Hidden audio devices. Coordinated phone calls. A brother who vanished for 24 hours. This wasn't one person committing murder. This was a family conspiracy.

"I'm Shay McAlister, and this is Shay Informed: an independent, ad-free platform dedicated to honest journalism with compassion and clarity.

Circumstantial: The Crystal Rogers Trials is available to paid subscribers only. You can become a member for $4.99/month and gain access to all of my work, including full interviews, behind-the-scenes content, and my weekly news podcast.

In 2020, an IRS Special Agent searched Rosemary Houck's house.

He was looking for financial records, documents, anything that might help build the case against her son Brooks. What he found instead were audio recorders. Hidden throughout the house.

And those recorders had been running.

On the recordings, you can hear Brooks and Rosemary whispering about Nick's police cruiser being searched. You can hear Brooks teaching family members how to use the devices before going in for police interviews and grand jury testimony. You can hear them discussing the case- what police knew, which searches were happening, which tips came in.

And sometimes- you can hear them laughing.

Laughing when investigators seemed to be on the wrong trail. Laughing while Crystal Rogers' family was organizing volunteer searches, putting up flyers, hoping for answers.

Episode 4 of "Circumstantial: The Crystal Rogers Trials" is live now. And it's the episode where you realize Brooks Houck didn't act alone. This was a family affair.

You won't find this on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It's only here, on shayinformed.com, because this is independent journalism funded directly by people who believe this work matters. You can sign up here.