Court documents released late Friday gave a little more information about what prosecutors believe Stephen Lawson’s involvement was in the Crystal Rogers case.
Lawson is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with evidence in the case.
The document was filed in response to Lawson’s motion to have the case against him dismissed. His attorney has argued that Lawson was promised immunity for cooperating with investigators.
But in the newly-filed response, prosecutors say that Lawson negated that deal when he was dishonest with investigators. They also wrote that they believe Lawson had a “larger involvement in Crystal Rogers’s murder than he was willing to admit.”
They point to a recorded jailhouse phone call, which they say includes Lawson telling someone that when he lied, he messed up his deal.
Prosecutors also wrote that Lawson had admitted that Crystal Rogers’ boyfriend at the time, Brooks Houck, had been “trying to find someone to get rid of Crystal Rogers.”
Houck is charged with murder in the case.
Prosecutors also wrote that witnesses offered evidence that Lawson and Houck “spent an inordinate amount of time together immediately preceding Roger’s disappearance.”
Lawson’s name first came up publicly when police released an interview with investigators Houck had given just days after Rogers’ disappearance.
Police wanted to know why Lawson made a late night call to Houck the night Rogers disappeared, so Houck called Lawson on speaker during the interview.
Lawson can be heard telling Houck that he’d called about a rental property Rogers managed.
Lawson’s son, Joseph Lawson, is also charged with conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with evidence.
Stephen Lawson has admitted that Joseph Lawson drove Rogers’ car on the night she went missing, and that Joseph Lawson had called him when the car got a flat tire, according to Stephen Lawson’s attorney. The car was eventually found abandoned on the Bluegrass Parkway.
The commonwealth’s court filing also states that Stephen Lawson admitted to lying to law enforcement. In a recorded jailhouse phone call, Stephen Lawson told someone that they’d been right when they’d said he’d messed up his deal by lying, according to the prosecutor’s filing.
