The trial of Crystal Rogers investigation suspects Brooks Houck and Joseph Lawson continued at the Warren County Justice Center Thursday morning.
The prosecution submitted a recording of the interview former Nelson County Sheriff’s Office Detective Jon Snow, the lead investigator on the case from 2015 to 2019, conducted with Houck at the sheriff’s office on July 8, 2015. In the recording, Houck willingly submitted his cell phone for police to download a CDR record of it. Snow told Houck: “For better or worse, you are the person of interest in the case.” Snow then asked Houck to write down a detailed statement recounting what all he did from the morning of July 3 through the evening of July 5. Houck is seen in the video writing his statement, then he reads the statement to himself out loud. Snow testified that this was unusual since he was told he would get a copy of the statement.
The recording shows Snow asked Houck about a phone call that his cell phone record showed came in shortly after midnight on July 4. Houck said he did not recognize the number but would put it in his phone, at which time he said the number belonged to Steven Lawson. Houck called Lawson, and Snow testified that it stood out to him that Lawson immediately started talking about the rental properties when Houck mentioned skid steer work.
On cross examination, Houck’s lawyer Steve Schroeing asked Snow about the various searches of Houck’s home and the Houck farm along with phone records, and Snow testified that investigators found no evidence in those searches. Snow testified that nobody was charged and Rogers was not found when he was lead detective on the case. Schroeing submitted into evidence phone calls made by Houck to Rogers’s number and text messages with people asking about Rogers’s whereabouts on July 4 and 5, 2015.
At the end of his testimony, a juror asked Snow if the clothes Rogers was seen wearing in surveillance video on July 3 were found. Snow testified that they were not.
The prosecution called witnesses from several Bardstown offices or businesses Houck told investigators he visited on July 3, with the witnesses saying they did not see Houck and that their offices were closed on July 3 for Independence Day. The prosecution also called Ritchie Riggs, a realtor who worked frequently with Houck and lived near Houck and Rogers. He testified that Rogers told him about a week before her disappearance that she was afraid Houck was getting ready to kick her out of the house.
The prosecution also called Danny Singleton, who did construction work for Houck. Singleton testified that Rosemary Houck had spoken with him at a job site and said she wanted to find someone to help get rid of Rogers. Singleton said he told her that “with money, you can get anything done” but did not recommend anybody or get further involved. On cross examination, Singleton noted that he was in jail on a felony Perjury charge related to lying about where he was on July 3, 2015, when he was visited by investigators in April 2016 and agreed to tell them of his interaction with Rosemary Houck, after which his sentence was changed to a misdemeanor.
The trial is scheduled to resume Friday morning.
