Earlier in the day, Paul Pfingst had gone to the Spreckels Mansion before Rebecca Zahau's body was removed. He was one of the few people beside the EMTs and law enforcement personnel to be allowed onto the property. Pfingst was photographed talking with the detectives on the other side of the CRIME SCENE tape. In one shot, a detective has an arm around Pfingst's shoulder.
Although he was currently in private practice as a criminal defense attorney, Paul Pfingst was familiar to many of the investigators
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Even so, it was almost unheard-of for a defense attorney to be allowed inside a possible crime scene so early in an investigation.
Excerpt from Rule, Ann - Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors