BARDSTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) — As the 10-year anniversary of Crystal Rogers’ disappearance approaches, new developments are emerging in the case against the man long believed to be the last person to see her alive.
Brooks Houck’s defense team plans to call four expert witnesses, according to a court document filed Friday. The experts are expected to offer specialized testimony related to law enforcement practices.
Among them is Dr. Jeffery Neuschatz, an emeritus professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Neuschatz has published extensively on jailhouse informants, a topic that could play a role in Houck’s trial.
Also listed as a expert witness is Denver Butler, a former Kentucky state legislator and the founder of Clemency Investigations Inc. In his LinkedIn profile, Butler describes himself as a “retired results-driven law enforcement professional” who helped re-investigate historical homicide cases, leading to the exoneration of two wrongfully convicted men.
Adrian Lauf is also named in the court filing, though it does not specify the nature of his potential testimony.
The fourth expert was not identified in the document released Friday.
Houck, along with Steve Lawson and Lawson’s son Joseph, faces charges related to Rogers’ 2015 disappearance. Steve Lawson’s trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday.
Crystal Rogers was last seen alive on July 3, 2015, during the Fourth of July weekend. Days later, her car was found abandoned — still running — on the side of the Bluegrass Parkway. Her purse and other belongings were inside. Despite years of searching, Rogers has never been found and is presumed dead.
This July will mark a decade since her disappearance, a case that continues to grip the Bardstown community and beyond.
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