A Tarzana man accused of murdering his wife and in-laws made his first court appearance on Friday, Dec. 8, since the discovery of a torso in a dumpster in Encino last month.
Shirtless with his blond hair tied back in a long ponytail draped over his shoulder, and with tattoos covering his right arm, Samuel Bond Haskell IV, 35, sat fidgeting behind the glass enclosure of the defendant’s holding area inside a downtown Los Angeles courtroom as he waited for a judge to call on him.
Haskell, in custody since his arrest on Nov. 8, looked back and forth through the glass at Superior Court court staff members and attendees in the gallery.
He stood up once the judge called his name, showing he was carrying a plastic bag filled with items.
Haskell did not enter a plea for the three murder charges against him. His court-appointed attorney requested more time to review the case after he said he was assigned to it two days prior.
“Uh, yes, your honor,” Haskell said when the judge asked if he accepted waiving his rights to a speedy trial.
Prosecutors opposed a longer delay for Haskell’s arraignment, which had already been pushed back a month, when a plea is to be entered. But the judge granted the defense’s request and set Haskell’s next court appearance for Jan. 12.
Haskell’s wife, 37-year-old Mei Le Haskell, and his in-laws — Gaoshan Li, 72, and YanXiang Wang, 64 — were all reported missing in November.
He was arrested after a homeless man rummaging through the Encino dumpster discovered a woman’s torso and called police early last month.
Around the same time, workers who Haskell hired to haul away trash bags from his home realized that the bags contained body parts. They reported their discovery to police, who later said they found surveillance video of Haskell putting something in the Encino dumpster that was in a parking lot.
Police believe the torso may be Mei Le Haskell’s, but the coroner’s office had not yet identified any of the…
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