WARNING: GRAPHICS
The murder suspect is accused of attacking prostitutes in Kansas City, Missouri, tormenting them with electric shocks and forcing them to provide sexual gratification in exchange for food.
On Tuesday, Tim Haslett was indicted on charges of murder, rape, kidnapping and attempted rape in a growing number of disturbing allegations involving at least two women.
The latest charges relate to Janie Croasdale, whose decomposing body was found in a blue barrel in the Missouri River last year, but police say they “wouldn’t be surprised if there are more victims.”
According to the indictment, Haslett allegedly told the sole surviving woman that he was going to stuff her in a barrel like the rest of “them.”
Witness to Silence of the Lambs-like crime found dead in barrel
Timothy Haslett Jr. was charged with kidnapping and raping a Missouri woman he was holding captive. (Clay County Sheriff’s Office)
Croasdale’s body was discovered last June when his rotting bones fell out of a blue barrel in the Missouri River. Saline County, Missouri.
According to an affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital, the survivor, who allegedly was tortured and forced to become Haslett’s “sex slave,” said two other women were with her at the time.
She managed to escape from the basement of Haslett’s home in Excelsior Springs, a Kansas City suburb, and ran around the neighborhood with a locked metal collar around her neck and a ball gag in her mouth.
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A good Samaritan took her to the home and called 911.
When officers responded, they found the basement locked with multiple locks and equipped with red lights, paddles, chains, cameras and “all kinds of items that can be used for torture,” the affidavit states.
Inside the room, police found a black gas mask, a “large blue barrel,” various types of electronic devices, women’s clothing in the bedroom and a loaded gun hidden on the couch, according to the affidavit.
The home of Timothy M. Haslett Jr. in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, is boarded up, fenced off and sealed off with police tape following the execution of a search warrant that spanned several days, on Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. Haslett was arrested Friday, Oct. 7, 2022, and charged with first-degree rape or attempted rape, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault. (Bill Lukic/Kansas City Star via The Associated Press)
“There was electronic equipment, little wiring for the equipment, all in one room,” Excelsior Springs Police Chief Greg Dull told Fox News Digital in August 2023.
“He had a bunch of stuff like laptop batteries and various circuitry and stuff like that,” Dal said, “and a pile of clothing, a lot of it women’s clothing that he was wearing.”
“And in the basement was a room where the victims were allegedly held captive.”
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According to the chief, the exterior walls were concrete and there were two interior walls made of plasterboard and plywood.
There were solid wood doors with a layer of plywood on each side, and “a typical solid wood core door would be sandwiched between two half-inch pieces of plywood.”
“And there were two strips of magnetic tape, the kind used to lock doors on commercial establishments. There were two of those,” Dal said.
“You can use the keypad to get in and out of the room. It was really complicated… It wasn’t his first time.”
Croasdale and Haslett’s relationship
According to the affidavit, Croasdale’s death was discovered through photographs on Haslett’s cell phone, which was seized during the execution of a search warrant at Haslett’s home.
“Ms. Croasdale appears in still images taken from Mr. Haslett’s electronic device of her in the basement,” Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson said at a press conference Tuesday.
“An SD card was found in his home depicting people associated with Ms Croasdale. He made statements to the surviving victim that he had taken someone else’s life.”
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Thompson was referring to threats that Hazlett allegedly made to the only known survivor, who told police that if “Timothy” didn’t do what she said, he would kill her, as well as the other two girls, according to the affidavit.
Survivors told police that one woman died while still wearing a gas mask and that the other woman was electrocuted, according to the affidavit.
The survivor did not know the other women and would often refer to the victims as “they,” according to the affidavit.
Janie Croasdale was found dead in a blue barrel in the Missouri River in 2023. In July 2024, Tim Haslett Jr. was charged with her murder. (Savoury & Sons Funeral Home)
“The suspect allegedly told her that there were other people who were unable to be saved and ended up in the blue barrel,” Dal said in an August 2023 interview.
“And if she doesn’t do as he says, one of those barrels will be hers.”
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The chief said the survivor’s accusations and the details of what she saw and heard about have been proven true, and police believe there are other victims who have yet to be found.
Remembering Janie Croasdale
Croasdale’s sister, who asked not to be identified due to safety concerns, said Croasdale’s family hasn’t heard from her since 2022.
Crosdale He struggled with addiction.and the siblings had been arguing before her disappearance, her sister said in an emotional interview with Fox News Digital after Croasdale’s body was discovered last August.
Janie Croasdale, a witness in a Missouri criminal case, has been found dead. (Police distribution materials)
“It really didn’t feel like anything was happening until I saw her picture on the news saying police wanted to talk to her,” she said. “We weren’t on speaking terms at the time, so it’s really painful.”
Ms Croasdale’s sister tried to recall her sister’s final moments but broke down in tears.
“I shouldn’t be thinking about it, but it just runs through my mind: what did he do to her? What did she go through before she died?”
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Croasdale struggled with drug addiction and her relationship with her family deteriorated, her sister said, but when she got sober “she was the sweetest person.”
“She had bad habits. She’d been through a lot growing up, but she was still a human being,” her sister said. “When she was Janie, when she was sober, she was so free and happy.”
“I’ll always remember how happy she was. She would do anything for anyone.”
