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PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Sam Haskell IV appears in court
Sam Haskell IV, the Tarzana man arrested after a torso was found inside a dumpster in Encino, had his arraignment delayed.
LOS ANGELES - Disturbing new details are coming to light following the release of the autopsy report of Mei Li Haskell, whose dismembered body parts were discovered in an Encino dumpster last November.
Mei Li's autopsy report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, obtained by several news outlets last week, noted the 37-year-old mother of three suffered a "sharp force injury at the neck," with the bone margins in the amputated areas described as "remarkably smooth," suggesting "a sharp powered tool was liely used" during the amputations.
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While there was no indication her head was removed after death, the autopsy did not rule out Mei Li was still alive when she was decapitated, according to the report. The report did not list ay other fatal injuries to her torso.
Mei Li's head, arms, and legs were absent, the report noted, and while the remains did not include her head, the coroner ruled that the most likely mechanisms of death were blunt force, gunshot, or sharp force trauma to her head/neck or asphyxia.
There were no drugs in her system, the report stated, but coroners could not rule out that she was poisoned with an unknown substance.
"Given the circumstance of the case, which includes the deliberate concealment of the body by dismemberment and disposal, the cause of death is homicidal violence," the autopsy report stated.
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PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Woman's torso found in Encino dumpster
Police in Encino are investigating after a woman's dismembered torso was found in an Encino dumpster. Officials are investigating at a home in Tarzana.
Mei Li's husband, Samuel Haskell IV, 35, pleaded not guilty in January to the murders of Mei Li and her parents, 64-year-old Yanxiang Wang and 72-year-old Gaoshan Li.
The bodies of Wang and Li have not been found.
Haskell IV is the son of Sam Haskell Sr., the current President of Magnolia Hill Productions. The production company is behind several Dolly Parton projects, including "Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas" and "Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings."