Body parts found in an Encino dumpster have been confirmed as the remains of Sam Haskell's missing wife.
The County of Los Angeles medical examiner identified the decapitated torso discovered last month in a dumpster near Haskell's office in Encino, northwest of Los Angeles, as belonging to 37-year-old Mei Haskell.
Haskell, the son of Hollywood super agent, has been charged with the triple murder of Mei and her parents, mother Yanking Wang, 64, and father, Gaoshan Li, 72, both of whom remain missing.
During a brief court appearance on December 8, the heavily tattooed 35-year-old, who was on suicide watch, was shirtless after the Velcro straps on a special dress he was wearing came loose.
He was scheduled to enter a plea at the hearing, but LA Supreme Court Judge Kimberley Baker Guillemet continued the arraignment and plea until Jan. 12 at the request of Haskell's new attorney Joseph Weimortz, who was just hired and said that he needed time to familiarize himself with the matter. with the case.
Body parts found in an Encino dumpster have been confirmed as the remains of 37-year-old Mei Haskell (pictured)
A bag containing a headless torso was found, stuffed into a duffel bag and thrown into a dumpster behind Ventura Boulevard and Rubio Avenue, near a family restaurant, hair salon and two banks
Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman objected to the continuation, telling the court, “We are opposed to delaying this for another six weeks.”
He was remanded to jail without bail. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
Prosecutors allege that Haskell hired four day laborers to remove black trash bags from his LA home the day after the murders.
One worker claimed he was paid $500 to remove three large garbage bags. He claimed Haskell said they were filled with rocks before later pretending the body parts were “Halloween props.”
“When we picked up the bags, we could see they weren't rocks,” he said, noting that the bags were soft and moist.”
He and his colleagues looked in the bags and saw “body parts, a belly button.”
'I was surprised. Of course I felt bad. We were cheated,” he said.
The men then took the bags and money back to Haskell's home and told him they “didn't want to be involved.”
The workers went straight to police and notified the California Highway Patrol and police.
Sam Haskell, 35, has been charged with the murders of his wife Mei, her parents, mother Yanking Wang, 64, and father, Gaoshan Li, 72, both of whom remain missing
Friends of Mei said Haskell did not get along well with mother Yanking Wang (center) and father Gaoshan Li (right), who moved to Los Angeles to care for the couple's three children.
Mei, pictured, wanted to leave Haskell but feared his powerful father would try to prevent her from seeing the couple's three children
Prosecutors said that later that day, Haskell was “allegedly observed and photographed a short distance from his home disposing of a large garbage bag in a dumpster in the 16000 block of Ventura Boulevard.”
Haskell is the son of Samuel Haskell III, a former executive vice president and global 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' brother Prince Edward. He retired in 2004 and founded Magnolia Hill Productions.
Haskell senior was also CEO of the Miss America organization from 2015 to 2017, but resigned after it emerged he had criticized a number of contestants in private emails, ridiculing one for gaining weight and describing another as promiscuous .
Mei's friends told DailyMail.com that she had wanted to divorce Haskell for at least four years but feared his father, a powerful cop, would convince the court to give him custody of their three sons, aged six, eight and 12.
“May first brought up divorce when I got one in 2019,” a friend named Jenny told DailyMail.com exclusively. “I told her she could do it, but she just felt like she couldn't risk losing her boys.”
'She said she couldn't leave because of the boys. She was afraid that her husband would take the children away with the help of his very wealthy and influential father.'
Haskell appeared shirtless in court on December 8 and had his arraignment postponed until January 12
“There was also physical abuse,” Jenny added. 'She told me he had hurt her. He had hit her.'
Jenny also claimed that Mei told her that her husband did not get along with her mother Wang and father Li.
The parents had moved to their home in Tarzana, 25 miles north of Los Angeles, about five years ago to care for the couple's three young sons, ages six, eight and 12.
'She said he was rude to them and ignored them. That they made him angry,” said a friend.
“They didn't speak English, but he made no effort to interact with them.”