Disturbing new details have emerged in the case of a Hollywood producer’s son who was arrested last week, after human remains were found inside a dumpster in Los Angeles.
Samuel Haskell IV is charged with three counts of murder in connection with the deaths of his wife, Mei Le Haskell, 37, and her parents, Gaoshan Li, 72, and Yanxiang Wang, 64, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Haskell, 35, also faces a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, the D.A.’s office said in a news release.
Related Story: Hollywood Exec’s Son Arrested After Homeless Man Found Woman’s Torso in Dumpster
Haskell made his first court appearance on Monday, Nov. 13.
Video broadcast by KCAL News showed the judge in the case ordering him held without bail.
“These shocking and gruesome crimes have sent shockwaves through our community,” 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.”
Haskell lived in an upscale, tree-lined neighborhood in the Tarzana section of Los Angeles with his wife, their three young children and her parents.
The victims were last seen on or about Nov. 6, authorities said. All three are still missing.
Haskell allegedly hired four day laborers to haul away several heavy trash bags from his home on Nov. 7, the D.A.’s office said.
The day laborers told local news station NBC 4 they were paid $500 to remove the bags, which Haskell reportedly said were filled with rocks.
“When we picked up the bags, we could tell they weren’t rocks,” one of the workers, who did not want to be identified, told NBC 4 in Spanish.
The men said the bags each weighed about 50 pounds and the contents inside felt “soft and soggy.”
The workers grew suspicious and pulled over a block away from the home to look inside the bags.
“I started seeing body parts, a belly button,” the worker said. “Of course, I felt bad. We had been tricked.”
The men returned to Haskell’s house, left the bags in the driveway and gave him his money back.
The worker said Haskell told them the body parts were Halloween props.
The men said they went to a nearby LAPD station to report what they had seen, but were turned away. They then called 911 and reported the incident.
That same day, Haskell was allegedly seen putting a large trash bag inside a dumpster at a strip mall in nearby Encino, according to the D.A.’s office.
The next day, a homeless man looking for plastic bottles found a woman’s torso inside a trash bag in the dumpster and notified authorities.
The coroner’s office has not yet identified the remains.
Haskell is scheduled to return to court on Dec. 8. If convicted as charged, he faces a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
He is the son of Sam Haskell III, founder and president of Magnolia Hill Productions. The elder Haskell, 68, is a former Hollywood agent to A-list stars and also served as CEO of the Miss America organization.
Watch a news report below:
