The case for murder

[mentalsolstice]

They either stated in the PC or it was in one of their investigative reports that the bootprint did belong to one of the officers. Seems strange that only ONE was there. Seems hinky to me. :waitasec:

I'm a little late responding to this. However, it seems reasonable to me. The balcony was small and it did not stick out far from the exterior wall very much. The officer, perhaps carelessly, stuck one foot out onto the balcony while his other foot remained in the interior. Depending on his height, it may have been enough for him to look over the railing or whatever. This seems to be a very small non-compelling detail to me.

BTW, I'm still on the fence as to whether this is a suicide or homicide. There are plenty of facts that that I find to be suspect and thus pointing to homicide. At the same time, personally and professionally, I know that the circumstances surrounding a suicide can really seem odd to the casual bystander. I have tended to respond in this case when I think someone has over-generalized aspects of suicide (for example, "OMG, no way would a woman do this in the nude!"), or if someone is looking for complications to a fact where a simple explanation fits.

 

[sdcali]

It doesn't look long enough to be a door (to my eye) and I do think I see an edge that looks like a frame.

You're right. I recall seeing another item being carried out the front and it was covered, so that may have been the door.

 

[sdcali]

Looks like someone at least from SD municipal thinks other factors than merely finding the "truth" were at work in this case:



"One fireman who works in Coronado whom we interviewed under conditions of anonymity, thought that the finding of suicide was based on "a balance between efficiency and effectiveness", claiming that the City of Coronado's police department was highly efficient, but not as effective in responding to high profile suspicious death incidents.

He also told us that Coronado wanted to protect its revenue sources that were highly dependent on tourism, that the County Sheriff's office saw this as a "political hot potato", and that both departments, because of political and other concerns, wanted the case closed and forgotten."..........



Continue reading on Examiner.com Jonah Shacknai doubted Rebecca Zahau committed suicide - National News Analysis | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/news-analys...rebecca-zahau-committed-suicide#ixzz1XrVgJDjK

The same article also said this "...and a fracture to her calvaria or skullcap bone indicating a possible blow to her head..."

Is that what the AR said?

 

[SunnieRN]

The same article also said this "...and a fracture to her calvaria or skullcap bone indicating a possible blow to her head..."

Is that what the AR said?

No, as a matter of fact it didn't say that, that I saw.

 

[Lera213]

Money talks I suppose.

 

[lauriej]

..catching up-----(again!)
..it's no doubt been mentioned on one of the threads, but, that piece of water ski tow rope ( that LE says she "probably" got from the garage..) must have been insanely long.

..and yet----she cut it up into lengths 'just so' to do the job.

..she had 84" (7 feet!) of it around her wrists alone.
..another chunk , that included the tow rope yellow handle, knotted around her ankles.
..leaving------amazingly-----just the right amount to fashion the noose and have 9 feet left over for the "drop" to her death...with her feet left dangling 26" above the ground.

..if she has misjudged and the left-over piece was a few feet too short---that may not have done the job...as she would have plunged!---only a few feet.....drat.

..if she had misjudged and the left-over piece was a couple of feet longer--her feet would have hit the ground---again, not doing the job.....double drat.

..the balcony "dust" shows no indication that she walked out there to do any pre-measuring.

..ok---so, she cut up the pieces of rope.
..ties up the one 'really long' piece, with a bunch of knots and loops to the bedframe
..sat in the chair and tied up her ankles with another piece.

..made the noose and put it around her neck-----wrapped the t-shirt over the noose, shoving some of it in her mouth as a "gag".
..then tied up her wrists, with another piece, placing them behind her back.

..dragged the insanely long piece of left-over rope across the room ( the entire length of 'across the room', plus an additional 9 feet for the drop ) , while her ankles were bound...and her wrists were tied behind her back.

..this rope doesn't make any markings on the balcony "dust" as she gets over TO the railing.

..or she carried the (20+ feet?) of rope in her hands?----that were tied behind her back.

..steps onto the inner edge of the balcony (LE footprints.)

..leaps! across the 24"--30" (?) and lands on her tippy-toes in front of the rail (LE toe impressions)

..gathers up the now remaining 9 feet of rope ( from wherever it is ) and plunges over.

..she goes through ALL of this????--------when she could have simply knotted a piece TO the ( very secure! wrought-iron ) balcony railings --and hung herself?

 

[SophieRose]

..catching up-----(again!)
..it's no doubt been mentioned on one of the threads, but, that piece of water ski tow rope ( that LE says she "probably" got from the garage..) must have been insanely long.

..and yet----she cut it up into lengths 'just so' to do the job.

..she had 84" (7 feet!) of it around her wrists alone.
..another chunk , that included the tow rope yellow handle, knotted around her ankles.
..leaving------amazingly-----just the right amount to fashion the noose and have 9 feet left over for the "drop" to her death...with her feet left dangling 26" above the ground.

..if she has misjudged and the left-over piece was a few feet too short---that may not have done the job...as she would have plunged!---only a few feet.....drat.

..if she had misjudged and the left-over piece was a couple of feet longer--her feet would have hit the ground---again, not doing the job.....double drat.

..the balcony "dust" shows no indication that she walked out there to do any pre-measuring.

..ok---so, she cut up the pieces of rope.
..ties up the one 'really long' piece, with a bunch of knots and loops to the bedframe
..sat in the chair and tied up her ankles with another piece.

..made the noose and put it around her neck-----wrapped the t-shirt over the noose, shoving some of it in her mouth as a "gag".
..then tied up her wrists, with another piece, placing them behind her back.

..dragged the insanely long piece of left-over rope across the room ( the entire length of 'across the room', plus an additional 9 feet for the drop ) , while her ankles were bound...and her wrists were tied behind her back.

..this rope doesn't make any markings on the balcony "dust" as she gets over TO the railing.

..or she carried the (20+ feet?) of rope in her hands?----that were tied behind her back.

..steps onto the inner edge of the balcony (LE footprints.)

..leaps! across the 24"--30" (?) and lands on her tippy-toes in front of the rail (LE toe impressions)

..gathers up the now remaining 9 feet of rope ( from wherever it is ) and plunges over.

..she goes through ALL of this????--------when she could have simply knotted a piece TO the ( very secure! wrought-iron ) balcony railings --and hung herself?

If a person determined to commit suicide doesn't get it right the first time, what's to say they don't just try again. So if the rope pieces weren't cut exactly and she survives, then she tries again. Or hopefully it brings a person back to reality and they don't try again. Most of those who survivied jumps off of the Golden Gate Bridge did not try again. There are two though who did. One was a teenage girl and two weeks later she was out from the hospital and returned to the bridge and this time her jump was successful.

 

[PeteJ]

Does anyone find it odd that JS would "suddenly" find (at the time he allegedly called RN) that his son was much worse and not be able to recover? If he had been without oxygen for the length of time alleged, it should have been apparent right away that he would not recover?

 

[IWannaKnow]

Would a large knife pressed against one's neck make these kinds of markings :waitasec:

I don't think so seekjustice. It doesn't state they are 'cuts' like you would expect with a knife, only that there are unaccounted for marks on her neck near where the ligature furrow was. My interpretation of that is that she was strangled with something soft (perhaps the tshirt even) to a state of unconsciousness and then hung off the balcony by her neck to cover up the marks from the strangulation and to finish the job. Additionally, if they were marks from a knife I don't think you would find them on both sides of the neck and especially not on the back of her neck. IMO of course.

 

[Brit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2037303/Rebecca-Zahaus-family-demands-case-reopened-hanging-rope-visible-video.html

Excerpt from the above link of one reason the z family wants case reopened:
The anguished family of Rebecca Zahau is hoping the sheriff's office will take another look at the case after the pink rope cops said she used to hang herself is not visible in a newly released video.

The department ruled the death of the woman found hanging at billionaire Jonah Shacknai's mansion a suicide on September 2. The body was found two days after her boyfriend's son died in her care.

But in an overhead video obtained by RadarOnline.com, the stills of which were posted on the site, the rope in police images that authorities said Miss Zahau used to kill herself is strangely not visible.

 

[Brit]

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/09/rebecca-zahau-suicide-controversy-missing-pink-rope-video-footage


Here is another link that shows a better view of the balcony from the helicopter......bizaare!

 

[jjenny]

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/09/rebecca-zahau-suicide-controversy-missing-pink-rope-video-footage


Here is another link that shows a better view of the balcony from the helicopter......bizaare!

I noticed Lt. N only tried to answer one part of the issue that was brought up. Yes, maybe he can try to argue away that the rope might have been there but is just not visible in the helicopter photos. But the door is clearly closed, there is no argument about it. So how would Lt. N explain that?

 

[SunnieRN]

I noticed Lt. N only tried to answer one part of the issue that was brought up. Yes, maybe he can try to argue away that the rope might have been there but is just not visible in the helicopter photos. But the door is clearly closed, there is no argument about it. So how would Lt. N explain that?

He can't, unless he admits to shoddy police work and a LE officer entered the scene prior to the search warrant, changing the scene as found.

That should require reopening the investigation also.

I'm impressed, as Websleuthers found and investigated this quite awhile ago!! We were one step ahead for sure!!

 

[CDS22]

Does anyone find it odd that JS would "suddenly" find (at the time he allegedly called RN) that his son was much worse and not be able to recover? If he had been without oxygen for the length of time alleged, it should have been apparent right away that he would not recover?

I don't believe it has ever been claimed that JS "suddenly" found out Max was worse at the time he called RN. It just might be the time that he decided to share the news with her.

IMO

 

[sdcali]

I don't believe it has ever been claimed that JS "suddenly" found out Max was worse at the time he called RN. It just might be the time that he decided to share the news with her.

IMO

Odd timing in my opinion...

 

[sdcali]

He can't, unless he admits to shoddy police work and a LE officer entered the scene prior to the search warrant, changing the scene as found.

That should require reopening the investigation also.

I'm impressed, as Websleuthers found and investigated this quite awhile ago!! We were one step ahead for sure!!

And the public would not have been privvy to this bit of info, had the helicopters not been there and the stations aired it.

Though I am as horrified as everyone that Rebecca's body was displayed in such a way and for such a long time, it has brought a lot of things to light through our study of these photos and videos, that we would not otherwise have. Look at the photos that LE presented--not the same.

Maybe Officer Onefoot brought the rope back inside and closed the door at the same time he stepped out onto the balcony? I wonder what other evidence was compromised...

 

[SunnieRN]

And the public would not have been privvy to this bit of info, had the helicopters not been there and the stations aired it.

Though I am as horrified as everyone that Rebecca's body was displayed in such a way and for such a long time, it has brought a lot of things to light through our study of these photos and videos, that we would not otherwise have. Look at the photos that LE presented--not the same.

Maybe Officer Onefoot brought the rope back inside and closed the door at the same time he stepped out onto the balcony? I wonder what other evidence was compromised...

Which in my unlearned opinion should ve enough of a reason to re-open the investigation into the manner of death.

 

[sorrell skye]

From Brit's link (TY Brit!):

However, Lt. Larry Nesbit of the San Diego Sheriff's Department tells RadarOnline.com: "I can't tell one way or another if the rope is in the picture from the news helicopter. What I can tell you is that the picture we released at the press conference of the rope hanging over the balcony was taken by a Coronado Police Officer.

“Our detectives saw the rope hanging from the balcony the entire time we were there, and it was only taken down at the conclusion of our on-scene investigation at the end of the day, which probably would have been very, very late that night that Ms. Zahau died."

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusiv...e-controversy-missing-pink-rope-video-footage

Lt. Nesbitt may not be able to tell whether or not the rope is in the news helicopter photo, but the rest of the world can - and the rope is clearly NOT there. Plus, the balcony doors are CLOSED in that photo.

He says the rope wasn't taken down until late that night - so how does he explain the closed balcony doors with no rope hanging down that morning?

We all discussed this very thing back in July.

After the photo of Officer Onefoot's boot print was released, it was clear that the crime scene had been disturbed. Now I'm wondering how many more aspects of the crime scene and evidence may have been disturbed?

So far we have:
1. boot print on balcony
2. rope removed from railing
3. balcony doors closed

What else may have been touched or moved by the Coronado officer(s) before the Sheriff's Department arrived to process the scene?

 

[Brit]

Could it be possible that the helicopters arrived before the le?

 

[Brit]

Here is An article written of an interview with rz's mother and sister. Very sad. Gives a little insight of their side of things.....I cried while reading.

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2011/sep/14/citylights2-rebecca-zahau/