A Missouri man accused of hiding a woman in his basement while repeatedly sexually abusing her, was charged Tuesday with the alleged murder of another woman.
Clay County District Attorney 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, previously charged on one count of rape, four counts of sodomy, two counts of second-degree assault, and one count each of kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child.
He is being held in the Clay County Detention Center on $5 million bail.
Haslett’s public defender, Tiffany Leuty, did not immediately respond Tuesday to an Associated Press phone call and email requesting comment.
Police arrested Haslett in October 2022 after a woman told police she had escaped weeks of torture in his locked basement, according to a probable cause affidavit. She fled to a neighbor’s house with a garbage bag, a padlocked collar around her neck and duct tape.
The survivor said Haslett offered her money and she agreed to go with him to his home. Once she was in his pickup truck, the woman told police he pointed a gun at her, raped her and forced her to take narcotics.
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 affidavit. She escaped after slipping out of the chains while thinking he was taking his child to school.
The surviving woman also told authorities that Haslett had described killing two other women he had previously abducted: one by strangling her with a gas mask, and another who died after violent sexual torture.
According to the probable cause affidavit, he told her that “if she didn’t listen to him, he would strangle her and put her in a barrel like the rest of them.”
Thompson said police officers followed more than 100 leads and spent more than 1,200 hours on the case, including searching for Crosdale and placing a billboard with her missing person’s photo in Kansas City.
Police made progress after kayakers found a blue 30-gallon barrel containing a skeleton during a camping trip on the Missouri River in Saline County in June 2023, police said.
The remains were identified as Crosdale in July 2023, the Kansas City Star reported reported.
The charges filed Tuesday are based on the evidence authorities currently have, Thompson said. He said the investigation is ongoing and urged anyone with information to come forward.
“Today’s charges represent the next step in our pursuit of justice for the victims, their families and our community,” he said. “The physical, psychological and sexual torture described by the defendant’s surviving victim is brutal and barbaric.”