Will the Rebecca Zahau case be reopened?

[thinkingstraight]

Yes, I did see your IMO .. but when you make a statement and then use an IMO, it doesn't work.

Do we have to state IMO when we're talking hypothetically?

 

[deanna82437]

Do we have to state IMO when we're talking hypothetically?

When a person makes a statement it is not their opinion. That's how I read the TOS anyway.

 

[SophieRose]

Yes, I did see your IMO .. but when you make a statement and then use an IMO, it doesn't work.

She started her sentence with "I'll bet." That immediately tells me it's an opinion.

 

[defense101]

I voted no, I unfortunately don't think they will re open the case, it took them 7 weeks to make it seem like the evidence fit a suicide imo, I don't think they will reverse it no matter what happens.

 

[IWannaKnow]

There were over 300 suicides in San Diego County last year and how many made the news. Only ones they usually make the news are suicide-murder or if a person first goes missing, then later found to be a suicide, or as in this case, unusual.

Here's an odd one where the family did not believe it was a suicide.

http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-03-28/bay-area/17167985_1_zhou-s-family-trunk-sleeping

From your link:

Henry said police investigators found receipts indicating that Zhou bought four bottles of Unisom sleeping pills at stores in the days before she was last seen on the Stanford campus the morning of Jan. 20, 2007.

Police also recovered a security videotape from a Target store in Mountain View that shows Zhou purchasing Unisom, he said. She was alone and did not appear to be stressed, police said.

She purchased the Unisom herself and they have video evidence of it, along with a note etc. Unless you can produce a video of Rebecca buying that tow rope I fail to see how you can compare these two cases.....other than the fact that the family couldn't accept the outcome. In my humble opinion.

If we are comparing odd cases, here is one:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...d-shot-wife-Diane-dead-pretended-suicide.html

 

[deanna82437]

She started her sentence with "I'll bet." That immediately tells me it's an opinion.

We were discussing the investigation. There was no "I'll bet" there. Sorry to disagree with you, but it was a statement. Not an opinion.

 

[SophieRose]

We were discussing the investigation. There was no "I'll bet" there. Sorry to disagree with you, but it was a statement. Not an opinion.

Here's what CSD22 said:

I'll bet he paid for RZ's funeral and has paid lots of money to RZ and her family over the years, whether in cash, trips, or presents.

 

[deanna82437]

Here's what CSD22 said:

I'll bet he paid for RZ's funeral and has paid lots of money to RZ and her family over the years, whether in cash, trips, or presents.

Here's what was also said ..

Originally Posted by CDS22 View Post
Why should he have to back her family if he has his own investigation going? Why should he back a lawyer who essentially blamed him for RZ's death while it can be proven he was by his dying son's bedside? The man is grieving the loss of his youngest son. He should be entitled to do that without people making up stories about him.

I'll bet he paid for RZ's funeral and has paid lots of money to RZ and her family over the years, whether in cash, trips, or presents.

BBM
And what I was referring to.

 

[stilettos]

How do we know what he was quick to accept? If you read RZ's sister's statement, she contradicts herself. First she says he told her husband it was suicide, then she says he told her he didn't know what happened.

For all we know, JS has his own private investigation going, and he's keeping it secret because it's more effective that way. Or perhaps he had his own investigation going from day one and is satisfied with what his private team has found.

People kill themselves all the time and often family members are totally unprepared for it.

He was actually so quick to accept that he took a text message that said Rebecca hung herself and made a phone call to DS telling her that she killed herself. IMO, that is wonky. Who gets a text from his brother about a woman he has been living with for two years, who he trusts with his children and to drive his family back and forth, and just blankly accepts Rebecca hung herself with no request for more information, no emotional response such as no, it cannot be...I try not to make black and white judgements but in this case that is so suspicious...it looks as though he had prior knowledge about the death. As always, MOO and I make no representation of proof...just common sense.

 

[deanna82437]

As posted at the CP, this is an interesting opinion regarding the re-opening of RZ's "suicide" by Michele Hagan, a California trial lawyer, legal analyst, former prosecutor, defense attorney and Judge Pro Tem. She has tried over 100 jury trials and supervised countless others. She trains attorneys to avoid "trial by fire", educates the public on the justice system, and provides legal analysis of high profile cases.

A portion from the article:

I have no doubt Rebecca’s family will not rest until this case is re-opened. After 20 years as a trial attorney and former domestic violence prosecutor, I suspect this case will be re-opened, at the very least, to address the many questions raised by Rebecca’s family. Until than, I doubt the public and media scrutiny will subside.

The state AG typically steps in to defend convictions on appeal, handle prosecutions when the district attorneys (DA) office has a conflict, and as authorized by section 13 “to see that the laws are uniformly and adequately enforced…have direct supervision over every DA, sheriff and law enforcement officer…” and “when required by the public interest …the AG shall assist any district attorney in the discharge of the duties of that office.” But, this inquiry isn’t about whether a law was not enforced to trigger section 13. It’s about whether an investigative finding of suicide was proper.

http://trialready.wordpress.com/tag/jonah-shacknai/

 

[deanna82437]

This is the latest online information I found using google. It allows comments as guests. Let's all make our wishes to re-open this investigation known.

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-sheriffs-zahaus-attorneys-claims-irrelevant-/2011/10/02/5821529.htm

 

[NewsMuse]

I voted re-open if new evidence uncovered (paraphrased?)

(edited for space and BBM)
"It’s about whether an investigative finding of suicide was proper."

IMO, the investigation into the suicide lacked critical information, information that has been discussed over and over on several threads here. I've read the released information over and over. When compared with other reports, warrants, eyewitness accounts (or lack thereof) from other cases covered here, and I am left with only one conclusion: they all seem like summary-type reports. The fancy, computer-generated pictures, graphs, etc. don't impress me; exactly the opposite actually. Again, to be clear: MOO.

I wonder where JS's reputation in corp really stands at this point? In my eyes (IMO), he appears to be scrambling. That is if the information we are being given is correct. The truth may never be known; sort of reminds one of the Kennedy scandals back in the day. (Imagine if there were 24/7 internet, cell phones with phones, all this technology? The good old buddy system apparently still exists if you have enough money.)

 

[kathyn2]

There is NO comparison. Nada. Zip. In this case there is a video of the lady, alone, buying the drugs. Those same drugs end up with her alone in the trunk of her car with the water bottle etc. There was a suicde note sent to the younger sister. It is a pretty ironclad case of suicide. This is NOT the case whatsoever in the Zahau case where there is no proof of any kind that she knew how to make mariners knots or how to kill her self in this manner, know how to tie her hands in that fashion and all the other things that have been discussed. Very unusual things that 99% of us have no idea about. When did she learn all this???

When I see proof that she was online on her computer in the days before the death/murder, looking up how to tie those knots and how to bind her hands in that fashion and kill herself in such a fashion, then I might believe it was a suicide. Til then, it is a very strange case that looks much more like a murder and there is no proof whatsoever it was a suicide, that the writing on the door was Rebecca's, that she knew how to do this manner of death etc. No proof she got any message from JS. No proof she was depressed at all. Its also very hinky how AS TEXTED his brother to let him know the deed was done. No response at all from the brother like he expected it. Very hinky. IMO of course

From your link:


She purchased the Unisom herself and they have video evidence of it, along with a note etc. Unless you can produce a video of Rebecca buying that tow rope I fail to see how you can compare these two cases.....other than the fact that the family couldn't accept the outcome. In my humble opinion.

If we are comparing odd cases, here is one:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...d-shot-wife-Diane-dead-pretended-suicide.html

 

[rosemary]

There were over 300 suicides in San Diego County last year and how many made the news. Only ones they usually make the news are suicide-murder or if a person first goes missing, then later found to be a suicide, or as in this case, unusual.

Here's an odd one where the family did not believe it was a suicide.

http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-03-28/bay-area/17167985_1_zhou-s-family-trunk-sleeping

What's interesting is that a forensic psychiatrist was hired to examine the woman's last email to her sister, and concluded that the message appeared to be consistent with a goodbye note. This is in marked contrast in Rebecca's case, where the LE had not even thought it was necessary to hire a forensic psychologist to help with the investigation, despite the fact that a psychological look at the background of the suicide victim would have been needed in order for the suicide theory to make sense. Imo, it may be because a psychological profile of Rebecca and her death would contradict the LE's findings of 'suicide.'

 

[rosemary]

From your link:


She purchased the Unisom herself and they have video evidence of it, along with a note etc. Unless you can produce a video of Rebecca buying that tow rope I fail to see how you can compare these two cases.....other than the fact that the family couldn't accept the outcome. In my humble opinion.

If we are comparing odd cases, here is one:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...d-shot-wife-Diane-dead-pretended-suicide.html

and another one:

January 19, 2004—the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s office received a tragic call: a mother, Renee Coulter, had discovered her 19-year-old daughter, Ashley Wilson, dead in her apartment. A pillow case was over her head, and the cord from her high school graduation gown was wrapped around her neck. It looked as though she’d hanged herself. But why?

Sheriff Milton Wright comes from a long line of Texas Rangers—the tough, legendary lawmen who helped tame the West. Wright had been in JFK’s motorcade the day he was assassinated in Dallas, protecting then-governor John Connally. To say he’s been around the block is an understatement. He’s pretty much seen it all.

We received a call to investigate a death. This one looked very cut and dry because of the way the whole situation played out The evidence in the apartment suggested that there had been a suicide—the way the body was positioned, the door being locked from the inside, and a note suggesting suicide.

Sheriff Wright

With this evidence and other autopsy results, the medical examiner ruled the death as a suicide.

Despite the note suggesting suicide, Renee Coulter and her husband, Dan Wilson, had difficulty agreeing with the sheriff department’s assessment. To them, the evidence just didn’t add up to the person they knew as her daughter.

As reported in the Houston Chronicle, the fact that their daughter’s television, lights, and ceiling fan were off disturbed the parents. “My daughter lived in an apartment by herself” Coulter said. “She always had the TV on, always had the ceiling fan on, and always had lights on.” Moreover, Ashley’s apartment key was missing from her key ring. “To me, that meant that somebody was there and had taken the key,” Coulter added.

To the police, the response of the parents was perfectly understandable. A family in shock and grief. Suicide is hard to accept given someone so young and with all her life ahead of her. But after getting the report from the Harris County medical examiner that it was definitely a suicide, Sheriff Wright’s office closed the case on Ashley Wilson.

Dan Leach is a 21-year-old young man who had been in a relationship with Ashley. That relationship had soured shortly before the time of her death, and some felt it was the motive for her depression and the sad letter she’d left behind.

Leach was depressed as well. He was a guy who went to a local church in the area, but he was a troubled and conflicted man.

He was also a murderer.

March 2004—Less than six weeks after Ashley’s death, The Passion of the Christ came to Richmond, a small town outside of Houston. Like most other locations around the country, the theaters were packed as a result of all the buzz about the film. A young man bought a ticket and went into the theater for an experience that would change his life forever.

Shortly thereafter, that man walked into the Fort Bend County sheriff’s office and turned himself in for the murder of Ashley Wilson.

Sheriff Wright

When a murder is planned like this, almost all the time the perpetrator overlooks one minor detail, and like a thread on a piece of cloth, the crime starts to unravel from that point.

This one looked very cut and dry because of the way the whole situation played out. Had he not come forward and confessed, this one would never have cleared.

http://www.cbn.com/entertainment/screen/Passion_eldred_texaspassion.aspx

“He was very, very meticulous,” Kubricht said. “It was very well-planned and well executed.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4607592...er-after-viewing-passion-christ/#.ToyKpt7pdz8

On the tape, Leach said his confession was motivated in part by seeing the movie The Passion of the Christ, and he also described in exacting detail how he carried out his plan.

'I had an agenda'
Leach told police he considered Wilson, 19, to be immature and said he would be embarrassed if anyone learned he had a relationship with her. After weighing his options, he decided to kill her and stage the death to look like a suicide.
"I thought I could get away with it," he said.

He told police how he arrived at her apartment late on the night of Jan. 15 with a pair of gloves. Leach and Wilson talked for a while, and then he launched the first part of his plot, a ploy to get her to write something that could be construed as a suicide note.

"I had an agenda to try and get her to put something on paper for evidence of a suicide," he said.

Leach convinced her to write down things that were troubling her.

"She was highly uncomfortable with it," Leach said, referring to the paper that would subsequently help lead police to the suicide ruling.

Later in the confession, Leach told how he got the young woman to put a pillowcase over her head as part of a "trust exercise," in which she had to rely on senses other than sight.

'She never fought me'
In cold detail, Leach described how he was sitting behind Wilson on the bed with his legs wrapped around her upper body. After the pillowcase was over her head, he grabbed the cord from her graduation gown and wrapped it around her neck. Using his legs to keep her from fighting, he strangled her.
"I didn't want her to suffer, I wanted to asphyxiate her as quickly as possible," he told police. "She never fought me."

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Killer-s-Passion-confession-I-was-like-a-1957898.php

In testimony Thursday, jurors learned that four months before murdering Wilson, Leach was court martialed and discharged from the U.S. Air Force, after a bad break up with then-girlfriend April Watson.
Prosecutors called Watson to testify about Leach's bizarre behavior. Five months into the relationship, Watson tried to break up with Leach and told jurors, "He was very controlling -- what I ate, who I talked to. I tried to break up with him, but it was effortless. He was very persistent."

http://www.click2houston.com/news/3646986/detail.html

 

[time]

and another one:

[/color]

http://www.cbn.com/entertainment/screen/Passion_eldred_texaspassion.aspx



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4607592...er-after-viewing-passion-christ/#.ToyKpt7pdz8



http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Killer-s-Passion-confession-I-was-like-a-1957898.php



http://www.click2houston.com/news/3646986/detail.html

Thanks ... how freaky he convinced her to do those things to convince others it was a suicide. Makes you wonder, eh?

 

[kathyn2]

Someone may have forced Rebecca to do some of those things. Maybe had her tied up on that chair that was turned over. Maybe carried her out to that balcony and touched her feet on the ground and then tossed her over. We will never know because the police did not investigate any other possibilities. Never considered that maybe someone wore gloves. Never considered that maybe they painted something on the door or forced her to write that odd stuff. We just will never know because LE has no interest in this case or any of the oddities of it. They just want to shut it down.

 

[lauriej]

Someone may have forced Rebecca to do some of those things. Maybe had her tied up on that chair that was turned over. Maybe carried her out to that balcony and touched her feet on the ground and then tossed her over. We will never know because the police did not investigate any other possibilities. Never considered that maybe someone wore gloves. Never considered that maybe they painted something on the door or forced her to write that odd stuff. We just will never know because LE has no interest in this case or any of the oddities of it. They just want to shut it down.

..interesting in the "probable cause" portion of the S/W here:

http://www.10news.com/pdf/29245478/detail.html
--S/W--items from the mansion--

Probable Cause:

detective brian patterson:

"At this time her body has not been examined thoroughly enough to determine if there are other injuries to her but in my training and experience, the types of items that could be found to cause death in an unknown cause of death, include items that could be used as ligatures ,items which could be used to cause blunt force trauma, or items that could be used to cause cutting and stabbing.

Additionally those items could be used to cause a victim to subject themselves to submit to be tied up by an individual and would provide valuable evidence of the crime."

 

[MyBelle]

Someone may have forced Rebecca to do some of those things. Maybe had her tied up on that chair that was turned over. Maybe carried her out to that balcony and touched her feet on the ground and then tossed her over. We will never know because the police did not investigate any other possibilities. Never considered that maybe someone wore gloves. Never considered that maybe they painted something on the door or forced her to write that odd stuff. We just will never know because LE has no interest in this case or any of the oddities of it. They just want to shut it down.

BBM. The case is closed and LE stated weeks ago that they would reopen if there is new evidence. Of course LE has lost interest because it is a closed case. Their job isn't to spend more time on closed cases.

It's unfortunate that the family doesn't accept LE's conclusion but the family's lawyer stated more than a month ago that she would ask for a new investigation and yet she hasn't filed the request.

all, JMO

 

[stilettos]

There are a great number of people who believe that the investigation in this case was flawed. It will be reopened or examined, IMO because the tide of public opinion is against sweeping it under the rug. SDSD will have no other option available to them...it is becoming a groundswell...like a tsunami...it is coming. JMO, IMO.