The family of Crystal Rogers received justice on Tuesday, ten years after the Bardstown mother of five disappeared.
After three-and-a-half hours of deliberations, a jury in Bowling Green convicted Brooks Houck, Rogers’ boyfriend and father of one of her children, of murder. Co-defendant Joseph Lawson was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder. Both men were also convicted of tampering with physical evidence.
The trial then entered the penalty phase with the prosecution calling two witnesses. One of them was Kylie Fenwick, Rogers’ second-oldest daughter.
"I've waited a long time for this," Fenwick told jurors from the witness stand. "I just want you all to be fair and go with what's in your heart."
Fenwick cried and left the courtroom after her statements. The defense called no witnesses during the penalty phase, but asked for leniency for the two defendants. Attorney Kevin Coleman highlighted Joseph Lawson’s upbringing with an alcoholic father, his own substance abuse, and that he’s now paraplegic from an accident in the years following Rogers’ disappearance.
Defense Attorney Steve Shoering told jurors that Houck was college-educated, a devoted father to his son, and had no prior criminal record.
“No matter what happens, he's going to be in prison for a long, long time," Schroering said.
Special Prosecutor Shane Young told jurors that Houck sentenced Rogers’ children to life without their mother.
"He took the most precious thing in the world away from them," Young shouted while pointing at Houck.
Jurors left the courtroom and returned in less than ten minutes with a recommended sentence of life in prison for Houck, and the maximum sentence of 25 years for Lawson. His father, Steve Lawson, was convicted on the same charges May 30 and received a recommended 17-year sentence.
“It was a very, very quick penalty phase, which tells me they were very confident in their guilty verdict,” said Alan Simpson, a long-time Bowling Green defense attorney.
The 35-year-old Rogers disappeared July 3, 2015, and her body has never been found. Her oldest daughter, Ashley Miller of Owensboro, was 14 at the time her mother vanished.
“I remember riding in her car, singing music to the top of our lungs, going to the pool, and going to Chuck E. Cheese all the time, Miller told WKU Public Radio after the verdict and sentencing.
Miller said while her mom has missed important milestones, she tries to keep Rogers’ memory alive.
“I’ve graduated, I’ve gotten married, I have kids now,” she said. “I have a picture hanging up in my living room of my mom and they know that was Mamaw Crystal.”
In addition to family and friends of Rogers, the trial also brought strangers to the courtroom in a show of solidarity for the Rogers family. Terri Madison, who said she almost lost a son to violence, traveled from Louisville and spoke to Crystal’s mother, Sherry Ballard, before the verdict.
“I said, ‘I just wanted to let you know I’m here to support you and we’ve been praying for you for ten years,’ and she gave me a hug,” Madison said. “My daughter is the same age as Crystal.”
Houck and Lawson were tried based on circumstantial evidence. Defense attorneys told jurors there was no body, crime scene, or DNA from Rogers, despite dozens of searches over the past decade. But Houck’s timeline of his whereabouts the day Rogers went missing was disproved by cell phone data and by investigators speaking to people Houck claimed to have visited that day.
“His shoddy timeline, they blew it out of the water, which was probably the worst thing for him,” according to Bowling Green defense attorney Alan Simpson.
“Today, justice was served in a Bowling Green courtroom,” Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said in a statement on social media. “Prosecutor Shane Young and law enforcement’s dedication to justice, coupled with the tenacity of Rogers’ family, is the reason for this victory.”
Rogers’ family wept as the verdict was read while Houck’s family was stoic. Prosecutors alleged during the trial that Houck’s mother, Rosemary, and brother, Nick, helped plot the murder and cover-up, but those two have never been charged with any crimes related to the case. Prosecutors maintain that Rogers was killed on the Houck family farm, although her remains have never been discovered.
Final sentencing for Houck and Lawson is scheduled for Aug. 21, closing the book on a ten-year saga for a once-tranquil community in the heart of Kentucky bourbon country.
Rogers’ family returned home to Bardstown Tuesday evening to locals lining the streets, dressed in pink, the young mother’s favorite color.
A homemade sign read, “Truth wins.”
Original post:
A jury in Bowling Green handed down guilty verdicts Tuesday on all counts for the two men on trial for the murder of Bardstown mother Crystal Rogers.
The jury took just three-and-a-half hours to reach its conclusion.
After a short break following the delivery of the verdict, jurors recommended a sentence of life in prison for Brooks Houck on charges of murder and tampering with physical evidence.
He’s the former boyfriend of Rogers who fathered a child with her.
Jurors recommended a sentence of 25 years for co-defendant Joseph Lawson on charges of conspiracy to murder and evidence tampering.
Final sentencing is scheduled for August 21st.
Lawson’s father, Steve Lawson, was found guilty of the same charges as his son in a previous trial held in Bowling Green and was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
Rogers disappeared over the Fourth of July holiday ten years ago in Nelson County, and her body has never been found.
The case drew widespread attention and was the subject of several “true crime” television programs and podcasts.
Family and friends of Rogers wept and hugged after the guilty verdicts were delivered Tuesday.
Many of them wore pink today and throughout the trial. They said that was in honor of Rogers, who loved the color.
This story will be updated.
