Crystal Rogers was last seen on July 3, 2015.
10 years and five days later, the last person known to have seen her alive has been found guilty of her murder.
A jury of six men and six women at the Warren County Justice Center on Tuesday found Brooks Houck guilty of Murder – Principal or Accomplice and Tampering with Physical Evidence. That same jury found Joseph Lawson guilty of Conspiracy to Commit Murder and Tampering with Physical Evidence.
When court returned Tuesday morning, the three alternate jurors were selected, and the jury was sent to deliberate at 8:36 a.m. CDT. The jurors requested a whiteboard and something to watch videos on, and they briefly returned to the courtroom in order to watch part of prosecution witness Charlie Girdley’s testimony. The jury returned to the courtroom at 2:39 p.m. and the verdicts were announced.
During the sentencing phase that followed, Lawson’s attorney Kevin Coleman asked the jury to consider mitigating factors concerning Lawson including the negative influence Steven Lawson had on his life and his substance abuse problems. Houck’s attorney Steve Schroering noted that Houck does not have any prior criminal history, and he asked the jury to consider that there was no evidence in the case that gives a “comfort level” when considering the punishment.
Special Prosecutor Shane Young said the case was an example of pre-meditated murder, with Houck planning a murder that would make it look like Rogers disappeared, then misled investigators for 10 years. Young asked the jury to consider the Ballard family, in particular Rogers’s children, with Young saying “Their kids won’t have a grandma, all because this man decided their mom needed to disappear.” He said Lawson showed no regard for Rogers and participated in the crime in pursuit of a payday.
The jury only needed to deliberate on their recommendations for about five minutes. They recommended Houck serve a sentence of life in prison on the Murder charge, along with a five year sentence on the Tampering charge, with those sentences to be served consecutively. They also recommended a maximum sentence for Lawson: 20 years on the Conspiracy charge, and five years on the Tampering charge, to be served consecutively.
Houck and Lawson were remanded to the custody of the Warren County Sheriff’s Office. They will be formally sentenced at the Nelson County Justice Center on August 21.
Steven Lawson, who was convicted on the same charges as his son in a separate trial on May 30, is due to be sentenced on August 6.
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