CA - Rebecca Zahau Nalepa - suicide or murder? #10

[HowLoveCanBe]

Oh shoot, I guess I missed that it was a horizontal fall. If so, it seems that more than an 11 inch disruption of the rail dust would precipitate the fall.

Not if she's pivoting up and over on her left side. She's cantilevered over the railing and more in a horizontal than vertical position as her lower body clears the railing.

 

[MyBelle]

Well they mentioned RN's DNA on the rope even though they expected it to be there. So it stand to reason they should have mentioned other persons DNA if it were there even if they expected it to be there.

They also have said there was so much to cover, they couldn't mention everything. What does finding AS' DNA on the rope prove? He told them he cut her down.

 

[jjenny]

ITA. I feel the same would apply to the shirt. They were looking for foreign (unknown) DNA.

JMO

Actually they look for any DNA and then identify who it belongs to.

 

[Stella5]

I wasn't aware that LE stated AS' DNA was not on the shirt but I also don't think it matters because I don't believe AS killed RN. I don't believe if he were the killer, he would admit to the cops that he removed the shirt from her mouth nor would he have left her bound. He would want it to look like a suicide rather than a murder.

JMO

I agree! I feel sorry for the guy having a ton of suspicion thrown his way the last 8 weeks, and having to live with what he saw that day. He has got to be traumatized.

I'm just really curious who would be the suspect at this point? JS & DS have been accounted for during the presumed TOD. AS passed a lie detector test. Who else is on the suspect list?

 

[SunnieRN]

A strangulation would have to be around the neck and there are no marks noted on the back of Rebecca's neck. The ligature furrows noted are consistent with a hanging.

Being strangled all the way around the neck is not the only way to cut off the flow of oxygen, or make a person unable to breathe. Think of a larger person, using one hand to strangle someone. Just one way it could happen. Still not the only way. Also, thicker rope ligatures can cover smaller ligature marks.

 

[tvscum]

ITA. I feel the same would apply to the shirt. They were looking for foreign (unknown) DNA.

JMO

I'm actually kind of wishy-washy on this issue. It's hard to say what the Sheriff would include and leave out, as we have already seen.

but here is the PDF presentation from the Sheriff's web site:

Fingerprints from the guest room entry door
jamb, balcony door, the large knife, and the bed
leg next to the rope were from Rebecca


DNA profiles from the victim’s bindings (hands
and feet), the rope around her neck, the rope
attached to the footboard of the bed, and the
small knife were only from Rebecca

http://sdsheriff.net/coronado/rz.pdf

 

[jjenny]

I'm actually kind of wishy-washy on this issue. It's hard to say what the Sheriff would include and leave out, as we have already seen.

but here is the PDF presentation from the Sheriff's web site:

Fingerprints from the guest room entry door
jamb, balcony door, the large knife, and the bed
leg next to the rope were from Rebecca


DNA profiles from the victim’s bindings (hands
and feet), the rope around her neck, the rope
attached to the footboard of the bed, and the
small knife were only from Rebecca

http://sdsheriff.net/coronado/rz.pdf

So that leads to the obvious question-what about the large knife?

 

[justice be served]

I agree! I feel sorry for the guy having a ton of suspicion thrown his way the last 8 weeks, and having to live with what he saw that day. He has got to be traumatized.

I'm just really curious who would be the suspect at this point? JS & DS have been accounted for during the presumed TOD. AS passed a lie detector test. Who else is on the suspect list?

Well if one were to read most blogs, there may have been a fourth person hired beyond the triumvirate I mentioned earlier. For that matter, the first caller on the Nancy velez Mitchell show made that assertion. I have not subscribed to that theory personally but it's sure out there in the world.

 

[SunnieRN]

So that leads to the obvious question-what about the large knife?

Touche ole oh wise one!!!! Good catch!!!:great:

 

[Stella5]

Being strangled all the way around the neck is not the only way to cut off the flow of oxygen, or make a person unable to breathe. Think of a larger person, using one hand to strangle someone. Just one way it could happen. Still not the only way. Also, thicker rope ligatures can cover smaller ligature marks.

If someone was trying to strangle her, would she have defensive wounds to her hands? Chipped nail polish? Anything to indicate she tried to fight? She wasn't drugged so if that happened I'd expect some kind of defensive wounds.

Which leads me to the bruising, etc... on Rebecca. I don't find bruising odd. She was an athlete and active. I have a shin bruise now from pulling a muscle running, and a bruise on my hip from slamming a hand weight into it. It's more than possible the bruises were older injuries, as were the scabbed knees. MOO

 

[SunnieRN]

Well if one were to read most blogs, there may have been a fourth person hired beyond the triumvirate I mentioned earlier. For that matter, the first caller on the Nancy velez Mitchell show made that assertion. I have not subscribed to that theory personally but it's sure out there in the world.

Dang, I didn't get to see the show. Care to give the rest of us who missed it a hint?!

 

[SunnieRN]

If someone was trying to strangle her, would she have defensive wounds to her hands? Chipped nail polish? Anything to indicate she tried to fight? She wasn't drugged so if that happened I'd expect some kind of defensive wounds.

Which leads me to the bruising, etc... on Rebecca. I don't find bruising odd. She was an athlete and active. I have a shin bruise now from pulling a muscle running, and a bruise on my hip from slamming a hand weight into it. It's more than possible the bruises were older injuries, as were the scabbed knees. MOO

She had blood on her fingers and hands as well as on her feet and toes. She also had a LOT of bruising, and some cuts. Just curious, why do you think someone would strangle her before they hit her on the head and bound her hands behind her back? Even if she could have gotten out of the bindings, do we know if they were the same prior to her death?

 

[Stella5]

So that leads to the obvious question-what about the large knife?

The large knife had fingerprints from only Rebecca. Did they not run DNA, or just not put it in their presentation? Both knifes are accounted for with either DNA or fingerprints.

 

[justice be served]

Dang, I didn't get to see the show. Care to give the rest of us who missed it a hint?!

The first caller last nite on the, sorry, JANE Velez Mitchell show said she thought it was a hit. I could not believe they had not vetted the caller better though these shows are looking for that kind of hype.

 

[SunnieRN]

The first caller last nite on the, sorry, JANE Velez Mitchell show said she thought it was a hit. I could not believe they had not vetted the caller better though these shows are looking for that kind of hype.

Ahhh, thank you. For some reason I was trying to come up with a specific name.:crazy: Thanks again!!!

 

[tvscum]

but here is the PDF presentation from the Sheriff's web site:

Fingerprints from the guest room entry door
jamb, balcony door, the large knife, and the bed
leg next to the rope were from Rebecca

DNA profiles from the victim’s bindings (hands
and feet), the rope around her neck, the rope
attached to the footboard of the bed, and the
small knife were only from Rebecca

http://sdsheriff.net/coronado/rz.pdf

I believe this was quoted way back someplace:

"There's mixed DNA [on the rope] -- it's what they told us," Bremner said. Police told Zahau-Loehner they could not identify that DNA, Bremner said.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/coronado-mansion-death-rebecca-zahau-ruled-suicide-sister/story?id=14435011

So, the cops found mixed DNA on the rope (IF we believe Bremner), but the amount was so small that they could not identify the source, and they still made the above statement in their presentation at the news conference. It was selective evidence they presented.

 

[SunnieRN]

So that leads to the obvious question-what about the large knife?

Fingerprints from the guest room entry door jamb, balcony door, the large knife, and the bed leg next to the rope were from Rebecca
DNA profiles from the victim’s bindings (hands and feet), the rope around her neck, the rope attached to the footboard of the bed, and the small knife were only from Rebecca



No comprende. Finger prints from one knife, dna from the other. Why is that? No finger prints at all on the other knife? What kind of dna? touch, blood??

 

[Stella5]

She had blood on her fingers and hands as well as on her feet and toes. She also had a LOT of bruising, and some cuts. Just curious, why do you think someone would strangle her before they hit her on the head and bound her hands behind her back? Even if she could have gotten out of the bindings, do we know if they were the same prior to her death?

She had a lot of cuts, which are certainly explainable by impact with the trees and the house. The blood on her toes, feet and thigh could have been from the blood at her cervix and vaginal bleeding which is common in hangings. The blood on the three fingers could be the same from when her hands were behind her back on the ground after she was cut down. The bruising is more than likely before death as you don't bruise after death and I really don't recall reading a LOT of bruising. Bruises here & there, which IMO are normal for an athlete.

I don't think someone would strangle her before they hit her on her head and bound her head behind her back. I don't see a homicide here. The three main suspects are accounted for, and a hit IMO is improbable. MOO.

 

[SunnieRN]

She had a lot of cuts, which are certainly explainable by impact with the trees and the house. The blood on her toes, feet and thigh could have been from the blood at her cervix and vaginal bleeding which is common in hangings. The blood on the three fingers could be the same from when her hands were behind her back on the ground after she was cut down. The bruising is more than likely before death as you don't bruise after death and I really don't recall reading a LOT of bruising. Bruises here & there, which IMO are normal for an athlete.

I don't think someone would strangle her before they hit her on her head and bound her head behind her back. I don't see a homicide here. The three main suspects are accounted for, and a hit IMO is improbable. MOO.

The cuts are explainable if she was hung. If she was killed another way, the cuts may be from another source. Also the bruises. IMO

So, why no broken neck?

 

[tvscum]

She had a lot of cuts, which are certainly explainable by impact with the trees and the house. The blood on her toes, feet and thigh could have been from the blood at her cervix and vaginal bleeding which is common in hangings. The blood on the three fingers could be the same from when her hands were behind her back on the ground after she was cut down. The bruising is more than likely before death as you don't bruise after death and I really don't recall reading a LOT of bruising. Bruises here & there, which IMO are normal for an athlete.

I don't think someone would strangle her before they hit her on her head and bound her head behind her back. I don't see a homicide here. The three main suspects are accounted for, and a hit IMO is improbable. MOO.

The tape residue and the four head injuries. Those are the problems.