I would like to look at this strange case from the point of view of it being a suicide, as it was finally ruled to be.
Thank you for addressing the possibility of suicide. I suppose anything is possible...but I am unable to fully commit to suicide, even though the last person known to have seen her alive & also found her hanging told the 911 operators, police and LDT administrator.It is extremely rare for a suicide to die naked and bound in such a public way. But it does happen. I remember the case of Bill Sparkman, who's suicide perplexed many as it at first seemed a homicide for sure. He was found bound to a tree, hands and feet duct taped, his mouth covered with duct tape, and naked except for his socks. The word "FED" was scrawled on his chest (he was a US Government census taker). He staged his death to look like a homicide so his life insurance payoff would pay to his son, which would not happen if it was ruled a suicide.
OK, but the writing on the wall (ain't that a Freudian slip?) was written in the "third person singular"...who writes like that? I keep imagining RZ tied to a chair screaming, "I didn't and wouldn't hurt him..I tried to save him!" So is the writing on the wall: a) a killer's taunt b) a confession c)an explanation of what she is about to do? d) or an enraged person sending a message to the owner of the house? If one was to make an inference from the Bill Sparkman case....then RZ should have written something on her chest to make it look like a murder, huh? Also, why bother to take a shower, scream for help, and play loud music if you are planning to kill yourself?
Perhaps RZ staged her own suicide to look like a homicide. Perhaps she thought her "good" life was over after the accident, that she would be moved out of the mansion,and out of her boyfriend's life, or be blamed for the accident herself. Who knows what thoughts she had during those last dark hours of her life? Yes, but RZ was a survivor and only in her early 30's...she could always start a new life. She had experienced heartbreak and separation before and was not a lovesick teenager with few life experiences. However, since none of are privy to the DEVASTATING MIDNIGHT PHONE CALL
...oh scratch that!! She took a shower at 10:30 PM...so why would a towel be in the hallway 3 hours later? (that would imply she was planning suicide a full 2 hours before she received the DEVASTATING phone call...and boarded her dog 8 hours before the DEVASTATING phone call, huh?
Re: AS's LDT - two things come to mind. First, since he found the body, LE would look long and hard at him as a POI in this bizarre case. Many good defense lawyers would counsel a client to not take a LTD right away! They are unreliable and subject to interpretation and not admissible in court.
I AGREE 100%
Re: AS's jumping on the "suicide" bandwagon so fast. Let's look at the alternative for him: if it was not suicide, then it was a murder; if a murder then that would require LE to look at him, his brother, and everyone in his family circle as possible perpetrators. He went into overdrive to protect his family, as an almost automatic response. It's like asking a Mom if they think their son committed a murder, the first instinct is to say "NO! He wouldn't do that!" Family self preservation response.
This is such a bizarre case, I frankly do not know what to believe for sure.