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

[jjenny]

They estimated the time of death at 3 am because she was in rigor mortis when paramedics arrived, and it takes about 4 hours for rigor mortis to develop. But that doesn't exclude it being earlier than 3 am.

 

[SunnieRN]

I think Rebecca may have died at 1 am, during the loud music. This would explain the level of rigor mortis. However, I still have to figure some parts of this out.

 

[Morag]

Like several of you, I have wondered about the lack of footprints on the balcony. It's very hard to believe that she would not have stood there, looking down, contemplating what she was planning to do, calculating the length of rope needed, making sure she wasn't going to hit somthing on the ground which would foil her plan.

And she obviously hadn't stood there before, certainly not this summer, so she couldn't have had a 'dress rehearsal'. There is just about no rain in Coronado from March/April to November/December. That dust had been accumulating for a while. No one had stood on that balcony recently- just Rebecca's hobbled feet had been there (and Officer Onefoot's).

I was all ready to believe it was a suicide a few days ago, but the more I read, both here and elsewhere, the more I think it had to have been murder.

 

[SunnieRN]

BBM
So on what evidence did they estimate TOD at 3am? I still think about that Dr. Kessler stating she died while on her back? What the he11 does that mean? :banghead:

I think that was because of the livor mortis, blood pooling on her back. But..... I don't think I should talk more about this at this time.

 

[jjenny]

Yep, she came up with this elaborate plan but apparently never got on the balcony prior to executing this plan, to take a look-see. Wouldn't she want to test the railing to see if it was going to hold? Just look down to see how much rope she would need not to hit the ground? Apparently, she put the noose on her neck and just hopped out there (after her feet were already bound together), without going on the balcony first to check it out. Her feet bound together, her hands bound together behind her back, t-shirt staffed in her mouth. I was just thinking that the only way she could make this even more elaborate would have been a blind fold.

 

[scorekeeper]

Great point!
I am reminded of when I try and hang a picture. I end up with a bunch of nail holes until I get it just right. Here, I would have to throw the rope over the balcony and check out the length. If it appeared too long, I would have to go back and cut a little off, then a little more off until it appeared visually just right. What are the chances that the rope was already the perfect length. Along with creating extra prints on the railing and balcony floor, there might also be a few pieces of rope that were cut off to shorten the length.

Goodness, I keep thinking about all the work she had to do in the middle of the night, in a short amount of time.
I would have just gone back to bed and hoped that tomorrow would have been a brighter day!

Great post and good points! Thanks!

There was a lot more to take into consideration for that distance...to determine how much would be needed to account for the distance from the bed, across the room, over the railing and over. And then there is the noose. Next the wrist bindings and foot bindings.

It appears from the photo of the slip loop (one end of the rope) on the bed leg to the notation in the AR that her foot bindings contained the tow rope handle (the other end), all of the rope was used.

BBM

My thought exactly!!

The tow rope...lenght

She cut the following:

1 piece for her feet (used the end of rope because it had the water sport tow rope handle)
1 piece for tieing to bed and ending with the noose (a 22 inch piece extends from the knot)
1 piece for her hands (this piece included all the extra that extended away from her in the pictures on the ground - from autopsy 84 extra inches)

sdcali, I agree....how did she get everthing perfect....no extra rope anywhere...no miss cuts

Doesn't sound like a distraugh person........sounds like a mathmatician!!

No other DNA on rope or RN's body.....

Certainly sounds like staging to me.....what if she was thrown/pushed over the balcony and hung there for 20/30 minutes (for death to occur) and then cut down....livor mortis would be on back side.......

just thinking out loud.....

 

[SunnieRN]

Great post and good points! Thanks!

There was a lot more to take into consideration for that distance...to determine how much would be needed to account for the distance from the bed, across the room, over the railing and over. And then there is the noose. Next the wrist bindings and foot bindings.

It appears from the photo of the slip loop (one end of the rope) on the bed leg to the notation in the AR that her foot bindings contained the tow rope handle (the other end), all of the rope was used.

And, how did she know the bed wouldn't move and throw her down to the ground? The bed does not look that heavy duty, even with a mattress on it. She had one ropr around one leg and threw 100 pounds over the balcony, with only the bed to hold her weight.

 

[scorekeeper]

I think that was because of the livor mortis, blood pooling on her back. But..... I don't think I should talk more about this at this time.

Why not, Sunnie

 

[sdcali]

And, how did she know the bed wouldn't move and throw her down to the ground? The bed does not look that heavy duty, even with a mattress on it. She had one ropr around one leg and threw 100 pounds over the balcony, with only the bed to hold her weight.

And the bed did move almost 8-9 inches from the wall (going from memory from either the PC or the PPT by LE).

 

[katydid23]

How would anyone else know exactly how much rope to use w/out measuring either? Was the killer someone who had lots of practice hanging people from balconies?

 

[SunnieRN]

Why not, Sunnie

Some things are better left unsaid in a public forum, even if they are imo only. ;-)

 

[Invisible]

I wondered about other drugs also. Now I am curious about the bleeding. Are th ere drugs that could have caused vaginal bleeding - of course, I doubt they would have been tested for in the standard fare

And, they can't tell the difference between a woman on her period and problems from and IUD?

I think it is important to know what caused the bleeding. If it was menses, all the more reason that she would not be nude if she committed suicide. IMO

 

[Stella5]

I think it is important to know what caused the bleeding. If it was menses, all the more reason that she would not be nude if she committed suicide. IMO

Blood was noted on her Cervix, so my guess would be she was on her period. Zahau's said LE said no... but LE said maybe.

There is one other possibility... it's graphic and I'm sorry in advance.

"Death by hanging, whether an execution or a suicide, has been observed to affect the genitals of both men and women. In women, the labia and clitoris will become engorged and there may be a discharge of blood from the vagina."

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_erection"]Death erection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

 

[belimom]

Like several of you, I have wondered about the lack of footprints on the balcony. It's very hard to believe that she would not have stood there, looking down, contemplating what she was planning to do, calculating the length of rope needed, making sure she wasn't going to hit somthing on the ground which would foil her plan.

And she obviously hadn't stood there before, certainly not this summer, so she couldn't have had a 'dress rehearsal'. There is just about no rain in Coronado from March/April to November/December. That dust had been accumulating for a while. No one had stood on that balcony recently- just Rebecca's hobbled feet had been there (and Officer Onefoot's).

I was all ready to believe it was a suicide a few days ago, but the more I read, both here and elsewhere, the more I think it had to have been murder.

How would anyone else know exactly how much rope to use w/out measuring either? Was the killer someone who had lots of practice hanging people from balconies?

bbm

That's the thing about the footprints... There really aren't many there - from her or anyone else. :waitasec:

(Yes, I'm back. After DH and I chased two finches around the apartment, I'm now wide awake again...).

 

[elementry]

In the first or second thread, someone theorized that they couldn't move Rebecca's body, or erect a cover, as they didn't have permission from the home owner.

I cannot imagine AS not being so upset that he would contact JS immediately, or LE moving any mountains needed to give a corpse, under their watch, privacy. Even in cases where LE is searching for bones, they erect tents and keep reporters away.

IMHO, this was a very poor judgement call by the investigating officers. Rebecca's body should never have been on display for an entire day. I wonder what else was handled with this same lack of respect shown to Rebecca and her loved ones. All of her loved ones, including JS and his family.

The initial treatment of her body seems to have set the tone for their investigation of all the possible modes of her death and the treatment of her family back in Missouri: not high on the priority list. If it ends up the evidence collection was shoddy and peremptory, it's likely they were overly focusing on the suicide track and thus dismissed whatever was in the way or beside the point of this. Still, they should have clarified the bruises on the head. Did they come from the rail posts or not? To not even check hurts their own suicide scenario in terms of proof: but a suicide would never need to be proved in a court, or so they thought.

 

[cali_mommy]

I seen this case on NG tonight and can't stop thinking about it. Where there is smoke, there is fire, as my Dear Grandma used to say. Nothing about either tragedy passes the smell test. What are the chances of two people dying within days of each other?? Statistic experts?? I just can't wrap my head around someone going about their nighttime ritual ( showering,removing make-up) then suddenly say hmmm let me create an elaborate suicide plan. Being a woman myself, I would want to look my best even in death. Therefore I would most likely put make up on NOT take it off, and I sure as heck wouldn't put my naked body on display for anyone to see. All women, even the most beautiful find fault with some part of their body. Imo leaving someone naked is a way to bring shame or embarrassment upon them. Not something someone would do to themselves. I personally don't want to point the finger at anyone, but it sounds like some type of sex act, gone wrong to me. I don't know all the facts,nor will I pretend to bee an expert in any field. But I do have something called common sense, and 1+1 still =2 no matter how you try to spin something,or how much money you have. Lie detector tests are not 100% accurate.

 

[Stella5]

How would anyone else know exactly how much rope to use w/out measuring either? Was the killer someone who had lots of practice hanging people from balconies?

How does anyone who chooses hanging know? Some I would assume do measure or do a walk through, where I know others do not and just get "lucky"... or they do not complete the suicide because the rope was too long. In this case, I can see her stretching the rope across the room and then leaving enough to go over the balcony and hang without measuring. I did find it odd that she was only 2 feet off the ground, very close to not being successful.

I don't remember from the AR if the rope left the tell tale V on Rebecca's neck...

"Hanging

While accidental hanging is rare, and homicidal hanging is even rarer, hanging is the third most common form of suicide and accounts for 16% of all male, and 13% of all female suicides. Most people who commit suicide by hanging, jump from a chair or a ladder, choking to death slowly. Rarely is the neck broken. In order to break a neck, a drop of six feet or more is required, which rarely happens except in execution hanging.

Hanging, whether done with rope, an electrical cord or a belt, always leaves an inverted V bruise, and is easy to tell from ligature strangulation (murder), which leaves a straight-line bruise. Hanging compresses the veins, but arterial blood flow continues, causing small bleeding sites on the lips, inside the mouth and on the eyelids. As with ligature strangulation, the face and neck are congested with blood and become dark red."

 

[SunnieRN]

So you don't measure the length from the bed, to where you need to suspend. You don't make any inaccurate cuts in the rope.
You don't go out on the balcony, look around, see whether there might be something that could impede your falling, accomplishing your mission.
You only put a single loop around a bed and expect it to bear the weight of 100 lbs pulling against it.
You leave a message that is in third person. But no explanation or apology.
You don't research this method of death.

Yet you are dead.

 

[scorekeeper]

does anyone remember when AS, DS or JS left Coronado?

TIA

 

[jjenny]

How does anyone who chooses hanging know? Some I would assume do measure or do a walk through, where I know others do not and just get "lucky"... or they do not complete the suicide because the rope was too long. In this case, I can see her stretching the rope across the room and then leaving enough to go over the balcony and hang without measuring. I did find it odd that she was only 2 feet off the ground, very close to not being successful.

I don't remember from the AR if the rope left the tell tale V on Rebecca's neck...

So the first time she got onto the balcony she was bound and gagged. Not much room for error there. You don't find it even a little bit strange she didn't get onto the balcony before she bound and gagged herself to make sure her elaborate plan was going to work? For instance, to figure out how she was going to get over the railing? If it didn't work (rope too long, for instance) she was going to up in the nude on the ground.