CA - Rebecca Nalepa - suicide or murder? #8

[Stella5]

I find it interesting that only Rebecca's fingerprints were found on the two knives (presumably kitchen knives, based on their appearance). Did no other adult in the household ever use/touch these knives? Was Rebecca the only person to ever use the kitchen utensils?

Why is that odd? High heat destroys DNA, so if it was used by say Jonah previously and run through the dishwasher all DNA would be gone. So she took the kitchen knife out of the dishwasher, or she was the one to unload the dishwasher previously and took the knife out of a knife block or drawer before using it on the rope only her DNA would be on it.

 

[colette]

Sgt. Nemeth said there were indications that Zahau was unhappy in the months prior to her death.

One witness told investigators that in January, Zahau had lost weight, was stressed, not sleeping well and had stopped exercising, which was unusual for the petite woman described as a “health nut.”

A journal of writings on Zahau’s cellphone showed she was struggling, Nemeth said. Authorities did not elaborate on the problems.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/sep/02/coronado-mansion-death-ruled-suicide/

Also the hand binding video at link

 

[elementry]

I responded to the term you used which was "sloppy." No indication the investigation wasn't thorough. I don't find anything hinky about it. LE spent a lot of time and money investigating these deaths imo. From the beginning, LE did float the possibility of suicide. Maybe because there was no evidence another human being was on that balcony with Rebecca or handled the rope?

So why not clarify what efforts were made regarding the possible murder option, at least to assuage suspicions and doubts the public or the Zahau family might have? I would guess that JS's high powered legal team had a sword over LE's head that they had better not sully up his reputation in any way, or else get ready for the lawsuits; and that LE and certain political forces might have been sufficiently cowed so that they never in the entire course of events over the last 2 months raised the slightest spectre about other scenarios than the suicide scenario. And to throw the suicide scenario out there in the public discourse so immediately.......wasn't that hurtful to the Zahau's, considering the investigation was merely a few hours old when Curran raised it? Then the well-timed leak reiterating this scenario, and let it percolate down through the media for a week or so before finally delivering their "conclusion" today. And do you think Sitrick and Co. have just been sitting on their hands this whole time. I'd love to know their fee and also their particular services rendered for JS.

 

[x_files]

2/3 of suicide victims do not leave notes.

I do know females hang themselves naked and bind their hands and feet. It happened to my daughter's friend three weeks before Rebecca's death.

IMO

Is it to prevent saving themselves?
I wish a profiler would weigh on this case.
I never knew about suicide victim's binding their hands and legs before hanging themselves until this case. It just shows my ignorance on the topic.

 

[10-6Mom]

According to law enforcement, this wasn't a suicide note, but a 'message'. Huh????:innocent:

Good point if not a suicide note then why not release it??? Also, depending what was written on the door and who wrote it, the message could be left up to interpretation!

 

[Stella5]

She had to bind her feet before she threw herself over the balcony. That would necessitate hopping over to the balcony. How, how, how did she jump from the bed to the balcony railing in one large hop? And land right AT the railing in perfect position? Shouldn't there have been at least one more set of prints on the balcony, getting her over there??

I thought there were at least two sets of footprints on the balcony?! One footprint seemed to point sideways to the railing and one near the railing where her toes slid backwards indicating she went over the balcony head first.

 

[Winnts]

Why are you assuming the deleted message was of unknown origin or that she ran around the house naked? Wouldn't she recognize the phone number?
What does it matter whether she was naked or not when she gathered the items?

imo, there is nothing logical about suicide. If she had put a gun to her head, there would still be those who insist it was homicide.

CONTENT was unknown because it was 'erased'. The police are assuming its contents based on someone with a possible motive.

Naked because she had to take off her clothes sometime before this short time she to kill herself.

That method takes an awful lot of planning in a distraught state of mind of a 15-30 minute suicidal mindset.

I'd like to see how she hopped over a railing with a feet and hands bound i forgot to add that.

I guess what I'm trying to convey is a suicidal mindset is fast. With all of these bizarre events there were just much more quicker ways to end your life if your that distraught.

 

[time]

Wonder, why did Rebecca not answer the phone per the voicemail left. When was the voicemail left for her? Why would anyone leave just a voicemail about something so dire. Typically people call and say I need to talk, give me a call back.

We have no evidence of what was in any voicemail or if it was even Rebecca who listened to it. Again, weren't LE just told what was in that voicemail?


Did they say it was left at 12:50? Or that she retrieved it at 12:50?

How could they not have been keenly aware of what time her sister called?

 

[SunnieRN]

The way you are describing it makes it sound illogical. But it might not have been that chaotic. Maybe she never ran naked around the house at all. Maybe she knew exactly where the rope was. I know where our rope is. I just used it this past weekend.

Maybe she knew exactly where the paint and brush was too. There were kids in the house that summer. I bet they used paint and brushes and she knew exactly where it was. So maybe she did not need to chaotically run naked through the house at all. Maybe she set out in a calm and sorrowful manner and retrieved her necessary materials, while wearing a robe.

People posted here in earlier threads some examples of people hanging themselves in the nude, and of people tying their own hands before they jumped. And I talked to a retired Los Angeles ME a couple of weeks ago about this case. He said it very well could be a suicide and he had seen bizarre hangings like this before in his long career. When people are distraught enough to actually kill themselves then they are not thinking rationally. You cannot judge their actions in the same manner as a rational adult.

ETA: also, the deleting of the message makes it seem even more like a suicide to me. She would have been devastated to hear about Max's imminent death. And maybe JS even said something angry about her not watching him carefully enough.

She was sitting him, hoping for the best. then she hears the worst and maybe even was blamed by her boyfriend. She knew then that her life was changed forever.

Maybe because her feet were also bound and that she committed suicide OUTSIDE in the RAW! Remember, the ME stated he had NEVER seen ANOTHER case LIKE this one. Pretty strong message imho.

 

[MyBelle]

I'm not understating the loss of a child at all. It was a horrible, horrible tragedy.

That being said a dead woman possibly murdered is what this investigation and this press conference was about. Blurring the 2 seperate incidents or not releasing information out of concern for the childs family rather than the victim's family and community who want answers amazes me. I saw no sensitivity at all in regard to Rebecca or her family at all.

What sensitivity were you expecting? The press conference would have never been held if it were not for the death of the child and the media linking the two deaths imo.

 

[IWannaKnow]

Why did Rebecca never visit the hospital? She cared for Max, why would she not go to the hospital, especially given that she told TG that was why she wanted to board the dog? LE specifically said she never visited the hospital.

If my bf's brother were in the guest house and my future stepson in the hospital in grave condition, I would not be running around the house naked. Just me. Rebecca supposedly met her ex at a Bible college. Doesn't seem like the exhibitionist type.

 

[elementry]

The writing on the door was characterized as a "message", and when pressed by reporters as to whether or not it was a suicide note, the answer seemed to be "no".

But yet they are treating it as if it was a suicide note. An odd paradox there as far as LE policy. It's like an errant tautology in their thinking: we decided its a suicide therefore we are treating the "message" as if its a suicide note but we can't really say its a suicide note but you can't see it because we don't release suicide notes, for the sake of the victim's family.

it's reasoning back from conclusions and assigning a meaning to the "message" which they can't really verify, then acting as if it is supporting evidence.

 

[x_files]

Why withhold the message painted on the door??

Where did the paint and paintbrush come from?

Wouldn't it have been more logical for a distraught person to seek out a pen and paper rather than a tube of black paint and paint brush?

Unless she was a very dramatic or artistic type. I have known artists to do some wacky stuff when drunk, high or depressed. Does this match her personality though?

 

[sorrell skye]

Questions:

How is it that RZ sustained bruising from the "plants"? If a 100-pound body fell on that cactus, it should break in some places, with scattered piece(s) on the lawn.

What kind of DNA was on the knife?

Why are the search warrants and 911 calls sealed? (Presumably someone things that with enough $$$, they can keep them buried in legal wrangling?

Was she or was she not hogtied?

What if any computer records were seized and searched?

Why was her body left on view to the public for six or so hours?

Why was AS staying the guest house?

When was the chandelier rehung?

What is a "phone journal"?

What kind of phone did RZ have?

Those are just a few. Good questions asked at press conference given the limited amount of time media had with LE.

bbm

All excellent points, Cal!

I have questions about the ones I bolded.

1. The shrubbery: how is it that when Rebecca reportedly threw herself over the railing, her body sustained noticeable bruising by coming into contact with the shrubs below the balcony? I'm an avid hiker and oftentimes hike on very steep slopes. There have been times that I've lost my footing and have slipped & fallen against the bushes growing along the trail - and have not been bruised (I bruise very easily).

2. Did LE search any household computer(s)?

3. Regarding the chandelier: I seem to remember media images that were taken after Max's fall that showed LE on the stairwell taking photos of the chandelier - and the chandelier was still hanging. Does anyone else remember that?

 

[MyBelle]

CONTENT was unknown because it was 'erased'. The police are assuming its contents based on someone with a possible motive.

Naked because she had to take off her clothes sometime before this short time she to kill herself.

That method takes an awful lot of planning in a distraught state of mind of a 15-30 minute suicidal mindset.

I'd like to see how she hopped over a railing with a feet and hands bound i forgot to add that.

I guess what I'm trying to convey is a suicidal mindset is fast. With all of these bizarre events there were just much more quicker ways to end your life if your that distraught.

I don't know how "fast" a suicidal mindset really is or how it even works so I'll not judge Rebecca's choices.

 

[SunnieRN]

Why is that odd? High heat destroys DNA, so if it was used by say Jonah previously and run through the dishwasher all DNA would be gone. So she took the kitchen knife out of the dishwasher, or she was the one to unload the dishwasher previously and took the knife out of a knife block or drawer before using it on the rope only her DNA would be on it.

Someone had to take them out of the dishwasher and put it in the block or drawer. I am not sure that Rebecca was chief cook and bottle washer. Both knives had ONLY her ptints. Huh?

 

[Bonepile]

Let us not forget ...

Rebecca M. Zahau
1979 - 2011​

"We love you, Rebecca so much! Your smile, your joy, your liveliness, your eagerness, your creativity, your love, and your strength will be in our hearts forever. Every sunrise, every sunset, the beauty of every season will remind us of you and your beauty. Now you are in heaven with your Lord among the beautiful, the glorious, and among the angels where you belong. You look down upon us with your smile as beautiful as always and say “I am with my Lord where there is no pain, no tears, no more sadness nor crying, and where there is no more death.”" ... Mary Zahau-Loehner

 

[IWannaKnow]

I thought there were at least two sets of footprints on the balcony?! One footprint seemed to point sideways to the railing and one near the railing where her toes slid backwards indicating she went over the balcony head first.

There were! The print you are thinking of was a POLICE OFFICER's boot. Did he not know he needed to preserve that scene? Could that have been obscuring another set of different prints behind RN's bare prints at the rail? How did RN get to the railing with her feet tied together in one hop?

 

[elementry]

Wonder, why did Rebecca not answer the phone per the voicemail left. When was the voicemail left for her? Why would anyone leave just a voicemail about something so dire. Typically people call and say I need to talk, give me a call back.

We have no evidence of what was in any voicemail or if it was even Rebecca who listened to it. Again, weren't LE just told what was in that voicemail?


Did they say it was left at 12:50? Or that she retrieved it at 12:50?

How could they not have been keenly aware of what time her sister called?

Maybe the music was on loud and she didn't hear the call. Did LE explain or explain away the loud music reports btw?

They are going on Jonah's hearsay explanation of the phone call (actually, "someone close to her", is how LE referred to the message leaver; they resfused to identify the person explicitly. I assume it was Jonah and not Dina, but who knows.

 

[Stella5]

When people are distraught enough to actually kill themselves then they are not thinking rationally. You cannot judge their actions in the same manner as a rational adult.

Snipped by me... I totally agree!

For those that were here early in this case you all know my brother killed himself. What you don't know is how he did it. He was alone in a cruddy motel in Chicago's northside by Wrigley (he loved the Cubs). He was found totally nude with his clothes neatly folded and placed on the bed with a post it with our phone numbers and just a ripped out advertisement for "Dick's Last Resort" on top of his clothes. LE, the Coroner, the Medical Examiner... EVERYBODY... could not figure out how he managed to do what he did. He cut his Brachial Artery in not one, but BOTH arms near the bend in his arm. He should have passed out almost immediately cutting one, however he managed to do both which the ME had never seen, ever. He bled out in less than a minute, he was that determined to end his pain. At first they didn't know if it was suicide or homicide, but in the end all the evidence pointed to suicide.

Suicidal people are NOT rational. They are not thinking of those that love them and how what they are about to do will look to everyone else they are leaving behind. All they want is a way out of their pain.

So there you have it... strange suicides happen, and they happen a LOT more than anyone thinks as they are generally not reported by the media.