Los Angeles is reeling after one of the most grisly crimes in recent years. A woman’s torso has been found inside a dumpster, body parts have been discovered inside heavy black trash bags, blood detected in a luxurious family home and three people are missing.
The man at the center of this nightmare is 35-year-old Sam Haskell Jr., who has been arrested by police, denied bail and is facing three counts of murder. So, who is this guy and what is he alleged to have done?
Who is Sam Haskell Jr.?
Sam Haskell Jr. (aka Sam Haskell IV) is the son of former Hollywood agent and longtime Miss America CEO Sam Haskell and Mary Donnelly Haskell, 1977’s Miss Mississippi. The older Haskell was a prominent A-list talent agent whose clients included George Clooney, Whoopi Goldberg, and Kathie Lee Gifford. He also worked with Dolly Parton, with whom he received four Emmy nominations and a win for work on Parton’s Christmas on the Square.
Haskell’s father was also the CEO of Miss America, though resigned in 2017 after disturbing emails surfaced in which he referred to previous contestants as the C-word, wished contestants had died, and speculated on their sex lives. Miss America 2016 winner Betty Cantrell said:
“I lived under this misogynistic leadership for a year of my life, and I’m definitely glad to see all of this evidence come into the light.”
As far as Haskell Jr. goes, he appears to have been a typical privileged Hollywood brat (a self-described “richkid”). Haskell worked under the stage name of “Samuel Basshinger” and seems to have worked as an editor/videographer/producer for rappers, including Tyga and Machine Gun Kelly.
He was currently working on writing and directing his pet project HARV4RD_L4W, which was set to star Mickey Koga, Alex Kawaguchi, and Kaile Goh, described as:
“This is what happens when a drug dealer moves in with a national best-selling fraudster in the Mansions of Palos Verdes”
The Los Angeles Times has also reported that Haskell was arrested in 2008 for assault with a deadly weapon, for which he was sentenced to three years probation.
Haskell was also active on TikTok, with his account “tragicstreetz” appearing to consist of bizarre ramblings:
Now it seems the only thing he’s going to be achieving is decades behind bars, so what exactly happened?
The bodies
On Nov. 9 the Los Angeles Police Department put out a press release setting out the facts. On Nov. 8 a homeless man searching through dumpsters discovered a headless woman’s torso. He promptly called the cops and a forensic investigation began of the scene and efforts were made to identify the body.
At the same time a day laborer hired by Haskell was asked to dispose of some black plastic trash bags “that felt heavy and soggy”. When he opened them he found body parts inside and called 911.
Detectives converged on Sam Haskell Jr.’s six-bedroom residence in Coldstream Terrace in the West Valley area, where he lived with his wife (Mei Li Haskell, 37), her parents (Gaoshan Li, 71, and Yanxiang Wang, 64), and their three children.
The children have been located and are now being cared for by family members, but Haskell’s wife and in-laws are ominously missing. Authorities have discovered “blood evidence and other items” at the home, none of which bodes well.
Surveillance videos of the dumpster show a thin man who resembles Haskell pulling up in a white SUV. He then struggles to toss something into the bin before leaving:
The arrest
Haskell’s arrest came later that day at a mall in Canoga Park. He has now been charged with three counts of murder, along with a “special circumstance” as multiple murders may have been committed together.
The judge told the media Haskell’s face could not be photographed and he openly scowled at the judge as the charges against him were read out. Haskell spoke just a single word, “Yes”, when asked if he understood the process. He is now being held without bail until his next court appearance on Dec. 8.
District Attorney George Gascon said:
“These shocking and gruesome crimes have sent shockwaves through our community. We stand with the victims’ loved ones during this unimaginably difficult time and will do everything in our power to ensure justice is served.”
Meanwhile, outside court Haskell’s wife’s friends held up signs saying “We miss Mei” and “Help us find Mei.” While it sadly seems that the torso found in the dumpster belongs to Mei, the whereabouts of her parents remain unknown.
Published: Nov 14, 2023 07:34 am