Brandon Houck pleaded not guilty this week to charges that he killed his girlfriend, Crystal Rogers, in 2015 as prosecutors brought out surprising revelations while arguing to keep a $10 million bond in place.
Rogers, a 35-year-old Kentucky mother of 5, was last seen at the Houck family farm in July 2015. Days later, her car was found abandoned on the Bluegrass Parkway with her keys, phone, and purse still inside, as CrimeOnline reported.
Houck, named the primes suspect in 2015, was arrested last month and charged with murder and tampering with evidence.
Houck appeared by video at the hearing as his attorneys argued to lower his bond to $500,000 with GPS monitoring, telling the court he was not a flight risk since he’s been a suspect in Rogers’ disappearance for years and has remained in the area, the Louisville Courier Journal reported.
The attorneys argued that Houck needs to be released on bond so he can tend to his multimillion dollar businesses and be a father to the child he shared with Rogers.
But prosecutors revealed that flight risk might not be only reason for the high bond. Houck’s family members, they said, secretly recorded closed grand jury proceedings in 2015 so they could keep their stories straight.
And, they said, they were conducting tests on a rifle they recovered that they believe could have been used to shoot and kill Rogers’ father, Tommy Ballard, 16 months after his daughter disappeared. They told the court the rifle was sold by Houck’s brother, former Bardstown police officer Nick Houck, under an assumed name.
Nick Houck was fired from his job a year after Rogers vanished for interfering in the investigation.
Chief Circuit Judge Charles Simms III did not make a decision about Houck’s bond but said he would review the arguments and make a decision later.
Brooks Houck was arrested after the arrest of Joseph Lawson, 32, on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with evidence.
Investigators have released few details about what they think happened the night Rogers, whose body has not been found, disappeared. They have also not revealed how Houck and Lawson are connected.
No trial date has been set for Houck, but a pretrial conference is scheduled for February 8, 2024.
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[Featured image: Crystal Rogers/handout. Inset: Brooks Houck/handout]
