The police have charged the son of a well-known Hollywood agent and executive with the murder of a woman believed to be his wife. Investigators discovered the woman’s remains inside a dumpster in Los Angeles earlier this week.
According to a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department, the authorities suspect the victim to be Mei Li Haskell, 37, the wife of the suspect, Samuel Haskell, 35. However, the confirmation of the victim’s identity is still pending.
As of Saturday, authorities were still searching for Mr. Haskell’s in-laws, Yanxiang Wang, 64, and Gaoshan Li, 71, who are currently missing.
During a news conference this week, Detective Efren Gutierrez of the Los Angeles police stated that construction workers had reported seeing a dead body inside a plastic bag at a residence on Coldstream Terrace in Tarzana, Calif., prompting officers to be dispatched to the location on Tuesday evening.
Upon arrival, the officers did not find anything that allowed them to enter the home. However, the next morning, an individual looking through dumpsters discovered a bag containing a woman’s torso.
Authorities determined that the residence belonged to the Haskells, where they lived with their three children and Ms. Haskell’s parents. The children are currently being looked after by family members.
It was not immediately clear if Mr. Haskell, who is in jail with a bail set at $2 million, had legal representation.
The case has brought a prominent Hollywood family into the midst of a criminal investigation. Samuel Haskell is the son of Sam Haskell III, a veteran talent agent and film producer, and Mary Haskell, an actress who was crowned Miss Mississippi in 1977. His sister, Mary Lane Haskell, is also an actress.
Phone calls to numbers associated with Mr. Haskell’s parents went unanswered. Mr. Haskell’s sister declined to provide any comment.
Sam Haskell III has produced various television pageant shows as well as several films and shows about Dolly Parton, including a 2019 Netflix series inspired by the fabled country star’s songs.
Mary Haskell, who has occasional television show credits dating back to the 1990s, appeared in an episode of the Dolly Parton Netflix series.
Sam Haskell III previously worked at the William Morris Agency, where he held the position of executive vice president in the late 1990s. He was renowned as one of the most influential agents in the industry, representing high-profile clients such as George Clooney, Ray Romano, and Whoopi Goldberg.
He was listed as the president of Magnolia Hill Productions, where his biography described him as widely known as “the nice guy in Hollywood” who achieved success after relocating from Mississippi to the west coast.
He also served as the longtime head of the Miss America Organization, but his tenure ended in 2017 following a scandal involving derogatory remarks made by him and other pageant leaders about the competition’s contestants.
Jack Begg contributed research.
