'Boy Interrupted' Article

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freespeech

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Below is an excerpt taken from the "Boy Interrupted" article and is apparently Dina's own version of events.

"...Dina was fighting off the last remnants of bronchial infection on the morning of Monday, July 11, and had turned off her cell phone to ensure a good night’s sleep. A string of alarming text messages greeted her when she powered up her phone that morning. Her blood ran cold as her eyes ingested ominous words like “fall,” “ambulance” and “hospital.” The land-line phone rang, and she bounded down the stairs to answer it. Jonah was on the line, telling her a police car was on its way to take her to the hospital...."

Does any one think it's odd that Dina was not able to get to the hospital until 2p.m. That's approximately 4 hours after Max's accident. If she was fighting the "last remnants" of bronchitis then she was essentially almost over it as opposed to being in the throes of it. So why on earth would she turn off her cell phone. Besides ANY parent of a young child who was away from them would ALWAYS be reachable in case on an accident, no?

Also, if she powered up her phone that morning and saw the messages then why didn't she get over to the hospital right away? Why didn't her boyfriend drive her there?

Apparently she did not turn off the land line ringer because she claimed Jonah called her on it to tell the police were coming to take her to the hospital.

Dina's version of events does not add up.

*She said she was ill but she was almost recovered.

*She was worried about Rebecca babysitting Max but she puposefully made herself unreachable.

*She said she powered on the cell phone and read the messages in the morning but did not go the hospital on her own immediately.

*She did not call Jonah immediately when she read the text messages to find out what happened.

*She waited until the afternoon for Jonah to call her and send a police car to taxi her to the hospital.

Dina's version of events that day do not add up. What does everyone think about this? I really don't know what to think. The events as recounted by Dina don't jive together. Her story sounds like a bad lie to me at least. If she did lie then why? Was she covering up something? Idk. Ideas anyone?
 
Apologize in advance if this has already been discussed, but a quote from the Phoenix Magazine article continues to linger in my mind.

“He was the diplomatic type, very sensitive to discord, and just wanted everybody to get along,” Dina remembers. “We called him our Elmer’s Glue.”

(Am moving this from another thread, as it's more appropriate here...)

I'm mystified how someone who holds a PhD in clinical psychology can remember a child in this manner without feeling sad and embarrassed. How tragic that a child, essentially 5 and younger, has seen such conflict in his young life that he has been placed in the adult role of peacemaker or "glue."

There is something very wrong with this image. Everyone in his family needs to examine why he felt that huge responsiblity, and his biological mother was certainly part of this pathetic scenario.

The article alludes to an unfortunate adoptive situation for DS. Perhaps she was scarred by her early unsatisfactory familial relationship. Regardless, her seeming cluelessness about her child's psyche concerns me.

The author seems so impressed by her knowledge of Italian pottery, opera, literature, and fine wines that he glosses over her inability to feel any real empathy/responsibility for the dynamics at work in her own son's life.
 
Seriously, I know that there are bigger issues here but are there any parents here who would allow this behavior as quoted from the article "Dina had other concerns. Max, a voracious eater known to dip liberally into the candy drawer..."
 
Apologize in advance if this has already been discussed, but a quote from the Phoenix Magazine article continues to linger in my mind.



(Am moving this from another thread, as it's more appropriate here...)

I'm mystified how someone who holds a PhD in clinical psychology can remember a child in this manner without feeling sad and embarrassed. How tragic that a child, essentially 5 and younger, has seen such conflict in his young life that he has been placed in the adult role of peacemaker or "glue."

There is something very wrong with this image. Everyone in his family needs to examine why he felt that huge responsiblity, and his biological mother was certainly part of this pathetic scenario.

The article alludes to an unfortunate adoptive situation for DS. Perhaps she was scarred by her early unsatisfactory familial relationship. Regardless, her seeming cluelessness about her child's psyche concerns me.

The author seems so impressed by her knowledge of Italian pottery, opera, literature, and fine wines that he glosses over her inability to feel any real empathy/responsibility for the dynamics at work in her own son's life.


I find the whole 'little man' image in this article and particularly on the nonprofit site disquieting. I know I've said this before, but a lot of what is presented does not seem developmentally appropriate for a boy of 6 years old. I don't know why a kid can't just be a kid...he does not have to be the absolute best at everything either and already in competition with children/boys two years older than he was.
 
BBM

Below is an excerpt taken from the "Boy Interrupted" article and is apparently Dina's own version of events.

"...Dina was fighting off the last remnants of bronchial infection on the morning of Monday, July 11, and had turned off her cell phone to ensure a good night’s sleep. A string of alarming text messages greeted her when she powered up her phone that morning. Her blood ran cold as her eyes ingested ominous words like “fall,” “ambulance” and “hospital.” The land-line phone rang, and she bounded down the stairs to answer it. Jonah was on the line, telling her a police car was on its way to take her to the hospital...."<snip>

I was really surprised when the article said Dina powered on her phone in the morning - meaning she knew about Max's accident for 2-3 hours before she got to the hospital (or was that had initial contact with LE) which is 20 minutes away.
 
I was really surprised when the article said Dina powered on her phone in the morning - meaning she knew about Max's accident for 2-3 hours before she got to the hospital (or was that had initial contact with LE) which is 20 minutes away.

Has a timeline for DS on that day ever been published by LE? I can't seem to find anything.
 
Has a timeline for DS on that day ever been published by LE? I can't seem to find anything.


I don't think so - maybe a couple of bits like, I think, they got in touch with her finally at 2 pm. Also could have been stated when she left the hospital. We know she was gone 12-14 hours on Tues from the hospital.
 
Below is an excerpt from the article.

"...Meanwhile, Max slipped deeper into the fog. Finally, on Friday, July 15, after an unexpected spike in brain pressure, Max&#8217;s EEG went flat. &#8220;At first, I thought the machine was broken,&#8221; Dina says. &#8220;He basically experienced brain death. At that point, his heart was beating artificially. If there was some activity, would I have turned off the respirator? No! But there was nothing.&#8221;..."

Can any of the medical people here make any sense out of these statements:

S: Max&#8217;s EEG went flat.
Q: Would Max have been hooked up to continuous EEG monitoring? Does she mean EKG or EEG monitoring here?

S: At that point, his heart was beating artificially
Q: Does she mean his heart or lungs here?

S: If there was some activity, would I have turned off the respirator? No! But there was nothing.
Q: Is she referring to brain, heart or breathing here?

I am not sure but I don't think they would have him on a continuous EEG monitor or a machine to keep his heart beating. I think that they would have done intermittent EEG monitoring. Wasn't his heart beating on it's own since he had been successfully resuscitated? He probably wasn't breathing on his own and because of the brain stem herniation so that was why he was on the respirator. Can someone else describe what Dina was trying to say in the above statements? Do they make sense to you? I really don't know. I'm confused.
 
BBM

Below is an excerpt taken from the "Boy Interrupted" article and is apparently Dina's own version of events.

"...Dina was fighting off the last remnants of bronchial infection on the morning of Monday, July 11, and had turned off her cell phone to ensure a good night&#8217;s sleep. A string of alarming text messages greeted her when she powered up her phone that morning. Her blood ran cold as her eyes ingested ominous words like &#8220;fall,&#8221; &#8220;ambulance&#8221; and &#8220;hospital.&#8221; The land-line phone rang, and she bounded down the stairs to answer it. Jonah was on the line, telling her a police car was on its way to take her to the hospital...."

Does any one think it's odd that Dina was not able to get to the hospital until 2p.m. That's approximately 4 hours after Max's accident. If she was fighting the "last remnants" of bronchitis then she was essentially almost over it as opposed to being in the throes of it. So why on earth would she turn off her cell phone. Besides ANY parent of a young child who was away from them would ALWAYS be reachable in case on an accident, no?

Also, if she powered up her phone that morning and saw the messages then why didn't she get over to the hospital right away? Why didn't her boyfriend drive her there?

Apparently she did not turn off the land line ringer because she claimed Jonah called her on it to tell the police were coming to take her to the hospital.

Dina's version of events does not add up.

*She said she was ill but she was almost recovered.

*She was worried about Rebecca babysitting Max but she puposefully made herself unreachable.

*She said she powered on the cell phone and read the messages in the morning but did not go the hospital on her own immediately.

*She did not call Jonah immediately when she read the text messages to find out what happened.

*She waited until the afternoon for Jonah to call her and send a police car to taxi her to the hospital.

Dina's version of events that day do not add up. What does everyone think about this? I really don't know what to think. The events as recounted by Dina don't jive together. Her story sounds like a bad lie to me at least. If she did lie then why? Was she covering up something? Idk. Ideas anyone?

Agree. Makes no sense that Dina powered on her cellphone in the morning on Mon, Max was injured at 10am, then she continues to nap until 2pm when police showed up at her door or when Jonah manages to reach her at the landline? What happened to her bf who was there on Mon? Was he also dead asleep?

Also, why would Dina even turn off her cellphone at all, as she knew full well Rebecca was hosting her younger sister X<modsnip> at the Spreckels beginning Sunday night? Wasn't Dina's specific stipulation that Max never be alone with Rebecca, particularly when Rebecca's family members are around? One would think Dina would be extra vigilant given what her conditions to Jonah and Rebecca were.

Furthermore, Dina was scheduled to pick up Max on Mon morning. Why didn't Dina wake up at the crack of dawn to retrieve Max at the Spreckels -- especially as she herself stated at press conference that she was extremely concerned with Max being with Rebecca and Rebecca's family members?

I can't believe Dina never showed up at the Spreckels to pick up Max Mon morning! What happened to all her concern about Max being with Rebecca and Rebecca's family?

I have a hard time believing both Dina and her bf were at her home around the corner from Spreckels and neither saw fit to retrieve Max as scheduled or pick up emergency phone calls from the police or Jonah? What exactly were Dina and her bf doing that morning, and where exactly were they?
 
She could be referring to a BIS monitor and cerebral oximeter. Essestially, a BIS is a bedside single channel EEG, which measures consciousness in relation to sedation and anesthesia drugs. A cerebral oximeter measures cerebral blood flow and oxygenation. In addition, he had a ventriculostomy for directly measuring intracranial pressure, and possibly other neurological monitoring devices.

There may be other, newer portable EEG devices used in ICU-- these have been around for many years, and are used in the OR.

You also have to remember that this article is heavily filtered and reported in layman's language by a grieving mother to a reporter. We have only her impressions and perspective on what was going on medically. I think it's very important to remember that no one with any direct medical knowledge (Dr. Melinek, Peterson, or any other representatives of the hospital on Dina's and Jonah's behalf) has ever said that Max's prognosis was hopeful. I can believe that Dina was hopeful, but I don't think that represents the reality of Max's situation. The "heart attack" comments are also layman's language. A heart attack is not a medical term. Saying he had a "heart attack" is not representative of the cardiac arrest he experienced. IMO, this is a carefully chosen term for this article that attempts to protray the cardiac arrest as preceeding the fall-- which has been the implication from Dina and her "supporters" for quite some time. The doctors were not at all, IMO, mystified as to why Max had suffered a "heart attack", nor were they mystified as to why Max had such severe global cerebral edema. 30 min of cardiac arrest with little to no brain blood flow or oxygenation will produce that pattern of damage. And he also had a severe aspiration pneumonia described by Dr. Melinek-- which could have happened anywhere from the initial fall to the ICU. That further interferes with oxygenation.

Max would not have been able to breathe on his own, from the occurrence of the cardiac arrest. One of the methods (there are many) to control cerebral edema is hyperventilation-- manipulating ventilator settings to reduce brain swelling and pressure. He was likely on a vast number of medications supporting heart and lung functions, and other bodily functions.

Bispectral index - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://ccforum.com/content/16/S1/P294
 
I also have to mention that Dina was pretty fortunate to have an "arrangement" with Melmed as a "staff position" as mentioned by her in the article.

Apparently, Melmed has no problem with staff members taking off 3 months at a time to go live out of state for the summer. Flex time, I guess.
 
I also have to mention that Dina was pretty fortunate to have an "arrangement" with Melmed as a "staff position" as mentioned by her in the article.

Apparently, Melmed has no problem with staff members taking off 3 months at a time to go live out of state for the summer. Flex time, I guess.

Melmed Center is a well-known and respected office for the most part. My personal experience for my daughter over a one-year period was less than productive though. She was "counseled" for ADHD which seemed to be the same blah-blah-blah each time she was seen. I finally decided it was hardly worth the co-pay and didn't feel her "counselor" was up to snuff. Not stating they don't do a good job, simply stating my own experience. Also, once their focus became autism related, the other sides of the practice seemed to not invoke Dr. Melmed's interest.
 
I don't think so - maybe a couple of bits like, I think, they got in touch with her finally at 2 pm. Also could have been stated when she left the hospital. We know she was gone 12-14 hours on Tues from the hospital.

Here is a rough draft timeline. Feel free to add corrections additions or whatever.

7/11/11

12mn-10am ? Dina at home with her boyfriend, sleeping off a cold. She turned off her cell phone but the land line ringer was on. Jonah at home with his three kids and Rebecca and her sister. Jonah takes the two older kids to the airport and goes to the gym. No times or flight verification.

10am-2pm ?Dina powered on cell phone in the morning and read about Max's accident. Didn't call Jonah. Waited until she received a call on the land line from Jonah who was crying and had arranged for a police car to take her to the hospital. Jonah goes to the hospital but we don't know the time. Rebecca sends her sister home/shops and later picks up Dr. Luber and takes him to the hospital.

2pm-11:59pm ?Dina and Jonah are together in ICU at Max's bedside with Dr. Luber. Jonah leaves (with Dr. Luber?) during this time to go home to shower and get some clothes.

7/12/11

12mn-1:55am ?Jonah leaves with Dr. Luber to get rest. The RMH is full so they go to a hotel rather than going to Jonah's home.

1:55am-8am ? Dina is in ICU alone with Max.

8am-6 pm ? Jonah exchanges places with Dina. Dina goes home to rest while Jonah stays in ICU. Rebecca picks up Nina and Adam and drops off Dr. Luber on three separate airport runs and boards the dog.

6pm-7:30 pm ? Jonah leaves Max alone from 6pm til about 7:30pm while he goes out to dinner with Rebecca and Adam.

7:30pm-8pm ? Jonah returns with Adam to ICU while Rebecca gets the car. Dina shows up at the ICU at 8pm with Nina. Rebecca and Adam return to the house alone together. Nina leaves Dina and Jonah alone in the ICU and take Jonah's car back to Dina's house. Dina's car remains at Rady.

9pm-12mn ? Nina text Rebecca from Dina's house then goes over to house to question Rebecca. A witness sees Dina not Nina on the property. Another witnesses hears a woman scream.

12mn-1am ? Another witness hears loud music coming from the house.

1am-7am Jonah is captured on video tape entering the RMH. Adam texts Jonah that Rebecca hung herself. Jonah calls Dina to tell her the same even though they are both at the hospital.
 
Hey, I wonder if we can start a thread for Timeline? Or is there one?
 
I cannot shake the statement in the magazine article where Dina states she asked Nina to talk to Rebecca. Even beg, but Nina never mentioned this.

Nina's story from her November interview-

Romano said she never received a response to that 9:41 p.m. text message, so she decided to walk to the mansion to see if she could talk to Zahau about Max's fall.

"I kept saying to myself, &#8216;I don't get it.' I thought I'm just going to go ask Rebecca, can you please show me where you found him? Show me how you found him. I just wanted to see. Show me where he was positioned. I just wanted to see for myself," Romano said. "That's why I went there. I just wanted her to show me how she found him because I didn't understand."


http://www.cbs8.com/story/15982091/exclusive-max-shacknais-aunt-talks-about-coronado-mansion-deaths
 
Hey, I wonder if we can start a thread for Timeline? Or is there one?

Betty P posted a timeline in another thread:
[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8260721&postcount=97"]Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - CA Rebecca Zahau Naplepa Suicide or Murder? Media links&Timelines ONLY-NO DISCUSSION[/ame]

But maybe it's a good time to devote an entire thread for Timeline?
 
I cannot shake the statement in the magazine article where Dina states she asked Nina to talk to Rebecca. Even beg, but Nina never mentioned this.

Nina's story from her November interview-

Romano said she never received a response to that 9:41 p.m. text message, so she decided to walk to the mansion to see if she could talk to Zahau about Max's fall.

"I kept saying to myself, ‘I don't get it.' I thought I'm just going to go ask Rebecca, can you please show me where you found him? Show me how you found him. I just wanted to see. Show me where he was positioned. I just wanted to see for myself," Romano said. "That's why I went there. I just wanted her to show me how she found him because I didn't understand."


http://www.cbs8.com/story/15982091/exclusive-max-shacknais-aunt-talks-about-coronado-mansion-deaths

Until just several months ago, neither Dina nor Jonah had any public comment on the cases. Other than Jonah bringing it up at the stockholders conference call I should say.

It always has struck me bizarre that Nina did this long, rambling interview. Typically legal counsel would try to keep mouths shut and let the PR people work their magic in other ways. Strange indeed.
 
Until just several months ago, neither Dina nor Jonah had any public comment on the cases. Other than Jonah bringing it up at the stockholders conference call I should say.

It always has struck me bizarre that Nina did this long, rambling interview. Typically legal counsel would try to keep mouths shut and let the PR people work their magic in other ways. Strange indeed.

Yes, a bizarre long interview. However, the timing was pretty good for a PR campaign. Nina gave this interview right before the airing of the Dr. Phil show.
 
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