The son of a former top Hollywood executive has been charged with murdering his wife and in-laws after cameras allegedly caught him dumping an apparent torso in a dumpster.
Samuel Haskell, 35, was arrested last week but has since been charged with three counts of murder for allegedly murdering his wife, 37-year-old Mei Haskell, and her parents, 72-year-old Gaoshan Li and 64-Year-old Yanxiang Wang, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release.
“These shocking and gruesome crimes have sent shockwaves through our community. We stand with the victims’ loved ones during this unimaginably difficult time and will do everything in our power to ensure justice is served,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement. “Our Major Crimes Division will work tirelessly to bring about a prosecution that reflects the severity of this devastating crime.”
Mei and her parents, who lived with Haskell in Los Angeles’ Tarzana neighborhood, were last seen on November 6. On November 7, Haskell allegedly hired day laborers to take away three large trash bags from his home, claiming the bags were full of rocks.
“When we picked up the bags, we could tell they weren’t rocks,” one of the workers told NBC Los Angeles in Spanish.
The men said the bags weighed about 50 pounds each. While hauling them away, they stopped to look inside the bags and found body parts.
“I started seeing body parts, a belly button,” the worker told the outlet. “I was astonished. Of course, I felt bad. We had been tricked.”
The workers said they returned the bags to Haskell, as well as the money he paid them, saying they didn’t want to be involved. Haskell allegedly told them the body parts were Halloween props.
The workers told the outlet that they tried to tell police about the body parts. They said they were first sent to LAPD, who reportedly told them to call 911.
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After the workers left, Haskell was allegedly seen on surveillance cameras loading a large trash bag into his Tesla. A different camera allegedly showed him placing this trash bag in a dumpster.
On November 8, a homeless person was looking through the dumpster and found a woman’s torso in a garbage bag. Police arrived and processed the scene, finding information that led them to a home in the West Valley. The home, which belongs to Haskell, was searched, and police found blood. They then learned that Haskell lived at the home with his wife, in-laws, and three children. The children have been located and are currently in the care of family members.
Haskell’s father, Samuel Haskell Sr., previously was a powerful Hollywood agent who represented stars as famous as Dolly Parton before he retired in 2005.
If convicted, Haskell could face the death penalty, though California hasn’t put anyone to death in 17 years. In 2019, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order placing a moratorium on the death penalty.