The son of the Hollywood director accused of killing his wife Mei and her parents and dismembering their bodies has once again appeared in court bare-chested.
Sam Haskell IV was once again shirtless in his final court appearance in downtown Los Angeles, just as he was during his last appearance on January 12.
The heavily tattooed 35-year-old is under suicide watch at the LAPD’s Valley Jail in Van Nuys.
He is the son of Hollywood talent agent Samuel Haskell III, whose tenure at WME included overseeing The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Everybody Loves Raymond.
On his last court appearance, Haskell pleaded not guilty to the murders of his 37-year-old wife and her parents, Goashan Li, 72, and Yanxiang Wang, 64.
Sam Haskell IV was once again shirtless in his final court appearance in downtown Los Angeles, just as he was during his last appearance on January 12.
At his last court appearance, Haskell pleaded not guilty to the murders of his 37-year-old wife and her parents, Goashan Li, 72, and Yanxiang Wang, 64.
The heavily tattooed 35-year-old is on suicide watch at the LAPD’s Valley Jail in Van Nuys
Haskell’s attorney, Joseph Weimortz, has previously objected to his client’s semi-naked appearance in court, calling it “dehumanizing” and asking Judge Kimberley Baker Guillemet to cover for him.
That the top half of his heavily tattooed body was stripped naked was “not Mr. Haskell’s fault,” Weimortz said, adding that “he has given no indication that he intends to harm himself.”
The judge had ordered media photographers in court to only film Haskell ‘from the neck up’ during the hearing in January.
This order remained in effect during today’s hearing. No visible signs of self-harm were observed on the suspect today.
The judge had ordered media photographers in court to only film Haskell ‘from the neck up’ during the hearing in January
This order remained in effect during today’s hearing. No visible signs of self-harm were observed on the suspect today
Body parts found in an Encino dumpster have been confirmed as the remains of 37-year-old Mei Haskell (pictured)
Haskell, 35, is accused of murdering his wife Mei, as well as her mother, Yanking Wang, 64, and father, Gaoshan Li, 72, who remain missing
Haskell, who faces the death penalty if convicted, was arrested after the decapitated torso of a woman — later identified as his Chinese-born wife Mei, 37 — was found last month in a dumpster near his office in Encino, northwest of LA, previous month .
He was charged with Mei’s murder and the murders of her mother, Yanking Wang, 64, and father, Gaoshan Li, 72, both of whom remain missing.
Mei’s friends have told DailyMail.com that she had wanted to divorce Haskell for at least four years but feared his father, a powerful agent, would convince the court to give him custody of their three sons, aged six, eight and 12.
Prosecutors allege that Haskell hired four day laborers to remove black trash bags from his LA home the day after the murders.
One worker revealed he was paid $500 to remove three large rubbish bags – adding that Haskell claimed they were filled with rocks before later pretending the body parts were ‘Halloween props’.
The judge remanded him to the Men’s Central Jail downtown without bail and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Feb. 16
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
Haskell is the son of former Hollywood top agent Samuel Haskell III
“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 inside they 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.
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 .