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Accused Kidnapper Charged with Murder After Woman's Remains Are Found in River: "Brutal and Barbaric"
Earlier this year, prosecutors hoped to locate Jaynie Crosdale as a possible witness in a 2022 kidnapping case, months before kayakers found her body in a barrel.
A suspected kidnapper and rapist who was arrested in 2022 after a woman reportedly escaped his Missouri home has been charged with another woman’s murder, according to prosecutors.
On Tuesday, July 9, 2024, Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson announced during a press conference that a grand jury indicted Timothy Haslett Jr., 41, on charges of first-degree murder, as published by ABC Kansas City affiliate KMBC-TV. Thompson said Haslett, on top of nine previous felony counts related to the alleged weeks-long captivity and torture of an unnamed 22-year-old in 2022, is now charged in connection with the homicide of 36-year-old Jaynie Crosdale of Kansas City.
As reported by NBC’s KSNT of Topeka, kayakers on the Missouri River found Crosdale’s skeletal remains inside a blue barrel in June 2023, about six months after authorities cited the victim as a possible witness who “may have information relevant to the [2022] case.”
“Today’s indictment represents the next step in our pursuit of justice for the victims, the families, and our community,” Thompson said.
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Thompson said they believed Crosdale died “by an act of homicidal violence” between June 6, 2022, and October 7, 2022, sometime before the more recent victim fled her purported captivity. The prosecutor later clarified that a postmortem examination indicated the murder victim had been shot near the time of her death, as supported by “high impact” wounds and at least one bullet hole in the barrel.
On Friday, July 12, 2024, Haslett appeared in a Clay County Courtroom and pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, according to Fox Kansas City affiliate KDAF-TV.
How did authorities narrow in on Haslett?
The case blew open on Oct. 7, 2022, when Haslett’s first-known alleged victim reportedly escaped Haslett’s basement in Excelsior Springs, about 30 miles northeast of Kansas City. The 22-year-old began banging on neighbors’ doors shortly before 8:00 a.m. and screamed that she’d been subjected to weeks of torture and rape and acts that Prosecutor Thompson cited in the recent press conference as “brutal and barbaric.”
Witnesses told local reporters that the woman appeared malnourished and had a metal collar locked tight enough around her neck that the alleged victim’s breathing was restricted, as previously reported by Oxygen.com. The victim wore a trash bag and latex lingerie and had duct tape around her neck.
The escapee repeatedly told neighbors that Haslett murdered her friends. But, at the time, Excelsior Springs Police Lt. Ryan Dowdy told CBS Kansas City affiliate KCTV there were “no signs” of other victims, which was met with pushback as community members scrutinized law enforcement for its response to Black women being targeted in their community (both the surviving victim and Crosdale are Black).
Some, including the nonprofit media startup Kansas City Defender, voiced suspicions that a possible serial killer was behind the murders of four females and the disappearances of three others, namely on Prospect Avenue in Kansas City. According to court documents, the surviving woman stated Haslett allegedly picked her up on Prospect Avenue in early September 2022 and offered her $350 to go home with him.
There, Haslett allegedly restrained the victim in a “dungeon” in his basement and used her as a “sex slave” by regularly raping, whipping, strangling, and starving her over several weeks, per an affidavit obtained by NBC News.
The woman survived by making a run for it after her alleged kidnapper left the house to drop his young son off at school.
According to Prosecutor Thompson, the unnamed victim told authorities that Haslett allegedly confessed to killing two others. Per the affidavit, Haslett reportedly stated to the woman that one victim had been killed with a gas mask while another “died by electrocution” during a sexual act, NBC News reported.
How was Crosdale connected to Haslett?
Thompson said that throughout investigators’ searches through about 100,000 video and photo files, Crosdale appeared in “a still image taken from Mr. Haslett’s electronic device showing her inside his basement.” He also said there was an S.D. (secure digital) card that stored information related to individuals Crosdale was associated with, presumably belonging to the murder victim.
“Ms. Crosdale was also found in a blue barrel of the same manufacturer as ones found at the defendant’s house,” Thompson continued.
Prosecutors say Crosdale had a history of sex work, which is how they believe she came into contact with her killer.
“In Clay County, regardless of who you are, how much money you have, what the color of your skin is, everyone is entitled to equal protection under the law,” Thompson told reporters.
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A community reacts to murder charges
Crosdale’s loved ones called the recent charges “bittersweet,” according to a family statement cited by NBC News.
“What happened to her was unfair,” the family stated. “She was taken from her loved ones way too soon.”
Relatives previously told KDAF-TV following the discovery of Crosdale’s body that they were “deeply saddened” by the “horrific news.”
Michelle Newton of Relentless Pursuit, a Kansas City-based outreach program for trafficked individuals, told KCTV that Crosdale was a “bright, witty woman” and “the real deal” who frequented the city’s Independence Avenue.
“It makes me happy that there is justice being served for Black women on Independence Avenue,” Newton said. “It doesn’t surprise me that Jaynie is gone. When they were looking for her, I said the Jaynie I know is not going to let anyone do the things to her that this man was allegedly doing to people.”
Haslett, who was already facing five life sentences in connection to the previous charges connected to the October 2022 escapee — including rape, sodomy, kidnapping, assault, and endangering the welfare of a child — is now being held on $5 million bond and faces a possible death sentence if convicted on the recent charge of first-degree murder.
He remains in county jail and is due in court in September 2024.
Authorities continue investigating the possibility of more victims and urge anyone with information to contact the Excelsior Springs Police Department.
