Crime & Safety

Police Will Not Re-Open Max Shacknai Case

The boy's mother announced the development on a web site devoted to information about the child, saying "the system has failed us and it has failed Max."

Coronado police will not re-open the investigation into Max Shacknai's death, despite his mother's contention that as detectives determined.

Dina Shacknai, who resides in Arizona, had lobbied after July 16, the anniversary of her son's death.

She announced the decision Monday, the same day that Dr. Phil McGraw , a show that will feature both Dina Shacknai and the family of Rebecca Zahau, whose death is linked to Max's. 

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Police Chief Lou Scanlon and Cmdr. Michael Lawton did not return calls seeking comment.

Max, 6, in a rear courtyard of the historic Spreckels mansion. 

Find out what's happening in Coronadowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The boy fell from a staircase in the home owned by his father, two days before Zahau's body was discovered.

Families of both the child and the woman have objected to investigators' findings in the case, though the homeowner, Jonah Shacknai, accepted the conclusions.

Dina Shacknai, Max's mother, hired her own experts, who examined the circumstances surrounding the child's fall and decided he died at another's hand, and that the case should not be categorized as an accident.

The Zahau family argues that she did not kill herself, as San Diego Sheriffs detectives determined, and have appealed to the state for a new look at both cases.

In the update posted on the website, maxshacknai.com, Dina Shacknai and her representatives continued to raise questions about the way in which investigators broke down Max's fall from the staircase. They argue that an assault “is the only scenario consistent with the (boy's) injuries and science.” 

They complained that evidence their team submitted to Coronado police should have been presented to the department's expert in biomechanics – the study of the body's movement – who originally consulted on Max's case. 

In the update, Dina Shacknai also accuses authorities of taking inappropriate actions, saying “science was basically manipulated and distorted to fit a predetermined and politically expedient outcome” in her son's case. 

In addition, Dina Shacknai is calling for supporters to sign a petition urging police to re-open Max's case.

Zahau's relatives used the same tactic last year in their efforts to push investigators to take another look at her case.


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