Welcome to Websleuths Burma! I recall reading that at the initial crime scene a Detective Patterson viewed Rebecca's death as a homicide. However, I never heard another word from him again. Instead, the SDSD claimed Detective Patterson had changed his mind and now thought it was a suicide. I found this very odd and I wonder if you or Mary ever had a chance to speak with Detective Brian Patterson? This was one of my early recollections of this case.
Coronado mansion death: Early homicide theory was quickly dropped
SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 | 10:18 AM
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A sheriff's homicide detective believed that the girlfriend of Coronado mansion owner Jonah Shacknai was the victim of foul play when he first arrived on the scene, according to a search warrant unsealed Tuesday.
But San Diego County Sheriff's Det. Brian Patterson quickly changed his mind about Rebecca Zahau's death once he had the legal authority to search the mansion.
In the application for the warrant, Patterson said he suspected Zahau had been murdered because her legs and feet had been tied.
Based on that suspicion, a judge approved the warrant for detectives to search the Spreckels mansion owned by Shacknai, Zahau's boyfriend and a multimillionaire pharmaceutical executive.
But the search warrants suggest that Patterson and other investigators quickly decided that, although the circumstances were unusual, Zahau had committed suicide by hanging.