Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Nancy Grace Episode Entered as Evidence in Crystal Rogers Boyfriend Murder Trial

Episode Date: July 20, 2024

It's been years since Crystal Roger went missing. Her then-boyfriend, Brooks Houck, immediately became the main suspect.  The mom of five was last seen at Houck's home. Rogers' car was found abandoned with a flat tire on the Bluegrass Parkway two days later. Her keys, phone, and purse were inside the vehicle. Houck was interviewed, but not arrested. Houck has been charged with murder and tampering with evidence. Now we learn that an Nancy Grace episode in which Houck spoke with Nancy on HLN has been entered into evidence.  Rogers’ body has not been found.    Joining Nancy Grace Today: James Shelnutt – Attorney – The Shelnutt Law Firm, P.C.; 27-year Atlanta Metro Area Major Case Detective and Former S.W.A.T. Officer; X: @ShelnuttLawFirm Dr. Jeff Kieliszewski – Forensic Psychologist, Author: “Darksides;” FB: forensicsandmediapsychologist/TikTok: Dr. Jeff Kieliszewski Sheryl McCollum – Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder & Host of New Podcast: “Zone 7;” X: @149Zone Fallon Glick – WDRB Louisville News Reporter; Facebook & X: @FallonGlick @WDRBNews Jessica Noll -  Podcaster: "Bardstown" Shay McAlister - reporter WHAS,; Podcaster: "Bardstown" See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Crystal Rogers, a beautiful young mom, seemingly disappears into thin air. Last seen at the home of her boyfriend, where he says she was sitting in bed beside him playing on her cell phone. And then what? Just vanished? Like Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie? How did that work? Well, it didn't. In the last days, a bizarre twist in the case. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us.

The latest filing in the case of men now charged in Crystal Rogers' death is all about an episode of Nancy Grace, filmed the week after Crystal disappeared in Bardstown. The episode of NG on HLN was entered by prosecutors. They have not revealed the episode's significance in the case, but I have reason to believe it is when her boyfriend, Brooks Houck, agreed to be interviewed by NG, Nancy Grace, on HLN. As I recall it, I asked him why he never reported Rogers missing when he realized she was gone. And he answered he wasn't alarmed in any, quote, way, shape, or form, that it was not uncommon for her to go to her cousin's house when there were issues in their relationship. But during the episode, Crystal's father, Tommy Ballard, tells me he knew of only one time Crystal had gone to her cousin's. I recall also asking Brooks Houck about people who claimed he, the boyfriend, was not

involved in the search for Crystal Rogers. And he responded, all my efforts in searching for her have been done behind the scene with Nelson County sheriffs. Right. Okay. Just remember, family says he never helped look for Crystal and they were suspicious of his story from the beginning. And it was Roger's own mother that reported her missing, not him. Okay. Why is this particular episode of NG going to be a state's exhibit. But to understand that, you've got to understand how Crystal went missing. Nelson County Detective John Snow sits down with Crystal's boyfriend, Brooks Houck. The conversation lasts for about 90 minutes. Brooks tells Detective Snow just what he told Crystal's mom, Sherry Ballard. He and Crystal were at his family's farm feeding the cows. You fed the cows and then you come back out and you walked the road, right?

The road that goes to... Yeah, after we come back after walking through here. Brooks draws a makeshift map for the detective and shows where he says he and Crystal were on Friday, July 3rd, 2015. That's the driveway? Yeah, this driveway to the bar. Right. And then we walk out the road and we just walk back through there. Wearing a blue polo shirt and jeans, Brooks sits casually, arm up on the table. He maintains his composure and appears unfazed by the detective's questions about the last time he saw Crystal on his mom's farm. You are hearing just a tiny

portion of a fantastic podcast. I'm totally hooked on it. Bardstown. B as in brother, A-R-D-S-T-O-W-N, Bard, like Shakespeare the Bard, Bardstown Podcast. And this is what it is about. It's all about the mysterious deaths that take place in a very small Kentucky town. Consider the bourbon capital of the world, Bardstown, Kentucky. It's like so many small communities across our country, much like the one I grew up in, except people are dropping like flies in Bardstown. With me right now, investigative journalist, podcast producer with Vault Studios, Jessica Knoll. With me, her partner, investigative reporter with WHAS in Louisville.

They are responsible for Bardstown podcast. You can find it at www.bardstownpodcast.com. To you, Jessica, tell me about Crystal Rogers. Who is she? Who was she? Well, Crystal Rogers is a 35 year old mother of five. She had lived and grown up in Bardstown her whole life. And she was dating a man by the name of Brooks Houck.

They had a child together and she seemingly vanished July 3rd, 2015. And her car was found on the popular roadway through Kentucky, Bluegrass Parkway, a couple of days later. And her purse, her cell phone, everything that a woman would keep with her was found in her car, her unlocked car. And she's not been seen since. You know, to Shay McAllister, investigative reporter, WHAS Louisville. Shay, you guys are rolling her in to the Bardstown murders. Tell me about the other murders. Sure. So all of these cases date back to 2013. That's when Bardstown police officer Jason Ellis was ambushed on his way home from work.

It was the middle of the night, and as he was pulling off the highway onto his exit, there was branches laying in the middle of the road and at least one person hiding, who then shot and killed him when he got out to move the branches. That was the first case. Just over a year later, Samantha and Kathy Netherland, a mother and daughter, were in their home when they were attacked and brutally murdered. And this is a special education teacher at Bardstown Elementary School and a high schooler, a teenage student.

They were very beloved in the community. And that one happened next. And then 16 months later, Crystal Rogers goes missing. And as of right now, we don't know what has become of Crystal Rogers. If she's dead, we don't know her mode of death or cause of death. Jessica, weren't you just at the Bourbon Festival? Right. So we went back. Spencer Brudig and I, one of our producers, went back to Bardstown for the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, which is a huge deal in Bardstown. Thousands of people come in from all over to sample bourbon from

several distilleries that are actually based right there in Bardstown. It's probably the biggest event of the year every year there. So we wanted to go back because there had been some issues with signs that were in yards for the prayers for crystal and standing with the ballards. They were being taken down. And so we wanted to go back and see what was going on and what people were saying. And what we saw was an incredible outcry of community support. Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute.

I want to talk. I don't want to gloss over what you just said. Signs across Bardstown have been removed and the signs specifically were showing support for Crystal Rogers who goes missing. Incredible pain for Crystal's mother Sherry Ballard. Her daughter Crystal went missing and then her own husband was mysteriously killed in 2016. Now, a brand new heartache. Very, very disturbing because these signs all across the county were taken down. Now, Ballard blames Bardstown, the city, which says it has to follow city policy.

All temporary signs in right of ways have to be removed. Now, I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but I'm looking at a giant pink placard, a sign that says prayers for crystal. Now, why would anybody want to take that down? And it's not in a right of way. It's off, I would say, a good 15 to 30 feet off the highway. So what happened to the prayers for crystal signs, Jessica? Well, the city and the county deny taking them down, but the signs were actually found behind City Hall near a dumpster where they store signs that have been taken down. So and Sherry and some friends and family are actually the ones who found those signs back behind City Hall.

And they it didn't stop them. They replenished what was out there. When we went to Bardstown, there were new signs out, but there was also, you know, uh, bourbon festival signs, no parking signs, no pets here signs that were exactly in places where the, uh, prayers for crystal signs used to be and were taken down. Um, but they had created some brand new signs also. Um, and some of the signs I should mention aren't just prayers for Crystal. They're also pointing the finger at the prime suspect in her case, Brooks Houck and his brother, Nick Houck. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

In the last days, an episode of Nancy Grace off HLN has been entered into evidence in the murder case of Crystal Rogers. Her body has never been found. What happened to Crystal? Take a listen to this. You had a little fire. When was that? After you took your walk or before you took your walk? I know we fed the cows first because I want to do that as quickly while we have still plenty of daylight. I don't know if I lit the fire before we walked back here or right when I got back. I could have done it either way. I don't remember.

After the fire and with their toddler in tow, Brooks says he and Crystal take a walk. That's to me, and I've got a couple of kids, you know, but everybody parents a little differently. To me, it seems a little late to be out on the farm with a two and a half year old. Where is he at at midnight? Has he been asleep in the car for a while? Is he still wide open? No, he's still wide open. And he'll bring any night he's so used to sleeping. So later in the morning, his normal day, that's his seven used to sleeping so later in the morning.

His normal day, that's his 7, 8 o'clock in the evening. Because she sleeps much later in the morning. She stays up. So, yeah, it's always been that way. He's wide open. You were hearing the boyfriend, Brooks Houck, and he's speaking to Detective Snow. Now, let me understand something to Shea McAllister, investigative reporter with WHAS in Louisville. The boyfriend says he goes for a walk with Crystal and the little baby, the one-year-old, at midnight. That's what he tells

police. He says they went down to feed the cows. But Sherry Ballard, Crystal's mom, has had a big problem with this since the beginning. She says that it was very rainy that night and there's just no way Crystal would have wanted to be walking around the farm, much less with her baby. Whose farm was it? It was Houck's mom's farm. So Brooks Houck's mom, Rosemary Houck, has a huge farm on the outskirts of Bardstown. That's where they say they were. So did Brooks Houck's mother see Crystal there with the baby that night? We don't have any kind of recordings of her police interviews, and she has never given us an interview. I don't know. Have you tried? Have you tried to talk to her? Yeah, we have tried to talk

to her. We've seen her in court multiple times over the years. She's always there when Brooks is in court or at custody hearings for that little boy. And we have definitely tried to talk to her. Interesting. Very interesting. So she's on a date, I guess you could call it, with her boyfriend. And he thinks it's a good thing to take her to feed the cows at midnight with the baby. Am I understanding this correctly, Jessica Knoll? That is correct. And I do want to point out, we actually do go to the farm and try to speak to Rosemary there.

But what's interesting about the clip that you just ran, someone on Facebook, because we've had a lot of chatter from folks that want to chime in with what they're hearing and their thoughts and theories. And someone pointed out that he actually says in that clip, I went home. He doesn't say we, which I thought was kind of interesting for someone to hear when they were listening to that, because I didn't pick that up. He says we didn't get anything to eat. But then he says, because I didn't pick that up. He says, we didn't get anything to eat, but then he says, I went home. I noticed that. I noticed when he said, I went home, and I just assumed that Crystal Rogers peeled off.

But having a baby out at midnight, I just don't believe that for a minute. Take a listen to Brooks Houck and Detective Snow. shortly after that, you know. So you get up between 6 and 7, and where's Eli at when you wake up? He's next to me. He's in the bed with you. Okay. So you get up, does he get up with you? He still sleeps whenever I get up, but I go to, you know, the bathroom and all that kind of stuff, and he's still sleeping there on the bed. But Crystal isn't there when he gets up.

Yes, I noticed. I mean, I noticed that she wasn't there. I didn't know what was, I didn't know exactly what to think. I don't know what time I called her. Yes, I called her that morning. Brooks takes his son to the farm, but his lack of concern for Crystal's whereabouts gives the detective pause, and he probes. If I woke up on a Saturday morning and my wife wasn't with me in the bed as is normal, if she were not, probably the first thing I would do would be to call her to find out where she was. You are hearing Brooks Houck, the boyfriend of Crystal Rogers, the father of their child, and Detective Snow. Could you play Cut 3

one more time? I probably woke up around, you know, in between that time, like six or seven o'clock, and then I left, you know, I got, did my normal thing, put, you know, changed my clothes, put my clothes on, and headed out, you know, shortly after that, you that. So you get up between 6 and 7, and where's Eli at when you wake up? He's next to me. He's in the bed with you. Okay. So you get up, does he get up with you? He still sleeps whenever I get up,

but I go to the bathroom and all that kind of stuff, and he's still sleeping there on the bed. But Crystal isn't there when he gets up. Yes, I noticed that she wasn't there. I didn't know exactly what to think. I don't know what time I called her. Yes, I called her that morning. Brooks takes his son to the farm,

but his lack of concern for Crystal's whereabouts gives the detective pause. If I woke up on a Saturday morning and my wife wasn't with me in the bed as is normal, if she were not, probably the first thing I would do would be to call her to find out where she was. Shane McAllister, I'm hearing them talking about the Houck brothers. There's more than one of them? Yes, there is. There are two Houck brothers. There's Nick Houck, the older of the two. He was a Bardstown police officer when Crystal went missing. And then his younger brother, Brooks Houck, was Crystal's boyfriend. So is the brother still with the police force? He is not. He was fired just a few months after Crystal went missing. Nick interfered with the investigation.

He actually called his brother Brooks while he was in an interrogation room with police. As a matter of fact, take a listen to this. The interview is interrupted when Brooks gets a call from his older brother, Nick Houck, the Bardstown police officer. Can I get this? Sure.

Hello? town police officer. I'm filling out this statement here and everything. Are you telling me that's what I need to do? I know I'm not. I know that. But the way that I look at it is I'm innocent. I ain't done nothing wrong. I know you've told me innocent people got jammed up. But if you're telling me to leave, I'll get up and leave. If you want me, if you want me to.

I know I'm going through a lot, but I'm trying to get this guy to help me. I don't think I don't think she's ran off with some other guy. I don't believe that. You can't make me think that. Yeah, I mean, I mean, so do I. I'll do exactly what you're telling me to do right now. You want me to get up and leave? Well, that's exactly what he did.

That's Brooks Houck, the boyfriend, the lover of Crystal Rogers, now missing with Detective Snow. And as a matter of fact, he did get up and leave. Now, long story short, the Bardstown police chief, Rick McGavin, hears that the officer, Officer Howe, calls his brother and tells him to leave. Listen. But news of that phone call eventually gets back to Bardstown police chief, Rick McCubbin, and goes against everything his oath of ethics stands for in his department. Nick wasn't being questioned, no. But what really got my Irish up

was the fact that he called his brother and, I guess, kind of encouraged him to leave, to get out of there. And sure, you, again, let me use the example of you and your friend could call you and go, man, Jessica, you need to shut up and leave. Nothing I can do about it. But your friend's not a cop.

Your brother's not a cop. And I told him, I said, that's not how this profession rolls. You don't get to do that. I don't care if you're looking out for your brother or not. You don't get to do that. You know, so that was, you know, part of it. Well, as a matter of fact, after that, Nick Houck's boss, the police chief, orders him to talk to detectives. And according to an FBI polygraph examiner who tells Nick Houck in a police interrogation video,

quote, it's pretty clear you haven't told me the complete truth. And the questions you're having problems with are questions about Crystal in particular, whether or not you know where she is right now. Explain that to me, Jessica. Know what happened to the FBI polygraph examiner tells Nick Houck, the police officer at that time, that he is not being truthful with him. And it that whole interaction just really begins to escalate. And he at one point asks him, as Nick is getting audibly frustrated with him because he's calling him a liar, essentially. At one point, the FBI polygraph examiner says, is this how you acted towards Crystal? And, and, and he obviously begins

yelling at that point. So there is something, and, and, you know, better than us that polygraph examinations aren't always 100%, but there was something, there was enough of not telling the truth that set off their radar and that he was not being truthful when he was talking about Crystal, about her disappearance, about Brooks possibly telling him something about him having any involvement. He was not being truthful truthful according to their examination. Take a listen to this. Well, Nick, I've had a chance to review your charts on that test, that first test. You did not pass the test, and it's pretty clear to me that you haven't told me the complete truth today. And the questions you're having a problem with are questions about Crystal, and in particular one about whether or not you know where she is right now.

And I treat police officers in these circumstances like I would myself, so we're not going to go through all the interview interrogation nonsense. You and I are on the same page. But again, I'm also going to tell you the complete truth as we're sitting here. And it's no longer a matter of wondering, do you know anything about what happened? We're past that now. I mean, I am crystal clear with you. I give everybody a good, fair test.

I'm no longer asking you if you know. You do. Now, what you want to do with that is entirely up to you. I'm going to yell and scream at you and get the sick woods phone book and all that. I'm talking to you man-to to man as a fellow law enforcement officer uh that the time has come for you to think real hard about the rest of your life this is you i'm not talking about brooks or anybody else uh and i'm telling facts i'm an old guy i'm not trying to be your father figure here but i'll tell you doing this for 25 years the way that this pans out when the fbi gets involved in this

investigation i want you to listen one time you don't have to say anything to me you do whatever you want to do as i said we you may never even be an fbi agent all right but once you get on the radar we don't go away unless there's a reason to i thought there would be you didn't pass this and there's some other information there as well. So I guarantee you we're not going to lie. All right? The FBI has unlimited resources in terms of forensic information, electronic information, many bodies as well,

and poor attributes, surveillance, and look at everything that's ever gone on. We will find Crystal. I have zero doubt about that. It doesn't matter what it's going to be. On July 15, 2015, detectives also revealed to Nick they found bodily fluids inside his police cruiser the day after he and Brooks leave the station together and drive to their mom's farm. Have you ever heard of luminol?

You ever been in any kind of criminal investigation? Oh, yes. All right, do you know what luminol is used for? To find blood? Okay. Or other bodily fluids. Bodily fluids. Okay.

So we all excrete bodily fluids, sweat, you know, vomit, anything, you know, saliva. All that is what would fluoresce. Why would your trunk look like a smurf if they sprayed it? Why would it fluoresce? It would look like Chernobyl. There's a couple spots in your trunk in that blanket. I mean, it just looked like Chernobyl. Why would that?

There's not going to be any blood in the trunk. Okay, well, I didn't say blood. I'm talking about other bodily fluids. I don't have blood. There shouldn't be any bodily fluids in the trunk. Whoa, there's not going to be any blood. Well, that tells me right there that there's a strong possibility she was asphyxiated. It's not going to be any blood.

That's the first thing he said. And again, everyone has said they're not guilty, that they're innocent in this case, and they have a right to a trial by jury. When did he report her missing? Brooks Houck never reports her missing. Actually, her mom reports her missing a few days later when she's had trouble reaching her over the phone. And when she actually runs into Brooks Houck in town, she asks Brooks, hey, have you seen Crystal? Where do you think she is?

And Brooks said, no, I haven't seen her. And Sherry says, well, then I'm going to go report her missing. And Brooks says, yeah, I think you should do that. Take a listen to Brooks speaking to Detective Snow on this very issue. Brooks runs into Crystal's mom. I met her mother at the gas station somewhere. One of them days. Her mother, Sherry, Crystal's mother, Sherry,

came up here to my window and asked me if I'd seen Crystal. And when you told her, what, I haven't seen her, don't know where she is, and she just said okay and asked me to come? No, she thought that the wisest thing for us to do was she said she was going to go to the police station. And then I went home. Meanwhile, Crystal's mom files a missing persons report

at the Nelson County Sheriff's Office around 3 p.m. Two hours later, her father, Tommy, gets a call. Crystal's car has been found along the Bluegrass Parkway. Tommy goes and uncovers her keys, phone, and purse inside. Brooks tells Detective Snow that he wasn't concerned until Sunday because she'd, quote, done this before. Friends and family tell me there's no way Crystal would ever have left her children. Never, ever, ever. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

Crystal Rogers' boyfriend, Brooks Hawk, came on to the NG Nancy Grace show on HLM. I questioned him about his behavior immediately following Crystal's disappearance. I didn't like any of his answers, and apparently prosecutors agree. That taped episode will be entered into evidence by the state. Joining me right now, in addition to her parents, Tom and Sherry Ballard, her boyfriend that she lived with. So, Brooks, you go to bed and she's still playing games on her phone. The next morning around 8 o'clock, you notice that she's missing. Did you report her missing?

No, ma'am. Why? That is a great question and one that I definitely want to hit the public and the media. I was not in the least little bit alarmed in any way, shape or form. We have had a stress relationship at times and one of the ways that Crystal has always chose to cope or to deal with that is by going to a young woman's name Sabrina that is her cousin her dad's brother's daughter whom she's very close to and she spent the night there on several occasions. When you say several, do you mean one, three, twenty? In the neighborhood of four to six. Okay. Tom and Sherry Ballard, were you aware of that? Do you know who Sabrina is?

Yes, ma'am. That's my niece. Okay. Did you know that she goes and spends the night over there when she's having an issue at home? I've known probably one time. Right. Okay, I want to go back to Brooks Houck. Let me ask you this.

I know that you agreed to take a polygraph. Did you pass? They, because of the way that the lines or whatever were on the thing, they determined it to be what's called inconclusive. I'm not exactly sure what that means, but they did tell me it didn't. It does mean that I wasn't lying or I didn't pass it or I didn't fail it. They just ruled it inconclusive and that's exactly the way that it stands. I've been 100% completely honest with everyone. I've been 100% cooperative and everything that has been asked of me. I've not asked for any kind of legal advice or assistance or an attorney

any nature. I'm 100% completely innocent in this and I have exhausted my efforts with the law enforcement agencies to gather all the facts necessary to allow me to have a clean name again. And that's very important to me. You are hearing who has been called the number one suspect, Crystal Rogers' lover, Brooks Houck, with me questioning him. I find it very interesting that either he's not telling me the truth or the FBI agent that took the polygraph is not telling the truth because I was looking right at the video when the agent, the polygrapher, says, you did not pass. Okay, that's not inconclusive.

That's you did not pass. But when I was questioning him, Houck says that it not inconclusive. That's you did not pass. But when I was questioning him, Houck says that it was inconclusive, basically blaming the test. Also, I heard something very significant. Apparently, the first story was they were up playing games like video games, I guess, and then went to sleep. That's a far cry from feeding the cows, Jessica Knoll. Brooks' story is that once they got home from the farm, he went to bed and his son stayed up with Crystal and Crystal played games on her phone. And that was the last time he saw her.

It's an arrest that has everyone's attention. Brooks Houck, Crystal Rogers' boyfriend, and the main suspect in her disappearance charged with her murder and tampering with physical evidence. According to the indictment, the charges stem from an incident July 4th weekend of 2015, just days before Crystal's car was found abandoned on the side of the Bluegrass Parkway with her keys, phone, and purse inside. He was named the main suspect within three months, but never charged until today.

Why so long? You were just hearing our friends at WHAS. For those of you just joining us in the last hours, finally, an arrest in the murder of Crystal Rogers. And you know what's so irritating? You know, Cheryl McCollum is joining me, director of the Cold Case Research Institute and star of a hit new series, Zone 7. When I hear, and I've heard it over and over, countless cases, Cheryl McCollum, have you ever had those cases and you have to tell every single witness? It doesn't matter

what everybody says, because very often what everybody says is not true. That's not the killer. It turns out to be someone completely different. But in this case, it's true. That's not the killer. It turns out to be someone completely different. But in this case, it's true. Since the whole thing went down, he has been suspect number one. He's been suspect only one. There hasn't been anybody else. But it's one of those situations, what you know and what you could prove is not the same thing. So they had to be patient. They had to work this case from every angle, which is what they did. They got him once for theft. They got people that were close to him for perjury. They even pressed grandma so hard she invoked her Fifth Amendment. So they have worked this thing beautifully as long as they possibly could.

Take a listen to WHAS 11. Federal investigators accused Houck of intentionally causing the death of Crystal Rogers and destroying, concealing, mutilating, or removing physical evidence in connection to the crime. He was arrested without incident while on a job site outside of Bardstown. This was the moment Brooks was put into handcuffs. My first reaction was just Sherry and her family getting the justice that they have fought so much for. Joining me right now, anchor WDRB out of Louisville, Fallon Glick. Thank you for being with us. Fallon, tell me about the arrest. Well, Brooke Tauch, her former boyfriend, he was arrested at a work site and then he was then taken to the Nelson County Jail. We have

video of him in handcuffs walking into the jail. It wasn't there very long, but we did get a booking photo of him and then he was taken to another county jail called the Harding County Jail. And that is where he is staying currently. And he's not going to get out unless he posts that $10 million cash only bond. OK, $10 million cash bond. James Shelnut, that's unlike a lot of bonds where you can put, for instance, your house down as collateral. You get $100,000 bond. You got to come up with $10,000 money or collateral like a home. But a $10 million bond, that's not going to happen anytime soon. No, it's not going to happen anytime soon. And, you know, a lot of times with severe cases,

you do see a cash bond. But even with a cash bond, that's a pretty high cash bond. They must feel pretty confident in the case that they've got against him. And so must the judge to set the bond that high. I mean, get real, shall not. If the guy has managed to outsmart police for this many years and the disappearance and death of his girlfriend, Crystal Rogers, I wouldn't let him set one toe outside of that jailhouse because he could very likely slip away. I wouldn't let him set foot outside the jail either. You know, this guy has sat and committed potentially a crime against a mother of five

children. He's covered it up. He's played games. And this guy has shown he's dangerous and he's a danger to the community. And a danger to any potential witnesses is why I would let him out on bond. And you said the case is so severe it calls for a high cash bond. What do you mean by that? And what is a cash bond as opposed to a regular bond, Shellnut?

Well, it's severe because he's accused of murdering a mother of five, of potentially covering this murder up, taking steps. You know, additionally, you know, we've got some implications as to involvement in some other situations as well. And the cash bond is set so that the judge can ensure that, yeah, I'm not giving him a no bond. So I'm going to meet the basic constitutional requirements of providing bail. But I will tell you this, if you're going to get out, we're going to be pretty sure that you're coming back. Okay, let me Q&A with myself for just a moment. James Shelnut was asked, what's the difference in a cash bond and regular bond? Again, in a regular bond, you can put a collateral like the value of your home. You can put up,

for instance, real estate in a cash bond. You got to have cold, hard cash. Everything else Shelnut said was dead on. Joining me, James Shelnut, high profile lawyer with the Shelnut firm. He's based in Alabama, but travels all over 27 years on Metro Major Case at shellnutlawfirm.com. Guys, this has been one long, drawn out investigation. I want you to take a listen to Monica Harkins, WDRB. We saw the car pull in through the fence. As he got out of the car, I asked, where is Crystal Rogers? He didn't say anything as he entered the back of the jail. The Nelson County jailer was also on hand. You can see that clearly as this unmarked car goes through the gate.

Around 10.45, Houck showed up here. But it was around 8.45 this morning, the FBI of Louisville posted about Houck's arrest. Rogers was last seen in July of 2015. The FBI posts saying FBI and KSP have been laser focused on their commitment to hold accountable those that were responsible for the disappearance of Crystal Rogers, saying, quote, Today, we take a significant step in making good on that promise. FBI. Why did the FBI have to be brought in to solve this case? What about local law enforcement? What's the problem, Fallon Glick? Well, local law enforcement, the sheriff's office, they have been on this since day one. And I think they just didn't have enough resources to pull this case together. And we know Sherry Ballard, the mother of Crystal Rogers, she has been the true champion for her daughter's case,

keeping it in the spotlight. And, you know, very soon after her daughter disappeared, she asked the FBI to come and please take over this case. And that didn't happen until five years later. So the FBI, they've been on the case now for three years. And that didn't happen until five years later. So the FBI, they've been on the case now for three years. And when they come in that late, they have more work to do because they weren't there from day one. And so it has taken a lot of time to pull all this evidence together because we know they've executed so many search warrants at the Houck family properties, the Houck family farm. You know, that's a 300 acre farm. So they have been there several times. And then not too long ago, they were at a home that Brooks Houck has built and they dug up the driveway, collected a ton of evidence there. So the evidence that the FBI has had to sort through is unimaginable. I know the prosecutor is saying that they have to turn over

two terabytes worth of information in this case. So just a lot to go through here. Crystal Rogers' boyfriend came on to the NG Nancy Grace show on HLM. I didn't like any of his answers, and apparently prosecutors agree. That taped episode will be entered into evidence by the state. Crystal Rogers' body still not found. We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.