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BARDSTOWN, Ky. — Two men received lengthy prison sentences for their roles in the infamous disappearance and presumed murder of Bardstown mother Crystal Rogers in Nelson Circuit Court on Sept. 17.
Brooks Houck, convicted of murder as a principal or accomplice to the crime and complicity to tampering with physical evidence, received a sentence of life in prison. Joseph Lawson, convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence, received a 25-year sentence.
Brooks Houck in Nelson County Court, attending pretrial conferences in connection to the disappearance of Crystal Rogers. Feb. 8, 2024
The sentencings come more than two months after the defendants were convicted following a two-week trial that started in June and carried into July. The hearing was initially set for August, but it was postponed because of Lawson’s “ongoing serious health issues,” according to court records.
Rogers, a 35-year-old mother of five, disappeared from Bardstown around July 3, 2015.
Investigators have not found a body, but prosecutors have argued Houck is responsible for the murder of Rogers, whom he was dating when she disappeared. Throughout the trial, prosecutors portrayed a plot to kill Rogers, orchestrated by Houck and aided by others, including Lawson and his father, Steven Lawson.
Court records unsealed following the trial revealed what prosectors believe to be Houck’s motive: A desire to avoid a custody dispute with Rogers over their young son.
In those records, prosecutor Shane Young said Houck was “averse to paying child support and expressed this opinion to numerous witnesses.” Houck also did not want to share custody of his son with Rogers, Young wrote in court records.
During the trial, several witnesses described Rogers and Houck’s relationship as rocky in the period leading up to the disappearance.
A few days after she vanished, police found Rogers’ car abandoned on the side of Bluegrass Parkway in Nelson County with her keys, phone and purse inside.
Prosecutors alleged Lawson drove the car the night of the disappearance until a tire went flat, and he had to be picked up by his father. The conspirators, prosecutors said, intended to create the illusion that Rogers had skipped town.
Joseph Lawson was part of pretrial conferences in connection to the presumed death of Crystal Rogers, in Nelson Circuit Court on Feb. 8, 2024.
“This was premeditated murder,” Young said during the trial. “They planned to kill her — to get rid of her — and make it look like she just left.”
Steven Lawson, father of Joseph Lawson, was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence in a separate trial related to the case in May. During that trial, he admitted to picking up his son from the side of Bluegrass Parkway and calling Houck — at his son’s request — to tell him the job of moving the car was done.
He was sentenced to 17 years in prison in August, which aligned with the jury’s recommended penalty.
This story will be updated.
Contact reporter Killian Baarlaer at kbaarlaer@gannett.com or @bkillian72 on X.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Brooks Houck, Joseph Lawson sentenced in Crystal Rogers disappearance
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