KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Clay County judge set a trial date for Timothy Haslett Jr. in the murder, rape, and kidnapping cases of two Black women.
The jury trial is scheduled for Dec. 1 2025 and is expected to take two weeks.
Haslett is accused of murdering Jaynie Crosdale and is also facing a slew of charges for kidnapping, raping, assaulting, and torturing another young woman.
That young woman, publicly known only by her last name of "Jones," escaped what she called a "dungeon" in Haslett's Excelsior Springs home in Oct. 2022.
Crosdale's remains were discovered in summer 2023 in a blue barrel. Investigators said in court records they have no evidence to suggest she was alive past June 2022.
As Judge David Chamberlain set the trial date, he simultaneously approved the Clay County prosecutor's request to obtain Jones' testimony on video.
TIMELINE | Case of accused Excelsior Springs murderer, rapist, kidnapper Timothy Haslett Jr.
The video deposition is scheduled for Dec. 30, 2024.
The state is ordered to provide all discovery related to the witness 10 days before the deposition.
Robert Sanders, assistant Clay County prosecutor, explained in a previous motion that the office needs Jones' testimony on video because Jones is currently homeless and living in a "crime-ridden part of the metro."
Sanders' motion stated Jones also has substance abuse issues and that Haslett "should not gain an advantage from targeting a person living on the margins of society."
Haslett's attorney, Tiffany Leuty Winningham, filed a motion about two weeks later objecting to the video testimony, saying "the fact that the witness is possibly homeless or addicted to drugs does not make a deposition to preserve testimony is necessary."
Haslett's pre-trial conference is set for Oct. 25, 2025.
—
