Torso found in dumpster identified as missing California mother of 3

A woman’s torso found in a garbage bin in Encino last month has been identified as a mother of three from Tarzana believed killed along with her parents, the coroner’s office said Monday, Dec. 18.

Mei Haskell, 37, her mother Yanxiang Wang, 64, and her stepfather Gaoshan Li, 71, had all been missing from their Tarzana home since early November.

After the torso was found in a bag inside the bin behind an Encino strip mall on Nov. 8, police said they found surveillance camera footage showing Haskell’s husband, 35-year-old Samuel Bond Haskell, dumping the bag. They arrested him at the Westfield Topanga mall the same day.

Coroner’s office records now show investigators have identified the remains as Mei Haskell. Wang and Li remain missing.

Samuel Haskell has remained in jail since his arrest at the mall. He made his first court appearance on Dec. 8, but still has not been arraigned on murder charges for his wife and in-laws. He is due back in court in January.

According to several reports, Haskell is the son of Sam Haskell, a prominent Hollywood agent, and he has credits listing him as the executive producer of a handful of low-budget films.

The discovery of the torso led police to Haskell’s Tarzana home where he lived with his wife, their three children and his in-laws. When police came to the home after the discover of the torso, they said they found blood and other evidence of a killing there.

Several day laborers also reported they had been hired by Haskell to dispose of several garbage bags he handed them. According to NBC4, the workers said Haskell told them there were rocks in the bags, but when they looked inside, they saw body parts. The workers dumped the bags at the home and went to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Topanga station, where they reported what they saw but were initially turned away.