EXCLUSIVE: Murder suspect Samuel Haskell IV kept a collection of samurai swords, crossbows, and guns inside Tarzana home he shared with missing wife, in-laws and young kids – as it’s revealed he directed disturbing videos of men fighting with axes

Murder suspect Samuel Haskell IV had an unusual preoccupation with guns and kept a large collection in the single-family home he shared with his missing wife, in-laws and three young children, DailyMail.com can reveal.

“He had an obsession with guns,” neighbor Elle Benami told DailyMail.com. “He had a samurai sword and a crossbow. He did martial arts. I think he had a black belt and was going to Japan to practice martial arts.”

Benami said Haskell, 35, had guns in the house and explained that she would not allow her children to enter their home despite her close friendship with his missing wife, Mei Li Haskell, 37.

Haskell – the son of a popular Hollywood agent – ​​is currently being held on $2 million bail after being arrested on suspicion of murder when a headless torso was found in a dumpster near his home.

‘The children could play here at my house or usually in the front garden. “I was okay with the kids playing in their front yard,” said Benami, who feared something could accidentally happen with so many guns in the house.

Haskell’s sons even bragged to other neighborhood children about having guns in the house, something their loving mother Mei was not fond of and which could very well have been an ongoing source of contention between the couple.

“Would I say they seemed like a happy couple? No, but I definitely didn’t expect anything like that. I could never have imagined what happened,” Benami said.

Benami revealed that she and another friend of Mei’s, whose identity has been kept secret, were questioned by detectives after Haskell was arrested on Wednesday morning and were given the disturbing news that body parts and blood had been discovered in the house.

“I was interviewed by several homicide detectives. They asked me questions about Mei, what I knew about her family, when I last saw her, about the boys and the man.

“We were the first two people they told they had found parts of a body in the house,” said the mother of four. “When they told us that news, it was completely surreal.”

Haskell’s fascination with guns was further exposed when DailyMail.com discovered music videos he had directed and posted to his Instagram page under the name TragicStretz.

The videos show men attacking each other with huge axes and swords. One video showed a man pointing a long sword at another man’s neck, with the hashtag #DemonHills.

Another video showed a man holding a gun with eerie music playing in the background while a man wearing a red beret waved his sword around.

Yet another video shows a machine gun glorifying the weapon with hypnotic music in the background.

The Haskells moved to the quiet, family-oriented community of Tarzana, about 25 miles north of Los Angeles, in December 2020.

‘Our children are the same age, so we spent a lot of time together, especially during Covid. We took a walk every day and the children always played together.’

‘You couldn’t ask for a better neighbor. Mei was a great mother, a great person and a great daughter to her parents,” Benami said.

Despite spending a lot of time together, Mei never expressed any concerns about her husband. Benami now believes that Mei was trying to protect her by not involving her in their marital problems.

Benami said she never had a conversation with Haskell in all the years they lived next door.

‘I didn’t have a close relationship with him. It was like a hello, waving to each other. He didn’t make eye contact. He took many walks in the neighborhood, usually alone.

While many neighbors questioned Haskell’s strange behavior, Benami believes he might have Asperger’s syndrome, which could explain his obnoxious antics, especially at the many parties his wife so carefully organized.

“One time she brought ponies to her front yard for her son’s birthday. She went all out at parties,” Benami said. ‘He was a bit off to the side. Not really talking to anyone. Be sure to say hello and not ignore anyone. He usually disappeared for a while. From the outside he smiled kindly.’

‘Mei was generally a cheerful person, very sweet. Really cute and funny,” Benami told DailyMail.com. ‘She often brought small gifts. She delivered two huge crates of strawberries. When my water heater broke down, she insisted we come to her house to take a shower. I was the only one who called her out on it.’

‘I know her parents, they lived here. They often stood in the front yard. They actually set up two chairs and they were sitting there waving. I couldn’t communicate with them because they didn’t speak English, but they were very cordial, very sweet and very good with children.

‘I don’t have a good feeling about it. I don’t think I’ll ever see those three again. She would never leave without the children. She was a wonderful mother and her three boys were very attached to her.

‘She did everything for them. Her whole life revolved around the boys. They did all kinds of extracurricular activities and were very talented boys. She had very high expectations of them. She was a very good mother, a good person and a good daughter to her parents.

‘I’ve met his parents many times. They are very friendly. They’re from Mississippi. They wouldn’t miss a single birthday party. His sister Mary Elaine was very involved.”

Haskell lived with his wife’s parents and their three children, as well as his in-laws YanXiang Wang, 64, and Gaoshan Li, 72, who are currently missing.

The three children, aged 6, 8 and 12, were found safe at school and are now with family.

Haskell’s father, Samuel Haskell III, was executive vice president and global head of television for the talent agency William Morris Endeavor. His clients included Dolly Parton, George Clooney, Kathie Lee Gifford, Whoopi Goldberg and King Charles’ brother Prince Edward.

He retired in 2004 and later founded Magnolia Hill Productions.

The murder suspect’s father was also CEO of the Miss America organization from 2015 to 2017, but resigned after it emerged he criticized some contestants in private emails, ridiculing one for gaining weight and the other described as promiscuous.

Haskell III is married to a former Miss Mississippi, Mary Donnelly Haskell, his college sweetheart, and the couple has a daughter, Mary Lane, and their son Sam IV.

In his Magnolia Hill biography, the senior Haskell, 68, says he is “widely known as ‘the nice guy in Hollywood.’

He continued, “Haskell is revered for rising to the top of a turbulent and often unscrupulous company with his character, integrity and value system intact.

“His reputation for honesty, integrity, loyalty and honesty made him a steady force in a sea of ​​inconsistency and someone with whom actors, writers, directors and other industry professionals were eager to work.”

His son’s arrest has rocked the Tarzana neighborhood after the decapitated torso believed to be Wei’s was found in a dumpster by a homeless man around 6 a.m.

The dumpster was captured on chilling surveillance footage showing a man struggling to lift a large black bag into the dumpster before driving away.