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

[sdcali]

7/11/11
Max fell at ~10:00 am
DS MIA for several hours
RZ calls TG to pick up Ocean around 4:00

7/12/11
TG arrives to pick up Ocean, sees another "woman" there (XZ?)
RZ takes XZ to airport, picks up AS
AS arrives late afternoon (?)
AS, JS, RZ go to dinner from hospital
RZ last seen by AS at 8:00 (2000 hours).
RZ calls sister at 9:50 (2150 hours)

7/13/11
1 - 1:30 am loud music reported
3:00 am RZ allegedly dives off balcony
AS finds RZ at 6:30
AS calls 911 at 6:48

7/14
?

7/15
MS pronounced brain dead 11:58 (2358 hours)

7/16
MS death verified at 11:30
PI picks up Ocean at Camp Diggity Dog
GS posts on FB
7/17
Death announcements begin to appear
Organ procurement

7/18
Private memorial service for MS
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=73531182

I believe GS posted on FB on Friday, July 15th.

 

[CalElliot]

I'm also troubled by the order. Let's say there is only one tow rope, perfectly cut into three pieces. Which do you do first?

• If ankles bound first, that restricts movement. Would foot be removed, then reinserted as in SD video demo? Is this possible? Would knots unravel if foot removed for any length of time?
• If wrists bound first, would the knots unravel if hand removed for any length of time?
• If noose meted out first, were ankle/wrist bindings simply the remainder of the rope...cut in half?

 

[belimom]

There is a big piece of rope hanging from her arms (clearly visible from the photo). So just making loops around wrists and ankles is not going to be enough-we have to know much rope was left hanging from the arm binding.

It's not clear in the photo if the rope is coming from wrists or from the noose. I'm assuming the wrists - but it's hard to tell here. (I'm just posting the link and not the photo, for those who don't want to see the photo)

http://kfmb.images.worldnow.com/images/15388199_BG1.jpg

 

[deanna82437]

I saw this, also. But the picture seems to have been manipulated- the doors have a much lower threshold than this picture shows. Just another merry prankster!

I think what you see could be the camera angle from the helicopter. I do not believe it is a prankster. Would have to go back and check which, but the pic was a freeze frame from one of the major network's video.

 

[jjenny]

It's not clear in the photo if the rope is coming from wrists or from the noose. I'm assuming the wrists - but it's hard to tell here. (I'm just posting the link and not the photo, for those who don't want to see the photo)

http://kfmb.images.worldnow.com/images/15388199_BG1.jpg

There are other photos from different angles so I am pretty sure it's coming from the wrists.

 

[CalElliot]

We have comments and interviews from dog kennel ad nauseam.

Did LE not question anyone at restaurant that Jonah Shacknai, Adam Shacknai, and Rebecca Zahau dined at that night?

Which restaurant?

What was the mood like?

Why not a single news interview, no commentary from restaurant staff?

 

[curiousjo]

If it is true that neighbors heard loud music playing suggestive of a party at 1-1:30 am, then AS would have heard it. I don't know about you, but if it was me - I would have thought something was wrong and checked it out and called my brother. Most people don't sleep well in a strange bed and upset by tragic injury to nephew. It was a cool Summer night, when many would have their windows wide open.
So, either not true or suggests AS involved.

 

[CalElliot]

One other troubling thought...

Did LE ever examine the dog?

 

[CalElliot]

Jonah Shacknai Wields Small Army Against Speculation on Death of His Girlfriend

http://www.bnet.com/blog/drug-busin...t-speculation-on-death-of-his-girlfriend/9609

 

[deanna82437]

http://www.bnet.com/blog/drug-busin...t-speculation-on-death-of-his-girlfriend/9609

 

[cluciano63]

I wonder if LE agrees with the suicide verdict; isn't the determination only up to the ME?

 

[sdcali]

This really bothers me. This pic shows the rope hanging down after dark:

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B5...MjY5NjBkMjQ2MDdi&sort=name&layout=list&num=50

They absolutely staged this crime scene for pictures. She was found while it was light out, there was no rope in the helicopter pics that morning, yet suddenly it's dark and the rope is back. I'm not sure why they pulled the rope up to begin with, but this is ridiculous. I go between suicide and murder, but this was shoddy, shoddy police work from the beginning. Inexcusable.

I thought it was peculiar that the rope/balcony photos were at night as well, since the crime scene was first discovered in the early morning.

This photo in particular:

To the left of the rope in the photo appears to be a place in the dusty railing where the rope may have been prior...it looks like a the width of the rope...yet the rope is in the photo to the right of this disturbance in the dust.

AND the photo was taken at night...

 

[SunnieRN]

Cynic is off to a great start, too! Thank you, Cynic!

Your post gave me the perfect opportunity to say thank you to you, too, SunnieRN, for all of the very helpful knowledge you've been sharing with us in these threads. If I may say so, you should teach, if you don't already. You have helped make the disturbing details of Rebecca's and Max's deaths much more clear for me, and your obvious respect for them shines through every post. Very nice!

Thank you for such kind words!! I have enjoyed your posts as well!! There are a lot of fantastic sleuthers here and we build our ideas upon one another!! Thank you again!!

Okay, been snooping around and saw this .. the top pic was taken in the morning by a news helicopter .. doors closed, no rope. Bottom pic is the one from the PC with the rope.

https://viewer.zoho.com/docs/xJBccc

So, just asking, but where was the rope and who moved it. And if they could move the frippen rope, why couldn't they have covered up Rebecca, with a tent or tarp. Grrrr!

Hanging - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
BBM


Autopsy Report
Page 10


Yikes! I don't like that photo that comes up with wiki......but it comes with the link. Sorry!!!!!

Thank you my dear, as this lends credence to my thoughts!!! (((Hugs)))

The autopsy states that her feet were 26-1/2" from the ground. She was too low for the cactus to do this, unless it is cactus from the Little Shop of Horrors. They were describing bruises, not puncture holes you would get from running into a cactus. Those are on her back. Plus, the majority of the plant angles away from the balcony.

Yeppers, one has to wonder!

Even in the drawing she appears to be on her side. In the helicopter images she is more on her side than on her back because the hands are bound behind her back preventing her from being laid on her back. Why was livor mortis on the posterior? Even assuming it shifted because it wasn't completely fixed after at least 3 and a half hours of hanging shouldn't it have been on her side because that's how she was laid down?

Brilliant! Which is why the 3 am timeline doesn't fit. Rigor would have been established by finding it on her LEFT side and partially on her back! Brilliant!

There are still the 4 hemorrhages on her scalp that were unaccounted for, sufficient to have rendered her unconscious at least temporarily.

One would think that the ME would have been very concerned about those. I know I am!

The red flags that I see:
- someone with no known depression supposedly commits suicide
- in doing so, this person creates a bizarre and gruesome suicide scene
- including writing 'she saved him can you save her' in black paint on the back of a door
- conjures up the whole hanging scenario (including calculating the rope length)
- figures out how to tie her own hands in a cleat hitch (a la the video) on the spot with supposedly no prior experience or guidance in how to do it
- is able to throw herself off the balcony with hands AND feet bound, only leaving one set of distinct footprints and one set of distinct toe print --- no scuffling, doesn't fall down, etc.

I just do not buy it.

Neither do I, or many of us!! Thank you for vocalizing this so succinctly!

Seriously thinking now (emphasis on now, subject to change) that recent evidence points to: hit on head, tied up & gagged, strangled, staged hanging.

Bingo!! Good call imho.

Stella5, after some research based on autopsy report, please note the following:

Autopsy Report
----------------------
petechiae: tiny red or purple spots on various parts of body....sometimes in clusters
----------------------
World of Forensics: strangulation vs hanging....."if petechial hemorrhages and facial congestion are present, it is a strong indication of asphyxia by strangulation as cause of death."
-----------------------
Autopsy Report - page 5 - External Description - "…the face is generally congested. There are dense, innumerable, focally confluent, fine red petechiae.
------------------------
Medical Examiners (research): If the victim has marked congestion in the face with petechiae and fine petechiae, then it is more likely death by strangulation.
---------------------
World of Forensics...."hanging victim will have a pale face and a protruding tongue."

Autopsy Report - page 5 - External Description...."the mouth is slightly open and the tongue is NOT protruding."
--------
Based solely on these findings, the autopsy report should conclude:
Cause of Death: Strangulation
Manner: Murder

Thank you!!! This is common sense, based on LOTS of strangulations, which are well documented! Fantastic!! Thanks again for the link to the SR also!

I would like to point out that Max fell down a staircase and hit the chandelier hard enough to bring it down with him. The police verified he hit the other handrail on the way down as well yet the listing of contusions and abrasions on his body were not as extensive as the contusions and abrasions listed on Rebecca's body.

Doesn't this seem totally suspicious?? You are the bomb!! Fantastic!!

http://www.bnet.com/blog/drug-busin...t-speculation-on-death-of-his-girlfriend/9609
CEO Shacknai Wields Small Army Against Speculation on Death of His Girlfriend

Hmmm, CYA big time!! Wonder why?!

 

[SunnieRN]

If it is true that neighbors heard loud music playing suggestive of a party at 1-1:30 am, then AS would have heard it. I don't know about you, but if it was me - I would have thought something was wrong and checked it out and called my brother. Most people don't sleep well in a strange bed and upset by tragic injury to nephew. It was a cool Summer night, when many would have their windows wide open.
So, either not true or suggests AS involved.

I remember in thread 1, when we first started talking about this. Seems like it is still not explained!!

 

[curiousjo]

Hinky meter- discusses case and ROPE: http://www.thehinkymeter.com/2011/09/06/rebecca-zahau-case-suicide-really/#more-7827

Autopysy: http://www.sdsheriff.net/coronado/me-rz.pdf

 

[jjenny]

I wonder if LE agrees with the suicide verdict; isn't the determination only up to the ME?

Well LE clearly stated they believe it to be suicide. I imagine ME and LE communicate with each other.

 

[sdcali]

I don't know, but that's a good question.

Also, a tow rope is different than other types of ropes. It floats and is a bit stiffer than regular dock lines, etc. Other types of lines used on a boat don't usually float and are of a different type of material. Not sure if that matters here or not.

Thank you! Yes it does matter, that was the point I was trying to make in an earlier post. IMO, the rope used for towing riders is not the same as the rope used in the video. The tow rope would be more difficult to manipulate and bind on oneself alone than the way it was shown in demo.

 

[TorisMom003]

Thats true but photos can be deceiving. Maybe she was more on her back than it looked from afar. If not then the ME would have listed her position as semi-supine, imo.

IMO

There is also the rendering that LE did of the scene outside of the house in the courtyard. It clearly shows a figure (supposed to be Rebecca) on the side with knees bent facing away from the house. This, along with the photos from the media, prove that Rebecca was in fact on her side with her knees bent and one leg was raised up some with her arms still bound behind her back.

 

[sdcali]

If it is true that neighbors heard loud music playing suggestive of a party at 1-1:30 am, then AS would have heard it. I don't know about you, but if it was me - I would have thought something was wrong and checked it out and called my brother. Most people don't sleep well in a strange bed and upset by tragic injury to nephew. It was a cool Summer night, when many would have their windows wide open.
So, either not true or suggests AS involved.

And he would have presumably already been awake if JS had called him with the same report he allegedly left for Rebecca.

 

[jjenny]

There is also the rendering that LE did of the scene outside of the house in the courtyard. It clearly shows a figure (supposed to be Rebecca) on the side with knees bent facing away from the house. This, along with the photos from the media, prove that Rebecca was in fact on her side with her knees bent and one leg was raised up some with her arms still bound behind her back.

Yes, the figure was on the side. So she was hanging first, then laid on the side, yet livor mortis was posterior?