Attorney seeks court order to seal discovery in Excelsior Springs rape, kidnapping case

A defense attorney representing Timothy M. Haslett, the Excelsior Springs man accused of imprisoning and raping a woman in his home for about a month, wants a Clay County judge to prevent information about the case from being shared publicly.

Haslett, 41, faces criminal charges of rape, kidnapping and sodomy in Clay County Circuit Court after a malnourished woman, wearing a collar locked around her neck, ran to neighbors and said she had been restrained in a man’s basement. She said she escaped a room built to keep her confined while Haslett drove his child to school.

The case made national headlines as jarring details of her account became public, and again when another woman authorities described as a potential witness in the case was found dead in a blue barrel floating in the Missouri River.

It also struck a chord among Black Kansas Citians who have questioned whether police do enough to address cases of missing Black women. Police have said the only “known” victim, who is Black, was never reported missing.

Haslett, who has pleaded not guilty, has been jailed since October 2022. He is held on a $3 million bond as his criminal case is pending.

In a court motion Monday, Tiffany Leuty Winningham of the Missouri Public Defender’s Office, referenced “significant press coverage” and attention from amateur detectives on social media in seeking a protective order.

Over the past 16 months, she wrote, Haslett’s neighbors, ex-girlfriends and co-workers have been interviewed by the news media. Details of a custody case were also shared via the news. A true-crime show based in Las Vegas recently requested arrest records, she said.

And she contends reporting on the case “is often inaccurate and speculative.”

“The release of further information will continue to add to the already widespread adverse and prejudicial reaction to the defendant and prejudice his case,” Leuty Winningham wrote in the motion.

Under the proposed protective order, parties to the case would be forbidden from disclosing any materials held by the Clay County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, other law enforcement or Haslett’s defense to anyone who is not a part of the case.

Also sought is a court order that would place discovery answers and documents under seal.

On the morning of Haslett’s arrest, a then-22-year-old woman went to a neighbor’s house on the quiet suburban block in Excelsior Springs where Haslett was known to live alone with a young son. The woman said she had been kidnapped sometime in early September, about a month earlier, and abused by Haslett during that time.

She also said Haslett was responsible for killing two people. But when interviewed by police, she said she had not witnessed the deaths, according to authorities, and police were unable to corroborate her statements.

Authorities have also linked Haslett to the case of 36-year-old Jaynie Crosdale, though Haslett has not been charged with a crime related to her disappearance or mysterious death.

In January 2023, police began asking the public for help to track down Crosdale, saying they believed she might be able to provide information important to the Haslett investigation.

In late June, months after billboards were placed around the metro with Crosdale’s face and name, kayakers stumbled upon a blue barrel floating in the Missouri River in Saline County, about 100 miles east. Police were called to investigate and ultimately identified remains inside the barrel as Crosdale.

In August, shortly after Crosdale’s body was publicly identified, Clay County prosecutors sought to increase Haslett’s $3 million bond, citing new evidence. A judge denied that request.

The next hearing in Haslett’s case is scheduled for April 15.