The home of the son of a powerful former Hollywood agent was raided by police following the grim discovery of a woman’s dismembered torso as they investigated his wife’s murder.
Samuel Haskell IV, 35, was charged with murder in LA on Wednesday after a homeless man looking for recyclables found a woman’s torso in a dumpster about five miles from the suspect’s Tarzana home.
The night before the torso was found, construction workers told police they saw what appeared to be a body in a black bag near Haskell’s home, but when officers arrived, the bag was gone.
“There was no evidence that allowed officers to enter the home,” LAPD Detective Efren Gutierrez told NBC4 about the initial call.
However, the bag containing the torso was consistent with the description of the bag reported by the employee, prompting police to establish a second crime scene at Haskell’s home, where investigators found “evidence of blood.”
Investigators say they found “evidence of blood” inside Haskell’s home following his arrest Wednesday.SplashNews.com Members of the Los Angeles Police Department mark evidence inside Haskell’s home.KTLA A homeless man looking for recyclables found a woman’s torso in a bin trash about five miles from the suspect’s Tarzana home. ABC 7 NEWS
“Here at the house, once the officers came in, what they found was criminal evidence, including some blood evidence and other things that I’m not going to give away at this point,” Gutierrez told ABC 7.
Investigators were seen combing the home for hours Wednesday afternoon, checking items in the suspect’s garage and placing evidence markers.
Haskell’s wife, Mei Haskell, 37, and her parents — mother Yanxiang Wang, 64, and father Gaoshan Li, 72 — were reported missing before the gruesome discovery and remained missing as of Friday.
Police found the couple’s three children at school on Wednesday and turned them over to the Department of Children and Family Services.
Haskell’s wife and mother-in-law were missing before he was arrested. LAPD Samuel Haskell IV, 35, was charged on suspicion of murder in LA on Wednesday. samhaskelljr / Instagram Authorities are still trying to identify the torso, but fear it may belong to the suspect’s wife, Mei Haskell .samhaskelljr / Instagram
Authorities are still trying to identify the body but believe it is Haskell’s wife.
“If a homicide suspect is cutting up a body, it’s to delay identification,” Guttierez said.
Investigators will rely on DNA evidence to identify the victim.
Haskell is the son of former William Morris Agency executive vice president Samuel Haskell III, according to the LA Times.
Dolly Parton and Sam Haskell III attend the 2017 Variety and Women In Film pre-Emmy celebration at Gracias Madre on September 15, 2017, in West Hollywood, California.FilmMagic
Joining the agency in 1978, the elder Haskell represented a notable client list in his time with the agency that included such stars as George Clooney, Dolly Parton, Whoopi Goldberg, Michael Feinstein — and even King Charles’ brother, Prince Edward.
He became an executive vice president at William Morris in 1997, but he is also listed as the agency’s worldwide head of television, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The Emmy-winning producer retired from the agency in 2005 and is now president of Magnolia Hill Productions.
Haskell III with Betty Cantrell and Vanessa Williams at the 2016 Miss America Pageant at Boardwalk Hall Arena on September 13, 2015, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.Donald Kravitz
In his company biography, Haskell III, who also served as CEO of the Miss America organization from 2015 to 2017, is said to be “widely known as ‘the nice guy in Hollywood.'”
He resigned after emails showed him criticizing and making rude comments about past winners.
The son’s arrest was not his first brush with the law, according to records obtained by the LA Times.
In December 2008, he was arrested and charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
A neighbor of Haskell’s says she’s a loving wife, but something about her is “off.” samhaskelljr / Instagram
Haskell pleaded no contest to battery and was placed on three years’ probation in 2010, the outlet reported.
A neighbor, who did not want to be identified, told ABC 7 he developed a friendship with May, but always thought “something seemed very strange” about Haskell before he lost his wife.
“Something seemed very strange. I kept saying to my family, ‘There’s something wrong with her husband,'” the neighbor, who did not want to be named, told the outlet.
Haskell is being held on $2 million bail at the Valley Jail in Van Nuys in connection with the discovery of the torso.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
