In July, Rebecca Zahau's family, upon learning of her sudden death, wanted more information.
Rebecca was the girlfriend of a pharmaceutical tycoon, Jonah Shacknai of Scottsdale, AZ-based Medicis.
In July, Shacknai's 6-year-old son fell down a flight of stairs at his 27-room mansion on Coronado. The boy died later at the hospital.
Rebecca's death came right on the heels of the boy's demise.
She was found nude, dangling from the mansion's balcony, with her hands bound behind her back, and her feet bound as well. On the door were scrawled the words in black paint, "She saved him, can you save her?"
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department declared Rebecca's death a suicide.
Rebecca's family has been pushing for more investigation. From their website:
"Rebecca's mother said, “Why would they say that? That she committed suicide? Our family is hurting. We’re a poor family. We can’t pay for investigators...we know for sure, she wouldn’t ever kill herself. And she was very modest. It is our Asian way. She would never do a thing like that, and never without clothes on. But nobody will listen to us.”
They have questions. For example, they'd like to know why there was a t-shirt stuffed in Rebecca's mouth.
Jonah Shacknai says he accepts the Sheriff's department's assertion that Rebecca's death was a suicide. He asked California Attorney General Kamala Harris to investigate, he said, to settle the doubts and questions of the public. The AG has announced she will not investigate Rebecca's death.
The AG's response reads, in part:
"The California Department of Justice would review a local investigation under very narrow circumstances. Some of the factors that are considered before committing the state's scarce resources include whether a clear conflict of interest exists, whether a local law enforcement agency has requested assistance, whether local investigative resources have been exhausted, and whether there are allegations of gross malfeasance by the investigative agency. Based on a review of your request, we must decline your invitation to review this investigation at this time."
Shacknai isn't alleging gross malfeasance, so maybe it's Zahau's family that needs to write to the AG.
And in the comments attached to this story, something really interesting is playing out. One or more people reallllly want the public to believe Rebecca killed the boy. Not only that, they want people to believe she's a "Burmese golddigger," a "shoplifter," "eaten by guilt" "conniving" "mentally ill" "murderer" and so forth. Pretty creepy..it looks to me like someone with inside knowledge or at least an agenda is posting like a maniac over there. Someone named "J" in particular seems to be flaunting inside knowledge and derogatory insults toward Ms. Zahau, and has made scores of comments on the subject.
A story out four days ago by San Diego's News 10 reveals that the boy, Max, may have been suffocated prior to his fall down the stairs.
(She saved him, can you save her?....?)
The story also states that "According to the warrants, Jonah Shacknai -- the founder of an Arizona-based company that makes anti-aging products -- was working out at a gym on July 11 when he got a call from his girlfriend, Rebecca Zahau, that 6-year-old Max had fallen over the railing."
The railing? I thought it was the stairs. Did he fall over a railing? If so, could the fact that Zahau's body was dangled over a ...railing..have significance?
I was looking last week at the Zahau family website. Oddly enough, google searches are not turning up that site today. It's in my history though at Rebeccazahaufund.com.
(I am beginning to wonder about Google these days, especially since search engine traffic on this blog dropped off very suddenly at some point after the Anthony case went away. It was a sudden drop from hundreds of hits a day to about 20, not a slow taper. I am reading of other people having this problem, but they seem to believe it is only happening with non-blogger or non-Google sponsored sites. Since Blogger is a Google function, this obviously doesn't apply. It happened with my other blog too, a few months before the Peterson blog's search traffic took a dive. Anyone else have this experience?)
Another weird thing about this case is that the Sheriff's department is claiming Zahau killed herself in distress over a voicemail message that has now been...guess what....erased.
Here's another article from NBC:
Nationally known attorney Anne Bremner says she's almost done with her investigation into the mysterious death of Rebecca Zahau.
And now she's revealing some of her findings, which could re-open the case and shed new light on what happened at the Spreckels Mansion on July 13 when the body of Rebecca Zahau, 32, was found hanging from a balcony.
"There's just been an outpouring, not only from the media, but from people all over who including experts who want to help, that don't believe it's a suicide, Bremner told NBC 7 in a phone interview."
Bremner says she has a team of forensic experts working with her and they believe there is enough evidence to re-open the case which has already been ruled a suicide by three agencies including the San Diego County Sheriff's Homicide Unit.
"Just because it's possible that someone committed suicide, doesn't mean that the case should be closed, Bremner said. "We know there were clumps of hair that they found, there were gloves found at the scene, I always suggested that if there is a killer that he used gloves and that's why they didn't leave their DNA and fingerprints."
Bremner also points out that the doors are closed on the balcony where Zahau was found hanging. "Did she turn around and close the doors before she hung herself off the side?"
And what about the voicemail message that investigators say Zahau listened to on her cellphone at 12:50 that morning, just hours before her body was discovered.
Bremner says detectives told family members the call originally came in at 12:30 and it was from Jonah Shacknai, informing Zahau that his six year old son Max was in grave condition.
Investigators believe the guilt of Max's impending death pushed Zahau to kill herself. But Bremner says Zahau's phone records tell a different story.
"They're talking about a message that was erased, and her phone records don't indicate any incoming call prior to her demise."
Bremner also says she found a neighbor who heard a woman screaming from the mansion at 11:30, more than an hour before investigators believe Zahau checked her voicemail.
Bremner says that could mean Zahau died much sooner than investigators believe and she is now trying to get the cellphone so it can be examined by a forensic expert.
San Diego County Sheriff's spokesperson Lt. Larry Nesbit said investigators will re-examine Zahau's cellphone.
"It's amazing to see how much information there is out there about this tragic death and clearly it's not a suicide, Bremner said."
Bremner says investigators are aware of that neighbor who says she heard the screaming, but it's unclear if it made any difference in their investigation.
And according to Shep Smith below, during Shacknai's marriage to his former wife, there were domestic violence calls to the police from both of them.
It really starts to seem like no matter what Shacknai does, the police just won't take a hard look at him and his family connections. In one of the linked stories, it comes out that the mother of the boy who died, Shacknai's ex, has a twin sister. That twin sister sent a message to Rebecca the night she died asking if she could come over and talk. Interesting?
How does a person hang herself over the side of a railing with her hands tied behind her back?
Someone ought to sic Al Brocchini on Shacknai, and I mean, now.
Read more: AZFamily.com
You don't want Brocchini involved -- he wouldn't know the truth if it bit him in the nose. Perhaps Shaknai has been properly eliminated by competent police, and maybe it is a matter of revenge, someone who held this girl responsible for the boy's death -- either deliberate or through neglect -- the boy's aunt? Perhaps that is what the police are now looking at. But I sure don't buy that she committed suicide, and don't have any confidence in the three agencies that ruled this a suicide. How much influence does the ex-wife's family have?
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