Cassidy Rainwater was a 33 year old woman from the Lebanon, Missouri area who went missing and was murdered in 2021. We have had many requests to cover her case.
Cassidy Rainwater was born on June 9, 1988, and lived in Lebanon, Missouri. Her parents were Clifford Welch and Tracy Wahwassuck.
Cassidy’s family have said that she was very outgoing and had a big personality. They said she was a fun person to be with. She enjoyed spending time at the river and hunting for arrowheads. She also enjoyed writing poetry and singing.
She attended Harrison Hill High School, where she met a male named Ben and had a son. According to court documents, Cassidy took Ben to court in June 2006 when she was around 18/19 for child support, and he was ordered to pay $224 a month. Later, the baby was put up for adoption.
Cassidy would later marry Zachary Paul and she went on to have six children. According to her obituary, she was still married to Zachary when she died but it does seem to be an unstable relationship as she was not living with him when she disappeared.
As some information about Lebanon, where Cassidy was from, the population is around 15k. Approximately, 16.2% of families and 21.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.0% of those under the age of 18 and 18.5% of those ages 65 or over.
According to Neighborhood Scout, the crime rate in Lebanon is high. With a crime rate of 31 per one thousand residents, Lebanon has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes. The site rates Lebanon as 10 on the total crime index, with 100 being the safest. This means it is safer than only 10% of US cities.
As an interesting side note, on April 13, 2007, Cassidy’s mother Tracy (43) went missing. Cassidy was 19 at this time. Tracy’s boyfriend Leonard was the one to report her missing and he said she may have vanished while looking for arrowheads.
Tracy’s remains were found on May 8, 2008 in a field near Lebanon, Missouri. Her bones had been scattered by animals. Nobody has ever been arrested in connection with her death. Tracy’s cause of death has never been made public.
Cassidy was last seen alive on July 25, 2021. Cassidy was often unhoused and around this time, she had been staying with a man named James ‘Jim’ Phelps (58). She told friends and family that she just wanted to stay there long enough to get back on her feet. We haven’t been able to find any information about how James and Cassidy met – all media reports just say that she was staying with him for a short time.
Just to interrupt the story here, for some background on James. He was born James David Phelps in 1963. His parents are Charles and Mary Phelps. He grew up in Preston, Missouri. He made the honor roll at Skyline High School. James joined the United States Army after he graduated. He got married in 2009.
In February 2019, James became an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church. At that time, his Facebook page said he was single with a daughter, granddaughter, and two grandsons.
Cassidy was reported missing by her aunt Cora on August 25, 2021. Cora told police that it was out of character for Cassidy to be out of touch for so long.
Cora was the guardian to one of Cassidy’s children. Cora told authorities the last time she saw her niece, she was with a man named Jim (James Phelps). She said Jim drove a silver GMC truck and owned a cabin near Windyville, Missouri.
Authorities went to Jim’s rented property to conduct a wellness check on Cassidy but could not locate her on the premises. Jim told police that Cassidy was not there as she had moved to Colorado. His story was that on July 25, Cassidy left the property in the middle of the night. He said she got into a vehicle that had been parked at the end of his driveway and drove away. He told authorities that he had not seen her since.
On September 16, 2021, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by an FBI agent from Kansas City. The FBI agent had received an anonymous tip about photos of a woman who was bound, partially nude and was in a cage. The photos had been sent to the FBI anonymously using an online tip form. The FBI agent believed the woman may be Cassidy. Some media reports say the woman was ‘instantly recognizable’ as being Cassidy.
The tipster said that the images of the woman were circulating on the dark web.
The dark web is a hidden part of the internet not indexed by regular search engines, accessed through specialized browsers like Tor. It hosts both legal and illegal activities, offering anonymity but also posing risks like scams and illicit content.
Police went to the Phelps property and arrested Jim.
This info about the arrest is from KY3:
The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office has not confirmed exactly how Phelps is connected to the case, but says he is accused of kidnapping. Phelps is being held at the Dallas County Jail without bond, though he has not yet been formally charged, per Missouri court records.
The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office made this statement on Facebook at this time:
“Due to the extreme nature of the crime and the continuation of the investigation, additional details cannot be released at this time.”
On September 19, 2021, police interviewed Timothy Norton in relation to the case. The address that was listed for him in court records was the same as James’ address on Moon Valley Road. James had the property listed as his address as early as 2011. Timothy listed the property as his address in 1992 and 1993.
As some background into Timothy, he was born Timothy Leroy Norton in 1965. His parents are Betty and Vernon Hanson in Cromwell, Minnesota. He attended Hermitage School and was on the honor roll. After graduating, he joined the United States Marine Corps and became a helicopter pilot.
Timothy married his first wife in August 1983, but the marriage was short-lived. As of the early 1990’s, Timothy has criminal history for writing bad checks. He also had a history of nonpayment of rent and had been sued by one of his landlords.
When police questioned Timothy about Cassidy, they found inaccuracies in his story.
The following day, police took Timothy in to interview him again. At this point, he admitted details to them about restraining Cassidy in July.
On September 21, Timothy was booked into the Dallas County Jail without bond.
After the arrests, an anonymous source spoke to KY3:
“I’ve been incredibly unsettled since the whole Menagerie started,” she said. “I’m continuing to pray for her family. I can’t fathom what her family is experiencing and I’m heartily sorry that it happened so close to my home.”
The source spoke about Cassidy:
“She would stop by, and she would talk to us when we were outside working. I don’t think Cassidy would have ever run off without keeping in contact with her family,” she said.
In the weeks after the arrests, police kept searching the Phelps property. They also said they were waiting for DNA evidence to come back and said that it could be at least 30 days before they had anything confirmed.
On October 4, 2021, Jim’s Moon Valley Road property burned to the ground in the middle of the night.
A Dallas County deputy called firefighters after discovering a tripwire near the home. A bomb squad was called to assist at the scene. They detonated a suspicious device several hours later.
A neighbor spoke about seeing the house go up in flames.
“All a sudden, the house collapsed and the flames got bigger. We could feel the heat,” said Rachel Nicholson. “Everything was on fire, and we sat there and watched it collapse. I called 911 because I was worried about it catching the woods on fire and spreading to the other houses.”
The Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office launched an investigation after the fire caused a total loss to the home.
James and Timothy appeared in court via video on October 5. They both faced kidnapping charges and were represented by different public defenders.
At this time, prosecutors asked for 45 days until the preliminary hearing as they needed to organize a large amount of witnesses. The defense opposed this as the Supreme Court requirement for Missouri only allowed for a 30 day period.
The sides went back and forth and Dallas County Prosecutor Jonathan Barker said that if he was unable to proceed after 30 days, he would file a motion for more time. The judge set the preliminary hearing date for November 5.
On October 7, 2021, Sheriff Scott Rice addressed the public in a Facebook post.
Addressing Fake News:
There is a lot of misinformation and rumors regarding the Cassidy Rainwater case being circulated across social media and various news platforms. While I understand the impatience and curiosity of the people, I’m going to give you a piece of advice. It is not a good idea to listen to “a crime reporter/blogger “or TikTok videos that are sitting in their apartment or their mommy and daddy’s basement eating Great Value cheese puffs and drinking box wine with grand intentions of being a social media superstar. If you are hanging on every word is this type of crap, believing it to be fact, you are living in a fantasy world. This isn’t a tv series or movie where we go to commercial break and have lab results in 15 minutes. Searching a crime scene for 7 days 24 hours a day takes that long, 168 hours. 99.999999% of what has been posted to social media is CRAP.
Law Enforcement Officers must play within the rules of the American Criminal Justice system. While the system has its faults, it’s still the best system in the world. We are judged by a jury of our peers with a Judge presiding over the case, a Prosecutor who presents the case, and a Defense attorney who defends their client. This is where ALL facts of the case come out, not TikTok, Facebook, or any other social media outlet. NO, you are not entitled to a play-by-play of an ongoing investigation. If you want to be in the know, we are hiring along with every other law enforcement agency in the country.
We are working in the real-world and this is an active ongoing investigation. When all members of the prosecution team believe that it is appropriate to release information, we will keep you informed. Until that time, I can tell you we have all parties involved with Cassidy Rainwater’s case in jail and we expect additional charges to be filed in the coming days.
If you are not a resident and are planning a trip into our Beautiful County to sightsee, remember a few things. While the citizens of Dallas County are friendly, neighborly, caring, and kind people, we do not like those who show up to trespass, litter, vandalize, harass, or destroy property. If this is your intention, you are not welcome here and we will prosecute you for this.
Sheriff Rice.
On October 12, 2021, a bomb squad report was released. The report said that investigators found an incendiary device during a fire at the Phelps home. In the report, investigators claimed they found the explosive device in a mortar tube with a balloon cover, which featured tripwires. The Springfield Bomb Squad removed the device without any injuries to those handling the device.
On October 15, 2021, not surprisingly, the Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office determined that the fire was a result of arson.
The fire was ruled as ‘undetermined’ and ‘criminal’.
On October 29, 2021, attorneys filed a motion to request a change of judge in James’ case. A judge approved the request one day later. Dallas County Judge Lisa Henderson was the original judge on the case. One week after the change request was granted, Polk County Judge John C Porter took on the case.
It seems like this change pushed out the legal proceedings that had been due to start on November 5.
On November 17, the Dallas County Prosecutor upgraded the charges against James and Timothy. Up until this point, the men had only been charged with kidnapping. The new charges included first-degree murder and abandonment of a corpse. These charges were laid after DNA tests confirmed that Cassidy was dead.
According to court documents, investigators found more than 200 pieces of evidence at the home. The evidence determined that Cassidy had been murdered by the men, Timothy admitted that James asked him to help kill Cassidy. Timothy said he held down Cassidy’s legs while James strangled her. Cassidy’s body was then dismembered in a bathtub.
Packages of human flesh were found in a freezer and had the date ‘July 24;’ written on them.
More of Cassidy’s remains were found scattered on a nearby property that belonged to her grandfather, Bill Rainwater.
Timothy also confessed to police that he and James searched for other potential victims online, as well as at a nearby Walmart.
At the time that this information was released to the public, Sheriff Rice made another Facebook post with some more information about the case and how the charges had been laid:
On 09/16/2021 the FBI contacted Dallas County Detectives and provided a series of photographs. The FBI had received the photographs as a cyber-tip that was titled “Cassidy” by the person who sent them. The photos depicted a partially clothed female in a cage who we recognized as Cassidy. The other photos depicted Cassidy’s body bound to a gantry crane, commonly used for deer processing, and her evisceration and dismemberment.
On this same day 09/16/2021, Dallas County Detectives responded to 386 Moon Valley Road. Upon arriving, Detectives recognized items in Phelps back yard that coincided with the photos. Detectives placed Phelps under arrest and had him transported to the Dallas County Jail, while he remained on scene keeping the scene secure until a search warrant was obtained.
The search warrant was obtained through Dallas County Prosecutor Jonathan Barker and signed by the Honorable Judge Lisa Henderson.
The search warrant was executed by Dallas County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of Greene County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Unit and the FBI. For the next seven days, investigators processed the entire crime scene. 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.
On 09/20/2021 Timothy Norton was interviewed by FBI agents. 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.
Sheriff Rice also spoke about how James and Timothy knew each other.
“They’ve known each other quite a long time,” he said.
He says the pair has a long history.
“From what I understand they were classmates in school. Over the years they’ve stayed friends since high school,” explained Rice.
Sheriff Rice said the pair was not surprised when they were arrested.
“Norton did talk about it. They didn’t seem shocked,” he said.
James appeared in court on November 19, two days after his charges were amended. He was denied bond on this date.
In coming weeks, both James and Timothy pleaded not guilty to the new charges.
Preliminary hearings were originally set for the first week February 2022 but these ended up being postponed.
The legal process in this case was long and drawn out.
James got a new public defender in early 2022, who has experience defending death penalty cases. That public defender has filed a motion to dismiss a charge of abandonment of a corpse. In July 2022, James entered a plea of not guilty.
In September of 2022, prosecutors filed an intent to seek the death penalty against James. His attorney filed a request to change venues for the trial. At this time, James’ next court appearance was set for January 20, 2023.
In early February 2022, court documents filed in Timothy’s case indicated child pornography and pornography of a violent nature were found in his home. He was scheduled to appear in court again on January 24, 2023.
In April 2023, James entered an Alford plea and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Due to the nature of the plea, there was no criminal trial.
An Alford Plea is a type of guilty plea in which a defendant maintains their innocence but acknowledges prosecutors have sufficient evidence for a conviction. It allows the defendant to accept a guilty verdict without a criminal trial, according to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute.
Timothy appeared in court again on May 2, 2023. His appearance only lasted five minutes and the judge set a date for his next appearance. He was ordered to be in court for disposition on June 27, 2023.
When Timothy appeared in court in June, he pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder in Cassidy’s death. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to drop felony charges of kidnapping and abandonment of a corpse.
He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
In January 2024, a default judgement in a wrongful death suit of $30m was awarded to Cassidy’s children.
Missouri 30th Judicial Circuit Judge Mike Hendrickson assessed the evidence in determining damages in the wrongful death case against James and Timothy.
The wrongful death lawsuit was filed in October 2023, after both men were sentenced for their roles in Cassidy’s murder.
The lawsuit filed by Donelan Law states that “Cassidy Rainwater suffered excruciating physical injuries and emotional distress between the time of the initial injury at the hands of Defendant Norton and until the time of her eventual death. Plaintiffs are entitled to recover fair and reasonable damages for such time of suffering. As a direct and proximate result of the aforementioned acts, the Plaintiffs have suffered the loss of services, consortium, companionship, comfort, instruction, guidance, counsel, training and support by reason of the death. They also suffered pecuniary losses all by reason of the death, in an amount in excess of $25,000.”
Timothy and James didn’t respond to the lawsuit, effectively waiving their right to a jury.
It’s an unlikely that the children will receive anywhere near the $30 million neither man has any assets but the recent judgement is requirement for the application of an award from a tort victim compensation fund. The fund caps at $300,000.
If the men do get access to any assets while they are in prison, those would be garnished. Any future recovery for Rainwater’s children before they reach the age of 18 will be placed in a conservatorship, annuity, or restricted account, according to Missouri law.
According to an online obituary, Cassidy’s memorial service was just held on August 16, three years after her murder.
Ben, the father of one of Cassidy’s children spoke to the media about the loss.
“I always worried about her, just because of her past,” Ben said. “She was in a bad way. She and I talked and I was like, ‘You know, come to Kansas City. We’ll get things figured out.’ She was hoping to get her life back together.”
SOURCE LIST
https://www.ky3.com/2021/09/19/dallas-county-authorities-arrest-man-connection-missing-woman-case