Defense for Brooks Houck shows text message he sent to Crystal Rogers after she disappeared

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WDRB) -- After Crystal Rogers disappeared the night of July 3, 2015, her boyfriend, Brooks Houck, called and texted her pleading for her to get in touch with him.

"Everyone is worried sick," a July 5, 2015, text message read, according to evidence provided in court Thursday on the third day of Houck's murder trial. "Please call me back."

But prosecutors pointed out Houck only called Rogers twice and texted once in the 36 hours after she disappeared.

The two phone calls went to voicemail, according to evidence presented in Warren County Circuit Court on Thursday.

Defense attorney Steve Schroering also presented evidence showing Houck called and texted two of Rogers' family members July 4 and July 5, asking if they knew where she was.

Both said they'd tried to contact Rogers and hadn't received a response.

On July 5, evidence showed the following text messages between Houck and Rogers' cousin, Sabrina:

Houck: "What's up it's Brooks ... Is Crystal with you"

Sabrina: "No ... Haven't seen her"

Another text thread shown in court Thursday between Houck and Rogers was from April 26, about six weeks before Rogers disappeared:

Rogers: "I cannot deal with the way you treat me anymore. I'm tired of always being on the back burner ..."

Houck: "Please come back home ... Running from your problems won't fix them."

Brooks Houck is charged with complicity to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence and faces up to 25 years to life in prison. His co-defendant Joseph Lawson is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence, facing up to 25 years behind bars.

The trial is expected to last about two weeks. It was moved from Nelson County to Bowling Green because of the massive amount of publicity the case has drawn.

In court Wednesday, prosecutor Jim Lesousky used much of his opening statement to concentrate on the alleged roles Houck's mother and brother played in conspiring to help kill Rogers, despite the fact that neither has been charged.

In the weeks before Rogers vanished, Lesousky told the jury, Rosemary Houck, Brooks' mother, talked to a man who worked for her son named Danny Singleton and asked if he would find someone to "get rid of Crystal," Lesousky said Wednesday.

Singleton said "with enough money, you can get anything done," Lesousky claimed.

"That was the beginning of the conspiracy to kill Crystal," he told the jury.

And while Singleton testified Thursday that he did have that conversation with Rosemary Houck, any damage it might have caused Brooks Houck with jurors was severely blunted on cross-examination.

Singleton testified Rosemary Houck approached him on a job site one day and "wanted to find someone to help get rid of (Rogers)." He said he responded if you have enough money, you can get it done by someone in Nelson County, but he did not offer to do it himself.

However, the defense pointed out that Singleton never mentioned this conversation to anyone until after he was jailed on perjury charges later that year.

Singleton was charged with lying to a Nelson County Grand Jury in 2015 about where he was the night Rogers disappeared.

He told the grand jury he was in Louisville drinking with a friend, according to a transcript of the proceeding read by Schroering.

After being approached by the FBI following his grand jury testimony, Singleton was asked whether Rosemary Houck had any involvement in Rogers' disappearance or had made any threats against her. Singleton said no, but admitted he lied to the grand jury about where he was that night.

Singleton told investigators he was actually doing crack cocaine with a woman in his apartment and was scared he'd be charged for that.

On Dec. 16, 2015, Singleton was arrested on perjury charges and faced up to 20 years in prison. His bail was set at $200,000, according to court records, ensuring there was little chance he would be released before his trial.

While in custody, investigators visited Singleton on April 5, 2016, and directly questioned him on whether Rosemary Houck asked about hiring a hitman to make Rogers disappear.

This was the first time Singleton recounted the story about Rosemary Houck talking to him about getting rid of Rogers, according to the questioning by Schroering.

After the questioning, and spending about 8 months in jail, Singleton agreed to a plea deal in which his felony charges were amended down to misdemeanors. He was released from jail in July 2016, according to court records.

Under cross-examination, Singleton acknowledged he drank heavily and did drugs in 2015.

Schroering also pointed out that while Singleton testified before the Nelson County grand jury in 2015, a prosecutor asked if he was involved in Rogers' disappearance or in helping to move her car.

At one point, Schroering said, the prosecutor asked Singleton what he was going to do to convince the grand jury he didn't kill Rogers.

"What can I do?" Singleton responded, according to the transcript.

In July 2023, Kentucky State Police went to Singleton's home and told him something big was getting ready to happen and he needed to be on the right side of the case, Schroering said.

Singleton testified he was told to tell the truth, and "that's what I'm telling."

Questioned by the defense about the veracity of his story, given the circumstances, Singleton insisted "it is the truth."

Prosecutors question timeline

Prosecutors had better luck on Thursday while poking holes in Brooks Houck's statement given to investigators as to where he was during the day on July 3, 2015.

For starters, Houck never mentioned in his statement or in any answers to police that he went to the family farm during the day. He and Rogers spent hours there that night when she disappeared.

But the prosecution showed surveillance video of his truck going to the farm that day.

In addition, some business owners who Houck said he met with or talked to that day denied seeing him.

In fact, the owner of one of those businesses told the jury that the office was closed July 3 for the holiday.

Earlier Thursday, Det. Jon Snow, the lead investigation in the case, continued his testimony about interviews he had with Houck in the days after Rogers went missing.

He said he learned Houck had a audio recorder in his pocket during a July 8 interview with the detective. Prosecutors have said several Houck family members recorded their testimony in front of the Nelson County grand jury so they would all keep their stories straight.

Jurors heard or saw parts of two interviews investigators conducted with Houck. Joseph Lawson and the jury listened on headphones, but Houck didn't.

In one interview with multiple officers July 7, Houck was asked to name the worst the thing that ever happened to him.

Snow testified Thursday that Houck "didn't provide an answer."

Snow also testified Houck clearly told them in that interview Rogers was playing on her phone when he went to bed after midnight she went missing. On Wednesday, prosecutors said Rogers' phone was shut off at 9:27 p.m. July 3.

In the July 8 interview, Snow told Houck he was a "person of interest" in the case and questioned what Houck and Rogers were doing on the family farm on a rainy night from 7:30 p.m. to almost midnight on July 3.

Houck said they had a fire going and left when it burned out.

Asked to write out a statement about what he did that day, Houck wrote for about an hour and 20 minutes.

At times, he read the statement out loud to himself, which is notable given he had an audio recorder in his pocket. Prosecutor Shane Young asked Snow in court Thursday if it was typical for a suspect to read their written statement aloud.

"No," Snow responded.

Snow also asked Houck in the interview if he and Rogers had a rough relationship.

"We had fought like any other couple, Houck replied. "At times, it was a stressful relationship."

But, he added, "We love each other very much."

Rogers' sister sat in the courtroom listening to Houck's interview with her head in her hands, clenching her hair anxiously.

Sketches of Brooks Houck and Joseph Lawson's Trial

When cross-examining Snow, the defense noted investigators have spent thousands of hours on this case, interviewed hundreds of people and conducted numerous searches of Houck family property. Despite this effort, Snow said they found no physical evidence of a crime scene, body or method of death.

In addition, Snow acknowledged Houck fully cooperated with investigators, providing multiple interviews, his fingerprints, his cellphone and consented to searches of his home and vehicle. Snow admitted he's done more searches in this case than any other in his career.

Joseph Lawson's case

Meanwhile, there has been almost no allegations against Joseph Lawson yet. His attorneys, Kevin Coleman and Bobby Boyd, deferred their opening statement—meaning one of them will likely give it after the prosecution has finished—and asked only one question to a witness.

Coleman asked Snow if the only information presented about Joseph Lawson so far is that his DNA wasn't found in Rogers' car. Snow indicated that was correct.

Snow also acknowledged there was a fingerprint found on Rogers' cellphone, which was in her vehicle when it was found, that didn't match anyone in the Houck or Lawson family.

A palm print on Rogers' car also didn't match anyone in either family. Snow told Schroering on the stand it didn't appear the car had been wiped clean after being left on the Bluegrass Parkway.

There has been much more discussion of Joseph's father, Steve Lawson, who was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence on May 30 for his role in Rogers' slaying. He faces a recommended sentence of 17 years when he is sentenced Aug. 6.

Defense attorneys for Houck have argued that neither of the Lawson's had anything to do with Rogers' murder.

During his trial, however, Steve Lawson admitted he was guilty of tampering with physical evidence for helping his son move Rogers' vehicle after she disappeared. Joseph Lawson drove Rogers' car, and his father picked him up when the vehicle had a flat tire, leaving it on the side of Bluegrass Parkway, he testified.

Before they left, Steve Lawson said he reached into Rogers' car and moved the driver's seat forward—because Rogers was short—and removed a miniature Louisville Slugger bat his son carried around regularly. At his son's urging, he called Brooks Houck at about midnight and told him the job was done, Steve Lawson said.

Since he was tried separately, Steve Lawson's testimony will not be allowed to be shown to jurors in this trial. The defense is trying to clear the Lawsons of wrongdoing at least in part because they tie Houck to Rogers' disappearance.

The defense has offered an explanation as to why cellphones belonging to Steve Lawson and his son, Joseph, were pinged near where Rogers' was found after she disappeared.

They've said Steve Lawson was retrieving a car that had been taken by his ex-wife and was on Boston Road, which runs parallel to the Bluegrass Parkway. Schroering said a Nelson County sheriff's deputy viewed surveillance video from a food mart on Boston Road from July 3-4, but prosecutors objected, and there was no more discussion of the video after a bench conference.

In his cross-examination, Schroering tried to provide jurors with more context for the July 3, 2015, midnight phone call from Steve Lawson to Brooks Houck. The two have claimed the call was about a rental property, while prosecutors claim Lawson called to tell Houck that Rogers' vehicle had been successfully moved.

Schroering argued that Lawson's step-daughter had been evicted from one of Houck's properties, showing text messages from August 2015 in which the woman's husband asked Houck about looking at a new house.

Also, Schroering asked Snow on the stand about the video of the July 8 interview being released to the public in October 2015. Snow said the interview was sent to the Bardstown Police Department, but he wasn't sure how it got out.

As a result, Schroering indicated any possible witness from that point on would be able to see Brooks Houck's interview, which he said received more than 150,000 views. He also talked about Snow being interviewed for a six-part series on the Oxygen Network in 2018. Schroering's point to the jurors was to show witness testimony could have been tainted by the public interviews.

Houck's brother, Nick, who was a Bardstown Police Department officer at the time, has been referenced several times already during the trial and was called an "unindicted co-conspirator" by the prosecution.

Nick Houck also called Brooks Houck during the July 8 interview with Snow and warned him about continuing to talk to police.

Snow testified Thursday he requested Nick Houck come in for an interview with investigators July 9, but he declined.

The chief of the Bardstown Police Department at the time of Rogers' disappearance took Nick Houck's cruiser and had it tested at the Kentucky State Police lab, Snow told the jury. Snow said nothing of evidentiary value was found.

Snow also testified that after his July 8, 2015, interview with Brooks Houck, surveillance video showed his truck and the police cruiser of his brother going to the Houck family farm.

The jury also heard a July 9, 2015, interview between TV personality Nancy Grace and Brooks Houck, who repeated the story about going to the family farm the night of July 3. He also said when they went home about midnight, she played games on her phone and he went to sleep.

The trial will resume Friday morning.

This story may be updated.