The trial will begin Tuesday in Warren County for the first of three defendants charged in connection with the disappearance and presumed death of Crystal Rogers.

Steven Eugene Lawson, 54, of Chaplin, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence, and will be the first co-defendant to face a jury.

Lawson was booked Wednesday into Warren County Regional Jail ahead of his trial, which a judge ordered to take place in Warren County due to pretrial publicity hampering the selection of an impartial jury in Nelson County, where the crimes were charged.

Rogers, a 35-year-old mother of five who lived in Bardstown, was last seen on July 3, 2015.

She was reported missing two days later by her mother on the same day that her car was found parked with a flat tire along the Bluegrass Parkway with the keys still in the ignition and her purse and cellphone found inside.

Authorities presume Rogers to be dead.

No trace has been found of her since she was reported missing, though FBI-led searches have been conducted at multiple Nelson County properties over the years.

The Nelson County Sheriff’s Office previously said that Brooks Houck, Rogers’ boyfriend, was the last person to see her alive.

A grand jury in Nelson County indicted Steven Lawson, his son, Joseph Lawson and Houck in 2023.

Joseph Lawson is charged with criminal conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence, while Houck is charged with complicity to murder and tampering with physical evidence.

Both men remain in custody and their cases are scheduled to be tried in Warren County on June 24.

According to court records, there is evidence that a telephone conversation took place between Houck and Steven Lawson on July 4, 2015, the day before Rogers was reported missing.

Steven Lawson was first indicted in May 2023 on an allegation of evidence tampering, and a second grand jury indicted him in December that year on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

Last year, Nelson Circuit Court Judge Charles Simms ordered the trials for all three men to be moved here following change of venue motions filed by attorneys for the co-defendants.

On May 13, Simms issued an order ruling that no cameras, cellphones or recording devices will be allowed in the courtroom, noting that this was the first time in the judge’s 22 years on the bench he had not allowed at least one camera in the courtroom during a trial.

“Unfortunately, this court believes that it must impose limitations herein to assure a fair trial,” Simms’ order said, adding later that the interest the case has generated among media and the general public has “resulted in a ‘circuslike atmosphere.’ ”

Special prosecutor Shane Young is prosecuting the case against Lawson, who is represented by attorneys Darren Wolff and Zach Buckler.