BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (Scripps News Lexington) — Friday marked 10 years since Crystal Rogers vanished without a trace in Bardstown, Kentucky. As the anniversary of her disappearance arrives, her ex-boyfriend, Brooks Houck, sits in a courtroom while his defense team fights for his freedom, along with co-defendant Joseph Lawson.
Courtroom sketches show Brooks Houck (L) and Joseph Lawson (R) in court. (Sketches by Sydney Young)
Thursday morning, the defense called a psychologist to testify about memory and the reliability of eyewitnesses, attempting to undermine prosecution witnesses who claimed they saw Rogers’ car on the Bluegrass Parkway the night she disappeared.
Defense attorneys also challenged testimony about a white car reportedly seen parked on a road near the Houck farm the night Rogers vanished. That vehicle was later identified as belonging to Houck’s grandmother.
A significant focus of the defense strategy involves questioning police tactics, suggesting officers coerced witnesses into giving false statements. They specifically targeted testimony from Charlie Girdley, a former Houck employee, who claimed Houck and Steven Lawson asked him to move Rogers’ car.
The defense also challenged Heather Snellen’s testimony that she overheard Joseph Lawson and Steven Lawson discussing moving a body on the Houck farm with a skid-steer.
So far, the defense has not called any witnesses to corroborate Houck’s alibi for July 3 into July 4, 2015, when Rogers disappeared. Instead, they’ve relied on expert testimony aimed at undermining the credibility of the prosecution’s witnesses. The defense was expected to conclude its case Friday.
