Rebecca Nalepa - suicide or murder? #1

[Quester]

Re: the boy’s fall

I found the following quote interesting coupled with the possible involvement of a chandelier. I’m going out on a limb here wondering if somehow the boy was found hanging from the chandelier and therefore unable to breath ????

The boy was left unable to breath and without a pulse Monday after a fall at his home; he was revived and was last known to be at Rady Children's Hospital.

http://coronado.patch.com/articles/all-eyes-have-turned-to-coronado

 

[CocoChanel]

This is just so bizarre and tragic. I do not know if this child has died or not, but I assume there is very little hope that he will recover and the family has come to terms with his death. He was only 6 years old. What in the world happened? If it was a horrible horrible accident, there most definitely should be an investigation of some sort. There must be answer as to why this child suffered these injuries. I pray that wealth will not play a part in keeping the answers from us.

 

[Quester]

Coronado mansion owner confirms death of 6-year-old son

http://www.cbs8.com/story/15075598/coronado-mansion-death?redirected=true

 

[time]

This is only my opinion - but I would assume the boy's mother would have had Rebecca tarred and feathered had she come to the hospital. From what I read, the relationship between Rebecca and Jonah started before the end of his second marriage (to the boy's mother). The accident (which has not been disclosed) was under Rebecca's watch (regardless if it was her fault of not watching him properly or just a freak thing). NO WAY in heck I would let my ex's "girlfriend" come into the hospital room with my nearly dead child in that scenario.

The description of Rebecca as "a second mother" to his 3 kids is from her friends/family. I highly doubt his ex-wifes would call the 32 year old party girl a "mother figure" to their children even if he had 50/50 custody.

Again, just my opinion.

Maybe I missed it, but where are you getting that she was a party girl or partied anymore than Jonah Shackna?

I have a difficult time seeing a 54 year old with a 6 year old kid, but not a 32 year old so I'm not sure why she couldn't be a mother figure - and, that is given my cringing about seeing wealthy men pairing up with women 20-30 years younger so often. One article said she quit her job to spend more time with him and his kids. I don't see a 32 year old as incapable of being a parent to kids those ages and for all we know, the kids real mothers had no qualms about it. Maybe they did have qualms also, but is there anyway it says they did?

Jonah Shackna may not have been divorced when he started seeing her but it appears she wasn't either and her ex spoke well of her to the press.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

Maybe I missed it, but where are you getting that she was a party girl or partied anymore than Jonah Shackna?

I was wondering this myself.

 

[Money Girl]

How I wish we still had our wonderful Forensic Astrologers to shed light on this series of events.

 

[Melanie]

The suicide consideration sounds ludicrous. How in the world could a person tie up their hands behind their back, as stated by the local news. I feel for the little boy who is fighting for his life after his accident, and also feel that the two events are tied together. Just tragic.

This is talk of the town here in San Diego. No way does this city think this woman comitted suicide. We think the brother was involved.

I don't think it's been released, but it's pretty much been confirmed that the little boy was "planking" when he fell. The latest fad here. A friend of my son's was found planking on the roof of a house!

Planking is described as the practice of lying down flat with arms to the side, to mimic a wooden plank.

Max Shacknai, 6, is now DEAD!!!!

I find it eery that the girlfriend supposedly comitted suicide after the fact.

Lots of speculation, but the brother is being looked at closely. 1. Did he push the little boy? Did he kill the girlfriend?

Shacknai’s brother Adam, who was staying in the guesthouse and the only other person home at the time, found Zahau and cut her down before police arrived.

Is there jealousy between the brothers?

Had Max survived, we may know the answers. But with 2 dead bodies, it's going to be difficult.

What bothers me is Coronado is a small suburb of San Diego - mostly military and affluent homeowners and travellers. They don't even have a homicide squad. So the early days of investigation may have caused evidence to be destroyed or tampered with. There's only been 2 murders there in 10 years.

I've heard different versions of the hands and legs -- the latest being Zahau's hands were bound behind her back and her feet were bound, but her hands and feet did not appear ever to have been bound together, police said. Though Adam Shacknai said she was hanging from a rope, investigators did not disclose what kind of material bound her hands and feet.

That is just plain odd! Also if you're going to commit suicide, do you take all your clothes off first?

But I tell ya, all eyes are focused on the brother right now. Even if little Max fell down the stairs, was pushed, or if this was a planking stunt gone horribly wrong.

MOO

Mel

 

[Melanie]

I was wondering this myself.

I've yet to hear any indication that she was a party girl. I'm gonna throw out a worst case scenario here, and something that's going around the circles.

If the hands were not bound together, but appeared to have been bound by something (no one is telling us what), and she was naked, with a rope around her neck. Which said rope was cut down by the brother.

Erotic asphyxiation or breath control play is the intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for sexual arousal.

It doesn't make any sense to me, especially after the tragic accident with little Max. There's no proof. But why the bound hands? Why is she naked? It would be very easy for someone to stage this to look like a suicide -- especially in a town where the biggest offense is a speeding ticket.

Was there something going on inside that house that's being protected by the wealthy owner? Was she being shared with the brother?

I know - lots of conspiracy theories going on. We're all just anxious to determine how she died, and if it's a murder - by whom. I just can't see past that this is a suicide.

Thanks for letting me ramble.

MOO

Mel

 

[Melanie]

It will be interesting to see the toxicology report to see if she was heavily intoxicated. When this first broke, I read somewhere a neighbor said there was a loud party (Tuesday night?) which was odd because the child had been injured (severely) on Monday and was in the hospital (weird in that why would you have a party after such a tragic accident).

Re: suicide vs homicide. I don't get the feet binding if it was suicide. MAYBE (big maybe) I get the hands (thought is so you wouldn't be able to change your mind after you jump - like try to get the noose off your neck? That's the only thing I can think of). Also, since the body was naked, there are not too many women I know who are so confident in their bodies they would even think about exposing their naked body to the world like that - dead or alive.

But if it was murder, wouldn't someone have heard her screaming and fighting for her life? Those houses are pretty close together (even though they are large). Coronado is very quiet at night - I would think someone would have heard a woman being bound and then knowing she was going to be hanged.

BBM: I agree 100%.

According to Rebecca's gym friend,

1. he had just spoken to Zahau on Saturday, a few days before she was found dead.

2. I asked her, 'How is your day going?'…you know, 'Anything going on in the weekend?' said Holman. "She had mentioned they were getting ready for some party or something like that [and]… seemed happy and upbeat about it."

Source: http://www.10news.com/news/28579183/detail.html

3. Max has a horrible accident on Monday.

4. Zahau's sister Mary Zahau-Loehner, 33, told ABC News she spoke with her sister around midnight Tuesday, and everything seemed to be OK.

"She was normal, fine, just getting ready to go to bed," said Zahau-Loehner, who lives in Saint Joseph, Mo.

Source: http://www.mizozo.com/weird/07/2011/15/rebecca-zahau-woman-found-completely-naked-with-a-....html

Note: Max was just in a horrible accident, how is she FINE?

IMHO, a party was planned for Tuesday, but cancelled after the accident. If there was a party, would Rebecca be getting ready for bed at midnight? Personally, I don't think so. Just like I don't agree with the auto-asphyxiation theory that's bouncing around.

In the meantime, investigators are being tight lipped.

Interesting theory here: It's very rare for a woman to commit suicide naked, as modesty is a big factor. No note, no mental issues, no previous attempts, fine the night before, etc.

http://www.cbs8.com/story/15075598/coronado-mansion-death?redirected=true

MOO

Mel

 

[tiredblondy]

as per the rumor Was the son sliding down the stairs or banister by planking?

 

[tiredblondy]

I was reading the comments after some of the articles and there was a suggestion that this could be people trying to hurt Jonah for something in his buisness. Someone he's wronged...What do you think Mel?

 

[Melanie]

as per the rumor Was the son sliding down the stairs or banister by planking?

Don't know. I would hate to think a 6 year old would try to plank on a banister. It's usually done on a flat surface, such as a stair. He may have lost his balance and rolled down the stairs. Or planking at the top of the balcony and rolled off (depending on his length and if the spacing is possible). It's hard to think what a 6 year old would do.

The article indicates Max fell down the stairs.

The 6-year-old son of a pharmaceutical company executive died Sunday, almost a week after falling down the stairs at his father's historic mansion

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/7657641.html#ixzz1SS2bpPJj

I wish someone would come out and say why he fell (if witnessed). All this silence is driving me batty!

MOO

Mel

 

[Melanie]

I was reading the comments after some of the articles and there was a suggestion that this could be people trying to hurt Jonah for something in his buisness. Someone he's wronged...What do you think Mel?

I was reading the paper this morning, and found that too. He's made some local enemies locally by agreeing not to modify the historic home (in lieu of lower property taxes) but did so anyway. I don't think that's a reason to kill anyone though.

Like many people with influence and money, Shacknai — a broad-shouldered, smooth-faced, square-jawed figure — has managed to collect both friends and enemies over the years. Within Arizona’s business scene, he is widely seen as a go-getter.

I hope LE is going to look into his past and also the current lawsuits against him to determine if there's anything hinky going on.

Definitely a made for TV movie if it wasn't so tragic.

More here:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jul/16/spreckels-mansion-owner-described-go-getter/

Mel

 

[BrownRice]

Maybe I missed it, but where are you getting that she was a party girl or partied anymore than Jonah Shackna?

I have a difficult time seeing a 54 year old with a 6 year old kid, but not a 32 year old so I'm not sure why she couldn't be a mother figure - and, that is given my cringing about seeing wealthy men pairing up with women 20-30 years younger so often. One article said she quit her job to spend more time with him and his kids. I don't see a 32 year old as incapable of being a parent to kids those ages and for all we know, the kids real mothers had no qualms about it. Maybe they did have qualms also, but is there anyway it says they did?

Jonah Shackna may not have been divorced when he started seeing her but it appears she wasn't either and her ex spoke well of her to the press.

The first couple days of the story, she was described in media articles as a "party girl" so that's where I got that impression. My earlier comments were directed only at her - not stating if Jonah partied as much as her, or not.

And yes, a 32 year old is certainly old enough and capable of taking care of a child and being a mother figure. I was stating that the MOTHERS of Jonah's children would probably take offense at that. There is a difference between a mother and a father's girlfriend, in my opinion. A girlfriend, or babysitter, can tend to a child's needs when she sees them, but there is a lot more involved to mothering.

And finally, when my son is on his deathbed, my ex-husband's girlfriend is not welcome. That's just how I roll. I assume it was the same for Jonah's ex-wife (hence the reason Rebecca was not at the hospital - the original post I was responding to).

 

[BrownRice]

Don't know. I would hate to think a 6 year old would try to plank on a banister. It's usually done on a flat surface, such as a stair. He may have lost his balance and rolled down the stairs. Or planking at the top of the balcony and rolled off (depending on his length and if the spacing is possible). It's hard to think what a 6 year old would do.

Planking totally makes sense to me. It is all the rage with the kids. I have an almost 6 year old and he wants to plank on everything! He learned it from his college age cousins on vacation this year. He has absolutely no ability to determine what is safe or not. I assume this could have been the same for Jonah's son. I would assume 6 years old is pretty old to think hanging from the chandeliers is ok (doing like a Diego thing with a rope) - he should know better, but planking - he could have thought that was a GREAT idea.

So sad regardless.

 

[BrownRice]

I was reading the comments after some of the articles and there was a suggestion that this could be people trying to hurt Jonah for something in his buisness. Someone he's wronged...What do you think Mel?

But that would be pretty coincidental to have the kid's accident one day and her death the next?

 

[colette]

Women don't usually leave themselves naked during a suicide but they might if they are trying to make their suicide look like a murder.

 

[October]

According to this article, her hands and feet were bound with electrical wire:

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/182...ens-pharmaceutical-jonah-girl-friend-fath.htm

Doesn't sound like a suicide to me.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

Women don't usually leave themselves naked during a suicide but they might if they are trying to make their suicide look like a murder.

What would her motive be in trying to make her suicide look like murder? I don't get it.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

According to this article, her hands and feet were bound with electrical wire:

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/182...ens-pharmaceutical-jonah-girl-friend-fath.htm

Doesn't sound like a suicide to me.

Now this article says there WAS a party Tuesday night. I wish the media could get their stories straight.