next morning, she was gone.

He was not alarmed, he said, adding that they had a “stressed” relationship and Rogers sometimes left home to stay with a family member.

But according to court documents, Houck asked his codefendant’s father, Steven Lawson, to “point him in the direction” of someone who could kill Rogers.

According to interview transcripts, Stephen Lawson told a Nelson County grand jury that Houck solicited him for murder and “wanted his wife gone.” Lawson claimed Houck spoke about his and Rogers’ strained relationship and made an arm motion that indicated he wanted her dead.

Stephen Lawson told investigators that on the night Crystal Rogers disappeared, he called Houck to tell him “the job was done.”

Documents imply the job to which Steven Lawson referred involved moving Rogers’ car, which was found later on the Bluegrass Parkway with her phone, keys and wallet inside.

The case against Joseph Lawson

Joseph Lawson, the son of Steven Lawson, was the first person indicted in the Crystal Rogers’ case. Before his arrest in September 2023, he had never been publicly named as a suspect.

But investigators and prosecutors say Lawson helped destroy evidence and kill Rogers.

Lawson and his father worked for Houck at a construction company.

Evidence revealed in Steven Lawson’s trial shows several calls between the three men on the night Rogers went missing.

And Charlie Girdley, a former employee of Houck’s, testified 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 Girdley said he saw Rogers’ car at the property.

Girdley said he remembered seeing Houck give Joseph Lawson the keys to Rogers’ car, saying it needed repairs.

Houck and Joseph Lawson’s joint trial is expected to last about one week.

This story was originally published June 20, 2025 at 9:33 AM.

Taylor Six

Lexington Herald-Leader

Taylor Six is the criminal justice reporter at the Herald-Leader. She was born and raised in Lexington attending Lafayette High School. She graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 2018 with a degree in journalism. She previously worked as the government reporter for the Richmond Register.