Who is Timothy Haslett? What we know about suspect in Missouri rape, kidnapping case

Timothy M. Haslett, a 39-year-old Excelsior Springs man, was arrested Friday morning at his home in the 300 block of Old Orchard Avenue and charged with kidnapping and rape.

Authorities say a 22-year-old woman broke free from the basement of his home and sought help from neighbors.

The woman showed signs that she had been held against her will immediately, police have said, and reported that she had been in his basement since early September. Since then, authorities have launched a large-scale investigation.

Law enforcement, including crime scene investigators, spent three days gathering potential evidence at the house as they investigate the possibility he may have committed other crimes, though authorities have remained tight-lipped about the details.

The case as provoked widespread discussion and speculation throughout the community and beyond.

Here are some of the basic facts The Star has gathered about Haslett so far:

He lived in Kansas City metro since around 2010

Haslett has lived in the home in Excelsior Springs since at least 2017. He previously resided in Kansas City in 2010 and then Independence until around 2015, but originally hails from Marion County in southern Illinois.

He attended school in Patoka, Illinois and resided in nearby Vernon until around 2008. He appears to have no close family residing in the Kansas City area, aside from a young son, roughly 8 years old.

He is divorced

Public records show Haslett married in 2013 in Independence. He filed for divorce two years later, when his son was roughly 12 months old.

In a subsequent custody case, he maintained joint legal custody of the child, and became the primary custodial parent. After petitioning the court, the boy primarily resided with him at the house in the 300 block of Old Orchard Avenue, along with a dog.

That arrangement meant Haslett was not responsible for paying child support, but his ex-wife had to pay $400 in child support each month, since the boy only lived with her every other weekend and one evening each week.

He was a railroad worker

Haslett spent years working as a union railroad employee. His public Facebook profile lists him most recently as an employee of M & H Contractors, a Kansas City-based subcontractor that does rail maintenance work.

It was unclear where his place of employment was at the time of his arrest on Friday. In a court ruling during his arraignment, Haslett was determined to be indigent and unable to provide the necessary funding for his own defense, and the Missouri Public Defender’s Office was ordered to represent him.

He does not have a serious criminal record

Courts in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois show no history of Haslett having been charged with anything above a traffic infraction. Haslett does have at least 21 moving violations across Missouri and Illinois, court records show.

At the time of his arrest, Haslett was wanted on warrants in Clay and Ray counties for failure to appear in court. During his initial court appearance on rape, kidnapping and assault charges Tuesday, Haslett pleaded guilty to the Clay traffic violation.