Judge lowers bond for suspect in Crystal Rogers murder case
A Nelson County judge has reduced the bond for one of three men charged in the case of missing Bardstown mother Crystal Rogers.
Bond for Stephen Eugene Lawson, 53, of Chaplin, in Nelson County, has been reduced to $250,000, according to an order filed in Nelson Circuit Court Tuesday.
Lawson was indicted Dec. 6 on a charge of criminal conspiracy to commit murder, and his bond was set at $500,000, the order states. Lawson also was indicted last May on a charge of complicity to commit tampering with physical evidence, and his bond was set at $50,000. The order says both cases are related to Rogers’ disappearance.
He has pleaded not guilty. Lawson’s name is also spelled “Steven Lawson” in court records.
Lawson was being held Tuesday in the Nelson County Correctional Center, according to the jail’s website.
In deciding to lower Lawson’s bond, Circuit Judge Charles Simms III wrote that he “considered the gravity of the conspiracy to commit murder charge while recognizing that Lawson’s pretrial assessment indicates that he is a moderate risk of flight and a moderate risk to reoffend.”
He ordered that Lawson have a dusk to dawn curfew except for his job and medical or family emergencies. Lawson also was ordered not to have any contact with Rogers’ family or his co-defendants and prohibited from traveling outside the state.
Lawson was arrested in Indiana after his indictment in December.
Simms wrote that Lawson was told Dec. 5 that the grand jury would be considering an indictment for conspiracy to murder the next day.
“The prosecution contends that Lawson failed to work for his employer on December 6, 2023. He was then arrested later that same day after the authorities determined that his telephone was pinging from an Indiana location. In response, the defense contends that Lawson’s employer sent him to Indiana on that date, and that he was simply visiting his mother at the time of his arrest,” the order states. “Unfortunately, without any testimony from any witnesses, this Court is unable to determine whether Lawson worked on December 6, 2023. In addition, this Court is unsure as to Lawson’s motivation for being at his mother’s Indiana residence on the date in question. However, it is highly suspicious that Lawson was discovered in another state after being informed of the potential indictment.”
Ballard Trucking in Bardstown is listed as Lawson’s employer on the arrest citation filed by police.
Also charged in Rogers’ disappearance are Joseph Lawson and Brooks Houck, Rogers’ boyfriend at the time of her disappearance and the father of one of her children.
It is unknown if Joseph Lawson and Stephen Lawson are related.
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