KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Three days after being charged with nine felonies in a new replacement indictment, Excelsior Springs accused kidnapper and rapist Timothy Haslett pleaded not guilty on Friday in Clay County Circuit Court.
Haslett showed up for his arraignment, which took only about three minutes, in a striped gray prison suit. He was handcuffed next to his public defender.
Before entering his not guilty plea, Haslett rocked back and forth in his chair inside Judge David Paul Chamberlain’s courtroom.
Haslett’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 22.
Clay County Attorney Zachary Thompson announced Tuesday that a grand jury has indicted Haslett in first-degree rape, four counts of first-degree sodomy, one count of first-degree kidnapping, two counts of second-degree assault and one count of first degree that endangers the well-being of a child.
Excelsior Springs Police responded to Haslett’s residence in the 300 block of Old Orchard Street on October 7 after a woman knocked on neighbors’ doors, claiming she had escaped confinement in Haslett’s basement.
He was initially charged with rape in the first degree, kidnapping in the first degree and assault in the second degree, but those charges were replaced by the new nine-count indictment earlier in the week.
Thompson credited the “courage” of the 22-year-old woman who was allegedly repeatedly beaten and sexually assaulted after being picked up along Independence Avenue in early September for the prosecution case.
Haslett is held on a $3 million bond.
The investigation remains ongoing and anyone with information should contact the Excelsior Springs Police Department or call the Greater Kansas City Crime Tips Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
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For jurisdictions using the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline, anonymous tips can be submitted by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online, or via the free mobile app at P3Tips.com.
Details and annual homicide data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
