LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles man awaiting trial for the brutal murders and dismemberment of his wife and her parents has died by suicide in jail, authorities confirmed Monday.
Samuel Bond Haskell, 37, was found dead in his cell Saturday at a downtown Los Angeles facility. He had been charged with three counts of murder in the deaths of his wife, Mei Haskell, 37, her mother, Yanxiang Wang, 64, and her stepfather, Gaoshan Li, 72. His pretrial hearing had been scheduled for Monday.
Haskell was the son of former Hollywood power broker and Emmy-winning producer Sam Haskell, once a top executive at the William Morris talent agency.
Prosecutors said Haskell’s death denied the victims’ families the opportunity for justice. “By taking his own life, he escaped accountability and robbed the victims’ loved ones of their day in court,” said District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
According to prosecutors, the murders occurred on November 6, 2023, inside the family’s shared home in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles. The next day, Haskell allegedly paid day laborers $500 to remove large, heavy plastic trash bags from the property. The workers later discovered human remains inside the bags, returned them along with the money, and contacted police. By the time officers arrived, both Haskell and the bags were gone.
Surveillance footage later showed Haskell disposing of black plastic bags in a dumpster and moving bags between his wife’s Tesla and a rental SUV. That same day, a man rummaging through a dumpster discovered a headless torso, later identified as Mei Haskell.
Police arrested Haskell on November 8, 2023, at an Airbnb where he had been staying with his three children. A subsequent search of the family home revealed eight plastic bags containing bloody bedding, towels, a machete, a machine saw, and a blood-stained board. Authorities also found canes belonging to the older victims.
Although the bodies of Wang and Li have not been recovered, DNA evidence on a gun and knife found in the SUV matched all three victims.
Haskell had pleaded not guilty and, according to his attorney, was prepared to waive a jury trial and public preliminary hearing to minimize the impact on his children. “He wasn’t afraid of prison,” attorney Joe Weimortz told NBC4. “He was afraid of putting his children through an even bigger media storm.”
The Haskell family released a brief statement through counsel expressing sorrow over the loss of all involved, saying, “The Haskell family grieves every single life lost in this case.”
