A third Nelson County man charged for alleged involvement in 2015 death of Crystal Rogers

LOUISVILLE, Ky., (WDRB) – Steve Lawson, who talked with Brooks Houck by phone the night after the disappearance of Crystal Rogers, has been indicted on charges of criminal conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence in the Rogers case.

Lawson, according to the Dec. 6 Nelson County indictment, agreed to “aid one or more persons in the planning or commission” of the death of another and then “destroyed, mutilated, concealed, removed” or altered physical evidence on July 3 or July 4, 2015, when Rogers disappeared.

His bond has been set at $500,000 cash. Lawson is scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 21.

After eight years of investigation, Lawson is the third man charged in Rogers' disappearance in recent months. His son, Joseph Lawson, and Houck have also been indicted.

Rogers was last seen during the Fourth of July weekend in 2015. Her car was left running on the side of Bluegrass Parkway with her purse still inside. She's presumed dead, but her body was never found.

Steve Lawson's attorney, Theodore Lavit, said Lawson has "always maintained his innocence and always revealed he would never hurt that lady. And he never did hurt that lady in any way whatsoever."

Lavit said in an interview that Lawson has voluntarily met more than a dozen times with investigators.

"I’ve been on this case for several months," Lavit said. "I have a great deal of confidence in what my client says to me."

Lavit said the prosecution claims they have recently discovered additional information in the case, but have not yet revealed what it is. He said he has not seen any of the evidence in the case yet.

Lavit also confirmed that Joseph Lawson is Steve Lawson's son.

Shane Young, who is the Hardin County Commonwealth's Attorney but is prosecuting the case as a special assistant for the Attorney General's office, declined to discuss details of the case on Friday.

In September, Joseph Lawson was charged with criminal conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence in connection with the death of Rogers.

Steve Lawson was actually indicted on tampering with physical evidence in May, according to court records.

Houck, the primary suspect in the disappearance of Rogers, was arrested Sept. 27, after being charged with complicity to murder and tampering with physical evidence.

Houck was the last person seen with Rogers, his former girlfriend and the mother of his 10-year-old son.

He has pleaded not guilty and is in jail on a $10 million bond.

During a police interrogation after Rogers disappeared, Houck was asked about Steve Lawson and said Lawson was "somebody that works for me."

In that police interview, Houck called Lawson, who answered and said to Houck, "I just want to tell you I'm sorry about everything that's going on in your life brother, I got you in my prayers."

"I appreciate you saying that, but I need your help while I got you on the phone," Houck replied. "Do you remember the night you called me really, really late, I forgot what you asked me.... can you, can you remember what you asked me or what you were after? I can't remember."

Steve Lawson said, "I sure can. I asked you for numbers for the house."

"Oh, for a rental house," Houck said.

Houck owns several properties.

Lavit, Steve Lawson's attorney, acknowledged that he worked for Houck at times.

Young has said the prosecution has more than a terabyte of evidence, including thousands of documents, videos, audio, pictures and grand jury testimony in the Rogers case.

Kevin Coleman, Joseph Lawson's attorney, declined to comment.

This story may be updated.

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