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

[jjenny]

Her supposedly feeling guilty, grief stricken doesn't (IMO) fit with the MO of the so-called suicide. The suicide expert who was on Dr. Drew yesterday pretty much suggested the same thing-if she was feeling guilty, why didn't the message read along the lines of "I am sorry" or "I deserve to be punished."

"And I can tell you, suicide is usually a personal, private event. This was a very public act that happened. It appears aggressive, angry, vengeful, potentially humiliating."
http://archives.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1109/06/ddhln.01.html

 

[Quester]

Was RZ unable to pull her own hair outside of the makeshift noose and outside of the t-shirt gag because her wrists were already bound?

 

[sdcali]

The guy was there because his nephew was serious injured, in a coma, in ICU; and he has a 'friend' over......if so, I don't understand this family AT ALL.
Why wasn't he at the hospital lending his support to his brother (the reason he flew across the country).......or why was he "really" there???????

I'm sorry, I'm not being short with you, sdcali; I'm totally confused by this investigation and findings......

thanks to everyone for my Mom's birthday wishes....

it's time for me

fftobed:fftobed:fftobed:

score

no offense taken, score. I am with you 100%. I was only trying to clarify that LE accounted for RZ's clothing. I don't believe she was the woman in the guesthouse bedroom, but again that leads to only more questions from us.

 

[jjenny]

Was RZ unable to pull her own hair outside of the makeshift noose and outside of the t-shirt gag because her wrists were already bound?

How would she get the noose on at all if her wrists were already bound? I presume the theory is she put the noose on first then bound her wrists.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I try very hard to push aside the emotional aspect of this case. It is undeniable that two tragedies have occurred though. It reminds me of a Greek tragedy.

We will never know exactly what happened when Max fell over the bannister railing because there were no eye witnesses. We are human beings with human curiosities and we search for answers. However; the truth is we will never know exactly what happened. Not with Max's death or with Rebecca's.

Imo, whether the cryptic message makes sense to us or not isn't even relevant. It did make sense to Rebecca at the time. Suicidal thoughts aren't rational thoughts so rational thoughts cant be applied to irrational ones, imo. It never works because no one can get into the mind of someone who is already dead who has decided to kill themselves.

I do believe Rebecca killed herself. I don't buy into some vast conspiracy going on by the SDPD, ME and the forensic labs. That would take everyone involved in the case to cover it up. JS is not some big cheese to the typical police officer that works hard for a living. If one other person knows a secret it isnt a secret anymore. I don't believe 15 dedicated officers would rollover and cover up the truth. I think they did their jobs painstakingly well.

7 weeks of investigation with as many officers assigned to this case is certainly enough time to determine what happen.

I can see Rebecca propelling herself off of the top of the balcony railing and not pushing out far enough and striking her head on the rout iron fencing as she went down. The hemorrhages are small and on one side. Rebecca could have arched her back and put her head back as she jumped off. So the hemorrhages found underneath the scalp are understandable to me based on the location where she did it.

The other abrasions and cuts imo were from striking plants as she first went down. The dirt found on one hip convinces me she went over at an angle propelling heself over with force. The force of the jump combined with her body weight would not make her go straight down to a dead stop with the flexible rope never swinging. The rope would finally come to rest eventually but to me it was as if she was a pendulum on the end of a rope when she first jumped off.

As far as expecting them to mention every minute detail in their PC .........I never expected that from them and even after the AR has been released there was nothing in it that made me change my opinion from believing she committed suicide. Why? That will be only known to Rebecca.

imo

 

[sdcali]

You are certain about this? Why aren't her clothes part of the drawings? Or in the photographs? If they were in the guest room and neatly folded with no signs of tearing - wouldn't this add to LE's case?

Anyone know if there is a transcript of the press conference? Does anyone else who listened to the PC remember hearing that? I am almost 100% certain that was stated.

There are many things missing from the photographs...no photograph of her cellphone on the floor, or the bed, the towel in the hall or the red stain described in the illustration.

I have no answers for why certain things were omitted and others divulged. If RZ were forced to take off her clothes, or had undressed to shower or go to bed (in the T-shirt found around her neck), then she was not undressed by a third party. Perhaps she was pulling the t-shirt over her head when she was acosted...so it was used as part of the suicide scene.

 

[deanna82437]

I believe LE was being respectful when they suggested her suicide was triggered by grief. I think the message she left is clearly angry and is asking for eternal forgiveness.

Now that some of the facts are out, I think it is more likely a suicide triggered by rage at her boyfriend because he tossed her out of his life.
JMO

BBM
This has been mentioned numerous times and bothers me. Has this been documented anywhere that he told her it was over and I missed it? Anyone?

Not singling out MyBelle, just using her example of it being posted as such.

 

[jjenny]

BBM
This has been mentioned numerous times and bothers me. Has this been documented anywhere that he told her it was over and I missed it? Anyone?

Not singling out MyBelle, just using her example of it being posted as such.

No. JS certainly didn't claim he decided to toss RN out of his life. So it's speculation. The message left on her voice mail supposedly was that Max was not going to make it. Not that RN had to go.

 

[passionflower]

Just throwing in my 2 cents......wonder if the 2 deaths are not even related. (son and GF)
Just a great opportunity to make a murder look like a suicide.

 

[scorekeeper]

I am not familiar with California Law. Will we ever be privy to all the investigation reports and pictures? I guess I want the "whole written book". I would really like to see the written notes for the interviews, cell phone records, hospital security tapes.

Perhaps if the AR didn't cause me to wonder about the clothes, makeup wipes, slept in/unmade bed and glass of clear liquid.......were DNA/forensic test done on these items and what were the findings? Why put this info in the report if not somehow important?

Even if it was a misprint and was meant to talk about a room in the mansion, why not expand on findings?

Did it appear that RN had slept in the Master bedroom. Her sister said she was getting ready for bed when she spoke to her.

Was only RN's fingerprints/DNA found on her phone?

This case is so exhausting; it's like reading a really bad novel that you can't put down or you have to finish to find out what really happened......

Oceanblueeyes, I may not get your quotes right; but yes, both the loss of MS and RN are tragedies and we may never know exactly what happened......for those of us that still lean toward homicide.....

 

[jjenny]

LE have stated that only DNA from RN was found on rope. AS has stated he found RN hanging and cut her down. His DNA is not found on rope? Well doesn't that suggest that a person can touch the rope and leave no DNA? So how does the fact that only RN's DNA is found on rope proves suicide? The table with a broken leg-when did the leg break? The clothes in the room (on the floor)-whose were they? Was there loud music, and if so, who played it? Is there any evidence RN actually knew how to tie cleat hitch knots? I still have a lot of questions with no answers.

 

[scorekeeper]

chasing.halo,

I have a question for DS....did AS visit the hospital when he first arrived....and any other time.....did AS and JS spend time alone?

Thanks so much..

score

 

[deanna82437]

Especially considering the pancakes were only once in awhile when the kids visited. RN was hardly an indentured servant.

JMO

Where is the proof? Do you have a link for that statement?:sick:

 

[sdcali]

I'd think the taking off of the make-up would have preceded the shower she apparently took back inside the mansion. Why shower, put on make-up then go out to the guest house. Then remove the make-up, then back to the house for her appointment with eternity. And the shower area was still wet at the point of first examination. Rigor Mortis sets in in 4 hours, body had rigor by, what, 6:30 or 7:00 AM? Does shower water on a bathroom floor not dry within 4 hours? In any case, more likely the shower was on closer to that 2 to 3 o'clock hour, if not later.

Another point: would make-up be more liable to retain fingerprints?

Do we have confirmation that she took a shower? In the mansion?

 

[katydid23]

I remember during the PC hearing LE say that RZ's clothes were neatly folded in the guest room. If her clothes were accounted for in the guest room, then they had no reason to question whose clothing was in the second bedroom of the guest house. Maybe AS had an overnight guest? I would imagine some kind of questioning would have been conducted over the clothing.

Perhaps the answers panned out and LE did not feel that information needed to be divulged. Just like so many other facts that were not divulged...

RN had taken her sister to the airport that very day. Maybe those clothes and things belonged to the sister, and that is why they were not mentioned in the news conference.

 

[jjenny]

RN had taken her sister to the airport that very day. Maybe those clothes and things belonged to the sister, and that is why they were not mentioned in the news conference.

Make up removal toilets are her sister's too? The sister was 13.

 

[elementry]

THERE WASN'T ENOUGH TIME????

Then re-open the case and take all the GD time you need. We are more than happy to wait until you have picked up those loose pieces, re-examined them again and let some daylight into this matter, and oh yes, truth too.

My primary fear (and the reason for my sometime sarcasm) is that evidence may have been compromised, destroyed, or neglected to begin with. It could make answers to the various questions out there unsolveable, which would be a disservice to the victims and also those accused in their various ways. The only ones to gain from the seemingly subpar police work are potential offenders. Politically it could be a mess if the press and public determines that LE bungled this, i.e. evidence collection and maintenance from the get go, and a rush to judgement perceived to be entirely in favor of the monied party.

 

[HowLoveCanBe]

BBM
This has been mentioned numerous times and bothers me. Has this been documented anywhere that he told her it was over and I missed it? Anyone?

Not singling out MyBelle, just using her example of it being posted as such.

There might be a pattern here. The kids are all whisked away. Her dog is boarded up. She tells kennel owner that she's doing this so she can be at the hospital. Maybe at the time she thought she could be at the hospital but it has been mentioned numerous times that Dina didn't want her there. So was she lying to kennel owner or uncertain? Who's idea was it exactly to board Ocean Rebecca's or Jonah's - perhaps at the insistence of Dina? If Adam was there to be with his brother and nephew why was he not at the hospital? Was he watching over Rebecca? There has been speculation that Jonah has used PI's to watch over people. He prob wouldn't want to involve a PI in this situation. Finally you have the possibility that she might have been staying in the guest house not the main house - and she jumped from the guest room. Sounds like she was being isolated at every turn. Just speculation on my part.

 

[katydid23]

Make up removal toilets are her sister's too? The sister was 13.

Many 13 yr olds wear make up. Especially in California on vacation with their big sisters.

 

[IWannaKnow]

This is the exact quote, and it was by Dana Gary, Medical Examiner Investigator. The report wasn't written until 8/21/11.

From page 2 of 3 of the Investigative Narrative:

Dr. Lucas and I were escorted to the back of the residence to a courtyard area between the main house and a guest house. I noted a naked female body lying on a grassy area, beneath a balcony. A rope was hanging from the second story balcony. The main house was a multi room, multi bathroom dwelling which appeared clean and organized. The guest house consisted of two bedrooms. One of the rooms had a suitcase and the other room had an unmade bed, a few pieces of women's clothing on the floor, make up wipes on the dresser and a glass with a clear liquid on the night stand. We were escorted upstairs and I noted black painted writings on the bedroom door that led into the room with the balcony. A paintbrush.......

After reading and rereading this statement, I believe that they are saying that one bedroom of the guest house had the women's clothing and make up remover wipes - not the main house. Which only puts a crazier spin on all this. If that was not what they meant, they should have phrased this better. Didn't they question why there would be women's clothing in the guest house?? Was the woman TG allegedly saw on the 12th ever verified or identified? Also, AS found RZ at 6:30am, but the Medical Examiner and the Medical Examiner Investigator did not arrive at the scene until 7:14PM.