Hollywood exec’s son held without bail in Tarzana body parts case
Appearing shirtless in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, the son of a Hollywood executive charged with killing his wife and her parents before disposing of some of their remains in a dumpster was ordered held without bail Friday.
Samuel Bond Haskell IV, 35, will return to court in January after his arraignment was continued during a brief hearing. The Hollywood scion was arrested last month on suspicion of murder in the deaths of his wife, 37-year-old Mei Haskell; her mother, Yanxiang Wang, 64; and stepfather, Gaoshan Li, 72.
He did not enter a plea after his attorney, Joseph Weimoritz, requested a continuance. Beverly Hills defense attorney Bob Schwartz had been representing Haskell until two days ago, and it was not clear why he had changed counsel.
The family of a Tarzana woman is searching for answers after what was suspected to be her torso was found last month and her husband was arrested in the slaying.
Weimoritz declined to discuss the case after the hearing and Schwartz did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Haskell, who wore his jail-issued jumpsuit with the top folded down around his waist, revealing a large tattoo on his right shoulder, barely spoke during the hearing as he clutched a plastic bag of his possessions.
Haskell shared a home with his wife and in-laws in the 4100 block of Coldstream Terrace in Tarzana. Mei’s relatives, many of whom still live in China, told The Times earlier this month that while they didn’t know of any fights or discussions of divorce between the couple, financial issues were a strain.
Mei was the only person contributing to their $7,000 monthly mortgage, according to her uncle, who described Haskell as “strange” and “quiet and reserved.”
Authorities say Haskell first tried to dispose of human remains on Nov. 7, when he hired day laborers to remove bags from his property. The workers, who were paid $500 and initially told that they were hauling away rocks, said the bags felt soggy and soft, like meat. The laborers tried to return the money and contacted police, but by the time officers arrived the bags were gone, according to a KNBC-TV report.
After a man allegedly tried to hire day laborers to dispose of a body, laborers share stories of dangerous and bizarre requests they receive.
The next day, a homeless man found a duffel bag containing a human torso in a Tarzana dumpster. Haskell was arrested a short time later. Investigators believe the torso belongs to Mei Haskell, but they have not located her parents’ remains. While police have not confirmed a motive or manner of death in the killings, L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. Beth Silverman said detectives discovered blood and evidence consistent with dismemberment inside the family home.
On Friday, Silverman urged L.A. County Superior Court Judge Kimberley Baker Guillemet to force the arraignment to go forward Friday, citing the presence of several family members in court and the continued frustration of relatives in China who are desperate for updates in the case.
“They have been missing for 20 days,” Mei’s uncle, Yanqinq Wang, said in an interview with The Times last week. “How can he hide it so well for so long?”
The defendant’s father, Sam Haskell, has won an Emmy award as a producer and was a high-level executive at the powerful William Morris talent agency before launching his own production company.
Times staff writers Richard Winton and Summer Lin contributed to this report.
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