Poll: Did Rebecca Zahau Kill Herself at Spreckels Mansion on 7/13/2011?

Salem July 17, 2012 at 01:47 am

Uncle Adam, great analysis! Your logic and reasoning are valid, clear and unbiased. You have laid out the coincidences very well. Scientifically, one or two coincidences per event may happen, but 3 or more "coincidences" constitute an unnatural, carefully pre-meditated event -- that Rebecca was murdered.

Coronado neighbors July 17, 2012 at 02:20 am

Is this the one-man Jonah show? Like the Bruce Lee of Patch posters, he fends off all comments with defensive but improbable retorts.

Coronado neighbors July 17, 2012 at 02:30 am

SDSO website, still posted: (WAS KILLED)
Frequently Asked Questions Who was walking around her house that night before she was killed? The person walking around the mansion the evening before the incident was identified, and her actions matched those described by a witness who saw her. Simply stated, she was a family member looking to see if anyone was home at the mansion.

Earlene July 17, 2012 at 02:36 am

First of all both of these deaths are tragic, especially that of an innocent child. What bothers me the most is the investigators' re-enactment of Zahau's suicide. The rope around her neck was tied to one of the bottom posts of the bed at floor level and, when the body was found, the force of her plunge off the balcony did not move the bed from the wall. However, they weighted the device used in the re-enactment to exactly her weight and dropped it over the balcony. The force moved the bed out from the wall by a foot or more. Did someone move the bed back after she jumped from the balcony? If so, who? What writing was scrawled on the door and what did it mean? (A lot of unanswered questions.) What was Zahau's previous "criminal" record? Was it child abuse? I don't think it would hurt to have a private investigation here as everything doesn't line up, at least in my mind and if Dina already had this done, then I think she had a right to request they reopen the case.

Go Dina July 17, 2012 at 01:38 pm

The evidence that Rebecca was hung from the balcony is almost nonexistant. No rope can be seen in all the early pictures and the doors were closed. Instead it looks as if she was interrogated, left sitting in that chair with the bag over her head and the red bedspread over her, then pulled from the chair, knocking it over. From there she was carried to the backyard where her feet got dirty and maybe lynched from the beams on the back porch. After that, her body was dumped on the lawn while it was allowed to lie uncovered and unattended for 13 hours. Inhuman and monstrous. All this can be verified in the SDSO pictures and early helicopter pictures.

Mrs. Holmes July 19, 2012 at 05:19 pm

And should we assume you are Mary Zahau, trying to build up her case to squeeze money out of Jonah?

yogapants July 19, 2012 at 08:06 pm

What trial?

yogapants July 19, 2012 at 08:09 pm

Wig does not like the poll results and half of the "no" votes are from her various NICs.

yogapants July 19, 2012 at 08:14 pm

No mention in that link about Dina suing Rebecca's estate.
Sounds like any of you hateful people could have killed "the late babysitter."

yogapants July 19, 2012 at 08:21 pm

We really still don't know where Jonah was when Max fell. There has never been corroboration of his claim that he was at the gym.
If Dina is suing anyone, it should be Jonah, if he wasnt there. He didnt stick to their agreement to not leave Max alone with Rebecca.

Hello J July 20, 2012 at 04:01 am

Ah, then it's true. A simple denial would have worked.

Hello J July 20, 2012 at 04:03 am

And we don't know where Jonah was for 7 hours the night Rebecca was killed.

Twinkie July 20, 2012 at 05:40 pm

I see you did not deny you were Mary Zahau. Hello, Mary.

Twinkie July 20, 2012 at 05:42 pm

Sorry folks, REAL investigations found REAL evidence that proves Rebecca was the only person in the guest room that night. GREAT imagination you have there, though.

Twinkie July 20, 2012 at 05:43 pm

Sorry. Jonah was at the gym on Monday morning and was at the hospital or hotel on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. This was confirmed by witnesses and cameras.

john keltner July 21, 2012 at 07:47 pm

Rebecca Zahau died 13 July - buried July 23 2011. (RIP Rebecca & Max)
SDCSD Death Investigation, Rebecca Zahau, July13: "She bound her feet, placed the rope and shirt around her neck, fashioned her wrist bindings, and secured her hands behind her back. Rebecca moved out to the balcony, leaned forward over the rail, and fell." SDCME Autopsy Report, July 14: "Found hanging, fully suspended, with ankles bound and hands bound behind back. Long sleeve T‐shirt wrapped loosely around neck. Neck injuries were consistent with a drop from that height. Cause of Death: Hanging. Manner of Death: Suicide" SDCSD News Release, Sep 6 2011: "Sticky material that appeared similar to tape residue was noted on her mid left shin and right lower leg. Bruises on the right side of her scalp were also seen. The T‐shirt that was around her neck had a portion originally in her mouth ..." Neither the tape residue, nor gag, nor bruises were mentioned in either the Death Investigation or ME's reports - nor apparently any further investigation into likely causes of bruises or source of tape residue. Why? What else was left out of "official" reports? Was this purposeful obfuscation - i.e. obstruction - or just incompetence? The revelation of this information - after her burial - was suspicious enough for Rebecca's family to pay to have her exhumed and a 2nd autopsy conducted.

john keltner July 21, 2012 at 07:55 pm

Why do you feel it necessary to seemingly demean her with the "babysitter" moniker?
In Jonah's own words: Rebecca was "my girlfriend and companion of two years". Just because she was babysitting does not make her a "babysitter".

john keltner July 21, 2012 at 09:46 pm

In Nov 2011 renown pathologist, Dr. Wecht's conducted a second autopsy which though found no new evidence his findings further supported doubt that her death was a suicide.
He suggested changing the manner of death from "suicide" to "undetermined" on Zahau's death certificate. "The autopsy itself was thorough, I have no criticism. It's the findings that were there and some that were not there that … leave me to express grave and serious doubts that the manner of death was suicide." He agreed with the original autopsy report's conclusion that Zahau's cause of death was hanging, but he suggested she might have been placed in the noose. "Four hemorrhages beneath Zahau's scalp [caused by] blunt force trauma [from] something of a rounded, smooth surface that impacts against the scalp, thus not producing a laceration" indicating she "may have been knocked unconscious, which could explain why there are not defensive injuries on her body consistent with that of a struggle." Wecht also questioned the investigators' conclusion that Zahau had thrown herself over the balcony. "We have no fracture of the cervical vertebrae [neck]. That bothers me greatly with this kind of situation." The absence of evidence of other DNA or fingerprints in her room does not "prove" there was no one else there. After all, even OJ wore gloves. It seems there was a plethora of un-investigated evidence at the house and possible evidence un-found due to premature conclusion of the investigation.

P. Sagan July 23, 2012 at 08:59 pm

Dr. Wecht also stated on national television that he thought Whitney Houston was murdered. He'll say anyone was murdered these days to make a buck. Must need to add to his retirement fund.
Rebecca Zahau committed suicide because of guilt over Max Shacknai's accident. What did she know that she didn't want to tell a detective? After all, she wouldn't call him back. What does XENA know? Why was XENA whisked away so quickly...did Rebecca not want the detective to question her either???

Robert Mack July 23, 2012 at 10:48 pm

Thank you John, very well put and completely true. People here in support of the Shacknai family and/or those protecting a killer want to ignore the facts and evidence that suggest Rebecca was murdered. Yet they want to spin everything in Max's accident so that when Rebecca's case is reopened thay can say her murder was justified homicide. Real answers to honest questions and Justice for Rebecca Zahau.

jessica July 24, 2012 at 04:06 am

@Robert- That is not true. There is NO SUCH THING to any of us as a JUSTIFIED HOMICIDE. No one is spinning anything in Max's case, the proof is the autopsy and medical reports...that is solid proof that cannot mean anything other than what happened.
We believe the Shacknai's and Romano's are innocent in what they are being accused of by internet posters. If there are discrepancies in Rebecca Zahau's autopsy report then I am sure her death will be investigated again. However, specifically accusing families without even proving a murder took place for a second investigation into what has been ruled a suicide is not the way to go. I hope you understand Dina may get the answers you need to begin the correct way. A reinvestigation into Rebecca's death would have to begin with Max's death, but all of you are too full of hate to realize that. All my opinion.

C. Bressette July 24, 2012 at 01:59 pm

Now you are answering your own posts? Pretty funny, Mackster.
P.S. Rebecca committed suicide.

LOL July 24, 2012 at 03:31 pm

You can't build a case out of waxing strip residue on a leg, Sherlock.
Rebecca Zahau killed herself. Just what did she do to Max that she couldn't live with?

LOL July 24, 2012 at 03:32 pm

Wecht's made other false claims. Whitney Houston murder anyone?

Marjana Herring August 3, 2012 at 02:26 am

@jessica- I've read all your comments & feel sorry for you. Taking those comments step by step from the very beginning I see you are now falling apart. You have convinced us Zahau was killed and Max's death will be used try to convince some she deserved it. You'll find more people are convinced her death was suspicious than those that believe she murdered the child. Yet that seems to be what you would like every non-educated person to believe. There is no excuse for these kinds of comments you make. You might try to continue the rumor around the various internet sites the Zahau was a child murderer but eventually your comments will get a new investigation into her death started and you will be found out for what you really are. A COWARDLY SCUMBAG!

niki August 9, 2012 at 09:48 pm

Agree completely. It is Max's death that is one that from the beginning I was worried about -- if this had happened anywhere else, child abuse reports would have been alerted.

Maybelline August 10, 2012 at 12:08 am

Rebecca Zahau told her boss she was quitting her job to babysit her boyfriend's kids. Was she lying when she referred to HERSELF as the babysitter? The whackjob also referred to herself as Max's mother. We know how true that turned out to be.

wigggly August 11, 2012 at 08:06 pm

Marjana - give it a rest. Nobody cares if Rebecca's over-investigation gets overly reinvestigated again (other than taxpayer costs). Don't be so melodramatic. So what? Somebody doesn't agree with your opinion. Get over it.

DC September 8, 2012 at 01:04 pm

JS and DS were involved in domestic violence. Photos?

DC September 8, 2012 at 01:10 pm

Marc, so true. The total disrespect of Rebecca's nude body is beyond my comprehension. May Rebecca and Max be in peace now.