Cops have arrested a husband after finding a woman’s torso in a plastic bag tossed into a parking lot dumpster near a family restaurant and nail salon.
Samuel Haskell, who lives in Tarzana, LA, just five miles from where the human remains were discovered, was arrested around 11am yesterday and is being held on $2 million bail, abc7 reports. He has been charged with one count of murder.
Haskell’s wife, Mei Haskell, and her parents Yanxiang Wang and Gaoshen Li are missing and all three were living in the Tarzana home with the suspect.
Police found evidence of a crime, including blood, at the house. They believe the torso belongs to Mei Haskell, but said partial remains are harder to positively identify.
The torso believed to be Ms Haskell’s was found in a black plastic bag stuffed into a duffel bag, which was tossed into a dumpster behind Ventura Boulevard and Rubio Avenue in Encino, California.
The torso believed to be Mei Haskell’s (pictured) was found in a black plastic bag stuffed into a duffel bag, which was tossed into a dumpster behind Ventura Boulevard and Rubio Avenue in Encino, California
The torso was found in Encino, California, early yesterday morning following a concerned call to police about human remains in a black plastic bag, according to the LA Police Department
A homeless person found the torso when digging through dumpsters in the parking lot near a family-style restaurant, a hair salon and two banks looking for recyclables around 6.15am yesterday, according to LA Police Department
Police believe the body part wasn’t there for longer than a few days.
‘If a murder suspect is dismembering a body, it’s to delay identification,’ LAPD homicide detective Efren Guttierez told KTLA about the difficulty identifying the victim from just a partial body part.
A homeless person found the torso when digging through dumpsters in the parking lot near a family-style restaurant, a hair salon and two banks looking for recyclables around 6.15am yesterday, according to LA Police Department.
After reviewing CCTV footage of the area, police said they were pointed to Haskell’s house in the 4100 block of Coldstream Terrace in Tarzana, about five miles from where the torso was dumped, according to the LA Times.
Haskell lived at the home with his wife, her parents and the couple’s three children.
The children were located in school yesterday and were handed over to the Department of Children and Family Services.
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’s wife, Mei Haskell, and her parents Yanxiang Wang (left) and Gaoshen Li (right) are missing and all three were living in the Tarzana home with the suspect
After reviewing CCTV footage of the area, police said they were pointed to Haskell’s house in the 4100 block of Coldstream Terrace in Tarzana (pictured centre), about five miles from where the torso was dumped, according to the LA Times
Haskell lived at the home with his wife, her parents and the couple’s three children
Police had investigated a call to the couple’s address, where witnesses said they had seen body parts in a bag outside the home.
But when officers arrived at the address, the bag was nowhere to be found.
A local resident told abc7: ‘I think it was kind of weird to drive up and be blocked off along the boulevard and into the little center over here and to find out that there were body parts there… in Encino.’
Another resident added that crime has been on the rise in Encino for a few months now.
People with information are urged to contact the LA Police Department.
