Samuel Haskell Jr., Tarzana, Los Angeles area husband arrested after wife’s torso found at parking lot dumpster. Woman id as Mei Haskell. Her parents who lived with the couple remain unaccounted.
A Los Angeles area husband and son of a top Hollywood agent and former beauty queen has been arrested following the discovery of a woman’s torso in a plastic bag tossed into a parking lot dumpster near a family restaurant and nail salon in Encino, California.
Samuel Haskell, 35, was arrested at his $2.5 million residence in Tarzan, L.A., residence, just five miles from where the human remains were discovered, around 11am Wednesday and was charged with one count of murder and remained held on $2 million bail, abc7 reported.
Haskell’s wife, Mei Haskell, 37, and her parents Yanxiang Wang and Gaoshen Li were reported missing and all three were living in the Tarzana home with the suspect.
Surveillance footage placed husband at dumpster
Despite yet to positively identify the human remains, authorities believe the discovered torso was that of Mei Haskell.
Authorities have yet to locate the wife’s parents who remain un-accounted for.
The couple’s three children were located in school yesterday and were handed over to the Department of Children and Family Services.
The torso was found in a black plastic bag stuffed into a duffel bag, which was tossed into a dumpster behind Ventura Boulevard and Rubio Avenue in Encino, California.
A homeless person found the torso when digging through dumpsters in the parking lot near a family-style restaurant, a hair salon and two banks looking for recyclables around 6.15am yesterday, according to the LA Police Department.
Body parts in Encino
Identifying the body has been difficult, with police saying there are no tattoos or markings that could allow them to more easily identify the woman. The only certainty is that she appeared to be dead for no more than a few days at most — but her cause of death remains unclear, too. No other body parts were found.
‘If a murder suspect is dismembering a body, it’s to delay identification,’ LAPD homicide detective Efren Guttierez told KTLA about the difficulty identifying the victim from just a partial body part.
Haskell was arrested after security footage pictured him around the area and close to the dumpster, the LA Times reported.
Authorities further connected the husband to the torso following a report of body parts in a plastic bag in the driveway of the family residence on the eve of the macabre discovery. Responding officers were unable to locate the alleged sighting of the body parts.
Little was known about the suspect, with latest reports describing Samuel Haskell Jr as the son of a top Hollywood agent, Sam Haskell Sr, previously working for top talent agent, William Morris- best known for representing stars such as George Clooney and Dolly Parton. The man’s mother was a former beauty queen, having once been crowned Miss Mississippi.
‘The husband – something seemed so off,’
Along with his wife Mei, Haskell Jr. lived with the woman’s parents and their three children at their $2.5 million Tarzan, six bedroom home.
One neighbor told ABC 7 News that she knew Mei Haskell, but her husband seemed strange.
‘The husband – something seemed so off,’ the woman said.
‘Something seemed so weird. I thought maybe he was sick, or something was wrong. All I said was, I kept saying to my family, something is wrong with him.’
A local resident told abc7: ‘I think it was kind of weird to drive up and be blocked off along the boulevard and into the little center over here and to find out that there were body parts there… in Encino.’
Another resident added that crime has been on the rise in Encino for a few months now.
Anyone with information about the case can call the LAPD at 877-LAPD-247.
