Rebecca Nalepa - suicide or murder? #2

[Quester]

It is called the last gasps at time of death.

IMO

IF this case was death by hanging (either homicide or suicide), would those gasps be delayed due to trachea compression until the body was cut down and noose was removed/loosened?

 

[Wise Old Owl]

Hello all,

I'm completely new to this forum. I'm fascinated by all the questions/theories.

Here are my thoughts.

Adam Shacknai must have called either Jonah or Dina that morning. He's visiting and he runs into this tragedy right smack in his face at the crack of dawn. I don't think he called 911 and that was it. He called either Jonah, Dina - someone close the home - to the family.

Does anyone know if Jonah came immediately to the scene? I would imagine if it was my significant other I would get there as soon as humanly possible. What would you do if the person you loved was just found dead? Would you drop whatever it is you are doing and run to them?

I wonder why GS - the sister - was sent back home immediately. Her little brother was gravely ill at the hospital and would she not stick around to see him - be with him. I find it odd that she went away immediately. Even if they knew he was on life support and that the moment of the decision to take him off life support was imminent - wouldn't she stick around to go to the funeral? It is her baby brother.

Why did Rebecca call to board the dog? I don't think it was because of a party. She told her sister she was going to sleep. It was BAD ENOUGH this child got gravely hurt while under her care -- why would she have a party? There could not have been a party because that would make absolutely no sense whatsoever - none.

:seeya: Hi there Lawgirl and :welcome5:

Glad you decided to join us. This is certainly a very confusing case. Hopefully, more info will come out. For now, please feel free to speculate with the rest of us.

And again, Glad you're here!

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Hello all,

I'm completely new to this forum. I'm fascinated by all the questions/theories.

Here are my thoughts.

Adam Shacknai must have called either Jonah or Dina that morning. He's visiting and he runs into this tragedy right smack in his face at the crack of dawn. I don't think he called 911 and that was it. He called either Jonah, Dina - someone close the home - to the family.

Does anyone know if Jonah came immediately to the scene? I would imagine if it was my significant other I would get there as soon as humanly possible. What would you do if the person you loved was just found dead? Would you drop whatever it is you are doing and run to them?

I wonder why GS - the sister - was sent back home immediately. Her little brother was gravely ill at the hospital and would she not stick around to see him - be with him. I find it odd that she went away immediately. Even if they knew he was on life support and that the moment of the decision to take him off life support was imminent - wouldn't she stick around to go to the funeral? It is her baby brother.

Why did Rebecca call to board the dog? I don't think it was because of a party. She told her sister she was going to sleep. It was BAD ENOUGH this child got gravely hurt while under her care -- why would she have a party? There could not have been a party because that would make absolutely no sense whatsoever - none.

Welcome!

When did the man pick up the dog?

I don't think she had a party but if she was by herself alone in that huge mansion she could have started drinking trying to ease her pain and may have turned the music up really loud.

If this is a suicide then a lot of times what a suicidal person does before they take their lives doesn't make sense......just like the suicide itself.

Of course homicide never makes sense either.

IMO

 

[Carrington]

We also don't know whose bedroom the balcony was off of.......
All the bedrooms (6 I believe) are upstairs.
IMO

 

[Quester]

... snipped ...

When did the man pick up the dog?

IMO

Greenberg picked up the dog at 8:45 a.m. that morning. He described Nalepa as “sweet and nice, but subdued.”

-> meaning Tues morning

http://coronado.patch.com/articles/local-kennel-owner-saw-spreckels-victim-less-than-24-hours-before-her-death

 

[SunnieRN]

http://www.thehinkymeter.com/2011/07/22/what-went-down-at-the-shacknai-mansion/

Interesting read in that it says that Dina, Maxie's mother was in the house as well as the brother the early morning hours of 7/12. Oddly enough it does say they administered CPR. Hmmmmm....

Snipped from the above article and needs to be preserved in this thread imoo:

As far as suicide, I just can’t think of any instances I’ve heard of where someone stripped butt-naked, bound their own hands and feet, and somehow flung themselves off a balcony with a rope or electrical cord around their neck in order to pull of a “stunning” suicide of exhibitionist proportions. But police want us to remember that “suicides can appear odd”, according to Sgt. Roy Frank of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. He says it’s not unusual for them to look like a possible homicide and then turn out to be suicide. BUT, he says, it’s not so common to find a woman unclothed, tied up and hanging.

In the case of the death of Rebecca Zahau, Adam Shacknai is considered a prime witness, but is not considered a suspect at this time. In fact, he has been allowed to leave California. He’s considered a prime witness because he was the only other person on the property at the time Rebecca was discovered. But wait, was he really?

Initial reports state Adam was the only one there, but new reports state that Dina (Max’s mother) was “a witness in Zahau’s death”. Does this mean Dina was at the home sometime in the early morning hours of July 13th? It should be pointed out that Dina’s home is just down the road from the Shacknai mansion. Friends state both of Max’s parents were at his bedside at the time of Rebecca’s death. However, authorities have not stated that yet. Does it mean Dina is privy to information concerning Rebecca’s death? In either case, by the end of the day of the 13th attorney Paul Pfingst was retained to “represent someone connected with this case”, someone assumed to be a family member.


So, if this is to be believed, it changes, a large portion, of what has been released by LE up to this point. In the first place, it says Dina was a 'witness in Rebecca's death'. Not in her hanging. Did she see Rebecca when she was still alive? Did she help cut her down?

I would like to go much further into this quote, but until it is confirmed, I feel it may be premature. If this article is true, it speaks volumes imo.

 

[elfie]

Hello all,

I'm completely new to this forum. I'm fascinated by all the questions/theories.

Here are my thoughts.

Adam Shacknai must have called either Jonah or Dina that morning. He's visiting and he runs into this tragedy right smack in his face at the crack of dawn. I don't think he called 911 and that was it. He called either Jonah, Dina - someone close the home - to the family.

Does anyone know if Jonah came immediately to the scene? I would imagine if it was my significant other I would get there as soon as humanly possible. What would you do if the person you loved was just found dead? Would you drop whatever it is you are doing and run to them?

I wonder why GS - the sister - was sent back home immediately. Her little brother was gravely ill at the hospital and would she not stick around to see him - be with him. I find it odd that she went away immediately. Even if they knew he was on life support and that the moment of the decision to take him off life support was imminent - wouldn't she stick around to go to the funeral? It is her baby brother.

Why did Rebecca call to board the dog? I don't think it was because of a party. She told her sister she was going to sleep. It was BAD ENOUGH this child got gravely hurt while under her care -- why would she have a party? There could not have been a party because that would make absolutely no sense whatsoever - none.

Welcome!

 

[Norwegian]

I would not be happy with a girlfriend calling my son hers.
I would even be more unhappy that he had a fatal accident in her care.
Rebecca confused her role in JS's life, but nobody asked me, just saying.
Was he really going to propose? Who knows, that was a statement from an unidentified "friend".

IMO

As a step mom myself, I do get that it is an insult to the bio mom if we call outself the "mom". But, I've cared for my step son and step daughter since they were 2 and 4. When they are so young we grow more attached.. and I see myself as a mom too.

Sometimes when we meet strangers and they ask if they are my kids.. I must admit, I'm guilty of saying yes.

About the accident; just imagine how unhappy Rebecca must have been that this happened?!?

 

[Lawgirl]

Welcome!

When did the man pick up the dog?

I don't think she had a party but if she was by herself alone in that huge mansion she could have started drinking trying to ease her pain and may have turned the music up really loud.

If this is a suicide then a lot of times what a suicidal person does before they take their lives doesn't make sense......just like the suicide itself.

Of course homicide never makes sense either.

IMO

Well if she wanted someone to pick up the dog, it probably meant no one would be there to take care of the dog, including her. Was she going somewhere?

 

[Hunnydolll]

Great photo. Don't think we've seen this view before. Maybe someone can grab and post here.

http://deathby1000papercuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Rebecca-Zahau-Crime-Scene.png

Thank you for that photo! It doesn't appear that the windows/french door that lead to the balcony are opened....very interesting! If she committed suicide doesn't look like much room to maneuver yourself with bound neck, bound hands and bound feet and shut the door behind you! IMO

If this photo is to graphic pls let me know and I will blur her out, but I figured it was a far away enough shot. Thx

 

[Norwegian]

About the party... has any guest been confirmed or any information about it leaked? Other than "loud music"?

 

[Norwegian]

And I must say...

it is quite disrespectful to show those pictures of Rebecca's naked and dead body.
It's not directed at anyone here, but more to Fox or whoever started showing it.

 

[Evan's Mom]

Radaronline link says NO security cameras at all in the mansion...? He could certainly afford them, he had valuables to protect, he was somewhat high profile and worth tons of dough...I think I'd have a couple of cameras...unless there were things I did not want caught on camera...

It was a vacation house. Maybe he just thought the neighborhood was safe and cameras were not necessary since he didn't live there full time. His valuables wouldn't be any more protected by cameras than they would with a normal security system.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I agree...this would make me absolutely livid. I would not want another woman calling my child hers. I'm being honest...that would p*ss me off. If I had reason to believe she stole my husband those are grounds for permanent dislike. If my child died while under her care, I would lose my mind. I couldn't even image a moment like that. Pure outrage/dementia is the only emotion I can think of.

It wouldn't bother me in the least. I would at least be assured that this person loved my children and love from others can only benefit children ...not hurt them. I would not be angry that they would be able to love someone their dad loved either. I know without a doubt my children love me and I want other people to love them too. More love they have in their lives the better, imo. Children are not possessions where someone says they can get love only from a chosen few.

From what I have read he started dating Rebecca after he separated from Dina. Dina and Jonah seemed to have set aside their difference after their marriage ended.

I don't think there was dissension in this triangle relationship. I think they all loved Max and Jonah would not have picked a mansion for summer vacations two blocks from Dina if it caused friction between Rebecca and Dina imo.

Now I can see how Dina would be upset about the accident when Rebecca was the adult there at the mansion but I do not think she would do anything to Rebecca. I think she is in a state of disbelief and is still morning the death of her little son..hardly able to make it through eachday.

The sad truth is accidents can happen even with the parents standing right there unable to prevent it. No time to react or have a do over.

IMO

 

[clannad]

Not sure if this has been posted and I just missed it, but I didn't realize that JS had a Law Degree and was a senior partner in the Law Firm of Royce, Shacknai and Mehle (1982 - 1988)

It is the same guy...right?

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=322491&ticker=MRX:US

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Well if she wanted someone to pick up the dog, it probably meant no one would be there to take care of the dog, including her. Was she going somewhere?

I think so........she was leaving this world behind her forever, imo.

IMO

 

[Carrington]

As a step mom myself, I do get that it is an insult to the bio mom if we call outself the "mom". But, I've cared for my step son and step daughter since they were 2 and 4. When they are so young we grow more attached.. and I see myself as a mom too.

Sometimes when we meet strangers and they ask if they are my kids.. I must admit, I'm guilty of saying yes.

About the accident; just imagine how unhappy Rebecca must have been that this happened?!?

She was not a step-mom, she was a recently divorced live-in girlfriend, who also happens (for whatever reason, I can't comprehend) thief.
I don't know why it bothers me she claims 3 children as her own, it just does. Something up with her.
IMO

 

[Lawgirl]

Yes, he has a law degree. He was a political science major at Colgate, and yes was a partner at a law firm representing pharmaceutical corps, etc.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

She was not a step-mom, she was a recently divorced live-in girlfriend, who also happens (for whatever reason, I can't comprehend) thief.
I don't know why it bothers me she claims 3 children as her own, it just does. Something up with her.
IMO

She didnt have any children of her own did she?

Maybe she always longed to be a mom and knew she would be their step mom one day.

IMO

 

[Lawgirl]

She was not a step-mom, she was a recently divorced live-in girlfriend, who also happens (for whatever reason, I can't comprehend) thief.
I don't know why it bothers me she claims 3 children as her own, it just does. Something up with her.
IMO

I would venture to say she was really hoping to become Mrs. Shacknai. She gave it all up for a life with him - including being "mom" to his kids.