Brooks Houck indictment partially unsealed, accused of murder, tampering in death of Crytal Rogers

Despite a press release issued to media outlets Wednesday morning by Kentucky State Police and the FBI indicating the indictment of Brooks Houck in the death of Crystal Rogers “remains sealed,” the document was unsealed by a circuit court judge Wednesday morning with partial redactions.

The indictment states that Houck, Rogers’ boyfriend and the father of one of her five children, “acting alone or in complicity with another, committed the offense of murder by intentionally or under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life wantonly causing the death of Crystal Rogers.”

Houck, 41, of Bardstown, was also indicted by a Nelson County Grand Jury for tampering with physical evidence.

He was arrested Wednesday morning at a work site on Hawthorn’s Way in Nelson County. His arraignment is scheduled for “early October,” according to Kentucky State Police.

The grand jury witnesses are listed as Det. Bryan Luckett with Kentucky State Police and FBI Agent Steve Keary.

Rogers, 35, disappeared on July 3, 2015. Her Chevrolet Impala was found on the Bluegrass Parkway in Nelson County with her personal belongings inside. She was reported missing by her mother, Sherry Ballard, on July 5, 2015.

Her body has not been found.

Houck was publicly named a suspect in the case in October 2015 by then-Nelson County Sheriff Ed Mattingly. Houck, whose brother, former Bardstown Police Officer Nick Houck was terminated for interfering in the early stages of the investigation, has steadfastly maintained his innocence.

In August 2020, as the FBI took control of the case, more than 150 federal and state law enforcement officers searched nearly 10 locations in and around Bardstown, including Houck’s residence and motor vehicles.

In August 2021, FBI agents utilized cadaver dogs, drones, and ground scanners while searching several areas in the Woodlawn Springs subdivision, Supervisory Special Agent Tim Beam said at the time. The neighborhood contained homes built by Brooks Houck’s company, Houck Rentals LLC.

Earlier this month, Joseph L. Lawson, 32, of Willisburg, was arrested and charged in the Rogers case with conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence, according to a law enforcement document.

On November 19, 2016, Rogers’ father, Tommy Ballard, who was actively searching for his daughter’s killer, was shot and killed as he hunted on the family’s property near the Bluegrass Parkway. His murder remains unsolved.

Brooks Houck is being held in the Hardin County Detention Center on a $10 million cash bond.

Hardin County Commonwealth Attorney’s Shane Young has been appointed a special prosecutor in the case.

By Ken Howlett, News Director

Contact Ken at ken@k105.com