CA - Rebecca Zahau Nalepa - suicide or murder? #11

[TorisMom003]

I believe someone else mentioned that the paint tubes and brushes may have been put in the plastic bag to carry them from wherever they were prior to the guest room.

Ok, then why is the trash bag on top of the open tube of paint? And there is black paint in spots on the trash bag. It is also not a small plastic bag but a kitchen trash can trash bag with a drawstring handle. Rather big to use just to tote 2 small paintbrushes, tube of paint and 2 kitchen knives. I guess the rope could have been put in the bag as well but it still seems like a smaller bag would have been used instead.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I have seen the comparison of Rebecca's sister and Max's parents for the grief talk. I think it is important to remember that Rebecca also has parents who have lost their child. While the sister is being the spokesperson for the family, her parents are most definitely affected as well. It does not matter how old or young your child is, when a child dies it still affects you. Especially in a case when it is not an expected death, for instance a long term illness or something like that.

Both Rebecca and Max left behind parents that are obviously still needing some answers for their questions.

I absolutely agree with everything you have written.

What I dont agree with is this:

"Becky was extremely close with Max. They loved each other very, very much. Dina was jealous of that relationship between her son, and Becky,” Mary Zahau tells RadarOnline.com exclusively. “Max would spend so much time with Becky and then go home and tell Dina how much he loved Becky. If there was a school function or Max had a soccer game, Dina would sometimes demand that Becky not be there,"

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusiv...get-jonah-shacknai-s-ex-wife-dina-says-sister

Neither, Dina nor Jonah Shacknai have spoken out publicly in the media. They have not said one disrespectful statement against Rebecca nor her family.

These statements made by Rebecca's sister have got to cause even more pain for DS who has lost her only child.

imo

 

[Brit]

There was extra rope, especially a long length hanging from her wrists. By extra, I mean 'more than was needed', since there was some left over.

This is probably one of the things that nags at me the most, concerning suicide vs murder. If murder, it seems like there would not have been that long piece left over at her wrists - just cut off the extra pieces as you go. If suicide, that would make sense: she would have tied her hands last, then pulled the extra amount through, but not have bothered to cut it - or not have been able to cut it. She also would have needed the extra length to tighten it with, if it happened according to the video.

I still don't believe it was a suicide, but just wanted to put that thought out there. Anyone else think about that?

Good thought.....perhaps she was tied with that extra rope to the bed or that overturned chair?

Also, one other thing that bothers me. Why go to the trouble with the paint? The knives look like kitchen knives, why not just grab a sharpie, marker or pen from the junk draw that everyone has in their kitchen?

 

[sorrell skye]

Wow I come home after 10 days and have been reading for hours, still so many questions, but one that so far hasn't been answered although I may have missed it, when did the table leg get broken?

Howdy - good to see you again!

It was stated by LE that the table leg was broken when AS dragged it over to cut RZ down.

 

[belimom]

Good thought.....perhaps she was tied with that extra rope to the bed or that overturned chair?

Also, one other thing that bothers me. Why go to the trouble with the paint? The knives look like kitchen knives, why not just grab a sharpie, marker or pen from the junk draw that everyone has in their kitchen?

But the biggest question of all: why do any of it? Why stage such a scene? Just doesn't make any sense.

 

[defense101]

Howdy - good to see you again!

It was stated by LE that the table leg was broken when AS dragged it over to cut RZ down.

Thanks sorrell! Then why is still intact in the rope picture?

 

[TorisMom003]

I absolutely agree with everything you have written.

What I dont agree with is this:

"Becky was extremely close with Max. They loved each other very, very much. Dina was jealous of that relationship between her son, and Becky,” Mary Zahau tells RadarOnline.com exclusively. “Max would spend so much time with Becky and then go home and tell Dina how much he loved Becky. If there was a school function or Max had a soccer game, Dina would sometimes demand that Becky not be there,"

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusiv...get-jonah-shacknai-s-ex-wife-dina-says-sister

Neither, Dina nor Jonah Shacknai have spoken out publicly in the media. They have not said one disrespectful statement against Rebecca nor her family.

These statements made by Rebecca's sister have got to cause even more pain for DS who has lost her only son.

imo

I'm not sure why that was said. I don't agree with it being said either, however, we don't know what the sister and/or her family have been hearing or reading either. I know that we have someone that posts here that has said that Dina feels that Max was smothered. I also know that there are rumors running rampant on the web about Rebecca's possible part in Max's death, her not getting along with Jonah's children, etc. The sister may have felt the need to defend Rebecca but went about it in the wrong way.

Again, I don't know why it was said or what either family has had to deal with in the way of rumors and such. I would suspect though that both families are at their breaking point if they have read half of the things that I have.

 

[Brit]

Another thought....maybe that long peice of extra rope was used as a tool to help hoist, or fling her over the railing. no other footprints were found on the balcony....

 

[SophieRose]

I agree. But it seems that the same could be said for a perp, too. Why have all that extra length to step on, trip over, etc.? The whole thing is baffling, IMO. None of it makes sense, except that it was either suicide or murder by someone who had access to the home, since there was no obvious break-in or theft.

Who do you think it was since LE cleared the whereabouts of JS and DS?

 

[TorisMom003]

Thanks sorrell! Then why is still intact in the rope picture?

I think it is just the angle of the photo that makes it appear as if all 4 legs are still intact. I believe that the missing leg part is on the back side leaning against the tree on the right of the picture. It appears that the table was set where it was to have it lean onto the tree to help it be more stable.

 

[sdcali]

I guess anything is possible but probable......it isn't elementry, imo.

None of Rebecca's fingerprints were disturbed. Actually the forensic lab can detect gloves on a soft plastic material like the paint tube. It also leaves an impression and they can also see glove impressions when they dust for fingerprints.

There is absolutely no evidence that anyone else was in the mansion at the time Rebecca killed herself.

IMO

BBM

I don't recall LE saying that anything specific about the quality of Rebecca's fingerprints--whether whole or partial, etc. Do you have a link for that information?

Re the gloves, it has not been determined what type of gloves a perp may have been wearing at the time. But I am curious about the information you provided and would appreciate a link for your statement. TIA

IMO, here has been no evidence discovered that anyone else was in the mansion, at the time Rebecca died because no one was looking for it at the time.

 

[sorrell skye]

Another thought....maybe that long peice of extra rope was used as a tool to help hoist, or fling her over the railing. no other footprints were found on the balcony....

One thing's for sure - if there was that much extra rope trailing behind, and with her hands bound behind her back, it would have been darn difficult to hoist that extra rope along while hopping with bound feet, and then to hurl oneself over a 36" inch railing, all while leaving absolutely NO TRACE of the trailing rope on the balcony floor where the other remarkably well-preserved foot prints & toe prints were made.

MOO

 

[sdcali]

Apparently there is no evidence anyone was at that room at all, since they supposedly haven't found any fingerprints except RN's. Surely somebody else had been to that room at some point of time prior to RN being there? Where are their fingerprints?

yes! and why wasn't LE suspicious at the lack of other fingerprints?

Our office was broken into last year and SDPD found NO PRINTS in their investigation of the burglary Not even any of the 5 people who work there. They indicated that everything was wiped clean.

So, wipe the areas down and put Rebecca's fingerprints on the surfaces you want them on.

 

[sorrell skye]

Thanks sorrell! Then why is still intact in the rope picture?

I don't think it was in tact. In the photo linked below, it looks as if the table is leaning against the cactus tree.

http://www.sdsheriff.net/coronado/images/rzbalcony.jpg

 

[Brit]

One thing's for sure - if there was that much extra rope trailing behind, and with her hands bound behind her back, it would have been darn difficult to hoist that extra rope along while hopping with bound feet, and then to hurl oneself over a 36" inch railing, all while leaving absolutely NO TRACE of the trailing rope on the balcony floor where the other remarkably well-preserved foot prints & toe prints were made.

MOO

Exactly! Could that extra length been used to manuever her to railing and then used to throw/force her over railing? Wasn't she a very petite girl?

 

[Pach]

has this been discussed before ??

1.) The "height" of the message on the door measured from the floor approximately measures up to the "eye-level of the average American male. If you know someone who is between 5'8" to 6 feet, ask them to stand and face about a feet from a door. you will notice their eye-level is spot-on with the height of the message. The implication here is that its possible an average-height male or a tall woman wrote the message.

2.) The end of the cut rope hanging from the balcony seems to have been cut by 7 or 8 foot tall man, unless Adam stood on a ladder instead of the table. If Adam said, he stood on the table to cut her down, but if measurement of the cut end of the hanging rope shows it to be too high for Adam to reach it then I dont know what else to say...the cut rope might have been staged.

3.) its also possible, the plan of the perpetrators was to lower rebecca to the ground using the rope then bundle Rebecca into the car trunk but plans changed.

4.) according to reports, her tongue was not sticking out (Supposedly a characteristic of hanging victims is their tongue is sticking out.) can anyone verify ??

 

[sdcali]

Just wondering if anyone knows if they did as thorough an investigation of Max's death? You know, took samples of things around the area he was supposed to have fallen. I know that one of Rebecca's sisters claims there were cuts in the other sister's hands from cleaning up the broken pieces of chandelier. I assumed detectives would want to do that for evidence.

At the time of Maxie's fall, it was an accident and no one was investigating anything. It did not come into question until Rebecca was found hanging at the same residence two days later. IMO, most of any evidence had been cleaned up and thrown out by the time Rebecca died and it became an issue.

 

[sorrell skye]

LE said the disturbance in the dust on the top of the railing was 11", so if the railing is only 36 inches tall, what part of Rebecca's body caused that disturbance? Anyone? With the railing that short, I am having a harder time with her diving off without a bruise or scrape on the front of her torso, thighs, shins or feet.

bbm

According to the AR & the PC, the 11" width of disturbed dust on the balcony railing matched the width of RZ's torso/waist.

The problem I have with that conclusion is that RZ was 5'3" tall and the balcony railing is said to be 36" high.

36" is too high for a 5'3" tall woman to bend over (people bend @ the hips, not the waist) without the aid of a stool or other device.

 

[sdcali]

I really don't think so Sorrell. It did not take them long to know the guest bedroom was the possible crime scene area and the balcony. If any DNA of another was going to be found in the mansion it would be in the guest room for sure, imo.

Yes, I have seen both homicides and suicides listed as 'violent.' Suicides that are done by hangings, stabbings, decapitation or shootings are seen as violent means to commit suicide. At the time LE didnt know which one it was and that is why they investigated the case for almost 2 months.

I am curious what LE determined to be the 'suspicious' part of the death. And how did they resolve that part to determine it to be a suicide.

 

[sdcali]

Yes, thank you. I suppose what I'm really asking is how LE came up with the theory of how Max fell. I don't know if they can trace his footprint patterns, or if they checked the railings for marks, etc. It seems odd to me that detectives didn't clean up the scene.

I understand what you mean. Maxie's death may be harder to figure out because it was never investigated at the time.

Sad as it is, if a crime or murder occurs in your home, the evidence and scene are processed, but LE do not do any clean up. In fact, it is left to the property owner, however there are companies that can be hired to do that.