Prosecutors piece together Crystal Rogers’ presumed final hours in KY murder trial
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Crystal Rogers trial
A decade after the disappearance and presumed death of Bardstown mother Crystal Rogers, a jury will hear evidence against two men charged with killing her.
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The night Bardstown mother Crystal Rogers went missing in July 2015, her then-boyfriend Brooks Houck said she was playing games on her phone when he went to bed around 12:30 a.m.
But prosecutors say evidence will show Rogers’ phone shut down at 9:27 p.m. the evening of July 3 — hours before Houck said he went to bed — and was never turned on again.
The phone data is one of the main inconsistencies prosecutors highlighted on day three of a joint trial for Houck, 43, and Joseph Lawson, 34.
The two are charged with complicity to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence. The trial began Tuesday in Bowling Green and is expected to last until July 8. It was moved from Nelson County to Warren County because it garnered significant publicity over the past decade.
Lawson’s father, Steven Lawson, was convicted last month of conspiracy to commit murder in a separate trial. He was accused of moving Rogers’ car after her disappearance.
During the past two days of testimony in Lawson and Houck’s joint trial, a timeline of Rogers’ presumed final hours began to materialize.
Two witnesses, Christina Holly and Amanda Greenwell, testified Wednesday that Rogers told them earlier on July 3 that she and Brooks would be having a “surprise date” and would be “kid-free.”
Houck told police during interviews, however, that he and Rogers went to the Houck family farm on Paschal Ballard Lane in Nelson County around 7 p.m. to see calves, and returned to their home around midnight.
The decision to go to the family farm, Houck told police, was Rogers’ idea.
This struck investigators as odd, as it was raining that night, and it contradicted what Rogers had told the other two witnesses.
Houck said when the family returned home, he immediately went to bed, while Rogers and Eli stayed awake. When he woke up around 7 a.m., July 4, Houck told police Rogers was gone, but their son Eli was in bed.
More inconsistencies
Prosecutors on Thursday showed the jury several hours of Houck’s interviews with police, including Jon Snow, the former lead detective with the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office.
Despite Rogers’ absence, Houck said he continued with his morning routine. He texted her once and tried to call her twice, but he said when he didn’t hear from her, he figured she had left to go stay with a family member.
Snow asked Houck if there was any reason she would have left in the middle of the night, and Houck said he didn’t know. In another interrogation just a few days later, Houck told police Rogers and her friends sometimes had “fantasy parties” and stayed out late.
Houck admitted the couple had relationship troubles, and he told Snow one of Rogers’ frequent complaints was that Houck treated Eli differently than her other four children. In fact, they spoke about it just before they left for the farm July 3, according to police interviews.
But Houck said they fought like any other couple, and always decided to “move forward.”
“What I am struggling to understand,” Snow said to Houck, “is what you all did on the farm that night.”
Houck provided an eight-page written statement to police, which was provided to the jury Thursday. In it, he gave further details, including a route the couple walked around the farm and a burn pile where Houck burned some construction debris.
But Houck never mentioned a call he received from Steven Lawson just after midnight July 4. Police asked Houck during an interview who the call came from, and he said he couldn’t remember.
As police continued to pursue Houck as a suspect in Rogers’ disappearance, he asked Snow, “What is it going to take to clear my name?”
Snow suggested he add more information and details to his written statement.
Houck declined.
This story was originally published June 27, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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