Rebecca Nalepa - suicide or murder? #5

[CuriousAmazon]

Posted previously, posting it again here.

I find it interesting that the statements, which are suppose to be quotes, conflict each other. So where in here lies the discrepancy?

USA Today article July 27, 2011
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-07-27-mansion-woman-hang_n.htm?csp=34news

Zahau-Loehner, in one of several phone interviews in recent days, complained that she and other family members have not been given information by authorities about their sister's death. "We are out of the loop," she said.

Frank said his department has spoken with Zahau's family and has had 15 investigators working the case, along with additional forensic technicians and investigators from the California Department of Justice. He said the probe "is progressing well."

The Daily Beast, US News, Jul 27, 2011
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...ebecca-zahau-incident-remains-mysterious.html

“I am hoping in the next few weeks some of the evidence will come back and we can put something together to figure out what direction the case will go,” says Frank.

In the interim, he says, detectives are trying to “find out as much as we can about Rebecca and what was going on in her life at the time.”

Oddly, Zahau’s sister says that if that's true, they haven't asked her. “We aren’t in the loop with new developments,” says Mary Zahau-Loehner. “We haven’t had any official phone call telling us of our sister’s death. My husband called several times. No one asked if we were a relative or next of kin. I don’t know who identified her [at the morgue]. Obviously, we went and brought her back here, so I know it’s her.”

 

[MizStery]

I am quoting Scorekeeper,"she was carried from either a side door or the guest house...I hope you guys are as confused as I am!!!!

This got me thinking perhaps LE came to that same conclution. SW #1 LE brought out a bag of evidence,carpet and what we think was a picture. SW #2 included the garage. I wonder if they were trying to re-create RN suicide 'got to the orange extention cords' or 'thought where could she have carried from' and needed to get a second look. They had to go back to the judge for SW #2 to find that something they had missed. This sets my hinky meter off because there had to be a Ureka moment for LE to feel it neccessary to go back and look through the entire grounds again.Just my opinion.

 

[stilettos]

It is so hard to even try to get into someone's mind to really understand how they may be processing horrible circumstances they are having to deal with and face at the time. Actually imo, it is impossible. Only Rebecca knew how she really felt inside and whether this is suicide or homicide that will never be known now.

Love unfortunately doesn't save someone who is determined to commit suicide. In fact the love for someone can be a key factor in suicides. Love is the strongest emotion of all imo and it can make rational human beings do very irrational things.

Many suicide victims loved others and were greatly loved by their own families and friends which compounds the tragedy. A lot of people who decide to take their own lives are not unwanted nor throwaways.

Maybe Rebecca felt left out. Maybe she felt others did not understand or care about her pain over the death of Max.

Maybe she was angry/depressed that they dismissed her pain simply because she wasnt the biological mom or official step mom to Max. No matter what happened to Rebecca I think her love for Max was deep and genuine.

Love does not come from the biological blood only that flows through someone's veins ..it comes straight from the heart of the person who loves..no matter who they are.

So I still do think it is a possibility that she did commit suicide although I am keeping both possibilities open.

IMO

No one can know what she was thinking if it was suicide...but perhaps she felt she was facing the end of her relationship?

 

[4Jacy]

I'm confused about the attorney showing up at the scene as well. I work for a criminal defense firm (have since the end of March), and so far, I've never seen any of the attorneys go to the scene at the time it's being processed. Jail visits, yes. Visiting the scene later with private investigators, yes. However, when contacted by clients, they tend to give advice via phone and have the client come in to the office (or go over to the jail to meet with them).

Perhaps things are different with different firms, but I've never seen an attorney go out to the scene of the crime while the investigation is ongoing.

Yes, usually the POI comes to the attorney's office (I was a legal assistant several years ago also.) Perhaps this very expensive attorney chose to insert himself into this case without being retained. Who's going to prove it?

 

[scorekeeper]

I have been thinking about that too as I also have long hair and it is quite a hinderance in even doing daily tasks with it being in my face so participating in a suicide this elaborate seems way off.

Also, I am not sure if this was mentioned before, if this were a suicide how would RN know exactly how much rope would 'hang her' and not drop her to the ground when she ran and dove off the balcony while bound or rolled herself while bound off of a table?

It just doesn't make any sense to me that she could make all these knots and a noose and measure rope or cord. As a girl, I could not do any of those things, and I also have long hair and as the pp said there is no way to run around tying rope or cord, binding your hands and feet with loose hair in your face, and if she had her hair up while doing those things, how could she untie her hair if she wanted to die with her hair down if her hands were bound? I do try to see the suicide angle due to her torment and pain but it just makes no sense to me.

BBMI know that there are cases where indvs. have bound their hands behind their backs and bound their feet and commited suicide BUT how the heck do you get over the balcony??? You can't run and jump. There was no table on the balcony that I could see. Even to try and sit, while balancing, on the small railing would be about impossible with your hand tied behind you. I guess you could bend over and fall.....but wouldn'tyou hit the wall below? If so, RN would have numerous injuries. I could see someone tossing her over the balcony.

Question, if she was already deceased and someone did throw her over the balcony to make it look like suicide, would she have any visible injuries from hitting the wall?

A great sleuther (thread 1 or 2, I think) said that it looked like her right hip was broken.

Too much work for a suicide.....a lot easier to take some pills, get in the tub with the water running and go to "sleep".......but then again, I'm a little lazy.

Homicide and possible staging..

Matty and Theforeigner, great point about the hair!!

 

[Bonepile]

Also, I am not sure if this was mentioned before, if this were a suicide how would RN know exactly how much rope would 'hang her' and not drop her to the ground when she ran and dove off the balcony while bound or rolled herself while bound off of a table?

It just doesn't make any sense to me that she could make all these knots and a noose and measure rope or cord. As a girl, I could not do any of those things, and I also have long hair and as the pp said there is no way to run around tying rope or cord, binding your hands and feet with loose hair in your face, and if she had her hair up while doing those things, how could she untie her hair if she wanted to die with her hair down if her hands were bound? I do try to see the suicide angle due to her torment and pain but it just makes no sense to me.

and as I mentioned earlier this morning how could you do all this at night? It was pitch black out in that yard with just a 1/4 moon visible in a clear sky, and unless there was light from the area of the balcony and she was poised in that doorway or if she were on the table with illumination from outside security lights how the H could you see what you were tying, or arranging or measuring, or doing?

Suicide just does not work for me after mulling this over some more.

 

[sargenet]

I´v been thinking about RN's long hair.

I was wondering the same thing. Remember that talk about how it might all come down to the "knots" etc?

If the cord is tied around her neck..so much so that it is tied snug against her hair (or her hair in tangled into the rope) then there is a chance she did not do that herself. However if it is more of a noose, that is pulled tight...then that would be more like hanging in a suicide.

 

[Theforeigner]

I'm confused about the attorney showing up at the scene as well. I work for a criminal defense firm (have since the end of March), and so far, I've never seen any of the attorneys go to the scene at the time it's being processed. Jail visits, yes. Visiting the scene later with private investigators, yes. However, when contacted by clients, they tend to give advice via phone and have the client come in to the office (or go over to the jail to meet with them).

Perhaps things are different with different firms, but I've never seen an attorney go out to the scene of the crime while the investigation is ongoing.

Found this:

http://powerwall.msnbc.msn.com/politics/death-at-skin-care-moguls-estate-1695642.story

Curiously, prominent San Diego defense attorney and former district attorney Paul Pfingst showed up at the mansion twice, once on Tuesday after Nalepa was discovered and again on July 18. During his last visit, Pfingst refused to identify a client but told reporters that he was not representing Jonah Shacknai.


So WHO was his client then ?

 

[scorekeeper]

I am quoting Scorekeeper,"she was carried from either a side door or the guest house...I hope you guys are as confused as I am!!!!

This got me thinking perhaps LE came to that same conclution. SW #1 LE brought out a bag of evidence,carpet and what we think was a picture. SW #2 included the garage. I wonder if they were trying to re-create RN suicide,got to the orange extention cords or where could she have carried from and thought wait a minute where did RS get these from? They had to go back to the judge for SW #2 to find that something they had missed. This sets my hinky meter off because there had to be a Ureka moment for LE to feel it neccessary to go back and look through the entire grounds again.Just my opinion.

They went and got the second SW after looking at our pictures and theories
here on WS!!

:floorlaugh::floorlaugh::floorlaugh:

seriously, good point!! Shows LE is thoroughly investigating and whatever evidence they gathered on Wednesday created more questions!!

I hope the locals are sending emails to local reporters asking for updates in the case.......

 

[scorekeeper]

Found this:

http://powerwall.msnbc.msn.com/politics/death-at-skin-care-moguls-estate-1695642.story

Curiously, prominent San Diego defense attorney and former district attorney Paul Pfingst showed up at the mansion twice, once on Tuesday after Nalepa was discovered and again on July 18. During his last visit, Pfingst refused to identify a client but told reporters that he was not representing Jonah Shacknai.


So WHO was his client then ?

If he was there on Tuesday.....could only be AS because JS and DS were supposedly at the hospital......he could have met either one of them there or nearby...

 

[CuriousAmazon]

and as I mentioned earlier this morning how could you do all this at night? It was pitch black out in that yard with just a 1/4 moon visible in a clear sky, and unless there was light from the area of the balcony and she was poised in that doorway or if she were on the table with illumination from outside security lights how the H could you see what you were tying, or arranging or measuring, or doing?

Suicide just does not work for me after mulling this over some more.

Good Point! Also taking into consideration, she had just spoken to her sister around midnight (I'm guessing Pacific Standard Time). So either she was calm as heck when she spoke with her (after getting everything ready or preparing to get things ready...sometimes the voice changes with whatever your body is going through). OR she got busy between midnight and 6 am.

I've pondered why AS didn't notice/hear anything until 6 am, considering the guest house appears to be facing the main house and is in the same courtyard she was found. If he's from Memphis, then his body should be on CDT - 2 hour difference from California, so his body should have felt like 10:00 pm... I know when I was in San Diego in June, I had a difficult time going to bed "earlier" than my body is accustomed to. And I'm doubtful he went to bed early, especially with his nephew in the hospital.

You would think the commotion: lights, going to garage to find electric cord/rope, would have alerted someone. Maybe it wasn't enough commotion to stir AS...but you have to wonder.

 

[sdcali]

I heard this morning on Fox News San Diego that LE has announced that JS is NOT a POI in this case. Anyone have any other info and/or hear that too? Wonder if that means the hospital tapes confirmed his whereabouts?

No mention was made of DS....things that make you go hmmmmm.

 

[CuriousAmazon]

OFF TOPIC On Casey Anthony:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/0...e-probation-from-check-fraud/?test=latestnews

 

[defense101]

I don't know if these have been posted yet, death certificates of MS and RN. They don't tell you much, and if someone has a better picture of then please post, thanks

 

[sdcali]

I have so many issues with the suicide theory. Too public. She knows AS is there--why kill yourself in such a public forum (if indeed the guest house is across from the main house bedrooms. The whole throw yourself over the balcony and length of cord conundrum...calculating the length of rope/cord from wherever it was attached etc. If I believed it was a suicide (and I do not), I would imagine that she stood on the table, kicked it away and strangled. But, again...she would have had to have a)traipsed naked through the house to the outside, secured the noose around her neck and then tied herself up outside on top of the table and hopped off, hopefully kicking the table away with her tied together feet or b) come out side clothed and shed her clothing there, climbed up on the table and continued as in (a).

I just don't buy it. And the long hair theory is spot on. It would not be loose to do all of the tying and binding by ones self. No way.

 

[CuriousAmazon]

I don't know how true this is....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/25/rebecca-zahau-buried-jonah-shacknai_n_908773.html#s314361

Among the mysteries police are working to solve: whether Zahau, who was reported to have been athletic but who walked with a pronounced limp, could have managed to hang herself with all four limbs tied and her hands bound behind her back.

It's apparently originally from this article

http://coronado.patch.com/articles/trainer-recalls-spreckels-victims-noticeable-limp

One of his trainers, Reed Holman, recalled Zahau's evident limp, he thought on her left side.

She had “an awkward walk,” he said, describing it as the gait of someone who could not put her full weight down on a foot because of a blister or sore.

 

[4Jacy]

Are we going to go through this again? No, or little news from LE. OK, so the toxicology tests aren't back yet, but the autopsy results are back and sealed[/B]. Why can't we get the info from the autopsy? They haven't named anyone as a suspect or POI, so why not share it?

Tired of this!! :back:

 

[defense101]

I have so many issues with the suicide theory. Too public. She knows AS is there--why kill yourself in such a public forum (if indeed the guest house is across from the main house bedrooms. The whole throw yourself over the balcony and length of cord conundrum...calculating the length of rope/cord from wherever it was attached etc. If I believed it was a suicide (and I do not), I would imagine that she stood on the table, kicked it away and strangled. But, again...she would have had to have a)traipsed naked through the house to the outside, secured the noose around her neck and then tied herself up outside on top of the table and hopped off, hopefully kicking the table away with her tied together feet or b) come out side clothed and shed her clothing there, climbed up on the table and continued as in (a).

I just don't buy it. And the long hair theory is spot on. It would not be loose to do all of the tying and binding by ones self. No way.

I agree, as well from bonepile's picture of where the rope looks like it was cut tells me she was hung higher than if she had stood on the table and hung herself. imo

 

[AnaTeresa]

Are we going to go through this again? No, or little news from LE. OK, so the toxicology tests aren't back yet, but the autopsy results are back and sealed[/B]. Why can't we get the info from the autopsy? They haven't named anyone as a suspect or POI, so why not share it?

Tired of this!! :back:

I would guess they are sealed because they contain information that only a person involved with the crime would be privy to. Even though they haven't named someone, they could be keeping this close to the vest so as to not compromise their investigation.

 

[CuriousAmazon]

I heard this morning on Fox News San Diego that LE has announced that JS is NOT a POI in this case. Anyone have any other info and/or hear that too? Wonder if that means the hospital tapes confirmed his whereabouts?

No mention was made of DS....things that make you go hmmmmm.

I think they've made that statement a couple of times in reference to JS, DS, & AS. They called them "witnesses."