Police are searching for Samuel Haskell’s wife and in-laws.
Last week, police in Tarzana, California, received a call about a dead body in a plastic bag in the driveway of a home. When police arrived, however, detective Efren Gutierrez of the Los Angeles Police Department told reporters that “nothing was located.” A day later, someone going through dumpsters about five miles away from the residence found what appeared to be a woman’s torso.
While the body has not been identified, according to the New York Times, police believe that it is Mei Li Haskell, 37, the wife of Samuel Haskell. Police have arrested Haskell, the son of Hollywood agent Sam Haskell III, on suspicion of murder and are still searching for Mei Li’s parents, Yanxiang Wang and Gaoshan Li, who lived with the Haskells. According to police, the couple’s three children are currently with relatives.
Haskell, 35, is due in court on Monday. Here’s what we know about the case so far.
A group of workers says Haskell hired them to move trash bags from his home the day before a woman’s remains were found.
A group of workers told NBC that Haskell hired them to move three large trash bags from his garage on Tuesday. Haskell apparently told them the bags were filled with rocks, but when the workers picked them up, they said they felt soft and soggy. They said when they opened the bags, “I started seeing body parts, a belly button,” one of the workers told NBC. “I was astonished. Of course, I felt bad. We had been tricked.”
The workers reportedly returned the bags to Haskell’s home and gave him his money back. They say Haskell claimed the bags were Halloween props. The workers reported what happened to the California Highway Patrol, but were sent to the LAPD. At the LAPD’s Topanga Station, they were told to call 911.
Mei Li and her parents are considered missing.
Police are currently searching for Mei Li’s parents, Wang and Li, who are missing. “The reason we’re concerned with their whereabouts is they would normally be home during these hours,” Gutierrez said. “Attempts have been made to contact them by cell phone … no answers.” Though it has been widely reported that police believe the remains that have been found are Mei’s, they are still considering her missing, as well.
Haskell is the son of a Hollywood agent.
According to the Los Angeles Times, when investigators went to the Haskell residence on Wednesday, they found blood and “other evidence consistent with a killing and dismemberment.” They arrested Haskell on suspicion of murder; he is being held on $2 million bail.
The case has gathered interest in part because of Haskell’s family. He is the son of Sam Haskell III, a retired agent with William Morris who once represented A-listers like George Clooney, Ray Romano, and Whoopi Goldberg. Haskell’s mother, Mary Haskell, and sister Mary Lane Haskell are both actors.
Per the L.A. Times, Samuel Haskell was arrested and charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon in December 2008. He pleaded “no contest” and was put on probation for three years in 2010.
