A Tarzana, California, man was recently arrested following the discovery of a trash bag containing his wife’s torso. The bag in question has a curious chain of custody. NBC Los Angeles reports that suspected murderer Samuel Haskell attempted to hire day laborers to offload several bags of human remains.
Haskell told the workers that the bags contained rocks and paid them $500 for their efforts. When the hired hands concluded the bags had something other than rocks in them, they opened one and were shocked to see a collection of body parts inside. The laborers then returned the bags (and the $500) to Haskell, saying they didn’t want to be involved. Haskell then told them the contents of the bags were actually ‘Halloween props’.
“But once they picked up the bags, they said it felt like there was meat inside.” writes NBC Los Angeles.
The day laborers subsequently made two unsuccessful attempts to report the evidence to law enforcement. First, they were referred to the LAPD by the California Highway Patrol. And then the LAPD told them to return to Haskell’s driveway and call 911 from the scene of the crime. The workers feared for their lives at that point and chose not to return to the scene again.
It wasn’t until an unhoused man rifling through a dumpster in the Los Angeles suburb of Encino happened upon the evidence that the remains made their way into police custody.
The torso has since been identified as that of Mei Haskell, wife of Samuel Haskell. Mei and her parents, Gaoshan Li, and YanXiang Wang, had previously been reported missing but it’s currently unclear by whom.
Following the discovery of the torso, Haskell was arrested on suspicion of triple homicide.
That’s all for this installment of Horror IRL. Stay tuned to the site for more developments as we learn of them.
Categorized: Horror IRL News
