Rebecca Nalepa - suicide or murder? #4

[Hunnydolll]

So sorry to hear of your boss "problems"..the nerve they want you to WORK.
Dispatch said caller was hysterical..gave wrong addy at first..said 6 year old girl had fallen down stairs. Also told them CPR was being done on child..child was having trouble breathing.
Then after police and fire arrived..police to dispatch..girlfriend of father of injured child on phone with father he will meet us at hospital. Police gives starting mileage for carrying the 2 females to hospital to meet with childs father.

Never did they say GS. With her giving 1040 as street addy rather than 1043.IMO... GS was the female on 911 call. I was not listening for juvie police code .
DS could not be found ..I stopped litstening at 12:45-1:00 in pm...They had tried many times to contact DS.

Thank you! You gave a better account than the media could give us in 2 weeks!! Great idea to listen to the scanner!!

 

[oceanblueeyes]

BBM

And so for my other theory:
She DID commit suicide.
She tied her own wrists & ankles to keep from changing her mind at last seconds.
Rope from her neck to balcony (or beyond) stretched & lowered her to an almost
kneeling position (on ground or table?), which is when & where the rigor set in.

Sounds plausible, peace. It really could go either way.

I have wondered if it wasnt rigor that is seen but if it snapped her neck and then her lower extremities hit the concrete and her leg may have broken or fractured when slamming into it hard.

IMO

 

[jjenny]

If all that was known and seen at the scene it certainly could be easily recognized by law enforcement detectives then I don't think they would have ever come out and say they were investigating the death.

She would be brought into the MEs office the way she was found and he could have determined rather quickly that it was a homicide and not a suicide. The ME also speaks with LE and has photos taken of the scene and he/she also came to the scene himself/herself when Rebecca was lying there.

So I think they still dont know if this was a suicide or a homicide and are waiting on forensic results and toxicology testing.

IMO

How exactly would it be determined if it was homicide or suicide? No, seriously, what's the difference in terms of forensics? Of course we know longer hang people but hanging could be a method to kill someone. So if somebody tied a rope around her neck and made her jump, or if she tied a rope around her neck and jumped, how would anyone know the difference?

 

[obmama]

Where has it been confirmed that a party was planned for Tuesday night?

And also where did you get the information about the joint credit card? I did a google news search for both of Rebecca's names and the term "credit card" and came up completely empty.

Thank you.

http://coronado.patch.com/articles/trainer-recalls-spreckels-victims-noticeable-limp

"He said he rarely had long conversations with Zahau, but did so last Saturday, when the woman excitedly discussed a party she was planning for Tuesday, which turned out to be the day before she died.

“She was really stoked about it,” he said.

But two days after Zahau's talk with Holman, Shacknai's 6-year-old son fell down a staircase in the mansion and suffered severe injuries. A kennel owner who visited with Zahau Tuesday said she was deeply shaken by the incident.

Investigators have said they do not believe the party took place."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Re: Credit Card

This was a video taped interview with Neil Napeka. He said he just spoke to Rebecca the previous week about a joint credit card. He also said she'd changed, she wanted a life of luxury.

It would have been Thursday or Friday after her death, by one of the local news stations. If I find it, I'll post a link.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

http://coronado.patch.com/articles/trainer-recalls-spreckels-victims-noticeable-limp

"He said he rarely had long conversations with Zahau, but did so last Saturday, when the woman excitedly discussed a party she was planning for Tuesday, which turned out to be the day before she died.

“She was really stoked about it,” he said.

But two days after Zahau's talk with Holman, Shacknai's 6-year-old son fell down a staircase in the mansion and suffered severe injuries. A kennel owner who visited with Zahau Tuesday said she was deeply shaken by the incident.

Investigators have said they do not believe the party took place."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Re: Credit Card

This was a video taped interview with Neil Napeka. He said he just spoke to Rebecca the previous week about a joint credit card. He also said she'd changed, she wanted a life of luxury.

It would have been Thursday or Friday after her death, by one of the local news stations. If I find it, I'll post a link.

Thank you. I doubt if it was an engagement party then, if Rebecca herself was planning it and as far as is known JS hadn't proposed.

 

[obmama]

RBBM

I, too, heard the sister reported as saying the relationship was 2-3 yrs, I posted the link awhile back.

Do you mean RN, there, obmama? Interesting post, btw...thanks.

oops, yes it should be RN. I'll edit it. Thanks.

 

[sdcali]

I totally agree, Paladine, and that is why (in addition to the nudity) that it just can't be suicide IMO.

Interestingly enough, in that Vanity Fair article mentioned upthread, the killers bound the victim with jumper cables and the TV cable, because that is what was they had in the car and hotel room, in order to get her small enough to put in the air conditioner duct.

I think desperate murderers will use anything that is handy. Now the question would become, why/where would electrical cord that is thick and orange be found. The only time I use those kind of cords is outside to hang the christmas lights, or hanging in my garage in case of emergency (don't ask what kind of emergency... my dad just always made me have one in my garage...) My point being that the electrical cord could be found outside pretty easily or in the garage. If you asked me to find a rope for you, however, I promise you that I could not find one.

But for suicide, you wouldn't even have to go to the trouble of getting the cord from the garage, or outside. As you mentioned, you could just go into your closet and get a belt or tie.

I recall someone posting that a contractor was working on the house? Or am I mistaken?

Those orange extension cords are always laying around during remodels...(from personal experience with home remodels)

 

[oceanblueeyes]

How exactly would it be determined if it was homicide or suicide? No, seriously, what's the difference in terms of forensics? Of course we know longer hang people but hanging could be a method to kill someone. So if somebody tied a rope around her neck and made her jump, or if she tied a rope around her neck and jumped, how would anyone know the difference?

There would be difference jjenny.

If they made her jump I would think there would be signs off a struggle. Rebecca just wouldn't say 'ok Ill jump" she would fight to live. That is just a normal instinct when self preservation kicks in and it has been said that she was in great physical shape. So imo they would find defensive wounds on her hands and arms as she wrestled with the person trying to tie her up and would see signs of a struggle in and near the balcony area.

She would not just stand there doing nothing while the person but a noose around her neck or bound her wrists and feet up.

I am sure LE has had to figure out before if a death was a suicide or a homicide and they look for certain factors that point in one direction or the other.

The knots also can be a key piece of evidence. They most likely will call in a knot expert to get their opinion whether she made the knots herself or they believe the particular knot was used by another with a specific background and trade.

IMO

 

[obmama]

Thank you. I doubt if it was an engagement party then, if Rebecca herself was planning it and as far as is known JS hadn't proposed.

The "engagement" party was pure speculation, if the rumor proved correct, that he planned to propose. It was one of several clues, that alone might be meaningless, but together supported the proposal rumor.

I looked at it as a "celebration", either a joint announcement or public performance. I think they planned it together, and that explains her excitement over the party. He's all about appearances, she's all about family and perfection. I could see it being a videotaped "on me knee" proposal, with "oohs and aahs" over the big rock he put on her finger.

I have a vivid imagination!

There's no indication of the party's magnitude . . . number of guests, time of day, refreshments, etc., but a catered event would have been a last minute cancellation, with a free promo opportunity for media exposure. We've heard nothing of the kind. But JS may have paid for an event that didn't happen in exchange for silence.

 

[i.b.nora]

We are nowhere closer to the truth than we were the day her body was found. Too many assumptions being made to suit me. All fantasy stuff. Maybe the local press could dig a little bit more.

All rumors, all speculation. If we didn't have the pictures of the body in the courtyard, this would have disappeared entirely by now.

 

[pferrin]

I am an female electrician by trade..have been for many years. I have worked with the orange electrical cords for most of my adult life. They come in all sizes. Even with all my experience with extension cords..(and I know how to tie those suckers) never never ever would I use one to commit suicide. Nope...I could see her using belts..belts from robes..silk scarves..ribboons..sheets..but not an extension cord.

If I ..who has prolly more experience with extension cords than about any human in coronado beach california..would not use it to hang myself..I know she didn't.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

The "engagement" party was pure speculation, if the rumor proved correct, that he planned to propose. It was one of several clues, that alone might be meaningless, but together supported the proposal rumor.

I looked at it as a "celebration", either a joint announcement or public performance. I think they planned it together, and that explains her excitement over the party. He's all about appearances, she's all about family and perfection. I could see it being a videotaped "on me knee" proposal, with "oohs and aahs" over the big rock he put on her finger.

I have a vivid imagination!

There's no indication of the party's magnitude . . . number of guests, time of day, refreshments, etc., but a catered event would have been a last minute cancellation, with a free promo opportunity for media exposure. We've heard nothing of the kind. But JS may have paid for an event that didn't happen in exchange for silence.

I hear you; I have a vivid imagination myself!

Obviously we have no way of knowing for sure, but I can't imagine anyone scheduling a big blowout like that, for that purpose, on a Tuesday night.

 

[MsFacetious]

How exactly would it be determined if it was homicide or suicide? No, seriously, what's the difference in terms of forensics? Of course we know longer hang people but hanging could be a method to kill someone. So if somebody tied a rope around her neck and made her jump, or if she tied a rope around her neck and jumped, how would anyone know the difference?

How would you get someone, perfectly conscious and alive... bound, with a noose around their neck and over a balcony without a major fight?

Without drugs, taser, beating or otherwise injuring, restraining or incapacitating the person... there is no way.

Strangling the person and using a hanging to cover it up wouldn't work either.
When you strangle someone you are pulling back, not up like a hanging.

Even if you tried to replicate a hanging while you were strangling the person, it would be really hard to do that.
You would have to put as much force on the neck as her body would going over the balcony.
You would have to make sure that your ligature went in the same area as the rope when you hung her later.
You would have to use the exact same type of ligature.

Even if she was hog tied (she wasn't that we know of) she still would have been moving and fighting and difficult to get over the balcony.

I think she had to be unconscious if she was put over that balcony by someone else. If not already dead... which I believe will be proven if true.

 

[pferrin]

I have thought since the beginning..a paralytic drug would have been used or lordy should I say this word..chloroform. next thing ya know I will be saying nanny or zanny.

 

[StJohn]

Just found this thread today, so I apologize in advance if someone else has already posted this. I am attaching a link to a video tribute from the funeral home in St Joseph, MO, where Rebecca Zahau was buried (it takes a long time to load, so be patient).

This tribute has lots of photos of Rebecca with family, friends, at different stages in life, but NOT ONE SINGLE PICTURE of her with Jonah Shacknai. One of her family members most likely compiled the tribute photos, since there are many from her childhood. Why is there not one picture of her with JS, a man she supposedly loved deeply? And it has been stated that RZ referred to Max Shacknai as her son, yet not one picture of her with him in this tribute? I have often heard that what a person doesn't say can be more important than what they say. Well, in the case of a photo memorial tribute, I would have to say that the PHOTOS that are left out may be important as well...

http://www.meierhoffer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/zahau_rebecca.swf

 

[defense101]

I am an female electrician by trade..have been for many years. I have worked with the orange electrical cords for most of my adult life. They come in all sizes. Even with all my experience with extension cords..(and I know how to tie those suckers) never never ever would I use one to commit suicide. Nope...I could see her using belts..belts from robes..silk scarves..ribboons..sheets..but not an extension cord.

If I ..who has prolly more experience with extension cords than about any human in coronado beach california..would not use it to hang myself..I know she didn't.

I'm thinking about the knots, I don't think when they said that they were looking at the knots has so much to do with AS the tugboat worker, but more so that they were knots that she could not have made herself if tying her own hands behind her back, know what I mean? Not that they were a special type of knot just one that someone tying themsleves up couldn't have made:waitasec:

 

[obmama]

http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00206/text_ta_death_manner.htm

A body discovered hanging or suspended in some way, usually contains telltale signs of a death due to the lack of oxygen. These include such signs as blue skin colour, burst blood vessels in the eyes and inflated lungs. Forensic pathologists examine the rope marks on the neck to determine if they contain evidently inflamed edges, a sign that the victim was alive before being hanged. However, when no inflammation marks are present, it suggests that the victim was dead before being hanged and the hanging was a form of cover up. The rope marks on the victim's neck are examined to check that they match the rope found at the scene of crime. The slightest difference of the rope impression from the actual rope itself, would undoubtedly imply that the rope was not the murder tool and where the victim did die of a lack of oxygen and does have evident bruises on the neck, the murder weapon is sought using the markings as a guide. As a general rule, all rope markings on the neck should be in the shape of an upside down V, where the knot would cause a bruise on the back of the neck, creating the point of the V.

Other facts pointing to murder may also be revealed when an examination of the neck is carried out. Strangulation usually breaks the hyoid bone located in the neck, but the bone is very rarely broken during hanging. The breakage of the hyoid would suggest manual strangulation, whereby the victim was strangled using the hands, or via means of another implement (e.g. cord, belt etc). When strangulation is the case, death may be caused due to a lack of air, but more likely, as a result of the deliberate compression of the neck, causing a vegal inhabitation, the situation where the stimulation of the neck's vagus nerve causes the heart to stop. In cases where the hyoid bone is not broken, but bruising is evident around the nose and mouth, a death caused by smothering is indicated, thereby dying due to a lack of oxygen.

 

[MizStery]

This a theory I have yet seem posted to this forum. But,when your dealing with 4 separate threads on this case it is easy to miss something.

This is a link to the webpage
http://celebgalz.com/jonah-shacknai-son-max-shacknai-girlfriend-rebecca-zahau-dead/
-snip-
It sounds like someone is a possible person of interest in Zahau’s death. What would be the motive? It could be anger and revenge after Max fell down from the staircase. Zahau’s relative, a 13 year old girl, was in the house at the time of Max’s fall. Was Rebecca pre-occupied with one child and neglected the other child? Did that have anything to do with Zahau’s death? Did Jonah release the statement about wanting to propose to Zahau as a cover up?

 

[pferrin]

I'm thinking about the knots, I don't think when they said that they were looking at the knots has so much to do with AS the tugboat worker, but more so that they were knots that she could not have made herself if tying her own hands behind her back, know what I mean? Not that they were a special type of knot just one that someone tying themsleves up couldn't have made:waitasec:

Yep the knots..also it is difficult to tie ones hands and feet tightly with extension cord..I could tie someone else tightly but not myself..impossible.

Not with orange extension cords.

 

[pferrin]

This a theory I have yet seem posted to this forum. But,when your dealing with 4 separate threads on this case it is easy to miss something.

This is a link to the webpage
http://celebgalz.com/jonah-shacknai-son-max-shacknai-girlfriend-rebecca-zahau-dead/
-snip-
It sounds like someone is a possible person of interest in Zahau’s death. What would be the motive? It could be anger and revenge after Max fell down from the staircase. Zahau’s relative, a 13 year old girl, was in the house at the time of Max’s fall. Was Rebecca pre-occupied with one child and neglected the other child? Did that have anything to do with Zahau’s death? Did Jonah release the statement about wanting to propose to Zahau as a cover up?

I dont think it was RN's relative.. daughter..GS. I believe RN looked at GS as her daughter. going to read article.