CA - Sam Haskell, 35, arrested after woman's torso found in a trash bin in Encino LA, Tarzana, wife & two adult family members missing, 8 Nov 2023

[katydid23]

The kids must of heard or seen something. I suspect all the dismantle happened in the garage seems like the only secure place to keep hidden from the kids. But again how did he have time to do all this with 3 kids.

And the kids must have been asking where their mom and grandparents were. I am sure they were usually taken care of by them every day. They must have been so confused.

 

[katydid23]

The only thing I saw is video footage of the workers he hired moving the bags and returning it from TMZ.

This article from KTLA states the kids violin teacher last saw the whole family on Saturday Nov. 4th.

“A woman who teaches violin to one of Samuel and Mei’s children went to the home on Saturday morning but was unaware of what happened until KTLA 5’s Carlos Herrera broke the news.
“I don’t even know what to say because they were such a nice family,” she said. “I’ve been here every week for almost a year.”
She said that she last saw the whole family on Nov. 4 and that everything seemed “normal” when she taught their son violin.”

I saw that interview with the violin teacher. I can't believe she didn't know about the murders.

She must be local if she teaches here every Saturday. Hard to believe she has taught the boy for a year and no one told her about his parents crazy situation. She must be very insulated and kind of out of touch with community news.

She is convinced they are a very normal, nice family but she might not be a super attentive person in terms of her environment. lol

 

[Knox]

• Saturday, November 4th - Violin teacher sees the whole family in the home.
• Tuesday, November 7th - Sam hires day laborers to remove bags, later they return the bags to the home and in the evening - attempt to report to law enforcement.
• Wednesday, November 8th - Sam is caught on video throwing a bag into a dumpster. At 6AM that same morning, a homeless person discovers the bag in the dumpster. Somewhere around 11AM, Sam is arrested at a mall.

I think that's all correct? So the murders could have taken place after the violin teacher saw the family on 11/4 to the morning of 11/7. I guess more specific details on the timeline will come out as the investigation progresses. Or maybe not, LAPD seems to keep things under wraps.

 

[iamshadow21]

• Saturday, November 4th - Violin teacher sees the whole family in the home.
• Tuesday, November 7th - Sam hires day laborers to remove bags, later they return the bags to the home and in the evening - attempt to report to law enforcement.
• Wednesday, November 8th - Sam is caught on video throwing a bag into a dumpster. At 6AM that same morning, a homeless person discovers the bag in the dumpster. Somewhere around 11AM, Sam is arrested at a mall.

I think that's all correct? So the murders could have taken place after the violin teacher saw the family on 11/4 to the morning of 11/7. I guess more specific details on the timeline will come out as the investigation progresses. Or maybe not, LAPD seems to keep things under wraps.

I think they probably were killed on the weekend. Dismembering takes time, he had to deal with cutting up three adults, meanwhile juggling the care of three live children (and hopefully keeping them away from the mess).

MOO

 

[katydid23]

• Saturday, November 4th - Violin teacher sees the whole family in the home.
• Tuesday, November 7th - Sam hires day laborers to remove bags, later they return the bags to the home and in the evening - attempt to report to law enforcement.
• Wednesday, November 8th - Sam is caught on video throwing a bag into a dumpster. At 6AM that same morning, a homeless person discovers the bag in the dumpster. Somewhere around 11AM, Sam is arrested at a mall.

I think that's all correct? So the murders could have taken place after the violin teacher saw the family on 11/4 to the morning of 11/7. I guess more specific on the timeline will come out as the investigation progresses. Or maybe not, LAPD seems to keep things under wraps.

The confusing part of the timeline for me is how did he do all this, with three little boys at home? They are not toddlers, they are old enough to see and hear and ask questions. They'd quickly notice if mom, grandma and grandpa were suddenly gone.

How could he disable them and do all the other horrible things with the 3 boys in the house? And get them to school?

The day he was arrested at the mall, was he planning to pick the kids up at school and make another excuse for where their family was? That wasn't going to work forever. What was the plan?

 

[Bumblebeez]

Yeah when the police finally entered the house they said there was blood and body parts as well! Also there was only 3 bags I believe that was just the wife and not the in-laws. Where are the other two bodies along with the other two bags that are still not found.

 

[Knox]

The confusing part of the timeline for me is how did he do all this, with three little boys at home? They are not toddlers, they are old enough to see and hear and ask questions. They'd quickly notice if mom, grandma and grandpa were suddenly gone.

How could he disable them and do all the other horrible things with the 3 boys in the house? And get them to school?

The day he was arrested at the mall, was he planning to pick the kids up at school and make another excuse for where their family was? That wasn't going to work forever. What was the plan?

I think you've watched his IG, TT, & YT videos & FB right? Sam wasn't tracking right, he didn't physically look UTI - so IMO he's got some mental health issues. I'll add, that basically NO ONE commented on anything he posted, including his wife. So I'm guessing anyone who knew him, had knowledge of his "issues", at least within the last several years. His plan was clearly no plan at all ...

There are two bedrooms on the ground floor with attached bathrooms, he could have done the deed there or in the garage and locked the kids out. Likely told them the others went on a trip. The kids were all school age, so he drops them off and has many hours to do what he did. The kids rooms are probably upstairs (4 bedrooms). Doesn't seem all that complicated to hide in a 4,000 SF home with two stories. But I'm sure at least the 12 year old will have some interesting things to share with LE

 

[iamshadow21]

Yeah when the police finally entered the house they said there was blood and body parts as well! Also there was only 3 bags I believe that was just the wife and not the in-laws. Where are the other two bodies along with the other two bags that are still not found.

Depends... The day labourers said each of the three bags weighed about fifty pounds. Does Mei look like she would be 150lb? Because if she was not, if she was lighter, there was more than one person's remains in those bags.

The DNA will sort it out, even if they never find the rest. He hadn't cleaned the house.

MOO

 

[Knox]

Yeah when the police finally entered the house they said there was blood and body parts as well! Also there was only 3 bags I believe that was just the wife and not the in-laws. Where are the other two bodies along with the other two bags that are still not found.

IMO, left at other dumpsters. Hopefully LAPD is searching in that regard and it went to a Transfer Station rather than a landfill.

 

[Inthedetails]

I think you've watched his IG, TT, & YT videos & FB right? Sam wasn't tracking right, he didn't physically look UTI - so IMO he's got some mental health issues. I'll add, that basically NO ONE commented on anything he posted, including his wife. So I'm guessing anyone who knew him, had knowledge of his "issues", at least within the last several years. His plan was clearly no plan at all ...

There are two bedrooms on the ground floor with attached bathrooms, he could have done the deed there or in the garage and locked the kids out. Likely told them the others went on a trip. The kids were all school age, so he drops them off and has many hours to do what he did. The kids rooms are probably upstairs (4 bedrooms). Doesn't seem all that complicated to hide in a 4,000 SF home with two stories. But I'm sure at least the 12 year old will have some interesting things to share with LE

Even so, there was at least one whole night the mom and her parents were not there. The dayworkers were hired on Tuesday, but Haskell was not arrested until Wednesday. I'm assuming the kids were at home Tuesday night, and, even if they didn't witness violence, they would've noticed mom and grandparents were not home.

jmo

 

[Tippy Lynn]

As far as we know both the VW Tiguan, CA, 9ANC890 and the 2014, Nissan Pathfinder, CA, 7FRM190 are both still missing. Maybe MH’s parents bodies will be located in the missing cars.

 

[10ofRods]

I saw that interview with the violin teacher. I can't believe she didn't know about the murders.

She must be local if she teaches here every Saturday. Hard to believe she has taught the boy for a year and no one told her about his parents crazy situation. She must be very insulated and kind of out of touch with community news.

She is convinced they are a very normal, nice family but she might not be a super attentive person in terms of her environment. lol

I live and work very close by and haven't heard or read a single thing about it (until I read it here). I don't subscribe to the LA Times because it's too expensive. Most of the people I know use the KTLA news page (for major news, such as yesterday's fire under the 10 freeway - which is catastrophic for L.A. area commuters - and for people all across the West who would like to keep their store shelves stocked).

Lots of people are arrested daily in Los Angeles. I don't consider myself isolated at all. Where I'm reading about this case is in the NYT and the Guardian (there's way more information today - the POI/arrestee is the son of a prominent talent agent, apparently). So now TMZ is covering it. I don't know anyone who has cable or watches TMZ, personally. I used to, a decade ago, but we cut the cable and I get my news online - like everyone else I know (students, their families, colleagues, etc - and I do have a source of data, because I have been asking students where they and their families get news - and having them interview grandparents and parents - for about 20 years). It's mostly individual devices, reddit, news.google.com etc. And nothing came up on my news.google about this case until I read about it here and searched for it - so now Google knows I'm interested.

I just searched KTLA and there was a small article (not near the top of the their front page) about what's in the TMZ article (the fact that there's video and TMZ is reporting is rippling through my own source of local news - I imagine it would be the same for other people). Even then, the man's name is not in the headline of the article - I don't usually click on gruesome stories about body dumping, which is what the article is about.

IMO.

 

[LooksSusToMe]

I live and work very close by and haven't heard or read a single thing about it (until I read it here). I don't subscribe to the LA Times because it's too expensive. Most of the people I know use the KTLA news page (for major news, such as yesterday's fire under the 10 freeway - which is catastrophic for L.A. area commuters - and for people all across the West who would like to keep their store shelves stocked).

Lots of people are arrested daily in Los Angeles. I don't consider myself isolated at all. Where I'm reading about this case is in the NYT and the Guardian (there's way more information today - the POI/arrestee is the son of a prominent talent agent, apparently). So now TMZ is covering it. I don't know anyone who has cable or watches TMZ, personally. I used to, a decade ago, but we cut the cable and I get my news online - like everyone else I know (students, their families, colleagues, etc - and I do have a source of data, because I have been asking students where they and their families get news - and having them interview grandparents and parents - for about 20 years). It's mostly individual devices, reddit, news.google.com etc. And nothing came up on my news.google about this case until I read about it here and searched for it - so now Google knows I'm interested.

I just searched KTLA and there was a small article (not near the top of the their front page) about what's in the TMZ article (the fact that there's video and TMZ is reporting is rippling through my own source of local news - I imagine it would be the same for other people). Even then, the man's name is not in the headline of the article - I don't usually click on gruesome stories about body dumping, which is what the article is about.

IMO.

There’s some local coverage on ABC7 as well Audio reveals new clues after Tarzana man arrested in connection with body part found near dumpster

 

[Knox]

Even so, there was at least one whole night the mom and her parents were not there. The dayworkers were hired on Tuesday, but Haskell was not arrested until Wednesday. I'm assuming the kids were at home Tuesday night, and, even if they didn't witness violence, they would've noticed mom and grandparents were not home.

jmo

Not sure if you're just piggy backing, but I didn't mention specific timelines in my post? IMO, he could have killed one or all three as early as Sunday. I didn't say the kids wouldn't have noticed their absence, I said Sam likely told them a lie - to explain why they weren't in the home.

 

[Inthedetails]

Not sure if you're just piggy backing, but I didn't mention specific timelines in my post? IMO, he could have killed one or all three as early as Sunday. I didn't say the kids wouldn't have noticed their absence, I said Sam likely told them a lie - to explain why they weren't in the home.

Nothing personal intended. Just trying to add to the conversation as we figure this out together. Sorry for any misstatements. jmo

 

[10ofRods]

There’s some local coverage on ABC7 as well Audio reveals new clues after Tarzana man arrested in connection with body part found near dumpster

Yep, there is. But I don't usually watch ABC7 (it's a local channel, I have no antenna - no one in my neighborhood has an antenna). We use apps. My TV app presents me with snippets of local news (we rarely watch it). I have 250 students right now - various ages (average around 22 years, up to 45, with an occasional outlier). I poll them on current events a couple of times a semester.

They do not know a volcano is about to erupt in Iceland. They do not know an atmospheric river is approaching Los Angeles (despite me showing flooding videos in most classes, to talk about infrastructure and natural selection). I bet that even on Monday, most will not know of the federally declared disaster in downtown L.A. (which is at the top of the news cycle and at the top of L.A. Times - if they aren't reading big headlines, they're not poring over local crime news).

The story you posted was published on October 11.

Police were looking for a POI and apparently found him on October 8 - at which point, a few small articles have appeared. But if it were not for my interest in true crime and my use of the "What's new" feature on WS, I wouldn't have known about it, even now.

Now that the dismemberment and the arrest are linked, there is more local news coverage - but that is not what helped find this POI. It'll be trickling through various news sources throughout the week, but almost no one just goes to youtube every day to watch all of ABC7's coverage (or any coverage). A few people my age do listen to NPR, but NPR doesn't do a lot of local crime news.

I am not saying there's no local coverage. I'm just saying that virtually no one watches local coverage. I'm sure there are studies of who does watch it. We read newspapers in my household; my students do not read news at all. Most teachers are aware of this and try to give strong incentives for them to read the news, if it fits the course subject, even then, it's like pulling teeth.

I don't know how anyone goes about finding news if they don't already know the subject matter. My DH just told me that he saw a small article on SFGate on the 10th. He didn't read the article, didn't know it was so close to where we live.

Here's Sfgate today

SFGATE: San Francisco Bay Area News, Sports, Culture, Travel, Food and Drink

Your San Francisco Bay Area local news source plus the latest in sports, culture, weather, food and drink, politics, real estate, Lake Tahoe and California Parks.

www.sfgate.com

If you didn't know the name of the suspect or that body parts had been found, how would you find the story? Things of this nature roll off the main news pages very quickly.

It's still up top on ABC7 - but note that he does not mention the gruesome nature of the crime, the man's name or anything else that I could search for once it's off the front page. Just says audio provides clues in a murder, etc.

Los Angeles and Southern California News, Weather, Traffic - ABC7 KABC

Los Angeles breaking news and live streaming video. Covering LA, Orange County and Southern California.

abc7.com

So people who saw any part of this crime or its cover-up are unlikely to connect it to this story unless some other coverage takes place. Indeed, I have no clue as of right now when exactly the crime is alleged to have occurred - but I'll search this thread for it before I would click through any more news stories (most of which contain fewer details

IMO.

 

[katydid23]

I live and work very close by and haven't heard or read a single thing about it (until I read it here).

We must be neighbours because I live about 3 miles away from the house and crime scene.

I don't subscribe to the LA Times because it's too expensive. Most of the people I know use the KTLA news page (for major news, such as yesterday's fire under the 10 freeway - which is catastrophic for L.A. area commuters - and for people all across the West who would like to keep their store shelves stocked).

I don't read the Times anymore either. I do get most of my news online by streaming KTLA most often. Or KABC.

They were all over this case early on. The homeless man finding the torso on Ventura Blvd in the dumpster near Norms Diner was pretty shocking for Encino.

KTLA led with the story the first couple of days. Even naming the family and showing pictures of Mei quite often, as missing.

But also it became a topic of conversation with my neighbours and with my hairdresser. Locals seemed to be discussing it and talking about him being the spoiled rich kid of a Hollywood agent/producer. That was a big local theme because we have all seen that kind of tragic theme.

Lots of people are arrested daily in Los Angeles. I don't consider myself isolated at all. Where I'm reading about this case is in the NYT and the Guardian (there's way more information today - the POI/arrestee is the son of a prominent talent agent, apparently). So now TMZ is covering it. I don't know anyone who has cable or watches TMZ, personally. I used to, a decade ago, but we cut the cable and I get my news online - like everyone else I know (students, their families, colleagues, etc - and I do have a source of data, because I have been asking students where they and their families get news - and having them interview grandparents and parents - for about 20 years). It's mostly individual devices, reddit, news.google.com etc. And nothing came up on my news.google about this case until I read about it here and searched for it - so now Google knows I'm interested.

I just searched KTLA and there was a small article (not near the top of the their front page) about what's in the TMZ article (the fact that there's video and TMZ is reporting is rippling through my own source of local news - I imagine it would be the same for other people). Even then, the man's name is not in the headline of the article - I don't usually click on gruesome stories about body dumping, which is what the article is about.

IMO.

It did surprise me that she was their private music teacher for a year and no one she knew connected the dots and told her. Tarzana suburbs are kind of a small town, in terms of family life goes. I would think everyone whose kids go to school with those poor boys would be aware that their mother was killed by their father and worse was yet to come.

But I shouldn't have called her isolated. It just seemed surprising to me.

 

[10ofRods]

There’s some local coverage on ABC7 as well Audio reveals new clues after Tarzana man arrested in connection with body part found near dumpster

Yep, there is. But I don't usually watch ABC7 (it's a local channel, I have no antenna - no one in my neighborhood has an antenna). We use apps. My TV app presents me with snippets of local news (we rarely watch it). I have 250 students right now - various ages (average around 22 years, up to 45, with an occasional outlier). I poll them on current events a couple of times a semester.

They do not know a volcano is about to erupt in Iceland. They do not know an atmospheric river is approaching Los Angeles (despite me showing flooding videos in most classes, to talk about infrastructure and natural selection). I bet that even on Monday, most will not know of the federally declared disaster in downtown L.A. (which is at the top of the news cycle and at the top of L.A. Times - if they aren't reading big headlines, they're not poring over local crime news).

The story you posted was published on October 11. I found out about it on the 9th, here on WS. The arrest was on the 8th (and with a search engine, I found small stories, without the man's name in the headline, without the city in the headline and with very few details in the headline) in the news I actually do read.

The crime itself happened on Wednesday. I heard about it here first.

Police said they arrested 35-year-old Sam Haskell on suspicion of murder after officers found him at a mall in Topanga on Wednesday.

While the body is so dismembered police say it cannot be formally identified, police said that three people who lived with the suspect at a house in the nearby Tarzana neighborhood are missing.

They are his wife Mei Haskell; her 72-year-old father Gaoshan Li, and her 64-year-old mother YanXiang Wang, NBC Los Angeles reported.

Man arrested after woman's torso is found in a trash bin in California

The body has not been identified, but police said they were searching for the suspect's wife and her parents, who all lived with the man in LA’s Tarzana neighborhood.

www.nbcnews.com

My 13th birthday party was at the place where he was apprehended. I still shop there (it's one of the earliest "fancy" shopping malls and has appeared in movies - it's close to where the crime took place - but not at all the closest mall; and today, it's a bit more seedy than the malls closer to the crime location).

Amazing that they found him so quickly. I would love to know how they managed that. Did they send out some kind of APB to even security guards in malls? I can't remember if Topanga Plaza (like the mall I usually shop out) has an actual police station. Even though malls have actual police stations, there are still crimes every week on mall property.

 

[Knox]

Inmate Information Center

This information was current as of: 11/12/2023 17:42 PST

Schedule A Visit VINELink Search Another Inmate Back To Search Result

Booking Number
6709167
Last Name
HASKELL
First Name
SAMUEL
Middle Name
BOND
Sex
M (Male)
Race
W (White)
Date of Birth
4/3/1988
Age
35
Hair
BLN (Blonde)
Eyes
BRO (Brown)
Height
600
Weight
185
Charge Level
F (Felony)

Arrest​

Arrest Date
11/8/2023
Arrest Time
1125
Arrest Agency
4223
Agency Description
LAPD-VALLEY BUREAU
Date Booked
11/8/2023
Time Booked
1638
Booking Location
4279
Location Description
LAPD - VALLEY JAIL (VAN NUYS)

Bail​

Total Bail Amount
NO BAIL
Total Hold Bail Amount
0.00
Grand Total
NO BAIL

Housing Location​

Housing Location
TTCF
Permanent Housing Assigned Date
11/12/2023
Assigned Time
1216
Facility
TWIN TOWERS CORRECTIONAL FACILITY
Address
450 BAUCHET STREET
City
LOS ANGELES
Facility Visiting Information
For County facility visiting hours, Please call (213) 473-6100 at Inmate Information Center

Court​

Next Court Code
M30
Next Court Date
11/13/2023
Next Court Time
0830
Next Court Case
9999999999
Court Name
LOS ANGELES MUNI CT DIV 30
Court Address
210 W. TEMPLE STREET
Court City
LOS ANGELESUPT

Court hearing tomorrow morning at 8:30. I looked to see if LA County Courts are still streaming, they aren't.

 

[Tippy Lynn]

Yep, there is. But I don't usually watch ABC7 (it's a local channel, I have no antenna - no one in my neighborhood has an antenna). We use apps. My TV app presents me with snippets of local news (we rarely watch it). I have 250 students right now - various ages (average around 22 years, up to 45, with an occasional outlier). I poll them on current events a couple of times a semester.

They do not know a volcano is about to erupt in Iceland. They do not know an atmospheric river is approaching Los Angeles (despite me showing flooding videos in most classes, to talk about infrastructure and natural selection). I bet that even on Monday, most will not know of the federally declared disaster in downtown L.A. (which is at the top of the news cycle and at the top of L.A. Times - if they aren't reading big headlines, they're not poring over local crime news).

The story you posted was published on October 11. I found out about it on the 9th, here on WS. The arrest was on the 8th (and with a search engine, I found small stories, without the man's name in the headline, without the city in the headline and with very few details in the headline) in the news I actually do read.

The crime itself happened on Wednesday. I heard about it here first.

My 13th birthday party was at the place where he was apprehended. I still shop there (it's one of the earliest "fancy" shopping malls and has appeared in movies - it's close to where the crime took place - but not at all the closest mall; and today, it's a bit more seedy than the malls closer to the crime location).

Amazing that they found him so quickly. I would love to know how they managed that. Did they send out some kind of APB to even security guards in malls? I can't remember if Topanga Plaza (like the mall I usually shop out) has an actual police station. Even though malls have actual police stations, there are still crimes every week on mall property.

RSBM:

The crime itself happened on Wednesday. I heard about it here first.

We're not sure when the crime happened. As far as we know the crime happened sometime between Saturday, 11/4 and Tuesday, 11/7 when the investigation began.

1/4/23, Saturday Violin teacher sees the whole family in the home.

11/7/23, Tuesday Investigation began, it was reported that body parts were in bags outside the home. When LE arrived the bags were gone. (4115 Coldstream Terrace, Tarzana, CA)