LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Prominent Louisville attorney Thomas Clay, who is known as T Clay, weighed in on the latest developments in the Crystal Rogers case.

Clay has litigated a lot of high-profile cases in the state. He said he has been watching the Rogers case closely. 

What You Need To Know

• Prominent Louisville attorney Thomas Clay, who is known as T Clay, weighed in on the latest developments in the Crystal Rogers case
• Clay said he believes the prosecution could quietly be building a case that all the Bardstown area murders are connected
• Houck’s bond was set at $10 million, which is unusually high. Clay said he believes the prosecution must have very strong evidence to warrant a bond that high

Brooks Houck has been charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence in Rogers’ disappearance. He pleaded not guilty.

On Thursday, lead prosecutor Shane Young announced the state is investigating Rogers’ disappearance and her father’s murder as being connected.

attorney’s for Hardin County and is prosecuting Brooks Houck in the Crystal Rogers case. (Spectrum News 1/Mason Brighton)” img-data-wrap-text=”true” img-data-editing=”true”/>

Shane Young is the Commonwealth attorney’s for Hardin County and is prosecuting Brooks Houck in the Crystal Rogers case. (Spectrum News 1/Mason Brighton)

Before Rogers and her dad, Tommy Ballard, were murdered, there were a series of murders in the Bardstown area — including the killing of a local police officer and the murder of a mother and daughter. Clay said he believes the prosecution could quietly be building a case that all the Bardstown area murders are connected.

“This whole scenario here has got so many different facets to it,” Clay said. “All the people who’ve turned up dead — and it appears that there’s a connection with all of them — and I’m sure that the prosecutor and the other law enforcement agencies have been working together and trying to connect the dots here to make sure everything they say is consistent and they can back it up. And I feel confident that Shane Young would not have said these things unless he can back it up.”

Clay said there’s a method to keeping a lot of the investigation and its findings under wraps.

“There are things that have come up like the results of that FBI search warrant execution where they dug up the driveways and they basically pulled all this concrete up,” he said. “We don’t know what they found. The results of that search have not been publicized, but they had to have probable cause that a judge found and signed that search warrant to go out there and do that digging, so they had something to go on or they wouldn’t have been out there just digging for nothing.”

The booking photo of Brooks Houck. Houck is charged with murder and tampering with evidence in the disappearance of Crystal Rogers in 2015 (Nelson County Correctional Center)

In court Thursday, the prosecution accused the Houck family of secretly bringing recorders into court and recording grand jury proceedings.

“I think the question is: Why would they record the grand jury testimony?” Clay said. “And I think the speculation has been that they wanted to be sure they got their story straight. So, it’s highly irregular and highly improper for the secret grand jury proceedings to be recorded in that fashion, and then for people to be able to take the recording out and listen to it and use it.”

Clay said when it comes to Houck and the cooperation of people potentially connected to the case, “there have been inconsistencies.”

“There are others out there who I believe have a prosecution or a threat of an indictment hanging over their heads if they don’t cooperate and cooperate truthfully,” Clay said. “And the problem with that is, these individuals that are looking to cooperate don’t know what evidence the FBI or KSP have when they ask them questions. So, the one thing that if you’re trying to avoid a prosecution — the one thing a suspect doesn’t want to do is get caught lying.”

Houck’s bond was set at $10 million, which is unusually high. Clay said he believes the prosecution must have very strong evidence to warrant a bond that high.

attorney, at Houck’s arraignment in Nelson Circuit Court on Oct. 5, 2023. (Spectrum News 1/Mason Brighton)” img-data-wrap-text=”true” img-data-editing=”true”/>

Brian Butler, Brooks Houck’s attorney, at Houck’s arraignment in Nelson Circuit Court on Oct. 5, 2023. (Spectrum News 1/Mason Brighton)

“A $10 million bond on an individual who basically has no prior criminal record is a very high bond. Now, again, I would trust the discretion that the prosecutor has in making that recommendation and the prosecution’s representations to the court and the judge’s discretion in setting that bond. There must have been extraordinary circumstances which led to a $10 million bond on this case,” he said.

On Thursday, a judge did not decide on whether to lower the bond, as Houck’s legal team has requested.

Houck’s attorney, Brian Butler, said he intends to file a change of venue request for the case at a later date.

“I’ve had a couple of cases where a change of venue is granted, based on pre-trial publicity,” Clay said. “If there ever was a case where a change of venue would be justified, this certainly qualifies. And it wouldn’t be just an adjoining county, I wouldn’t think. It would be a county far removed from Nelson County, and, where, perhaps the media coverage wasn’t nearly as intense as it has been on this one. But, the coverage, anybody who hasn’t heard about this case, I’d be shocked, anybody, say, within 50 miles of Nelson County.”

The next court date for Houck’s case won’t be until early February. Clay said he wouldn’t rule out more activity in the case before then, however, as prosecutors continue to investigate.

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