Suspect who kept woman locked in basement ‘dungeon’ is now accused of murder after body found in a barrel

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Louise Thomas

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A man accused of keeping a woman hidden in his basement “dungeon” while sexually assaulting her was indicted Tuesday for allegedly murdering another woman whose body was found in a barrel a year ago.

In June 2023 kayakers found a blue, 30-gallon barrel with a skeleton inside while camping off the Missouri River in Saline County, according to police. It is believed to be that of 36-year-old Jaynie Crosdale.

Clay County Prosecuting Attorney said Timothy M. Haslett was charged with murder in connection with Crosdale’s death, adding she was killed “by an act of homicidal violence.” He said her remains showed impact wounds consistent with a gunshot.

Police arrested Haslett in October 2022 after a woman told law enforcement that she had escaped from weeks of torture in his locked basement, according to a probable cause statement. She fled to a neighbor's house wearing a trash bag, a padlocked collar around her neck, and duct tape.

The survivor said Haslett had offered her money, and she agreed to go with him to his home. Once she was in his pickup truck, the woman told law enforcement that he held a gun to her, raped her and forced her to take narcotics.

He then took her to his basement, restrained her arms and legs, and raped, whipped, tortured and choked her every day for weeks, according to the probable cause statement. She escaped after slipping out of the chains while she believed he was taking his child to school.

The woman who survived also told authorities that Haslett had described killing two other women he previously kidnapped - one by suffocating her with a gas mask, and another who died after violent sexual torture.

He told her “if she did not listen to him, he would suffocate her and put her in a barrel like the rest of 'them,” according to the probable cause statement.

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

Haslett, of Excelsior Springs, previously was indicted 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 bond.

Haslett’s public defender, Tiffany Leuty, did not immediately return an Associated Press call and email seeking comment Tuesday.

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

“Today’s indictment represents 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.”