BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (Court TV/Scripps News Lexington) — Prosecutors say Crystal Rogers‘ boyfriend’s own words and behaviors prove that he was behind her disappearance and murder.
Courtroom sketches show Brooks Houck (L) and Joseph Lawson (R) in court. (Sketches by Sydney Young)
Brooks Houck is standing trial alongside his former employee’s son, Joseph Lawson, on charges of complicity to commit murder and complicity to tampering with physical evidence. Rogers was dating Houck when she disappeared on July 3, 2015, and was last seen at his family farm. Rogers told her cousin before she disappeared that she was excited about a “surprise date” Houck had planned for July 3. Investigators believe Houck took Rogers to the farm under the guise of a date, but was planning all along to get rid of her.
Prosecutors showed the jury Houck’s police interview, conducted shortly after Rogers disappeared. A camera in the room picked up what a detective inside missed: that Houck pressed a recorder in his pocket once he walked in. Stranger still, Houck spent more than an hour writing a statement about his whereabouts on July 3-4, and then read it aloud to an empty room. Prosecutors told the jury that Houck was recording his statement to share with family members so they could keep their stories straight.
MORE | Brooks Houck, Joseph Lawson found guilty in Crystal Rogers murder case
Houck’s family is playing a central role in the trial, with prosecutors telling the jury in opening statements that Houck’s mother asked someone to help her find someone to “get rid of Crystal” and told others that Crystal “wouldn’t be around anymore.” Prosecutors also noted that Houck’s brother, Nick Houck, turned his cell phone off for 24 hours beginning on July 3.
Houck and Lawson have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Their defense says the prosecution’s case is based on public pressure to resolve the case. “Police couldn’t find the answers they were looking for, so they focused on Houck,” Houck’s attorney said in his opening statement, where he also said the prosecution had “manipulated and bullied witnesses” in the case.
The presiding judge in the case has banned cameras from the courtroom for the duration of this trial.
Lawson’s father, Steven Lawson, was convicted in May on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with evidence in Rogers’ case. Steven’s sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 6.
