A woman who was being sought as a witness in a horrendous case of kidnapping and rape was herself found dead inside a barrel set adrift in the Mississippi River.
Details of the development were revealed at a hearing for 39-year-old Timothy Haslett Jr., during which prosecutors asked for his bond to be increased.
Haslett was arrested in October after a woman told neighbors that she had been kidnapped and was being held against her will in his basement at his home in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. The 22-year-old woman was frail, had ligature marks on her body, and was wearing a metal collar and duct tape on her neck.
She claimed that she had been held hostage for weeks with handcuffs on her wrists and ankles and also that she had been raped repeatedly. The woman said she made her escape when her captor left to take his child to school.
Haslett was arrested and charged with first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping, and second-degree assault.
Police said they suspected that there may be other victims.
In June, kayakers on the Mississippi River alerted police when they discovered a barrel in the river with human remains. Those remains were identified as belonging to 36-year-old Jaynie Crosdale. Police had been looking for Crosdale as a possible witness in the Haslett case.
Prosecutors argued that Crosdale had been in Haslett’s home before his arrest and Crosdale’s family told WDAF-TV that they believed she might have been another victim of his alleged crimes.
The Clay County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that officials were working to build “the strongest case possible and deliver justice for Jaynie Crosdale.”
After the woman was found dead, prosecutors asked that Haslett’s $3 million bond be increased in order to ensure the safety of the public.
That request was denied.
If Haslett is convicted of the charges, he faces five life sentences.
Here’s more about the horrendous development:
Possible witness in Excelsior Springs kidnapping case found deadwww.youtube.com
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