A top Hollywood agent’s son accused of murder was caught on camera the day before his arrest enlisting workmen to cart away two large trash bags – which the workmen then returned, having found body parts inside.
Sam Haskell IV, 35, was arrested on Wednesday morning after a woman’s torso was found in a bag in a dumpster near his Tarzana home.
New surveillance camera footage shows Haskell on Tuesday afternoon seemingly trying to get rid of the dismembered body parts. He paid workers $500 to take away bags he first said were full of rocks, and then said were Halloween decorations.
‘When we picked up the bags, we could tell they weren’t rocks,’ one worker told NBC 4. They returned the bags and the cash, and called the police.
His wife Mei Haskell, 37, is missing – LAPD now believe the torso to be hers. Her father Gaoshan Li, 72, and mother, YanXiang Wang, 64 – who lived with the couple in their $2.5 million home – are also missing.
Haskell can be seen in the footage, taken from a home camera across the road, waving down workmen driving in their truck at 3:53pm on Tuesday.
The workmen are seen arriving at the Haskell home in Tarzana, California, on Tuesday afternoon, and carrying away two black trash bags which Haskell said were full of rocks
The men are seen struggling with the heavy black bag, which they will put in their truck
The workmen get out of their truck, and money is exchanged. They then, at 3:57pm, carry two large trash bags away from the drive and load the bags into their white truck.
The laborers, who didn’t want to be identified, claim the bags were soft and heavy, appearing to be filled with meat and weighing around 50 pounds.
The men drive off, but they are suspicious and look inside the bags, and find body parts.
‘I was astonished,’ the worker said. ‘Of course, I felt bad. We had been tricked.’
At 4:15pm they return, and give Haskell back the bags and the payment. Haskell tried to claim the body parts were Halloween props, but the workmen said they wanted nothing to do with it and left.
‘God was watching over us,’ they said, adding they feared for their lives due to the horrifying nature of their find.
They drive away, and at 4:22pm Haskell leaves the property in his white Tesla.
The workmen are seen at 4:15pm returning to hand back the bags and the cash
The laborers rushed to inform the police, but claim they were turned away from two police stations when they tried to make a report.
The California Highway Patrol station in De Soto, California told them to report their find to the Los Angeles Police Department.
An LAPD precinct in Topanga told them to leave the station, and call 911 from the parking lot, they said.
Police arrived on the scene, but saw no sign of the trash bags the men referenced.
The torso would be found at 6am on Wednesday morning, and Haskell arrested at 11:30am at a mall in Topanga.
Surveillance camera footage, obtained by Fox News, shows a white vehicle driving into the parking lot in Encino.
One man is seen getting out of the vehicle, opening the trunk, and lifting – with difficulty – a large bag from the trunk.
Sam Haskell IV, 35, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with murder
The man’s white SUV is seen parked near the dumpster in Encino, with its trunk open
The man is seen struggling to lift the heavy black object from the back of his car
Staggering under the weight of the bag, the man manages to throw it into a dumpster, before driving off. Sam Haskell IV was arrested on Wednesday at 11:30am at a mall
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Sam Haskell IV, 35, and his wife Mei Haskell, 37, are pictured in photos from his Instagram. He has been arrested and charged with murder after a dismembered female torso was found, and linked to him. His wife is missing, as are her parents
Mei Haskell (left), her mother YanXiang Wang, 64, and her father Gaoshan Li, 72, are all missing
He staggers under the weight of the heavy package, but manages to throw it into the dumpster. He then drives off.
The source of the video told Fox that the police had obtained a copy, and a witness in the parking lot took a picture of the SUV’s license plate, which was also given to police.
The Haskell family had two white SUVs – a white VW Tiguan and a white 2014 Nissan Pathfinder are both missing.
The Haskells had three children, aged 6, 8 and 12 – Samuel Bond Haskell V, James Donnelly Haskell, and William Kirkpatrick Haskell II – who were found safe at school on Wednesday, and are now with family.
Haskell IV’s TikTok page shows him engaging in bizarre monologues, with a 2022 fascination with Brad Pitt. He also posts videos of himself at a country club in Calabasas, and at a Ralph Lauren store, as well as driving around in his car.
It’s unclear if the pouting, muscle-flexing videos were a parody or serious.
He discussed burnt steak and rambles about In one video, he talks about feeling resentful.
‘My resume says unhappy, resentful, and really good at ordering off the menu,’ he says at one point.
‘Now I’m never going to stop drinking.’
The arrest of Haskell IV has rocked their neighborhood in Tarzana, where the family lived in a $2.5 million, six bedroom, house.
Haskell IV’s father, Samuel Haskell III, was a high-profile agent with William Morris, whose clients included Dolly Parton, George Clooney, Whoopi Goldberg and King Charles’s brother, Prince Edward.
Police are seen searching the $2.5 million six bedroom house where the young Haskell family lived, with Mei’s parents
A birds-eye view shows Haskell IV’s backyard which includes a pool and a children’s play set
Haskell IV’s home is now the focus of an investigation as detectives work to find clues about what happened after a woman’s torso was found in a dumpster
Media was seen camped outside the Tarzana residence after news broke of the former Hollywood agent son’s arrest
The house is pictured with media on the street outside it on Thursday
He retired from William Morris in 2005, and in 2009 published a memoir entitled ‘Promises I Made My Mother’, which his publishers described as a ‘deeply personal and spiritually-enriching story about living a principled life in unprincipled times.’
In 2012, the multiple Emmy-winner founded Magnolia Hill Productions with Dolly Parton, and produces many of her television specials.
Haskell III was CEO of the Miss America organization from 2015-17, but resigned after he was found to have criticized some of the contestants in private emails, ridiculing one for gaining weight and describing another as promiscuous.
Sam Haskell III is pictured in September 2017 at a Miss America press conference
Haskell III is seen with Dolly Parton, who he represented for many years
Haskell III is pictured with Vanessa Williams, who was Miss America 1984, and became head judge in 2016
Haskell III is seen with Miss America contestants in 2017
Haskell III is married to Mary Donnelly Haskell, his college sweetheart
Mary Donnelly Haskell was a former Miss Mississippi
The pair have have a daughter, Mary Lane, as well as their son Sam IV
Prince Edward, the brother of King Charles, is pictured with Haskell III – his agent at the time – and actor Martin Short
Haskell III (center) is seen at the September 2021 Emmy Awards, winning outstanding television movie for ‘Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square’
Mary Haskell, Sam Sr.’s wife and Sam Jr.’s mother, is pictured at an Oscars events.
Haskell III is married to a former Miss Mississippi, Mary Donnelly Haskell, his college sweetheart, and the pair have a daughter, Mary Lane, as well as their son Sam IV.
In his company biography, Haskell III says he is ‘widely known as ‘the nice guy in Hollywood’.’
He continues: ‘Haskell is revered for rising to the top of a turbulent and often conscienceless business with his character, integrity and value-system intact.
‘His reputation for honesty, integrity, loyalty and fairness made him a consistent force in a sea of inconsistency and someone with whom actors, writers, directors and other industry professionals were eager to work.’
Haskell IV’s social media show him to have a taste for film and digital media, with frequent postings of camera set-ups and artistic portraits.
His wife frequently posed for his Instagram pictures, often in highly stylized, edgy photos.
Sam Haskell IV in Asia, in a photo posted to Instagram in August 2013
Haskell IV posted this photo of his wife Mei in January 2014
One neighbor told ABC 7 News that she knew Mei Haskell, but her husband seemed strange.
‘The husband – something seemed so off,’ the woman said.
‘Something seemed so weird. I thought maybe he was sick, or something was wrong. All I said was, I kept saying to my family, something is wrong with him.’
On Tuesday evening, construction workers called the police after reporting seeing a dead body in a bag on the driveway.
By the time police arrived, the body had gone.
Detective Efren Gutierrez with LAPD told NBC4 on Wednesday night: ‘When the officers responded, nothing was located.
‘There was no evidence that allowed the officers to make entry into the home.
‘The bags that were described were no longer outside.’
At 6am on Wednesday, a homeless man digging through dumpsters in Encino, five miles from Haskell IV’s house, found the dismembered torso in a bag in a dumpster.
The torso was found in Encino, California, early on Wednesday morning following a call to police about human remains in a black plastic bag
The bag was found stuffed into a duffel bag and tossed into a dumpster (pictured) behind Ventura Boulevard and Rubio Avenue, near a family-style restaurant, a hair salon and two banks
Haskell IV’s wife, Mei Haskell (pictured), and her parents Yanxiang Wang and Gaoshen Li are missing, police said. All three were living in the Tarzana home with the suspect
The bag in the dumpster was consistent with the description given by the construction workers, Gutierrez said.
Officers reviewed surveillance footage of a vehicle in the business plaza, which led them to Haskell IV.
Police then went to the Haskell house and found blood stains and other evidence.
‘Here in the house, once officers made entry, what was discovered was evidence of a crime, including some blood evidence and other items that I’m not going to provide at this point,’ said Gutierrez.
Haskell IV was arrested on Wednesday morning, and charged later that day.
He remains at the Van Nuys jail on a $2 million bond, and is next in court on November 13.
The Los Angeles County coroner’s office says it is working with detectives to identify the female torso.