Missouri man allegedly held woman captive and tortured her for weeks and is charged with murder

A Missouri man accused of hiding a woman in his basement and repeatedly sexually assaulting her was charged Tuesday with the alleged murder of another woman.

Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson said Timothy M. Haslett has been charged with murder in connection with the death of 36-year-old Jaynie Crosdale, adding that she was killed “by an act of homicidal violence.” He said her remains showed impact wounds consistent with a gunshot wound.

Haslett, of Excelsior Springs, was previously charged with rape, four counts of sodomy, two counts of second-degree assault and one count each of child abduction and endangering the welfare of a child.

He is being held at the Clay County Detention Center on $5 million bail.

Haslett’s public defender, Tiffany Leuty, did not immediately respond to a call and email from The Associated Press seeking comment Tuesday.

Police arrested Haslett in October 2022 after a woman told authorities she had escaped weeks of torture in his locked basement, according to a probable cause statement. She fled to a neighbor’s house, carrying a garbage bag, a padlocked collar and duct tape.

The survivor said Haslett offered her money and she agreed to accompany him to his house. Once she was in his pickup truck, the woman told officers he put a gun to her head, raped her and forced her to take drugs.

He then took her to his basement, bound her arms and legs, and raped, whipped, tortured and strangled her every day for weeks, according to the probable cause statement. She escaped after breaking free from the chains while believing he was taking his child to school.

The surviving woman also told authorities that Haslett described how he killed two other women he had previously kidnapped: one he suffocated with a gas mask, the other died after brutal sexual torture.

He told her: “If she didn’t listen to him, he would suffocate her and put her in a barrel like everyone else,” the probable cause statement says.

Thompson said police officers had followed up on more than 100 leads and spent more than 1,200 hours on the case, including searching for Crosdale and putting up a missing person poster with her photo in Kansas City.

Police said they made progress after kayakers found a blue, 30-gallon barrel with a skeleton inside while camping along the Missouri River in Saline County in June 2023.

The remains were identified as those of Crosdale in July 2023, the Kansas City Star reported.

The charges filed Tuesday are based on the evidence currently available to authorities, Thompson said. He said the investigation is ongoing and urged anyone with information to come forward.

“Today’s indictment is the next step in our pursuit of justice for the victims, the families and our community,” he said. “The physical, psychological and sexual torture described by the defendant’s surviving victim is brutal and barbaric.”