Rebecca Nalepa Zahau Found Hanging, Bound Mansion of Jonah Shacknai (Suicide)

[MOMDET]

Yes, Thanks Muffy ...this one really has my curiousity going!

[MuffyBee]

http://www.cbs8.com/story/15235335/jonah-shacknai-speaks-out-about-deaths-at-coronado-mansion
Jonah Shacknai speaks out about deaths at Coronado mansion
August 9, 2011

SAN DIEGO (CBS 8 ) - The boyfriend of a woman found dead inside a Coronado mansion is speaking about the tragedy.  ::snipping2::
Video at Link

[MOMDET]

Why aren't we hearing anything more on this case?  Is this just another case of money can hide sins of the rich?

[Nut44x4]

Good question!

[MuffyBee]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/01/investigation-results-into-death-at-ceos-calif-mansion-to-be-released-friday/
Police to Release Results of Investigation Into Girlf's Death at CEO's California Mansion
September 1, 2011

The results of an investigation into the mysterious hanging death of a pharmaceutical CEO’s girlfriend at his Southern California mansion will be released on Friday, the San Diego Sheriff’s Department said Thursday in a written statement.

Until then question remains: Was it a suicide or homicide?
 ::snipping2::
Police have called Zahau's death "bizarre" and said they're investigating whether it was a suicide or a homicide.
 ::snipping2::
The sheriff will be joined at a news conference Friday by the county’s medical examiner and other police officials.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/01/national/main20100761.shtml
Sister: Mansion death ruled suicide
September 1, 2011

(AP)

SAN DIEGO - Investigators have ruled that a woman who was found hanging naked from a second-floor at a balcony at a historic mansion with her wrists and ankles bound committed suicide, the woman's sister said Thursday.

Mary Zahau-Loehner said she found investigators unconvincing during a visit to her home Wednesday in St. Joseph, Mo., to break the news.

"It doesn't add up," she told The Associated Press. "Nothing adds up."

San Diego County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Jan Caldwell declined to comment. Sheriff Bill Gore planned a news conference Friday to discuss investigators' findings.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/09/spreckels-mansion-suicide.html
Spreckels mansion death was a suicide, investigators conclude
September 2, 2011

Investigators have concluded that Rebecca Zahau, the girlfriend of pharmaceutical executive Jonah Shacknai, committed suicide at his Coronado mansion, according to Zahau's sister, who was briefed by San Diego County Sheriff's Department detectives.

Mary Zahau-Loehner, in emails and interviews, told reporters Thursday night that the family does not believe Zahau took her own life.

But San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore, backed by detectives and the medical examiner, plans a news conference Friday morning to explain how forensic evidence and interviews with people who talked to Zahau in the days before her death led to the overwhelming conclusion that she committed suicide and was not the victim of foul play.
 ::snipping2::
Zahau’s nude body was found in the courtyard of the historic Spreckels mansion on the morning of July 13. Her hands and feet had been tied, a noose was around her neck, a rope was tied to a second-story balcony.

She had apparently jumped off a small table in the courtyard. Her lifeless body was found by Shacknai's brother, Adam, a guest at the mansion.

Almost immediately, a media-fanned “mystery” suggested that the 32-year-old Zahau  may have been murdered.

But investigators said that it is not unknown for suicide victims to tie their hands and feet to avoid having “second thoughts.” The Sheriff's Department delayed making its determination until forensic tests were completed and interviews done to assess Zahau's mental state; Shacknai, his brother, and his ex-wife were interviewed.
 ::snipping2::

[Nut44x4]

Thanks Muffy.........I was reading about this today

Coronado Mansion Death Ruled a Suicide, Family Calls it Murder
Officials have ruled the death of Rebecca Zahau, the girlfriend of San Diego billionaire Jonah Shacknai, as a suicide, but family members say they believe she was murdered and they have an inkling who did it.
snipped
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/207719/20110902/coronado-mansion-rebecca-zahau-jonah-shacknai-death-ruled-a-suicide-family-calls-it-murder.htm

[MuffyBee]

http://www.sdsheriff.net/coronado/
CORONADO DEATH INVESTIGATION    

NEWS ROOM

 News Release
   
Any news releases concerning the Coronado death investigation will be posted on this page. When a news conference is scheduled, details will be found here and distributed pursuant to normal distribution practices.

September 1, 2011
http://www.sdsheriff.net/coronado/0901.pdf
Coronado Death Investigations
Media Briefing
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department will hold a media briefing about
the death investigations in Coronado on Friday, September 2nd at 11:00 a.m. The
briefing will be held in Training Rooms 1 through 4 of the Sheriff’s Department
Main Office at 9621 Ridgehaven Court, San Diego, CA 92123.
Sheriff Bill Gore will lead a panel of experts from the Sheriff’s Homicide
Detail, Sheriff’s Crime Lab, County Medical Examiner’s Office, and Coronado
Police Department to discuss the findings on the deaths of Rebecca Zahau and
Max Shacknai. There will be a Q and A portion after the media briefing.
Media packets will not be distributed during the briefing. Power Point
presentations, photos, video and graphics presented at the briefing will be posted
on www.sdsheriff.net/coronado. Information that does not come from this web
page, the Sheriff’s Department or Coronado Police Department should not be
relied upon.
Only national media with current, valid credentials and local media with
media badges from SDPD will be allowed into the briefing. Given the facility
limitations, the Sheriff’s Department reserves the right to refuse entry in order to
ensure the broadest dissemination of information. The media briefing will start
promptly at 11:00 a.m. Latecomers will not be admitted.

[MuffyBee]

http://twitter.com/#!/sdsheriff

SDSheriff San Diego Sheriff
Media Briefing on the Coronado Death Investigations on FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2ND AT 11:00 A.M. Visit bit.ly/nw7UHk for more information.
1 Sep

[MuffyBee]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/09/spreckels-mansion-sheriff.html
Spreckels mansion death was a suicide, San Diego sheriff says
September 2, 2011

Rebecca Zahau, the girlfriend of pharmaceutical executive Jonah Shacknai, committed suicide at his Coronado mansion and her death was not the result of a criminal act, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said at a news conference Friday.

Investigators based their conclusion in part on forensic evidence.

The evidence is "compelling" and points "persuasively" to suicide, Gore said.
 ::snipping2::
Gore, backed by detectives and the medical examiner, explained how forensic evidence and interviews with people who talked to Zahau in the days before her death led to the overwhelming conclusion that she committed suicide and was not the victim of foul play.

Zahau may have been despondent over a sense of responsibility for the injury suffered by Shacknai's 6-year-old son Max during a time when Zahau was supposed to be watching him, authorities said. The boy's death was ruled an accident.

Zahau’s nude body was found in the courtyard of the historic Spreckels mansion on the morning of July 13. Her hands and feet had been tied, and a noose was around her neck and tied to a second-story balcony.

She had apparently jumped off a small table in the courtyard. Her lifeless body was found by Shacknai's brother, Adam, a guest at the mansion.

Almost immediately, a media-fanned “mystery” suggested that the 32-year-old Zahau  may have been murdered.

But investigators said that it is not unknown for suicide victims to tie their hands and feet to avoid having second thoughts about dying.

The Sheriff's Department delayed making its determination until forensic tests were completed and interviews done to assess Zahau's mental state. Shacknai, his brother and his ex-wife were interviewed.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/sep/02/coronado-mansion-death-ruled-suicide/
Live coverage: Coronado mansion death ruled suicide
September 2, 2011

SAN DIEGO — The shocking hanging death of Rebecca Zahau, the girlfriend of Arizona pharmaceutical tycoon Jonah Shacknai, has been ruled a suicide, authorities announced Friday.

After a seven-week investigation, authorities concluded that Zahau, 32, bound her own hands and feet and hung herself naked off a second-floor balcony of Shacknai’s Coronado mansion, said Sheriff Bill Gore.

The finding that Zahau was not the victim of a homicide was backed up by the results of extensive tests by the sheriff’s crime lab and the Medical Examiner’s Office, Gore said.

The announcement was made during a packed media briefing at the sheriff’s headquarters in Kearny Mesa, where a panel of law enforcement and forensic experts provided details into the mystery that has riveted the public and sparked widespread speculation.

Zahau’s family has been adamant in their belief that she did not commit suicide. They have hired high-profile attorney Anne Brenmer of Seattle and have already asked the Sheriff’s Department for further investigation.
 ::snipping2::
Authorities on Friday also confirmed that the death of Shacknai’s 6-year-old son, Max, was an accidental fall.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/02/MNQR1KVKL9.DTL
Jonah Shacknai girlfriend's death ruled suicide
September 3,

Rebecca Zahau, the girlfriend of pharmaceutical executive Jonah Shacknai who committed suicide at his California mansion, was distraught over injuries his son suffered in her care - which led to his death - and that is apparently why she decided to hang herself, authorities said Friday.
 ::snipping2::
Although how she killed herself may have been unusual, there is no evidence that it was foul play, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said at a Friday news conference.

Her fingerprints and DNA were the only ones found on the rope as well as the knife she used to cut it into pieces and place sections around her feet, hands and around her neck, Gore and other authorities said. Investigators also conducted an experiment with a woman of similar size to see if she could tie herself up in the same way with the same knots, and they concluded that she could, authorities said.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.760kfmb.com/story/15388199/autopsy-rebecca-zahau-found-gagged-with-t-shirt-in-mouth
Autopsy: Rebecca Zahau found dead with T-shirt in mouth
Posted September 2, 2011, Updated September 3, 2011


CORONADO, Calif. (CBS8) -- Explosive new details contained in an autopsy report suggest Rebecca Zahau was not only found naked, bound and hanging at the historic Spreckels mansion in Coronado; but she was also gagged with a T-shirt wrapped around her mouth and neck.

"She had a reddish-orange rope ligature around her neck and a blue piece of fabric, possibly a shirt, around the neck outside of the ligature. A portion of this shirt was reportedly originally in the decedent's mouth," Deputy Medical Examiner Jonathan Lucas wrote in the autopsy report obtained by News 8.

The new revelations came just hours after the Medical Examiner and the San Diego Sheriff's department ruled the woman's death a suicide.
 ::snipping2::
During a 90-minute news conference Friday, San Diego Sheriff William Gore said Zahau was distraught that her boyfriend's 6-year-old son, Max Shacknai, was gravely injured in a fall down the stairs July 11. The boy died July 16, days after Zahau's hanging.

Investigators said nobody witnessed the fall but the boy's autopsy report revealed new information about the possible cause of that incident.

"Rebecca was in the restroom (and) she heard a loud crash. She found Max unresponsive on the floor beneath the banister," the report said. "She heard Max say the dog's name ‘Ocean' and (Max) then became unresponsive."

"A ‘Razor' type scooter was lying across his right shin," the report continued. "(Max) had been told in the past not to ride his scooter in the hallway."

Max was rushed to the hospital and "a pulse was regained after approximately 25 – 30 minutes," the report said.
 ::snipping2::
Two days later, on the morning of her death, phone records showed Zahau retrieved a voicemail at 12:50 a.m. that Max's condition had worsened and that he was unlikely to survive, investigators said.

The autopsy and investigation concluded Zahau bound her own hands and feet, before looping the rope around her neck and rolling off the balcony.

"The relatively well-preserved bare footprints on the balcony and the lack of signs of a struggle or other footprints on the balcony indicate that she went over the balcony on her own," Deputy Medical Examiner Lucas wrote.

Medical Examiner Investigator Dana Gary also described a message found painted on a door inside the house.

"I noted black painted writings on the bedroom door that led into the room with the balcony," Gary wrote. "The writing ‘She Saved Him Can You Save Her' in black paint was on the hallway side of the bedroom door," the report said.

The autopsy report does not explain why Zahau may have fashioned the T-shirt to gag herself. Investigators did not mention the gag during their media briefing Friday. However, the report does describe in great detail how the T-shirt was wrapped:

"There is a light blue or turquoise long sleeve T-shirt also around the neck on top of/outside of the rope. It was fashioned by tying the two ends of the long sleeves together near the cuffs in a double knot. The sleeves are wrapped three times around the neck with the abdominal and lower chest portion of the shirt extending from the anterior aspect of the ligature. The end of this has a small amount of what appears to be dried secretions."

Zahau's family said Friday they do not believe the suicide conclusion of the autopsy.
The family has hired high-profile Seattle-based attorney Anne Bremner to represent them. Bremner told News 8 she plans to formally request the Sheriff's Department re-open Zahau's death investigation.
 ::snipping2::

(Video at Link)

[MuffyBee]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/09/02/california.mansion.deaths/
Sheriff: 2 deaths at California mansion not crimes
September 2, 2011

CNN) -- Police announced Friday that there is no indication of foul play in the deaths, within days of one another, of a 6-year-old boy and his father's girlfriend at the same southern California mansion.

Introducing a detailed presentation involving multiple officials, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said a team of investigators has been working intently for weeks to probe the sudden deaths of Max Shacknai and Rebecca Zahau, who was dating the boy's father, Jonah Shacknai, and lived in the same house.

"Our responsibility is to answer the one very important question: Were these deaths the result of criminal conduct?" Gore told reporters. "Was Max's death a homicide? The answer is no, it was a tragic accident. Was Rebecca's death a homicide? Again, the answer is no. It was a suicide."
 ::snipping2::
The autopsy concluded Zahau was "alive when she went over the (second-floor) balcony" with a long-sleeve T-shirt wrapped around her neck, Lucas said. He told reporters Friday there was no evidence of a struggle or a sexual assault, or that she was in any way rendered unconscious or incapacitated, adding that "her feet were dirty consistent with standing on the dirty balcony."

Sgt. Dave Nemeth, also with the sheriff's office, told reporters Friday that the fingerprints and DNA in the room from which she fell -- including on the bindings tied around her hands, feet and neck -- "were only from Rebecca."

He added that one witness told police that Zahau, when they met in January, had "lost weight, seemed stressed, was not sleeping well and was not exercising, which was abnormal for her." Other witnesses indicated that "Rebecca was distraught over Max's injury."

"The (investigative findings) are all compelling, and all point persuasively to a single conclusion: These deaths are not the result of any criminal acts," Gore said. "Science is our best witness in this case. Science is not biased, nor does it lie."

But Bremner, the lawyer for Zahau's family, criticized the investigation -- including the use and analysis of forensic and other evidence -- as incomplete, saying it appears "they were myopic, looking at this (as if it) has to be a suicide." She said that one of Zahau's sisters, who talked to her the night before her death, said Zahau "was completely fine" and didn't feel guilty about Max Shacknai's death.

"This investigation is woefully inadequate right now for the family," Bremner told HLN, adding that investigators did not meet with anyone in Zahau's family until two days ago.
 ::snipping2::

[Nut44x4]

Anne Bremner .... cool

[KittyMom]

I can see how the woman may've been overcome with guilt and killed herself.  Can you imagine finding your SO's young child like that when you were the caregiver?  It would eat me up.

[cadillac]

It seems that somewhere on the property are surveillance cameras?  Like outside to review comings or goings, and possibly inside to monitor movement?  Such a prestigious address, and proprietor, it would be interesting for me to know this?

[Babybear]

Money talks.

I do not believe this woman committed suicide. 

Another thing which really bothers me.  Shaknai's brother just cut her down and let her drop to the lawn below.  That seems so inhumane to me.  Shouldn't he have lifted her up to the balcony?  There is something very, very wrong here.

[cookie]

I don't think that this was a suicide..
this woman may have felt very guilty over the little boy's death..but I just think that she would have picked a different way of killing herself..Do very many women hang themselves?