CA - Rebecca Nalepa - suicide or murder? #8

[katydid23]

There is absolutely no proof that a scooter even existed. Only one news report if I'm recalling correctly. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I would suggest the scooter theory is not even worth discussing at this point.

Someone posted the article upthread where it said she was gagged by the blu t-shirt and there was a scooter on the boys shin. So is the gagging not worth mentioning too,or just the scooter?

 

[ehough22]

Well, that one report discussing the scooter purportedly gets their info from the autopsy report itself. If true then I would think it's worth discussing.

http://www.cbs8.com/story/15388199/...ed-with-t-shirt-in-mouth?clienttype=printable

 

[CalElliot]

Why would Jonah Shacknai have a dock line in his house? Why did LE call it a "rope"?

 

[IWannaKnow]

This is one of the photos posted at the Sheriff's Dept:


This would be from standing on the landing, looking back toward the second floor hallway. Notice how the banister dips down after the newel post. If you are standing on the second floor, the banister is that much lower. A child Max's size (45" tall), running down that hallway, tripped by a dog who might have been up to 27" tall at the shoulder, goes flying over that lower banister, grabs the chandelier and winds up on his back on the other banister and down to the floor makes perfect sense to me. I totally agree with the SDSD about their conclusions on Max.

 

[time]

Perhaps your sophistication in knots and tie-ing methods makes it seem like a simple matter. But would a "civilian" knotter really know about sequential knotting and looping to adjust rope lengths - and if that's what she was doing was she also measuring lengths from bed to balcony to rail to ground, and then re-sliding the loops for adjustment? At the least she would have to have more than an arbitrary acquaintance with knotting techniques, or she just got lucky. To ensure a proper hold, an unsophisticated knotter it would seem to me would multiply over-tie and make a real tangle of knots if they didn't know what they were doing but wanted to make sure. This knotting on the bedpost looks more well-planned and orderly than that. So the question would be: did Rebecca have a basic acquaintance with knotting techniques. The folks to ask would be the family. It sounds like LE was perhaps not including them very much in the investigation, rather going on their own hunches and assumptions and discarding questions that went contrary to their strongly held theses (LE offered no knotting analysis at their presentation btw). I don't know for sure that the Zahau's were left out, but the quotes in the papers make Rebecca's sister sound like she felt brushed aside. I agree that the Zahau's should have had their own representation during the autopsy and investigation. It sounds like the head guy from San Diego went to them at the beginning and assured them no stone would go unturned and they believed him, and remained passive. Not the best move, looking back.

I'm with ya on this one. No way she accidentally or by dumb luck figured out those wrist knots (and I think they said the ankles were the same but of course they never showed us nor her then walking across the balcony deck - and where are the footprints that indicate her ankles were bound?)

I do know something about knots. I was a Cadette and we lashed our own tables, I have helped my partner with the sail boat and I used to do some fairly intricate macrame (that dates me!) and I would not have even thought to tie that extensive of knots let alone figure it out and when I am under duress.

 

[Quester]

Originally Posted by Quester
Regarding MS’ fall:

Is all this public controversy, suggesting that RN is guilty of fault, being fabricated or promoted to provide just another smoke screen? TIA

For me,imo, it is just an obvious question that comes up because of the issues surrounding her death. My first question has to be " did she have any reason to feel guilty/" and my second, " Does anyone have reason to be angry with her?"

I do not see it as a smoke screen or a fabrication to wonder about that. Max died in a very horribly tragic way. An accident like that does not happen very often. So it is going to raise some questions.

IMO, if he was riding his scooter on the upstairs balcony, then he was poorly supervised. Bathroom or not, that is a failure on the caretakers part. imoo

Added my post for clarity.

I understand and respect your position on this issue.

My previous post was not directed at you but was posed as a general question of looking at the big picture of all that we are seeing publicly on that particular issue.

Hope you didn't take it personally. :seeya:

 

[sorrell skye]

IIRC, a scooter and soccer balls were mentioned in the PC yesterday. I believe it was stated these items were in the foyer, found near Max.

 

[elementry]

I have ZERO experience with tying knots. I didn't even get my girl scout badge in knot tying because it was confusing and boring. lol

However last weekend I was helping my daughter move into her first apartment and we needed to tie her queen size mattress on top of the explorer. It had to be tight enough to drive on the 101 fwy all the way to Santa Monica. I was using red rope, just like in the pictures of the RN crime scene. SOMEHOW, after playing around a little bit, I came up with a way that would pull tight and hold the mattress securely on the roof. It was a modified slip knot. It was not that hard or complicated. When one is under pressure and necessity calls, then it may be possible to figure out a way to tie a necessary knot.

Well I guess Rebecca just got lucky and the makeshift knotting held?:fence:

Still, to me the knotting on the bed looks kind of elegant and not the work of a harried, emotionally disturbed and unsure over-tier in a damn hurry to kill herself. I think we all did expect some in-depth knot analysis from LE. They must not have considered it relevant for presentation purposes.

 

[arielilane]

still misleading ... jmo however, I do recall that the scooter was mentioned as being in the stairway area. Never was it mentioned that the scooter was found lying across Max's right shin.

 

[elementry]

BTW Author of report is "Terry Fahn" of Sitrick PR company. So sheriff's office allowing itself to be mouthpiece for a relative of a victim.

Could you clarify what you mean, that the Sitrick employee authored the "report"? Do you mean just Jonah's statement or they "helped" on the whole presentation? tia

 

[jjenny]

IIRC, a scooter and soccer balls were mentioned in the PC yesterday. I believe it was stated these items were in the foyer, found near Max.

Near is not the same as on across the shin.

 

[arielilane]

i realize there is still debate as to whether RN committed suicide. in light of the sales presentation (oops.....i mean briefing) we've recently been subjected to courtesy of the powers-that-be in coronado, i hope we can all agree that regardless of how she died, the facts and the truth and, therefore, justice, continue to be denied in this case. it is wrong and it should offend us.

upthread, Inobu stated "Their usage of ironclad is indicative of someone trying to protect their position more so then presenting the facts." (sorry, my quote function wasn't working properly.)

my jaw hit the floor the moment LE used the word "ironclad" in regard to what was supposed to be an investigation aimed at finding out why a cherished, loved, innocent human being was alive one moment and dead the next, in the midst of extremely odd circumstances. the suicide ruling is "ironclad?" are you kidding me? i cannot overstate how massive a red flag i consider that to be. if i were RN's family or even anne bremner, i would consider it offensive, threatening, and a direct challenge and it would not go unanswered.

had this not been one of the most crafted, strategized briefings in eons one could argue the word was simply a slip of the tongue. not so. not a chance. no way.

it seems that beautiful coronado is run by corrupt, unethical, altogether ugly decision-makers....more concerned with their silk-lined suits and elected offices than the inconvenient truth. sadly, i imagine it's one of the few things they have in common with any other city in any other state in our country.

my hope is that somehow, someway, RN's family is able to break through "ironclad" with the only thing that should have mattered in the first place....the truth.

Excellent post, doubt. From now on the "briefing" will be known as "sales presentation". Unfortunately, we are experiencing another form of corporate America.

 

[elementry]

Near is not the same as on across the shin.

It's pretty obvious the LE cherrypicked the "facts" they chose to present. Of course they can't be exhaustive; but leaving out directly relevant facts like Max on the scooter, or RZ having the shirt stuffed in mouth as a gag......that's just weird that they decided to tailor the presentation that way, imo. It almost denotes a certain laxness regarding the actual truth of the matter, or at least a disregard for communicating that truth. They must have known these facts would see light of day, yet just didn't want to "go there" during their little show.

 

[arielilane]

If Max fell off the balcony, grabbed the chandelier, and then fell to the floor...how, indeed, did the scooter land on top of him? Even if he did somehow go over while riding the scooter, the scooter would've hit the ground first because it, presumably, would have been dropped when he grabbed the chandelier. I can't make the scooter work with the chandelier.

Regarding Rebeca being at fault...as the parent of 2 young kids, I certainly wouldn't blame JS or DS for blaming her in their grief (and we don't know that they did). That said, while I do think Rebecca was responsible for Max at the time, since she was the only adult, I don't believe she was to blame for his death- they're 2 separate things to me. We simply don't know enough about what happened. What if Max was playing quietly in his room, Rebecca went to the bathroom, and then he zoomed down the hall on his scooter? How is that her fault? It's my understanding that this could have happened instantaneously and I just don't see what she could have done, even if she had been present. This is, of course, assuming he wasn't planking or engaging in some drawn out horseplay near the stairs. But I can certainly see how he could just happen to head for the stairs in the minute or two she was in the bathroom and I can't blame her for that. It's not as if he drowned in the backyard pool, meaning he was out of her sight for several minutes. This was a freak, instantaneous accident that I doubt anyone could have predicted or prevented.

Rebecca's message is haunting me. It's eerie. She (assuming she wrote it) had to know Jonah wasn't going to be home in time to save her, if Jonah is the "he" in the message. She had to know the chances of anyone saving her were slim. It almost seems taunting to me, as if someone else wrote it to Jonah about how he couldn't save her.

Maybe when Max fell to the ground the scooter fell on him from the impact. According to the records the scooter was known to be kept in the foyer of the stairway.

 

[Quester]

If anything that knot tying demo and pictures of the rope attached to the bed showed me that the person (RN or the perp) who bound RN had absolutely no knot tying skills whatsoever.

They probably wore slip on shoes and couldn't even tie shoelaces.


I do think it's safe to say (IMOO) that whoever did this was a woman (RN or whoever) because I can't imagine that a man, with any common manly sense, would tie a noose rope to a lightweight bed like the one depicted and then coupled with the lack of knot tying skills.

MOO

 

[jjenny]

Maybe when Max fell to the ground the scooter fell on him from the impact. According to the records the scooter was known to be kept in the foyer of the stairway.

That makes sense. Maybe it was standing up and fell on top of the child after the child fell down? Still police "stimulation" doesn't even show it. Where is attention to detail?

 

[Bonepile]

I really wonder out of the number of investigators (was it 11? 15?) how many bothered to look at the issue of possible homicide from the first day? Did they move directly to it's a suicide and we have to prove it? Did they even look at anyone in the family as a "murder suspect" or "murder suspects" in regards to Rebecca? I wonder how many of those numbered investigators will in the coming months move on to other departments, get re-assigned, take early retirement especially if this "ironclad" issue does not go away. And I am also looking forward to seeing how many more "experts" (or should I call them talking heads) join the LE bandwagon?

As I have said in other cases .. stay tuned .. I sure will.

 

[elementry]

If anything that knot tying demo and pictures of the rope attached to the bed showed me that the person who bound RN had absolutely no knot tying skills whatsoever.

RN or the perp probably wore slip on shoes and couldn't even tie shoelaces.


I do think it's safe to say (IMOO) that whoever did this was a woman (RN or whoever) because I can't imagine that a man with any common manly sense would tie a noose rope to a lightweight bed like the one depicted.

MOO

yet is it worth thinking about it this way: if someone wanted to make one think the knots were fashioned by someone who knows nothing about it, nor a sensible way to go about offing ones-self, that person could purposely stage the scene that way. (So, the knots were made by someone who knew knots and also was trying to stage "not knowing knots"....hehe, I know, under this kind of infinite counterfeit theorizing, almost no deduced fact can ever be known or verifiable. Conspiracy theorists may like this style of rumination.......)

 

[jjenny]

If anything that knot tying demo and pictures of the rope attached to the bed showed me that the person (RN or the perp) who bound RN had absolutely no knot tying skills whatsoever.

They probably wore slip on shoes and couldn't even tie shoelaces.


I do think it's safe to say (IMOO) that whoever did this was a woman (RN or whoever) because I can't imagine that a man, with any common manly sense, would tie a noose rope to a lightweight bed like the one depicted and then coupled with the lack of knot tying skills.

MOO

I disagree. The bed obviously held up just fine. I am not so sure it's lightweight, especially with the mattresses on top.

 

[elementry]

Anybody know WEHT Adam Shacknai? He sure fell off the face of the earth. Probably on a slow yacht to Tierra del Fuego.....