The Kentucky Supreme Court has denied a reduction in bond for Brooks Houck, the ex-boyfriend of a Bardstown woman missing since 2015.
The decision will keep him in jail until he goes on trial Feb. 10, 2025, on charges related to the murder of Crystal Rogers. The mother of five was last seen alive on July 3, 2015. Her car was found two days later on Bluegrass Parkway with her keys, phone, and purse still inside.
Supreme Court justices declined a request by Houck’s attorneys to review a 2023 ruling from the Kentucky Court of Appeals which declined to reduce the $10 million bond.
His attorneys filed a motion last fall to have his bond lowered to $500,000, claiming that $10 million was excessive. The appellate court ruling found the bond was not excessive due to the nature of the case, his wealth, and potential danger to witnesses.
Houck remains in the Oldham County Detention Center.
He was indicted on Sept. 20, 2023, by a Nelson County grand jury on one count of complicity to murder and one count of complicity to tampering with physical evidence.
Houck is the father of one of Rogers’ children and was the last person to see her before her disappearance.
Considered the prime suspect, Houck is one of three men charged in connection with the murder of Rogers, whose remains have never been found.
Meanwhile, his legal team says the amount of publicity from the case would taint any local jury pool.
Attorney Jennifer Henry Jackson filed a motion last week requesting a change of venue. She argued Houck can’t receive a fair trial in Nelson County, or in any central Kentucky county. She suggested moving the proceedings to Boyd County or Daviess County because they’re outside the Louisville and Lexington media markets and are demographically similar to Nelson County.
The motion also claimed the publicity has generated so much animosity towards Houck that members of a Nelson County jury would fear backlash if they voted to acquit him.
A change of venue hearing has been set for Mar. 21.
