Suspect in Cassidy Rainwater’s brutal killing plans to plead not guilty, lawyer says
Timothy L. Norton, one of two southwest Missouri men charged in the brutal killing of Cassidy Rainwater, plans to plead not guilty to murder and other counts against him, his attorney said Thursday.
“We expected these charges to be filed and Mr. Norton will be entering pleas of not guilty to these allegations,” Branden Twibell said in a message to The Star. “Additionally, our firm will continue to review and investigate any potential evidence we receive from the prosecutor’s office.”
Norton, 56, is scheduled to appear in Dallas County Circuit Court at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Authorities upgraded the kidnapping charges against Norton and James D. Phelps, 58, to first-degree murder and abandonment of a corpse. Phelps is scheduled to be in court at 1:30 p.m. Friday.
Phelps’ attorney could not be immediately reached Thursday.
Though his attorney said Norton will plead not guilty, a probable cause affidavit describing the charges against the two men said that on Sept. 20, he “confessed to the murder of Cassidy.”
Norton told FBI agents that Phelps asked Norton to come to his residence at 386 Moon Valley Road, near Windyville, Missouri, about 160 miles southeast of Kansas City, while Cassidy was still sleeping, the affidavit said.
“Norton stated that Phelps had Cassidy sleep on the floor by the front door of the cabin so they had easy access to attack Cassidy,” the affidavit said. “Norton stated he held her legs down while Phelps strangled her and placed a bag over her head.”
After Rainwater was dead, Norton told the FBI that he and Phelps took a short break and then carried her body outside.
“Norton stated that Phelps then bound her to the gantry crane,” the affidavit said. “And Phelps began the evisceration and dismemberment of Cassidy’s body. Norton then helped Phelps carry Cassidy’s dismembered body into the residence and placed her body into the bathroom tub.”
A gantry crane is a structure sometimes used by hunters to hoist deer and other wild game in order to gut and field dress them.
Rainwater, 33, was officially reported missing to the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office in late August.
In mid-September, the FBI’s Kansas City office received an anonymous tip from a person who shared photos, including one of what appeared to be Rainwater’s partially nude body inside a cage. The tip prompted an investigation that led to charges filed against Phelps, who lives in a rural area near Windyville, and Norton, an over-the-road trucker.
This story was originally published November 18, 2021 at 1:41 PM.
