Zahau Family Sues County for Additional Evidence

[Carioca]

Do you remember the source where you read PP first called 911 to talk to Adam? I cannot find this stated in Ann's book. I'm really curious. TIA

911 is for emergencies. IMO it would be beyond bizarre, abusive (using one's position or influence to gain answers) and over the top to call 911 to ask the operator to locate someone, I don't care who that someone is and where that person might be located. PP had the precinct's private number. It would make more sense for him to call THAT number BEFORE resorting to 911 IMO.

IMO it was at this point the wheels were greased.

 

[*Lash*]

Just throwing this idea out there, what if the missing 8 seconds from Adam's 911 call is PP talking to the operator or PP can be heard in the background? It does appear the suit is requesting (2) 911 calls, but maybe PP was at the mansion much earlier than we know.

C. The 911 calls of Adam Shacknai and Paul Pfingst on July 13, 2011 (2)

 

[*Lash*]

It appears PP should have at the least received a written warning for using the 911 system for a reason that was not an emergency. Unless PP was on the scene when AS was calling 911.

California Penal Code Section 653y

653y. (a) Any person who knowingly allows the use or who uses the
911 telephone system for any reason other than because of an
emergency is guilty of an infraction, punishable as follows:

(1) For a first violation, a written warning shall be issued to
the violator by the public safety entity originally receiving the
call describing the punishment for subsequent violations. The written
warning shall inform the recipient to notify the issuing agency that
the warning was issued inappropriately if the recipient did not
make, or knowingly allow the use of the 911 telephone system for, the
nonemergency 911 call. The law enforcement agency may provide
educational materials regarding the appropriate use of the 911
telephone system.

(2) For a second or subsequent violation, a citation may be issued
by the public safety entity originally receiving the call pursuant
to which the violator shall be subject to the following penalties
that may be reduced by a court upon consideration of the violator's
ability to pay:
(A) For a second violation, a fine of fifty dollars ($50).
(B) For a third violation, a fine of one hundred dollars ($100).
(C) For a fourth or subsequent violation, a fine of two hundred
and fifty dollars ($250).
(b) The parent or legal guardian having custody and control of an
unemancipated minor who violates this section shall be jointly and
severally liable with the minor for the fine imposed pursuant to this
section.
(c) For purposes of this section, "emergency" means any condition
in which emergency services will result in the saving of a life, a
reduction in the destruction of property, quicker apprehension of
criminals, or assistance with potentially life-threatening medical
problems, a fire, a need for rescue, an imminent potential crime, or
a similar situation in which immediate assistance is required.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), this section shall not apply
to a telephone corporation or any other entity for acts or omissions
relating to the routine maintenance, repair, or operation of the 911
or 311 telephone system.

http://law.onecle.com/california/penal/653y.html

 

[screecher]

Just throwing this idea out there, what if the missing 8 seconds from Adam's 911 call is PP talking to the operator or PP can be heard in the background? It does appear the suit is requesting (2) 911 calls, but maybe PP was at the mansion much earlier than we know.

BINGO!!!

WOW, all the pieces are beginning to fall in place. :cheers:

 

[bourne]

911 is for emergencies. IMO it would be beyond bizarre, abusive (using one's position or influence to gain answers) and over the top to call 911 to ask the operator to locate someone, I don't care who that someone is and where that person might be located. PP had the precinct's private number. It would make more sense for him to call THAT number BEFORE resorting to 911 IMO.

IMO it was at this point the wheels were greased.

Agree that it is abusive for anyone to misuse the 911#. But I think many people tend to call 911 not only to report emergencies, but also to ask for info pertaining to LE, help with the law, road closures, directions, etc.

I don't agree with your last statement. Why would Pfingst be calling the general emergency 911 number AFTER calling a private number in which he reached Adam in the precinct?

Nevertheless judging from how Pfingst was allowed to cross the crime scene tape, hugging and smiling with LE at the scene of a "violent, suspicious death" in which a nude, bound, gagged woman was left unclothed for 13 plus hours, and other irregularities by SDLE, I wouldn't be surprised if Pfingst did misuse 911 and got away with it.

 

[bourne]

Just throwing this idea out there, what if the missing 8 seconds from Adam's 911 call is PP talking to the operator or PP can be heard in the background? It does appear the suit is requesting (2) 911 calls, but maybe PP was at the mansion much earlier than we know.

Interesting idea but I don't believe that is the case.

From the court docs, the Zahau lawyers are saying that if you compare the two disparate 911 calls -- one made by Adam and one made by Pfingst -- Pfingst's 911 call has no audio gap or 8 second silence, whereas Adam's does. In doing so, the lawyers are pointing out that on the same day, separate 911 calls were made by both Adam and Pfingst but Pfingst's 911 call did not have the 8 second silence so the gap in Adam's 911 cannot be claimed by SDLE to be a *standard, uniform technical gap* in all 911 calls. This is where *improper conduct* and *possible editing* by SDLE of Adam's 911 call comes in.

Furthermore, it would not make practical sense to compare the two 911 calls for a missing audio gap if you can simply insert Pfingst's 911 call into Adam's 911 call and say that Pfingst's 911 call fills the audio silence of 8 secs in Adam's 911 call.

 

[Carioca]

Agree that it is abusive for anyone to misuse the 911#. But I think many people tend to call 911 not only to report emergencies, but also to ask for info pertaining to LE, help with the law, road closures, directions, etc.

I don't agree with your last statement. Why would Pfingst be calling the general emergency 911 number AFTER calling a private number in which he reached Adam in the precinct?

Nevertheless judging from how Pfingst was allowed to cross the crime scene tape, hugging and smiling with LE at the scene of a "violent, suspicious death" in which a nude, bound, gagged woman was left unclothed for 13 plus hours, and other irregularities by SDLE, I wouldn't be surprised if Pfingst did misuse 911 and got away with it.

Hi Bourne ~ As Lash so kindly quoted above from the CA Penal Code Section 653Y, calling 911 to ask for info pertaining to LE, help with the law, road closures, directions, etc. is clearly not an emergency and therefore is in violation of the Penal Code.

653y. (a) Any person who knowingly allows the use or who uses the
911 telephone system for any reason other than because of an
emergency is guilty of an infraction, punishable as follows:

You misinterpreted my comment when I said it would make more sense for PP to call THAT number (meaning the private Precinct Number), before resorting to 911. According to your IIRC below, you recall PP first called 911, then he called the private number. Therefore we are in agreement as to the sequence. Thus I am questioning, since he had the bloody private number of his buddies at the precinct, why didn't he call the private precinct number first RATHER than calling 911?? He's an ex-DA and a Defense Attorney. He knows the law. Yet he chose to overstep the law twice (that we know of) within a matter of hours. Smacks of arrogance fueled by desperation to protect a client he had never even met before, or so he said. IMO.

Originally Posted by bourne View Post
IIRC, Pfingst first called 911 to try to talk to Adam in the police precinct. When he couldn't get through, Pfingst then directly called a private number at the precinct to connect with Adam. This is around 5-6pm on Wednesday 7/13/2011.

 

[bourne]

Hi Bourne ~ As Lash so kindly quoted above from the CA Penal Code Section 653Y, calling 911 to ask for info pertaining to LE, help with the law, road closures, directions, etc. is clearly not an emergency and therefore is in violation of the Penal Code.


You misinterpreted my comment when I said it would make more sense for PP to call THAT number (meaning the private Precinct Number), before resorting to 911. According to your IIRC below, you recall PP first called 911, then he called the private number. Therefore we are in agreement as to the sequence. Thus I am questioning, since he had the bloody private number of his buddies at the precinct, why didn't he call the private precinct number first RATHER than calling 911?? He's an ex-DA and a Defense Attorney. He knows the law. Yet he chose to overstep the law twice (that we know of) within a matter of hours. Smacks of arrogance fueled by desperation to protect a client he had never even met before, or so he said. IMO.

Yes I read the Penal Code but that doesn't preclude the fact that lots of people still call 911 when they simply have questions relating to the law, etc. Of course, nowadays some cities have 311 or 411 or what have you for non-emergency questions.

I have no idea why Pfingst would even call 911 the day Rebecca was found murdered, do you? But that is what the Zahau lawyers stated for comparison reasons between Pfingst's and Adam's 911 calls.

If in fact, the Zahau lawyers meant that Pfingst made a *private* phone call to a precinct when he was attempting to reach Adam, would they blatantly state that he made a *911* phone call? That would be intentionally misleading, don't you think? Because clearly a private police precinct number vs. 911 is very, very different.

I already stated that I believe Pfingst has committed several matters of professional misconduct and if not outright a violation of the law, at least the *appearance* of misconduct. And yes, he appears to not have been charged with any crimes related to any of this so either LE and the justice system are not doing their job or they don't believe what Pfingst did rises to the level of misconduct.

 

[Carioca]

clipped for focus
If in fact, the Zahau lawyers meant that Pfingst made a *private* phone call to a precinct when he was attempting to reach Adam, would they blatantly state that he made a *911* phone call? That would be intentionally misleading, don't you think? Because clearly a private police precinct number vs. 911 is very, very different.

I already stated that I believe Pfingst has committed several matters of professional misconduct and if not outright a violation of the law, at least the *appearance* of misconduct. And yes, he appears to not have been charged with any crimes related to any of this so either LE and the justice system are not doing their job or they don't believe what Pfingst did rises to the level of misconduct.

I'll go out on a limb here and say, IMHO due to the wording, AS made a 911 call and PP also made a 911 call. If they had been referring to a call to LE, IMO it would have been stated as such. The fact that the two calls were compared, both recorded by 911 operators, one having an 8-second gap, the other not, says to me they were comparing "apples" and not an "apple" and a "banana."

As to PP not being charged or even reprimanded for misconduct, it was up to DA Dirty Dumanis to take care of that, which to my knowledge, she turned a blind eye, as she did to all the LE shenanigans in this case.

Not surprising CA AG Kamala Harris didn't take a stronger, more effective stance when she could have. She recently thanked Dumanis for contributing to her re-election campaign. That right there explains a lot. Needless to say, whereas once I admired CA AG Kamala Harris, her acceptance of contributions from DA Dumanis literally sickens me and she can count on one less vote when elections roll around.

San Diego DA Bonnie Dumanis Endorses Re-Election of AG Harris
http://kamalaharris.org/news.asp?artId=5C5C585D
[insert disgusted icon here]

 

[bourne]

I'll go out on a limb here and say, IMHO due to the wording, AS made a 911 call and PP also made a 911 call. If they had been referring to a call to LE, IMO it would have been stated as such. The fact that the two calls were compared, both recorded by 911 operators, one having an 8-second gap, the other not, says to me they were comparing "apples" and not an "apple" and a "banana."

As to PP not being charged or even reprimanded for misconduct, it was up to DA Dirty Dumanis to take care of that, which to my knowledge, she turned a blind eye, as she did to all the LE shenanigans in this case.

Not surprising CA AG Kamala Harris didn't take a stronger, more effective stance when she could have. She recently thanked Dumanis for contributing to her re-election campaign. That right there explains a lot. Needless to say, whereas once I admired CA AG Kamala Harris, her acceptance of contributions from DA Dumanis literally sickens me and she can count on one less vote when elections roll around.

San Diego DA Bonnie Dumanis Endorses Re-Election of AG Harris
http://kamalaharris.org/news.asp?artId=5C5C585D
[insert disgusted icon here]

Agreed! That's precisely what I said about the 911 calls. That each Pfingst and Adam separately made 911 calls and that is why the Zahau lawyers were comparing them for technical purposes to determine whether audio silence/gaps existed. I don't believe Pfingst called 911 in the same time period Adam called, nor that Pfingst's call was the 8-second missing audio gap in Adam's 911 call, which was what Lash proposed.

Also agree with the misconduct/corruption -- someone's hands in another's pocket, you scratch my back, I scratch yours -- you speak of in the remainder of your post.

I just hope the WDS brings *everything* out, Rebecca's repulsive, heinous murderers and Pfingst's involvement, if any, and any LE and ME corruption/misconduct. Let there be JUSTICE for Rebecca Zahau and her family.

 

[kittychi]

Also agree with the misconduct/corruption -- someone's hands in another's pocket, you scratch my back, I scratch yours -- you speak of in the remainder of your post.

I just hope the WDS brings *everything* out, Rebecca's repulsive, heinous murderers and Pfingst's involvement, if any, and any LE and ME corruption/misconduct. Let there be JUSTICE for Rebecca Zahau and her family.

Thank you Bourne, Lash and Carioca for your succinct posts regarding the 911 calls of AS and PP.

BBM:

Shame that it takes all of this time, money and human energy to try to put all of the pieces together to discover the truth when, IMO, there is one person who could answer ALL of the questions and solve the puzzle in a few sentences: JONAH SHACKNAI.

 

[*Lash*]

Just for clarification purposes -- I do believe there are 2 separate 911 calls, as it appears the Zahau's are requesting (2) calls. I was postulating on the possibility PP is heard in the missing 8 sec gap. Just an assumption, but really PP calling 911 to locate Adam just doesn't make sense.

C. The 911 calls of Adam Shacknai and Paul Pfingst on July 13, 2011 (2)

“It was probably Jonah who had retained Paul Pfingst, the lawyer who had texted Adam just before he took the polygraph tests. Unable to reach Adam, Pfingst knew the private number to call at the sheriff’s office where he could get a message to Adam as soon as possible. His intent had indeed been to advise Adam, as Detective Hillen had predicted, that he should avoid the polygraph machine—at least at this point in the investigation.”

Excerpt From: Rule, Ann. “Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors.” This material may be protected by copyright.

“Paul Pfingst used a non-published phone number to reach the police,” the legal trio noted, “to tell them not to give his client (Adam) a polygraph. In this recorded call, Pfingst referred to the incident as a ‘homicide.’

Excerpt From: Rule, Ann. “Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors.” This material may be protected by copyright.

A few questions. First, How do we know the Zahau lawyers are requesting these two 911 calls for the purpose of comparing the 8 sec gap? Where in the court documents is this made clear? I apparently missed something. I personally had assumed they were requesting PP's 911 call because they became aware of its existence but it was not made available in the investigative file SDSO gave the Zahau's. I could not find mention of PP's 911 call in Ann Rule's book. She only mentions the unpublished number. Why the heck would PP call 911 at all if he had a private precinct phone number? I have no idea how San Diego counties 911 system is set up. Some 911 set ups are not even in close proximity of where a person would be held for questioning. I have this odd picture of an operator putting Pfingst on hold while they search their Rolodex for whomever PP asked to talk to when he called 911, if that is why he called 911. PP calling 911 to reach Adam just doesn't make sense to me.

Second, how do we know the sequence of the phone calls PP made? As I stated above, I found no mention of this in AR's book. How do we know where PP was when he called 911 or the reason why he called 911? Unless there is something in the suit I missed, it is fair to postulate PP may have called 911 much earlier than we know and the reason may not have been to contact Adam. Which imo would be extremely suspicious.

Thank you Carioca and Bourne for your posts. I hope you can help me in answering these questions. TIA

 

[Carioca]

Just for clarification purposes -- I do believe there are 2 separate 911 calls, as it appears the Zahau's are requesting (2) calls. I was postulating on the possibility PP is heard in the missing 8 sec gap. Just an assumption, but really PP calling 911 to locate Adam just doesn't make sense.







A few questions. First, How do we know the Zahau lawyers are requesting these two 911 calls for the purpose of comparing the 8 sec gap? Where in the court documents is this made clear? I apparently missed something. I personally had assumed they were requesting PP's 911 call because they became aware of its existence but it was not made available in the investigative file SDSO gave the Zahau's. I could not find mention of PP's 911 call in Ann Rule's book. She only mentions the unpublished number. Why the heck would PP call 911 at all if he had a private precinct phone number? I have no idea how San Diego counties 911 system is set up. Some 911 set ups are not even in close proximity of where a person would be held for questioning. I have this odd picture of an operator putting Pfingst on hold while they search their Rolodex for whomever PP asked to talk to when he called 911, if that is why he called 911. PP calling 911 to reach Adam just doesn't make sense to me.

Second, how do we know the sequence of the phone calls PP made? As I stated above, I found no mention of this in AR's book. How do we know where PP was when he called 911 or the reason why he called 911? Unless there is something in the suit I missed, it is fair to postulate PP may have called 911 much earlier than we know and the reason may not have been to contact Adam. Which imo would be extremely suspicious.

Thank you Carioca and Bourne for your posts. I hope you can help me in answering these questions. TIA

Hi *Lash* - I don't think the Zahau lawyers want to compare the 2 calls. My interpretation is they are requesting AS' *complete* 911 call and a copy of PP's 911 call. My (uneducated) guess is the Z family probably received an SDSO investigative evidence file listing all the items taken as evidence. Therefore they are aware of what exists, what they received, and what they didn't receive. The "didn't receive" items are those listed in the lawsuit. IOW It would appear PP called 911 at some point, his 911 call was recorded, it is listed in the SDSO investigation evidence file, the Z family did not receive a copy, and they obviously have a right to receive it.

ITA PP calling 911 to reach Adam makes zero sense.

As to when PP may have made that call, my only *guess* would be he made the call after Adam made his call, or after Adam initiated HIS call, ONLY because it is listed after Adam's call. What I am suggesting is perhaps the evidence items are listed, for example, 1 through 100 in the order each item was taken into evidence. When preparing the lawsuit, the lawyers worked their way down the list, sequentially noting items missing from the list. Following this logic, if Adam's call was made before PP's call, then Adam's was taken into evidence before PP's. Yet again, that could have nothing to do with the TIME sequence.

Perhaps Ann Rule was not privy to a copy of the investigative evidence file, thus she wasn't aware of PP's 911 call? Regardless, IMO PP's 911 call was not related to his trying to reach Adam regarding the LDT and will remain in MY "very suspicious items" list until further explanation.

Good points, Lash. PP's whereabouts when he placed the call and the content of the call would have been recorded as per 911 norms.

IMO it is not an impossible scenario to consider the following sequence of events: (1) Adam informed JS that RZ "killed herself"; (2) Adam called 911; (3) JS called PP; (4) PP called 911 to attempt some sort of damage control. In this hypothetical scenario, it is also not impossible that PP was on the phone with 911 at the same time that Adam was, and the 8-second redaction was cross-talk between Adam's operator and PP's operator since both calls were referring to the same incident. Totally hypothetical on my part. Just tossing this out...

P.S. I am not inferring that PP was WITH Adam when he placed his 911 call. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't, but I seriously doubt PP was at Spreckels at 6:45AM on July 13, 2011 for a myriad of logical reasons.

 

[bourne]

Good points Carioca and Lash. I have no idea why Paul Pfingst would call 911. But I'm 100.00% certain Paul Pfingst's 911 call is NOT the missing 8 second gap on Adam's 911 audiotape, and I'm 100.00% certain PP's 911 call did not occur during the same time period as Adam's. How do I know?

Well, let's see. First of all, the only way PP would know about a "suspicious, violent death" at the Spreckels mansion is *after* someone called him...unless someone is saying that PP was physically present at the mansion when Rebecca was murdered or that PP was called to the mansion *prior* to or *during* Adam allegedly discovering Rebecca's hanging body.

I think for obvious reasons that PP would definitely *not* want to incriminate himself for the murder of Rebecca, so the latter suggestions can be ruled out.

Second, it is then safe to assume that PP obtained info regarding Rebecca's death via a third party, likely Jonah Shacknai. Who knows PP on a personal basis and would have his direct telephone number? Evidently that would be Jonah Shacknai who has long been known to be friends with PP and it is said by insiders that PP had been invited to parties at JS' home.

Third, I highly doubt that Adam would be carrying PP's contact information around -- unless we're going to assume that JS somehow decided to gift PP's info to Adam for some reason prior to Rebecca's body being found. So we can cross Adam out as a person who called PP to alert 911 or show up at the crime scene at Spreckel's mansion.

So we can infer from all the above that it was likely JS who contacted PP (okay, since JS knows the legal system, JS likely contacted his legal team or one of his company's staff and had them call PP directly).

But would JS have contacted PP *while* Adam was on the line with 911 dispatcher? I highly doubt it because that would mean that JS somehow knew in advance of Rebecca's death *before* Adam even communicated with JS about her death. And why would JS want to incriminate himself in Rebecca's murder?

Logically then, we would have to assume that when Adam alleged discovered Rebecca's body at 6:30am Wed 7/13/2011, Adam likely contacted Jonah at about the same time. In fact, IIRC, it was said that Adam *did* in fact text his brother JS at about the same time he was on the 911 phone call.

By golly, I think we got it! The missing 8-second audio gap on Adam's 911 call could very well be when Adam was *texting* Jonah about Rebecca's death. I'm pretty certain that when we're in the midst of a phone call and then we text someone, the phone call then goes to *mute* (silence) because both the phonecall and the text can *not* occur at the same time, given that both must go through a telephone provider/wireless service.

I think that resolves the 8-second audio gap on Adam's 911 phonecall -- at least from my perspective.

As to Pfingst's 911 phone call, I have no idea *when* or *why* he would be calling 911. As Carioca and Lash have pointed out, 911 is supposed to be used specifically for *emergencies* and PP, as a seasoned lawyer and officer of the court, would definitely be aware of the legal ramifications of *misusing* the 911 phone call -- if he were calling 911 for *non-emergency* purposes.

Nevertheless, if I have to guess about *when* PP called 911, I'd say he did so *after* he himself was contacted by JS and/or JS' associates, and that PP's 911 phone call is sometime *after* Adam made his 911 call. I have no idea when specifically, but I would say it was definitely sometime subsequent to Adam's 911 call.

 

[kittychi]

Good points Carioca and Lash. I have no idea why Paul Pfingst would call 911. But I'm 100.00% certain Paul Pfingst's 911 call is NOT the missing 8 second gap on Adam's 911 audiotape, and I'm 100.00% certain PP's 911 call did not occur during the same time period as Adam's. How do I know?

Well, let's see. First of all, the only way PP would know about a "suspicious, violent death" at the Spreckels mansion is *after* someone called him...unless someone is saying that PP was physically present at the mansion when Rebecca was murdered or that PP was called to the mansion *prior* to or *during* Adam allegedly discovering Rebecca's hanging body.

I think for obvious reasons that PP would definitely *not* want to incriminate himself for the murder of Rebecca, so the latter suggestions can be ruled out.

Second, it is then safe to assume that PP obtained info regarding Rebecca's death via a third party, likely Jonah Shacknai. Who knows PP on a personal basis and would have his direct telephone number? Evidently that would be Jonah Shacknai who has long been known to be friends with PP and it is said by insiders that PP had been invited to parties at JS' home.

Third, I highly doubt that Adam would be carrying PP's contact information around -- unless we're going to assume that JS somehow decided to gift PP's info to Adam for some reason prior to Rebecca's body being found. So we can cross Adam out as a person who called PP to alert 911 or show up at the crime scene at Spreckel's mansion.

So we can infer from all the above that it was likely JS who contacted PP (okay, since JS knows the legal system, JS likely contacted his legal team or one of his company's staff and had them call PP directly).

But would JS have contacted PP *while* Adam was on the line with 911 dispatcher? I highly doubt it because that would mean that JS somehow knew in advance of Rebecca's death *before* Adam even communicated with JS about her death. And why would JS want to incriminate himself in Rebecca's murder?

Logically then, we would have to assume that when Adam alleged discovered Rebecca's body at 6:30am Wed 7/13/2011, Adam likely contacted Jonah at about the same time. In fact, IIRC, it was said that Adam *did* in fact text his brother JS at about the same time he was on the 911 phone call.

By golly, I think we got it! The missing 8-second audio gap on Adam's 911 call could very well be when Adam was *texting* Jonah about Rebecca's death. I'm pretty certain that when we're in the midst of a phone call and then we text someone, the phone call then goes to *mute* (silence) because both the phonecall and the text can *not* occur at the same time, given that both must go through a telephone provider/wireless service.

I think that resolves the 8-second audio gap on Adam's 911 phonecall -- at least from my perspective.

As to Pfingst's 911 phone call, I have no idea *when* or *why* he would be calling 911. As Carioca and Lash have pointed out, 911 is supposed to be used specifically for *emergencies* and PP, as a seasoned lawyer and officer of the court, would definitely be aware of the legal ramifications of *misusing* the 911 phone call -- if he were calling 911 for *non-emergency* purposes.

Nevertheless, if I have to guess about *when* PP called 911, I'd say he did so *after* he himself was contacted by JS and/or JS' associates, and that PP's 911 phone call is sometime *after* Adam made his 911 call. I have no idea when specifically, but I would say it was definitely sometime subsequent to Adam's 911 call.

Excellent post, Bourne.

BBM: I agree, JS himself probably did not contact PP. Therefore PP could not be accused of lying when said he had not talked with Jonah, even though he refused to say who he was representing.

BTW, the dirty kittens would have you believe that PP was there to represent RZ regarding a CPS call and was totally caught off guard when he arrived at the mansion and found out that she was dead.

Back to AS/JS/PP: I have a feeling there was more texting going on between AS and JS besides "Rebecca hung herself."

 

[Curious Me]

Didn't realize all this was going on. I need to catch up. Pfingst is also involved in the Harper case.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=181257&highlight=jason+harper&page=2

Ex-DA Pfingst accused of hiding evidence
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/oct/03/paul-pfingst-evidence-murder-case-julie-harper/

 

[Betty P]

Didn't realize all this was going on. I need to catch up. Pfingst is also involved in the Harper case.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=181257&highlight=jason+harper&page=2

Ex-DA Pfingst accused of hiding evidence
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/oct/03/paul-pfingst-evidence-murder-case-julie-harper/

Thanks for posting these links. I was going to post them myself, to help others here understand the context and reason why Pfingst's activities in the RZ case are so important.

Jason Harper Murder Case

For those who haven't read the linked UT San Diego article, Paul Pfingst is under suspicion for his activities when representing a woman named Julie Harper.

Julie Harper is accused of killing her husband, Jason Harper, in their home. Apparently, the woman shot her husband (while her children were at home), then called Paul Pfingst to represent her. All this happened before police were contacted. Paul Pfingst is the one who contacted them, telling them to make a "welfare check" on Jason Harper at his home. Julie Harper had left with the children, wandering around to play dates with the children, etc.


From the UT San Diego article linked above:

Pfingst began advising Harper before her husband’s body was discovered. The attorney was the one who called Carlsbad police late on Aug. 7, 2012, and said to check on the welfare of the husband, Jason Harper.

The shooting occurred around 9 am, 5 days after Julie Harper filed for divorce. She called her father who contacted Paul Pfingst. Julie didn't surrender herself to the police until 3 pm the day after the murder.

Pfingst is a pretty helpful guy to have around when you've just killed a loved one.

There's a more detailed article in the San Diego Reader

Sometime after the murder, police were searching the Harper home. Julie Harper's father pointed out to them a hidden backpack. It had been prepared with getaway items, including passports, the children's birth certificates, a gun, and the husband's will, but $27,000 of the $30,000 in cash it contained was missing. Paul Pfingst had been in the home, found the backpack and took the cash. He gave the backpack to a friend who then hid it.

“Mr. Pfingst then assisted in the secretion of defendant’s ‘get-away’ bag in a garage attic,” the prosecutor claimed. “Mr. Pfingst never informed police about the ‘get-away’ bag or the removal of the $27,000 to $30,000. Instead, this information came to light months after the murder during the preliminary hearing. His actions are being reviewed by the Attorney General for potential criminal and State Bar violations.”

Pfingst says he is holding the money as "evidence".

In addition, between the time of the murder and Julie Harper's surrender the next afternoon, a lot of evidence went missing or was tampered with.

From the San Diego Reader article

“Between the time of the murder and Defendant’s surrender, numerous items of evidence had been moved, removed or altered, including vehicles, cell phones, and the murder weapon,” prosecutor Watanabe stated.

Two days after Julie Harper had been arrested, prosecutors learned the Paul Pfingst had possession of her cell phone. He refused to say how he got possession of her cell phone and denied that he had any other evidence. The alleged murder weapon still hasn't been found.

Does this all sound a little familiar?

 

[Curious Me]

Betty P, and thank you for spreading the word about Pfingst.

I'm carrying over my own posts from the Harper thread.

"New developments in regards to Julie Harper's attorney. He may not be allowed to defend her.
You might remember him in regards to being the DA when John Gardner "got lost in the system"."
(John Gardner if you remember later killed Amber Dubois and Chelsea King.)
http://www.crimeandfederalism.com/2010/03/paul-pfingst-killed-chelsa-king.html

another of my posts

"JMO, I don't think it's a good idea for an attorney to accept money, diamonds, guns, or whatever from a backpack that should be in evidence as part of a crime. Everything in the backpack should have remained intact, IMO. The father of the defendant wouldn't know legalities perhaps, but he should have been advised correctly by the attorney. Pfingst :facepalm: should know better."

This will be interesting to follow.

Ex-DA Pfingst accused of hiding evidence
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/oct/03/paul-pfingst-evidence-murder-case-julie-harper/

"They say Pfingst could have a conflict of interest so serious that a judge might decide to disallow him from representing his client, Julie Harper, who is accused of killing her husband, a Carlsbad High math teacher."

Harper case on Websleuths
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=181257&highlight=jason+harper&page=2

 

[Betty P]

Betty P, and thank you for spreading the word about Pfingst.

I'm carrying over my own posts from the Harper thread.

"New developments in regards to Julie Harper's attorney. He may not be allowed to defend her.
You might remember him in regards to being the DA when John Gardner "got lost in the system"."
(John Gardner if you remember later killed Amber Dubois and Chelsea King.)
http://www.crimeandfederalism.com/2010/03/paul-pfingst-killed-chelsa-king.html

another of my posts

"JMO, I don't think it's a good idea for an attorney to accept money, diamonds, guns, or whatever from a backpack that should be in evidence as part of a crime. Everything in the backpack should have remained intact, IMO. The father of the defendant wouldn't know legalities perhaps, but he should have been advised correctly by the attorney. Pfingst :facepalm: should know better."

This will be interesting to follow.

Ex-DA Pfingst accused of hiding evidence
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/oct/03/paul-pfingst-evidence-murder-case-julie-harper/




Harper case on Websleuths
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=181257&highlight=jason+harper&page=2

You're right, Pfingst's actions in the Harper case are very questionable and need to be investigated.

Another similarity I noticed between the Harper and Zahau cases, was the long period of time between the death of the victims and the processing of the scene/body.

In RZ's case, she wasn't found until around 6 am, then her body was left out in the open until late in the afternoon. Mr. Harper's body was left in his home from 9 am until 3 pm the next day, when Pfingst finally reported it to LE.

The missing evidence in both cases is also problematic. It almost seems like a pattern, IMO. I find it shocking Pfingst is still allowed to retain $27,000 in cash that he took from the scene of the crime. :what:

 

[IQuestion]

You're right, Pfingst's actions in the Harper case are very questionable and need to be investigated.

Another similarity I noticed between the Harper and Zahau cases, was the long period of time between the death of the victims and the processing of the scene/body.

In RZ's case, she wasn't found until around 6 am, then her body was left out in the open until late in the afternoon. Mr. Harper's body was left in his home from 9 am until 3 pm the next day, when Pfingst finally reported it to LE.

The missing evidence in both cases is also problematic. It almost seems like a pattern, IMO. I find it shocking Pfingst is still allowed to retain $27,000 in cash that he took from the scene of the crime. :what:

Brilliant ideas as usual. I just wanted to say that sometimes 911 calls are made by people to document/memorialize/ and intentionally mislead an event that has already occured. They think the "harried, desperate, preconceived tale about to be related to the 911 operator, somehow makes them "more innocent"..."a sympathetic victim who walked in on/or witnessed an awful scene" or "get the wheels moving in the direction (or intentional misdirection) by a perpretrator, accomplice or enabler.
How many of us can ever forget the 911 call of the Menendez brothers? Susan Smith?, and more recently ex-cop Brett Seacat made a frantic 911 call, "There's a fire, and my wife is -- she shot herself, but she's in the fire. I'm gonna have to go upstairs and try and get her out."

And as far as Paul Pfingst "taking the cash for safe keeping of evidence"???? OMG, is he afraid (or heard) SDSO does have a good record of returning/tracking personal items? Does he not trust their ability to properly document and store evidence?:blushing:
I would think if PP was still a prosecutor, he would take huge offense to an atty who decided to "play fast and loose" with evidence in a murder case, huh?