Powerful Hollywood agent’s son arrested after woman’s torso found in dumpster
A Los Angeles man and son of a once-powerful Hollywood agent has been arrested in connection to a murder after a woman’s torso was found in a dumpster.
Samuel Haskell, 35, was identified as a suspect by the Los Angeles Police Department after authorities searched and processed the residence connected to the dismembered body of the woman killed.
Police have yet to identify the woman but believe it could be Mr Haskell’s wife, Mei Li Haskell. She and her parents, Yanxiang Wang and Gaoshan Li, have been missing from the residence they shared with Mr Haskell in Tarzana.
Mr Haskell was arrested and taken into custody on Thursday and is currently being held on a $2m bond.
He is also the son of the Hollywood agent Sam Haskell Sr who represented Dolly Parton, Whoopi Goldberg, George Clooney, Ray Romano and more before retiring in 2005, according to TMZ.
The investigation began on Tuesday after a witness reported what appeared to be body parts stuffed into bags outside of the Haskell’s home. However, when police arrived at the scene the bags were gone.
Then on Wednesday, an individual looking through the dumpster bins in an Encino strip mall discovered the woman’s torso in a duffel bag in the dumpster – just five miles from the Haskell’s home, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Security footage from the area led investigators back to the Haskell home where they discovered other evidence linking Mr Haskell to the dismembered body.
Mr Haskell shared the residence with his wife and their three children in addition to his in-laws, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The couple’s three young children have been located and are currently in the care of other family members.
Court records obtained by the Los Angeles Times show that Mr Haskell was arrested and charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon in 2008. He pleaded no contest to battery and was given three years probation in 2010.
Police are currently asking anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Mr Li, Ms Wang, Ms Haskell to contact the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division, Homicide Special Section.
