First degree murder charges have been filed against two men who kidnapped a woman, held her in a cage, and eventually strangled her.
A missing persons report was filed for Missouri resident Cassidy Rainwater on August 25th, 2021. The news of her kidnapping wasn’t officially reported until mid-September, when KY3 News broke the story.
On September 1st, 2021, a Dallas County detective spoke with a man named James Phelps concerning Cassidy. According to Phelps, she had been staying with him until she got back on her feet. He told detectives that she had left for Colorado in the middle of the night about a month prior, and he had not seen her since.
On September 16th, the detectives received images from FBI investigators of the 33 year old woman, partially nude, being held in a cage. Other images showed her body tied to a gantry crane, which is commonly used for deer processing, her evisceration, and her dismemberment. According to the FBI, the images had come from an anonymous person as a cyber-tip entitled “Cassidy.”
Detectives recognized some of the items in the background of the images from Phelps’ backyard, and returned to the home to arrest him. It was later discovered that Phelps had asked a friend, Timothy Norton, to help him murder Rainwater.
According to an update provided by Dallas County Sheriff Scott Rice on his Facebook:
“Collected during this time was physical evidence including the gantry device, cage, and items from the freezer that appeared to be human flesh with a date written on them of 7-24. Skeletal remains believed to be Cassidy were located on the adjacent property. Also recovered from the scene was digital evidence from electronic devices. In total, over 200 pieces of evidence were recovered.
The remains found in the freezer were confirmed by the crime lab to be Cassidy Rainwater. Digital evidence revealed messages between James Phelps and Timothy Norton planning the murder of Cassidy Rainwater…
Norton confessed to the murder of Cassidy Rainwater. Norton told FBI agents that Phelps had him come over while Cassidy was sleeping on the living room floor, so he had easy access to attack Cassidy. Norton stated, after entering the house, he held Cassidy’s legs down while Phelps strangled her and placed a bag over her head. Norton stated that after Cassidy was deceased, he and Phelps took a short break before carrying her body outside. Norton stated that Phelps bound her to the gantry crane and Phelps began evisceration and dismemberment of Cassidy’s body. Norton stated he helped Phelps carry Cassidy’s body into the house and placed her into the bathtub.”
The Dallas County prosecutor has charged Phelps and Norton with first degree murder, abandonment of a corpse, and kidnapping.
