The man charged in the murders of his wife and her parents, who vanished from their home in Tarzana last month, made a second appearance in court Friday but put off entering pleas to the charges.
Samuel Bond Haskell, 35, was led into a fifth-floor courtroom at the Clara Shortridge Foltz justice center with his hands shackled at his waist. He was shirtless and dressed in special jail clothing designed to prevent suicide attempts.
Haskell told the judge he understood he had to agree to waive his speedy trial rights in order to further delay his arraignment to Jan. 12, when he will enter pleas.
Haskell was charged last month after the partial remains of a woman were found in a trash bin in Encino, and police said they found evidence consistent with murders and dismemberment at Haskell's home in the hills of Tarzana.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
The criminal complaint accuses him of killing his wife, Mei, and her parents, Yanxiang Wang and Gaoshan Li, who are all considered missing.
The LA County Coroner's Office said Friday the Encino remains had yet to be positively identified as any one of the three.
The I-Team reported in November that a group of day laborers said Samuel Haskell hired them to move trash bags from his home in Tarzana, but returned the bags after they saw what looked like part of a human body inside.
“When we picked up the bags, we could tell they weren't rocks,” one of the workers said in Spanish.
Tarzana murders
Earlier this week YanQing Wang, the only relative of Mei Haskell and her parents living in the United States, told NBC LA that he's had nightmares about what happened to his family, and can't understand how the 3 are still considered missing.
“I’m very confused, first the news reported that Sam is being charged with the murder, but the police never give me an answer as whereabout are my sister and my brother-in-law,” Wang said.
Samuel Haskell was arrested by LAPD detectives at a shopping center several hours after the remains were discovered on November 8 in Encino.
Security video appeared to show a person moving a large trash bag from the trunk of a white Tesla sedan into the trash bin.
Detectives spent many hours examining the Haskell home on Coldstream Terrace in Tarzana, where authorities said they discovered evidence of a murder and possible dismemberment.
