Sam Haskell Jr., Accused of Killing Wife and In-Laws, Shirtless in Court

Sam Haskell Jr. -- the man accused of murdering his wife and in-laws -- showed up to court for his latest arraignment without a shirt ... something cops say is due to his suicidal thoughts.

Haskell Jr. was brought into the Los Angeles courtroom Thursday shirtless as he was escorted inside.

The officer inside the courtroom said Haskell Jr. didn't have a shirt on due to suicidal ideations ... explaining he initially was just wearing a velcro vest that had no material he could choke or injure himself with, but the vest kept falling down, so it was taken off.

As we reported, Haskell Jr. was hit with 3 counts of murder last month in connection with the death of his 37-year-old wife, Mei, and her parents ... 72-year-old Gaoshan Li and 64-year-old Yanxiang Wang.

Remember, we obtained footage that appeared to show Haskell dumping what may have been a body into a dumpster in Encino, CA -- and as you'll recall, a homeless person later reported finding a torso at that same dumpster the following day.