The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has confirmed that the remains found Nov. 8 belong to Mei Haskell, a mother of three who vanished in early November.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner said it confirmed that partial remains discovered five weeks ago in a trash bin in Encino belong to Mei Haskell, presumed dead since the arrest of her husband, who is also charged with the murders of Haskell’s mother and step father.
Mei Haskell’s mother, Yanxiang Wang, and stepfather, Gaoshan Li, haven’t been seen since early November and are also presumed dead by authorities.
In the well-manicured San Fernando Valley suburb of Tarzana, Mei Haskell, 37, was considered a cheerful and considerate addition to the community when she arrived with her family in Dec. 2020.
Elle Benami — who lives next door to the six-bedroom home that Mei shared with husband Sam, their three sons, and Mei’s parents, who had moved from China to help with the boys — recalls asking Mei for advice when a water heater went out during a holiday weekend. “I asked her for recommendations for a plumber, and she insisted that we come over and use her shower,” Benami says. “She was a very social, outgoing, friendly person.”
But last fall, when Benami spotted Mei while driving and slowed down to say hello, her friend seemed visibly upset. “I made myself a mental note: ‘I need to go and check on Mei.’”
Mei grew up in China, where she worked as a model in her teens, Mei longed for the typical American lifestyle and immigrated to Los Angeles in the mid-2000s. She was studying accounting at California State University, Northridge, and working as a waitress when she met Sam, a fellow student and the son of Hollywood executive Sam Haskell III, who produced TV specials for Dolly Parton and resigned as CEO of the Miss America Organization after sending sexist emails critical of former contestants in 2017.
The couple were married after graduating and had three sons: Sam, James, and William. Mei owned a consulting business that helped foreign students navigate the American education system, Sam was an aspiring filmmaker and made frequent trips to Japan to tape TikTok videos.
“He thought he was going to be the next Brian De Palma,” says Sam’s former personal trainer Troy Piedade.
Friends say they were an odd pairing. When the gregarious Mei hosted parties at their home, Sam made only brief appearances, says a friend of Mei’s. “He would just stand by himself somewhere, looking down or looking away, and then within a few minutes just disappear. Everyone who met him thought he was creepy.”
A woman who did not want to reveal her identity spoke with ABC7 and claimed she was friends with Mei Li, having mingled with the couple at a house party.
“They came there … very nice, beautiful, but the husband … I was shocked,” she said. “Something seemed so off. Something seemed so weird. I kept saying to my family, ‘Something is wrong with her husband.’”
According to prosecutors, Sam was allegedly seen on surveillance footage later that day hauling to a dumpster in nearby Encino a similar bag that investigators later discovered contained a human torso. (A coroner determined that the remains belonged to Mei Haskell.)
On Nov. 8, at approximately 8:40 a.m. police responded to a request to perform a welfare check and allegedly found “stains in the driveway resembling blood,” according to a police search warrant affidavit obtained by PEOPLE. Officers entered the home and “observed stains in the master bedroom and bathroom resembling blood spatter.”
In the Haskells’ garage, officers found numerous trash bags.
One worker said he was paid $500 to remove three large trash bags. Haskell claimed they were filled with rocks before later pretending the body parts were ‘Halloween props’.
‘When we picked up the bags, we could tell they weren’t rocks,’ the worker told NBC LA, noting that the bags were soft and soggy.
Upon peering inside they saw ‘body parts, a belly button.’
‘I was astonished. Of course, I felt bad. We had been tricked,’ he said.
“The children have been located and are being cared for by family members,” the LAPD stated. “However, Haskell’s wife and in-laws have not been located.”
Court documents also show that the former executive’s son was arrested in 2008 and charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. Haskell pleaded no contest to battery and was given three years’ probation in 2010, the Times reported.
No motive has been specified for his alleged crimes, and the bodies of his in-laws Li and Wang have yet to be recovered. Says Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman: “We are continuing to investigate these horrific murders in order to seek justice for Mei Haskell and her family.”
Haskell’s husband, Samuel Bond Haskell, was charged last month with murdering the three but he has postponed entering pleas to the charges until January.
The remains were found in the trash bin Nov. 8 behind a strip mall on Ventura Boulevard at Rubio Avenue. Security video from the area appeared to show a man lift a black plastic trash bag from the trunk of a white Tesla sedan and place it into the trash bin, where the remains were found.
Mei Haskell, 37, her mother Yanxiang Wang, 64, and her stepfather Gaoshan Li, 71, had all been missing from their Tarzana home since early November.
“Officers discovered numerous articles of bedding inside the bags which were covered in stains resembling blood,” states the affidavit.
Sam was taken into custody on Nov. 8 while driving a 2021 silver Nissan Armada and the vehicle was impounded.
Police found a white Tesla registered to Mei abandoned in front of a residence in Encino. Surveillance video allegedly showed the Tesla parking in front of the residence around 6:10 p.m. on Nov. 7 and “a male driver exited and walked southbound,” the affidavit states.
“The male returned approximately ten minutes later driving what appeared to be a silver Nissan Armada and parked to the rear of the Tesla,” states the affidavit. “The male removed numerous items from the Tesla and transferred them into the Nissan Armada. The male then drove the Nissan southbound on Encino Avenue, fleeing the location.”
After the torso was found in a bag inside the bin behind an Encino strip mall on Nov. 8, police said they found surveillance camera footage showing Haskell’s husband, 35-year-old Samuel Bond Haskell, dumping the bag. They arrested him at the Westfield Topanga mall the same day.
Criminalists later recovered “possible blood evidence” from the cargo area and front trunk of the Tesla as well as a revolver and a knife with a 3.25-inch blade from the Nissan Armada, the affidavit alleges.
Sam is being held without bail at an L.A. correctional facility. He has a hearing scheduled for Feb. 16.
Meanwhile friends of Mei are shocked and saddened by the loss of the devoted mom, who had dreams of one day opening a boba tea and sushi shop.
“She was incredibly passionate about all aspects of life,” says her friend.
Mei’s sons are now living with relatives on their father’s side of the family. “It’s just so sad,” says neighbor Annamarie Griffin. “All the stolen moments.”
Coroner’s office records now show investigators have identified the remains as Mei Haskell. Wang and Li remain missing.
Samuel Haskell has remained in jail since his arrest at the mall. He made his first court appearance on Dec. 8, but still has not been arraigned on murder charges for his wife and in-laws. He is due back in court in January.
According to several reports, Haskell is the son of Sam Haskell, a prominent Hollywood agent, and he has credits listing him as the executive producer of a handful of low-budget films.
The LAPD said blood and other evidence were found inside the Haskell family home in Tarzana that was consistent with murder.
The discovery of the torso led police to Haskell’s Tarzana home where he lived with his wife, their three children and his in-laws. When police came to the home after the discover of the torso, they said they found blood and other evidence of a killing there.
Samuel Haskell, 35, was arrested by LAPD detectives at a shopping center several hours after the remains were discovered.
No other remains have been found in connection with the case.
The I-Team reported in November that a group of day laborers said Samuel Haskell hired them to move trash bags from his home in Tarzana, but returned the bags after they saw what looked like part of a human body inside.
“When we picked up the bags, we could tell they weren’t rocks,” one of the workers said in Spanish. Then they opened the bags and saw……. “body parts”.
Nov 10, 2023…….New details were released Friday in the case of a woman’s torso that was found in an Encino dumpster on Nov. 8. The remains are believed to be Mei Haskell, 37, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Mei’s husband, Samuel Bond Haskell IV, 35, is suspected of killing her. He was arrested at the Topanga Mall Wednesday night and charged with one count of murder. Samuel is the son of Samuel Haskell III, who was a high-profile agent with Hollywood’s William Morris talent agency. He lived in a six-bedroom Tarzana home on the 4100 block of Coldstream Terrace with his wife, their three young sons and Mei’s parents.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) — More than four months after a woman’s dismembered torso was found dumped in a trash bin in Encino, we’re learning new details about her death.
The body part was found on Nov. 8, 2023 and the following month, it was positively identified as 37-year-old Mei Li Haskell’s remains.
According to the autopsy report, her cause of death has been “deferred” but the manner of death was ruled a homicide.
The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner’s report listed Haskell’s “head, majority of the neck, and majority of all 4 extremities” as “absent.”
The report states the “amputation sites” were “remarkably smooth,” suggesting that a “sharp power tool was likely used.”
The report states the “amputation sites” were “remarkably smooth,” suggesting that a “sharp power tool was likely used.”
“There was no definitive indication that the dismemberment occurred antemortem, however, the possibility that the head and neck removal was initiated prior to death cannot be entirely excluded,” read the report.
The victim’s husband, 35-year-old Samuel Bond Haskell, was charged with the killings of his wife and her parents, who remain missing.
He pleaded not guilty in January, and is currently being held without bail.
The murder charges include a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders. Samuel Haskell could face a maximum of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged.
Elle Benami, who has lived next door to the Haskells since they moved in in 2020, tells PEOPLE that she never really had an actual conversation with Sam, though she became fast friends with the much more outgoing Mei.
“I knew him to be not social, maybe kind of socially awkward,” Benami says of her neighbor, who is now charged with murder.
“I wouldn’t say that he struck me as creepy,” Benami adds. “When I say the socially awkward part, he was just very quiet, kind of pensive, always seemed to be deep in thought about something.”
Benami also says that during dinners or parties that Mei frequently hosted, Sam would often just sit off to the side and not talk to anyone.
Though she never would have expected Sam to do anything violent, Benami says her neighbor collected weapons, like samurai swords and crossbows, and kept them upstairs. Because of this, Benami was never comfortable with her children playing upstairs in the Haskell home, only on the ground floor with Mei or in the yard.
“I know Mei mentioned it to me a few times because she was really not happy about it,” Benami says about the weapons. “The boys kind of bragged sort of to my kids about it. I just knew that they had them, and to me, that was a bit concerning.”
“These shocking and gruesome crimes have sent shockwaves through our community,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement when the charges were filed in November 2023. “We stand with the victims’ loved ones during this unimaginably difficult time and will do everything in our power to ensure justice is served. Our Major Crimes Division will work tirelessly to bring about a prosecution that reflects the severity of this devastating crime.”
Disturbing new details are coming to light following the release of the autopsy report of Mei Li Haskell, whose dismembered body parts were discovered in an Encino dumpster last November.
Mei Li’s autopsy report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, obtained by several news outlets last week, noted the 37-year-old mother of three suffered a “sharp force injury at the neck,” with the bone margins in the amputated areas described as “remarkably smooth,” suggesting “a sharp powered tool was liely used” during the amputations.
While there was no indication her head was removed after death, the autopsy did not rule out Mei Li was still alive when she was decapitated, according to the report. The report did not list ay other fatal injuries to her torso.
Mei Li’s head, arms, and legs were absent, the report noted, and while the remains did not include her head, the coroner ruled that the most likely mechanisms of death were blunt force, gunshot, or sharp force trauma to her head/neck or asphyxia.
There were no drugs in her system, the report stated, but coroners could not rule out that she was poisoned with an unknown substance.
“Given the circumstance of the case, which includes the deliberate concealment of the body by dismemberment and disposal, the cause of death is homicidal violence,” the autopsy report stated.
It’s now been nearly a month since Los Angeles police arrested Sam Haskell and prosecutors charged him for the murders of his wife and in-laws.
Though Haskell’s been officially charged for those three murders, Haskell’s wife and in-laws are still unaccounted for.
Mei Li’s husband, Samuel Haskell IV, 35, pleaded not guilty in January to the murders of Mei Li and her parents, 64-year-old Yanxiang Wang and 72-year-old Gaoshan Li.
The bodies of Wang and Li have not been found.
Haskell IV is the son of Sam Haskell Sr., the current President of Magnolia Hill Productions. The production company is behind several Dolly Parton projects, including “Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas” and “Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings.”
Mei, her mom and step-dad all live in Southern California, but they’re originally from China. They only have one family member in the United States and he spoke with NBC4 in his first television interview since their traumatizing disappearance.
“I cannot believe it,” YanQing Wang said. “For the last month since learning the news I could not sleep I could only sleep for one hour, less than one hour. I have nightmares.”
On Nov. 8, someone found body parts in a trash bag in Encino and video linked that gruesome discovery to Haskell’s home in Tarzana. Hours later, police said Haskell’s wife Mei and her in-laws were missing.
Weeks later, Wang’s three loved ones are still unaccounted for, but Haskell’s been charged with three counts of murder.
“I’m very confused, first the news reported that Sam is being charged with the murder, but the police never give me an answer as whereabout are my sister and my brother-in-law,” Wang said. “My sister had a stroke and she could not walk. And why anyone would do something and hurt an old lady who is suffering physical illness I do not understand.”
Wang said he doesn’t know Haskell that well.
“He’s a very quiet person,” Wang said. “I don’t have too much contact with him. Because the language barrier, I don’t have much interaction with him.”
He also doesn’t know if the couple was experiencing any relationship or family issues.
“Mei never mentioned of her own problem within her own family,” he said. “If there was a problem, I think Mei, my sister, my brother-in-law, they can work things out”.
Wang said he was the first in their family to move to the United States, followed by Mei who moved for school. Once she met Haskell and they had kids, Mei’s mom and her husband moved too.
Samuel Haskell IV’s murdered wife Mei told friends her husband had abused her and she wanted a DIVORCE but feared he would take away their three sons with the help of his top Hollywood agent father
- Friends of Mei Haskell told DailyMail.com that she told them for years she wanted to leave her husband Samuel Haskell IV, 35
- ‘She was afraid that her husband would take away the kids with the help of his very rich and influential father,’ said one friend
- Haskell, a director of low budget slasher movies, was charged in court on Monday with the murder of his wife and her parents
- Murdered Mei Haskell told friends for years that she wanted to divorce her husband, but feared his powerful Hollywood agent father would persuade courts to give him custody of their three children.
- Friends of 37-year-old Mei, who is presumed dead along with her parents, told DailyMail.com she had repeatedly said that she wanted to leave Samuel Haskell IV for at least four years.
- ‘Mei first brought up a divorce when I was getting one in 2019,’ one friend named Jenny exclusively told DailyMail.com. ‘I told her she could do it, but she just felt like she couldn’t risk losing her boys.’
- ‘Mei felt trapped. She said she couldn’t leave because of the boys. She was afraid that her husband would take away the kids with the help of his very rich and influential father,’ said longtime friend Jenny who would only give her first name in fear of retaliation from the prominent Haskell family.
- Haskell is the son of former top Hollywood agent Samuel Haskell III
- ‘She said it wasn’t happening. That there was no way she could get a divorce.
- ‘Maybe she brought it up again and then he snapped.
- ‘There was also physical abuse,’ added Jenny. ‘She told me that he had hurt her. He had hit her.’
- Jenny also claimed that Mei had told her that her husband did not get along with her mother YanXiang Wang, 64, and father Gaoshan Li, 72. The parents had moved into their home in Tarzana, 25 miles north of Los Angeles, about five years ago to help look after the couple’s three young sons aged 6, 8 and 12.
- ‘She said he was rude to them and ignored them. That they made him angry,’ one friend said.
- ‘They couldn’t speak English, but he made no effort to interact with them.
- ‘When Mei’s youngest son was born, her parents moved from China to help take care of the baby. They were very helpful with the kids.
- ‘Mei doesn’t have any other family here except for her parents.’
- Haskell is charged with killing the three on November 6. The woman’s torso was found two days later. He faces a possible death sentence if found guilty.
- Mei’s tight-knit group of friends first suspected something was wrong when Haskell took the children to school – something his wife nearly always did – on November 8.
- ‘I thought it was odd,’ said one friend who asked to remain anonymous.
- ‘He even confirmed a playdate for our kids for this past Sunday,’ said the visibly shaken friend.
- Jenny said she became concerned when she didn’t hear back from Mei after reaching out to her numerous times on Sunday night, November 5.
- ‘I knew something was wrong because she wasn’t replying to my text messages. She always responds right away,’ she said.
“Mei, my sister, my brother-in-law, they are kind-hearted persons, they are peace loving people,” Wang said.
The family’s attorney Daniel Deng said they want closure.
“As a lawyer I want to help him find out the truth,” Deng said. “If they are murdered, then they want to give a burial service for the sister, and the brother-in-law, and Mei.”
But as he waits for an update from police, Wang is trying to think of happier times, like his sister’s September visit to China for his son’s wedding — two months before she disappeared.
“My son told her that he would come and visit her, but now he’s still hoping that could happen,” he said. “But now the chances of seeing her the last time is diminishing”.
Haskell is the son of Samuel Haskell III, a former executive vice-president and worldwide head of television for the talent agency William Morris Endeavor. His clients included Dolly Parton, George Clooney, Kathie Lee Gifford, Whoopi Goldberg and King Charles’s brother, Prince Edward.
He quit in 2004 and went on to found Magnolia Hill Productions.
The murder suspect’s father was also CEO of the Miss America organization from 2015-17, but resigned after he was found to have criticized some of the contestants in private emails, ridiculing one for gaining weight and describing another as promiscuous.
Mei’s friends described her husband as ‘weird’.
‘He would make these sudden moves with his arms and just blurt things out,’ said one.
‘When I first met him, I immediately thought of Jeffrey Dahmer, that same creepy vibe. He would walk really fast with his head down, rarely looking up and never make eye contact.
‘We are absolutely devastated. Mei was such a bright light and loved her kids so much. She wanted to create a wonderful world for them and she did.
‘Mei was the one we would all go to if we needed help or advice. She was always there for us. She was always so positive. She never complained. Her boys were her everything and the boys loved her so much.’
.In November, 2023, Samuel Haskell, 35, was charged with murder and is being held on $2 million bail after an investigation into a woman’s remains led police to his residence, the Los Angeles Police Department announced Thursday.
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/new-… KTLA 5 News – Keeping Southern Californians informed since 1947.
https://people.com/mei-haskell-hollywood-murder-blood-stains-possibly-found-tesla-8430509
https://www.foxla.com/news/mei-li-haskell-murder-autopsy-report
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/missing-tarzana-wife-in-laws-murder/3285468
https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/samuel-haskell-charged-with-murder-after-torso-found
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