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Police found evidence of ‘dismemberment’ at home of missing California family: LAT

By Cameron Kiszla Nov 10, 2023 | 2:56 PM

As the investigation continues into the woman’s torso found in an Encino dumpster on Wednesday, police say they believe the remains are those of the wife of the man they arrested later that day.

Samuel Bond Haskell IV, 35, is suspected of killing his wife, Mei Haskell, and possibly her parents, Yanxiang Wang and Gaoshen Li, as all three remain missing, the Los Angeles Times reported.

In addition to the torso found in Encino, workers reported “what looked like human remains at the property Haskell shares with his wife and in-laws” in Tarzana, the Times reported. That property on Coldstream Terrace is about five miles from the dumpster near the intersection of Ventura Boulevard and Rubio Avenue.

Tarzana Murder Scene
Detectives are seen at a home on Coldstream Terrace in Tarzana on Nov. 8, 2023. (KTLA)

While the dumpster discovery prompted public attention, police first learned of allegations against Haskell on Tuesday night, when “a witness reported seeing what seemed like body parts in bags outside Haskell’s Tarzana home,” the Times reported.

The bags were gone by the time police arrived, though investigators returned after the torso was found in the dumpster and “discovered blood and other evidence consistent with a killing and dismemberment” inside the home, police told the Times.

Haskell, the son of former high-powered William Morris agent and Mississippi native Sam Haskell III and former Miss Mississippi Mary Donnelly-Haskell, is being held without bail at the Inmate Reception Center at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, according to jail records.

Encino Dumpster Body
A woman’s torso was found in a dumpster in Encino on Nov. 8, 2023. (KTLA)

He was due to appear in Van Nuys Municipal Court on Monday.