The son of a prominent Hollywood agent, facing murder charges, was caught on camera the day before his arrest, hiring a group of day laborers to remove two sizable garbage bags. The workers later brought back the bags after having found human remains inside. However, he told them that the "belly button" they found inside was just a Halloween prop.
Samuel Haskell IV, aged 35, was taken into custody on Wednesday morning after a woman's torso was found in a bag in a dumpster near his Tarzana home. Newly obtained surveillance footage shows Haskell's actions on Tuesday afternoon trying to dispose of dismembered body parts believed to be his wife's.
Grim Discovery
Haskell reportedly paid workers $500 to remove the bags he initially claimed contained rocks, later altering his story to describe them as Halloween decorations.
"When we picked up the bags, we could tell they weren't rocks," one worker told NBC 4.
"I started seeing body parts, a belly button," the workers, who did not want to be identified, told the channel in Spanish.
They returned the bags and the cash and called the police.
The video shows the workers disembarking from their truck, and a monetary transaction takes place.
They then carry two sizable trash bags away from the driveway and load them into their white truck at 3:57 pm. The laborers claim that the bags felt soft and heavy, resembling a meat-like consistency and weighing approximately 50 pounds each.
After driving away, the men become suspicious and inspect the contents of the bags, discovering they contain body parts.
"I was astonished," the worker said. "Of course, I felt bad. We had been tricked."
At 4:15 pm, the workers are seen coming back and returning both the bags and the payment to Haskell. Despite Haskell's attempt to claim that the body parts were Halloween props, the laborers express their unwillingness to be involved and promptly leave.
"God was watching over us," they said, adding they feared for their lives due to the horrifying nature of their find.
They leave, and at 4:22 pm, Haskell vacates the premises in his white Tesla.
Mystery Deepens
The same night, construction workers informed the police that they had seen what appeared to be a body in black bags near Haskell's home. However, when officers arrived at the scene, the bags had disappeared.
The following morning, a homeless man searching for recyclables accidentally found the torso around five miles from Haskell's home. Haskell was arrested on one count of murder four hours later.
His wife, Mei Haskell, 37, is missing, and investigators are trying to determine if the discovered torso belongs to her.
The parents of Mei Haskell, who lived with the couple and their three children in Tarzana, are also reportedly missing. Authorities are currently searching for Mei's father, Gaoshan Li, 72, and mother, YanXiang Wang, 64, along with their missing SUV, a white VW Tiguan, police said.
The three children, aged 6, 8, and 12 - identified as Samuel Bond Haskell V, James Donnelly Haskell, and William Kirkpatrick Haskell II - were located safely at school and are currently under the care of family members.
Haskell along with her parents, Yanxiang Wang and Gaoshan Li had already been reported missing before the discovery of the dismembered torso.
As of Saturday, they still remain missing.
Authorities are currently in the process of identifying the torso, and while it has not been confirmed, they believe it may be that of Haskell's wife.
Investigators plan to use DNA evidence for the identification of the victim. The arrest of Haskell Jr. has left the Tarzana neighborhood in shock, where the family lived in a six-bedroom house valued at $2.5 million.
Haskell Jr.'s father, Samuel Haskell Sr., was a prominent agent affiliated with William Morris, representing notable clients such as Dolly Parton, George Clooney, Whoopi Goldberg, and Prince Edward, the brother of King Charles.
Samuel Haskell Sr. retired from William Morris in 2005. In 2009, he published a memoir titled 'Promises I Made My Mother.' Described by publishers as a "deeply personal and spiritually-enriching story about living a principled life in unprincipled times."
The recent arrest of Samuel Haskell Jr. is not his first run-in with the law.
Records obtained by the LA Times indicate that in December 2008, he was arrested and charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
Haskell entered a plea of no contest to battery charges and was placed on three years' probation in 2010, as reported by the outlet.
A neighbor, choosing to remain unidentified, told ABC 7 that she had a friendship with Mei but always sensed that "something seemed so off" about Haskell before his wife's disappearance.
"Something seemed so weird. I kept saying to my family, 'Something is wrong with her husband,'" the neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous, told the outlet.
Haskell is currently detained on $2 million bail at the Valley Jail in Van Nuys in connection with the discovery of the torso.
