Former Bardstown police chief who fired Nick Houck says arrest 'makes sense'

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The former Bardstown police chief who fired Nick Houck said he was not surprised to learn Nick Houck was arrested Thursday on perjury charges connected to the investigation into the disappearance of Crystal Rogers.

"I felt in my heart all these years they are going to get him on something," former Bardstown Police Chief Rick McCubbin told WDRB on Friday.

Nick Houck, a former Bardstown police officer and brother of Brooks Houck, was arrested Thursday and charged with perjury. According to Kentucky State Police, investigators believe Nick Houck made false statements under oath between 2015 and 2023 during the long-running investigation into Rogers' disappearance.

Rogers, a Bardstown mother of five, vanished in July 2015. Her boyfriend at the time, Brooks Houck, had long been considered the primary suspect in her disappearance. Brooks Houck was indicted in 2023 on charges including complicity to murder and tampering with physical evidence, and a jury found him guilty of murder in July 2025.

McCubbin worked with Nick Houck during the early years of the investigation and said, looking back, Nick Houck's lack of cooperation raised concerns.

"When I look back on it, I think, why was I surprised?" McCubbin said. "He didn't want to cooperate, so it all makes sense once you step back and remove everything."

McCubbin ultimately terminated Nick Houck from the Bardstown Police Department after he refused what McCubbin described as a direct order to cooperate with investigators.

"I basically told him, 'You're going to sit in that chair, you're going to cooperate and that is a direct order,'" McCubbin said. "He failed to do that and at that time I went to the then-mayor and said, 'He's got to go.'"

According to state police, one instance of alleged perjury involved Nick Houck's sworn testimony during a deposition when he was asked whether he knew anything about Rogers' disappearance.

McCubbin said he believed Nick Houck's actions interfered with the investigation while Nick Houck was still a police officer.

"I, and most everyone that's been involved with it, believe that he has more to do with it than we see on the surface," McCubbin said.

Kentucky State Police said Nick Houck also refused to answer questions before a Nelson County grand jury, and investigators believe some of the statements he did provide were false.

McCubbin said Nick Houck is now facing the consequences of his own decisions.

"He chose his own path," McCubbin said. "It's nothing I did or the department did. He ultimately chose the path he took and he is paying the price still today."

Nick Houck was arrested Thursday around 1:41 p.m. and his bond was set at $25,000. He was initially booked into the Nelson County jail and then transferred to the Hardin County jail where he was released at 6:02 p.m. Nick Houck is scheduled to be arraigned June 18 in Nelson County.