A 35-year-old Tarzana man has been arrested in connection with the discovery of a dismembered torso of a woman in Encino earlier Wednesday.
Samuel Haskell was taken into custody by Los Angeles Police Department officers at the Topanga Mall, NBC4 reported. His wife, mother-in-law and father-in law have been reported missing and lived in the 4100 block of Coldstream Terrace in Tarzana with Haskell, police said.
The investigation of Haskell began after a homeless man searching for recyclables in an Encino trash bin found a bag containing the remains of an unidentified woman.
Officers responded to the bin in the area of Ventura Boulevard and Rubio Way at about 6:15 a.m. in response to a call from the man, according to the LAPD.
The remains, believed to have been dismembered, were that of a woman, but there were no other immediate details on the person’s identity. It was unclear how long the remains may have been in the bin, or how long ago the victim may have died.
“We don’t know anything about the victim, which makes it incredibly difficult to figure out who the suspect is,” LAPD Detective Efren Gutierrez told reporters.
He asked “if there are any persons out there missing family members, missing loved ones or coworkers, to reach out to the Los Angeles Police Department and report them missing.”
“That way we can make a match on whether or not their missing loved one is a female, and once the coroner’s office is able to render an opinion as to age and ethnicity, then it’ll narrow down the possibility of identifying the victim. And that would more likely lead us to a possible suspect,” he said.
At a news conference in Tarzana, Gutierrez told reporters how police were led to the Haskell residence in Tarzana. “There was video evidence at the (Encino) scene that led us to this location,” he said.
NBC4 reported police searched the Haskell home looking for addition evidence.
Haskell is being held in the Van Nuys Jail on $2 million bail, NBC4 reported.
Anyone with information on the case was urged to call 877-LAPD-247.