Missouri Man Charged with Murder of Potential Witness in Disturbing Dungeon Case: Prosecutors
A 41-year-old man in Missouri has been charged with the murder of a woman who was a potential witness in the case against him. The man is accused of holding another woman captive in a makeshift basement dungeon, where he subjected her to repeated torture and sexual assault.
A grand jury has indicted Timothy Haslett, Jr. on a serious charge of felony first-degree murder. The body of Jaynie Crosdale, aged 36, was discovered by kayakers on the Missouri River. Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson made this announcement on Tuesday.
The body of Crosdale was found concealed in a blue barrel, similar to those discovered during a previous search of his residence in Excelsior Springs two years ago. Authorities have also discovered compelling evidence directly linking Crosdale to Haslett’s residence.
According to a report from WDAF, authorities had been actively searching for Crosdale since January 2023. Their goal was to obtain information about Haslett, a case that has caught the attention of the Kansas City Fox affiliate.
In a previous report by Law&Crime, it was mentioned that the investigation into Haslett started on Oct. 7, 2022. On that day, a 22-year-old Black female, referred to as “T.J.” in court documents, arrived at a neighbor’s house wearing latex lingerie and a homemade metal shock collar with a padlock. She also had duct tape around her neck and showed signs of ligature marks on her wrists and ankles. T.J. informed the homeowner about her month-long ordeal of being held against her will.
T.J. provided a statement to the police According to the affidavit, Haslett had brought her from Kansas City a month ago and confined her to a small room in the basement that he had constructed.
According to the affidavit, the woman provided investigators with the location of the house where she had been held captive. She also disclosed that the suspect had subjected her to multiple instances of sexual assault and physical abuse, including being whipped while restrained.
According to the victim, Haslett allegedly boasted about the deaths of two other Black women while she was held captive.
Haslett was arrested on separate animal control charges, leading to a judge granting a search warrant for Haslett’s residence. Authorities discovered the exact location mentioned by the victim in the basement and successfully retrieved a significant number of firearms.