Podbit · Dateline NBC
Former Bardstown police officer Nick Houck arrived at his perjury arraignment without his attorney — who told him to proceed alone. Nick told the judge he had no idea why he'd been charged, and a public defender was hastily assigned for the hearing.
Where this was said
At 24:15 · chapter starts 23:30
Alex Laray walks Andrea Canning through the labyrinthine Crystal Rogers saga, from her Fourth of July 2015 disappearance in Bardstown, Kentucky, through her father Tommy Ballard's unsolved murder eighteen months later, to Brooks Houck's 2025 murder conviction. The latest development: Brooks's brother Nick, a former Bardstown police officer, was charged with perjury. Prosecutors had repeatedly named Nick and their mother Rosemary as unindicted co-conspirators at Brooks's trial, and Crystal's family has long believed the Houck family helped cover up the crime. The arraignment itself was surreal — Nick arrived without his attorney, who had apparently told him to proceed alone. A public defender was hastily assigned, and Nick told the judge he had absolutely no idea why he'd been charged. Crystal's mother, Sherri Ballard, was present in court and told reporters afterward that she had been pushing for exactly these perjury charges, hopeful the truth about her daughter's fate will finally emerge [1] — Alex Laray "Former Bardstown police officer Nick Houck arrived at his perjury arraignment without his attorney — who told him to proceed alone. Nick to…" 24:15 .
Crystal Rogers disappeared from her home almost 11 years ago; her car was found abandoned but her body has never been discovered.
Crystal Rogers's former boyfriend Brooks Houck was arrested in 2023 and convicted in 2025, receiving a life sentence for killing Crystal.
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Season 5 of Dateline: Missing in America brings six new unsolved mysteries. The show is explicitly asking listeners to engage — because a detail someone remembers might be the break investigators need.
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