Court asked to order DNA testing on 2016 hair samples in Crystal Rogers case
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Thursday, March 27, 2025 — A new court order in the Crystal Rogers case seeks to send two hair samples recovered from Rogers’ vehicle in 2016 to a lab for DNA testing.
The two hair samples were taken from Rogers’ car, and according to court documents, the hairs were not believed to have been Rogers’ hair.
Prosecutors are seeking a court order to have the samples tested. The hairs were not tested in 2016 because DNA testing would likely consume both samples.
Prosecutors are asking to have BODE Technologies conduct the testing on the two untested hair samples. BODE advises they can have the testing completed within a four-week period.
Attorneys representing defendants Brooks Houck and Joseph Lawson have agreed to the testing Lawson will provide a DNA sample. The attorney representing Joseph Lawson’s father, Stephen Lawson, said his client has not agreed to the testing, and as such, will not provide a DNA sample.
Stephen Lawson has testified that he and his son, Joseph Lawson, had both been inside Crystal Rogers’ vehicle after her disappearance.
Rogers disappeared over the 4th of July weekend in 2015. She was last seen by her boyfriend, Brooks Houck, who was indicted for her murder.
WHITESIDES BUICK. The documents released Wednesday also note that DNA testing was performed in 2016 on a hair found in the trunk of a white Buick owned at the by Houck’s grandmother, Anna Whitesides.
Investigators believe Whitesides’ vehicle was used to transport Rogers body to the Houck family farm. Following Rogers’ disappearance, the Buick was cleaned and then sold in an apparent effort to prevent police from finding evidence.
Police located the Buick and then held the vehicle as evidence in this case.
A September 2016 letter from the Kentucky State Police explains that the KSP lab could not perform the DNA testing on the hair samples it was sent without the samples being consumed.
In December 2016, Nelson Circuit Court issued an order to have the FBI conduct DNA testing on the hair sample from the Whitesides’ vehicle. The other two hair samples were not ordered tested at that time.
The results of the FBI’s DNA testing have not been released.
Stephen Laws is scheduled to stand trial in Warren County in May. The trial for Brooks Houck and Joseph Lawson is currently set for June.
Nelson Circuit Judge Charles Simms III will hear the motion for DNA testing in circuit court on April 3, 2025
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