Who is Samuel Bond Haskell IV? All about the Hollywood exec's son who died in custody ahead of dismemberment trial

Samuel Bond Haskell IV was born in 1987 to Emmy‑winning talent agent, producer Sam Haskell III and former singer-actor Mary Donnelly Haskell. Raised between Mississippi and Los Angeles, Samuel Bond Haskell IV studied film briefly at Cal State Northridge and picked up sporadic credits as a low‑budget cinematographer, yet friends said he relied largely on family support.

In 2010, he married accountant Mei Li Haskell, who brought her parents, Yanxiang Wang and Gaoshan Li, to live with the couple and their three sons in Tarzana. Mei was the household’s primary earner, while Samuel Bond  stayed home to pursue film projects and childcare duties.

Samuel died by apparent suicide in his Los Angeles jail cell on July 12, 2025, just days before his scheduled preliminary hearing. He was awaiting trial for the gruesome 2023 murders and dismemberment of his wife, Mei Li Haskell and her elderly parents, a case that shocked both Hollywood and the nation.

Timeline of the alleged murders and evidence

Prosecutors say the killings occurred on November 6 2023. Surveillance footage and witness statements outline the next three days:

November 7, 2023: Samuel Bond allegedly paid four day labourers $500 to haul away several heavy trash bags from his home. One labourer opened a bag, saw body parts and called 911, but the bags disappeared before police arrived, as the ABC report dated July 15, 2025. The same afternoon, cameras caught Samuel Bond dumping another bag in an Encino shopping centre dumpster.

November 8, 2023: A scavenger found a beheaded torso in that dumpster. DNA confirmed it was Mei. LAPD arrested Samuel Bond Haskell IV that night, as cited in the NBC report dated July 14, 2025

A search of his home and rental SUV produced a cutting saw, machetes, knives, a blood‑soaked plywood sheet and a loaded .357-calibre handgun. DNA on one knife matched all three victims. The bodies of Wang and Li have still not been recovered.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney charged Samuel Bond Haskell IV with three counts of murder plus a special‑circumstance allegation for multiple victims, exposing him to life without parole.

Samuel Bond's in‑custody death and its fallout

On July 12 2025, at 4:20 a.m., deputies found Samuel Bond Haskell IV unresponsive in a single‑man cell at Twin Towers Correctional Facility. The Sheriff’s Department says preliminary evidence points to suicide. An autopsy is pending. He was the 26th inmate to die in county custody this year, a statistic now feeding calls for better mental‑health monitoring.

As per the ABC7 report dated July 14 2025, District Attorney Nathan Hochman stated,

“Instead of standing before a judge and answering for the crimes he's been charged with, the defendant managed to escape justice.”

Hochman added,

“The full motive for an individual to so violently and barbarically kill three people and chop up their bodies - Mr. Haskell has taken that motive to the grave with him,”

As per the People report dated July 14 2025, defense attorney Joseph Weimortz stated,

“This case has always been about a father who, like many other American fathers, would do anything to protect his children”

As per the NBC Los Angeles report dated July 14 2025, Weimortz further said in an email,

“Haskell was fearful of more negative publicity that could affect his children, but not prison.”

The attorney’s comments suggest that media exposure, rather than the possibility of life in prison, weighed most heavily on Samuel. Hochman, however, described the suicide as a final act of cruelty that robbed the victims' families of the chance to see justice served in court.

What happens next?

The criminal case will be dismissed because Bond is deceased, yet civil litigation is likely. Mei’s relatives may sue his estate for wrongful death, and advocates are urging federal oversight after another inmate also died in Twin Towers on July 11.

For now, the couple’s three sons are in the care of extended family. Authorities still hope new leads will surface to locate the remains of Wang and Li and to clarify the motive that drove Samuel Bond Haskell IV to a crime that shocked Hollywood and, in the end, ended his own life before standing trial.

Stay tuned for more updates.