Wrongful Death Suit filed Nov. 13, 2013 in California, #2

[Ausgirl]

MU, I'd suggest that it'sa good idea to start adding up ALL the things that don't add up -- individually, they can easily enough be minimised, explained away or whitewashed. But when you stick them ALL together, it's actually an astounding list that points anywhere BUT at suicide. The odds of ONE of these things happening is incredibly low, but add 'em together? Then add the next thing? The odds of all those things happening at once are so small they're almost laughable as evidence of suicide.. It soon becomes more then a little bit alarming that suicide was ruled at all.

Here's some more interesting links:

The usual diagnostic signs of death due to manual strangulation are:

Cutaneous bruising and abrasions. -- Check (Rebecca had all of the following!)

Extensive bruising with or without rupture of the neck muscles. - Check

Engorgement of the tissues at and above the level of compression. -- Check

Fracture of the larynx, thyroid cartilage, and hyoid bone. -- Check

Cricoid cartilage is almost exclusively fractured in throttling. -- Check

General signs of asphyxia. -- Check

When all the signs are present, the diagnosis is easy.

http://www.forensicpathologyonline.com/e-book/asphyxia/throttling



A 23-year-old student strangled his 58-year-old father with an electric cable until he ceased to show any signs of life. Then he hanged the victim at the handrail of the staircase with a running noose. From the forensic point of view the following clues pointed to homicide: presence of massive signs of facial congestion in spite of the "typical" situation of hanging, horizontal ligature mark in addition to the noose mark, skin injuries at the head and the upper extremities, traces of blood near the place where the body was found. The case history presented emphasizes again that for differential diagnosis the possibility of a dissimulated homicide has to be considered in all cases where a body is found suspended.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9757351

 

[Ausgirl]

Add to that, what Rebecca *should have* had, if she'd really died by long-drop hanging -- but did NOT have:

Significant cervical spinal cord and bony injuries are most common in hangings that involve a fall from a distance greater than the height of the victim. The prognosis in such injuries is dismal.

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/826704-overview.

See, long-drop hanging in almost all cases causes significant stretching of the neck and severe damage to the cervical bones of the neck and upper spine -- in REALLY long drop hanging, there's actually a risk of decapitation. The risk of this greatly increases if the drop is longer than the victim's body height. Which is why, in England where judicial hanging was a huge deal, they actually brought in rules about the length of the rope and drop, compared to body height -- in part. because all the decapitations were freaking people out. So it's an *indisputable fact* that this type of hanging, particularly with rope and drop lengths such as Rebecca supposedly had, causes these injuries.

Did Rebecca make such a long drop as to extend beyond her own body height? -- Yes she did.

Did Rebecca have such injuries? --- Why, no she did not.

But she DID have that throat fracture "almost exclusively" seen in manual strangulation deaths.

:waitasec: See how, when you start piecing these facts together (and this is just TWO facts! there's a lot more to add to these!) the suicide ruling starts to look very very shaky.

 

[MissUnderstood]

Add to that, what Rebecca *should have* had, if she'd really died by long-drop hanging -- but did NOT have:

Significant cervical spinal cord and bony injuries are most common in hangings that involve a fall from a distance greater than the height of the victim. The prognosis in such injuries is dismal.

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/826704-overview.

See, long-drop hanging in almost all cases causes significant stretching of the neck and severe damage to the cervical bones of the neck and upper spine -- in REALLY long drop hanging, there's actually a risk of decapitation. The risk of this greatly increases if the drop is longer than the victim's body height.

Did Rebecca make such a long drop as to extend beyond her own body height? -- Yes she did.

Did Rebecca have such injuries? --- Why, no she did not.

But she DID have that throat fracture "almost exclusively" seen in manual strangulation deaths.

:waitasec:

So if it was not suicide then she was placed in that position and not thrown over?


MOO!!

 

[Ausgirl]

At this stage, I don't want to put forward a theory of how the crime was accomplished. But what I am pretty sure of is, she was manually strangled at some point.

 

[Ausgirl]

Neck structures fractures in all cases of suicidal hanging over a 6-year period were retrospectively reviewed (231 cases) and a comparison with homicidal hangings (4 cases) and homicidal no-hanging strangulations cases (52 cases) was performed. Overall, neck structures fractures were found in 23.4% of suicidal cases (54 cases). The cricoid cartilage was intact in all suicidal hangings. The general incidence of fractures in homicidal no-hanging strangulation was 65.4% (34 cases),with an incidence of fracture of the cricoid cartilage of 20.6%. By compiling studies from the literature, only one cricoid cartilage over 2700 suidical hanging cases was found, whereas an incidence of 5 to 20% is found for homicidal strangulation. It is therefore proposed that the presence of a fracture of the cricoid in an apparent suicidal hanging should be considered highly suspicious.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22442828

 

[Ausgirl]

Sorry, the autopsy report *does* cites hemorrhaged bilateral sternoclaeidomastoid muscles as proof of "long drop" hanging.

In fact, it's one of the most common injuries is ALL hanging deaths, partial hanging, short drop and long drop.

It's also proof of... strangulation (beware, icky medical textbook pics):

http://books.google.com.au/books?id...stoid muscles homicidal strangulation&f=false

 

[K_Z]

Sorry, the autopsy report *does* cites hemorrhaged bilateral sternoclaeidomastoid muscles as proof of "long drop" hanging.

In fact, it's one of the most common injuries is ALL hanging deaths, partial hanging, short drop and long drop.

It's also proof of... strangulation (beware, icky medical textbook pics):

http://books.google.com.au/books?id...stoid muscles homicidal strangulation&f=false

The SCMs were not merely hemorrhaged, but nearly torn in half. Take a look at the AR. A 4 1/2 inch tear is nearly the entire muscle body. It takes a significant amount of violent pull to accomplish that. Muscles are not torn like that in manual or ligature non-weighted strangulation. It's my opinion that there was some element of significant drop hanging (not hoist from below) while her heart was still beating. I think it's probable she was unconscious or semiconscious at that moment, either from strangulation, or stunning blows, or a combination of both. That's been my opinion since I originally wrote about this for another site in around Sept 2011, just after the AR was released.

And was it the cricoid cartilage that was fractured? I thought I remember that it was the thyroid cartilage that was fractured. Going off memory here. I will have to go look again.

 

[bourne]

Thanks for your incite. I just can't decide in my crazy mind either way.
I can see her doing this to herself after the death of Max.
I just can't understand the extravagance of the alleged suicide. The naked thing is not right to me, unless it was for more shock value in who would find her.
If she was so distraught over this child's death I don't picture her as a selfish heartless person and I guess I can't make my mind understand why she would let herself be found that way.


MOO!!

Wow. You can see her doing this elaborate, bizarre, lengthy suicide to herself? I find that hard to believe that without at minimum, a psychological profile of her history and patterns of behavior that you would come to that conclusion.

First of all, the child was not dead when Rebecca was found dead and hung on Wednesday early morning. Max was still alive and in ICU. They had him in an induced coma. Dina and Jonah pulled the plug on their child and Max was declared dead Saturday -- FOUR days after Rebecca was murdered.

Second, if a woman is distraught over a child's injury, would she not at least get confirmation that the child will not fully recover by at least calling Jonah or the hospital? She had a right to know whether the child would make it or not, correct? She was the caretaker when Max was injured. If Jonah had in fact telephoned and left the infamous *vanishing* voicemail on Rebecca's cellphone, why is there no physical evidence of it on Rebecca's cellphone records? If it exists, why hasn't the police publish that info along with the partial evidence they cherry picked on their webpage designed specifically about Rebecca's death? I would go so far as to say because they don't have any evidence that Jonah left the voicemail. If they did, the police could have made a copy of (and published for the world to see) that single portion of his cellphone records which verify this alleged voicemail's existence. This would have squashed any rumors to the contrary. As is, the *non-existence* of Jonah's voicemail to Rebecca makes the police's theory that Rebecca committed suicide unbelievable and improbable.

Think about it. Who commits suicide without knowing whether an injured child will live or die? Who? Certainly not an emotionally and physically healthy young woman such as Rebecca. We know Rebecca was emotionally, mentally and physically sound because her friends/family members who know her best stated that.

Moreover, Rebecca had spoken *last* to her own sisters by phone (and funnily enough, these calls and texts are verified on Rebecca's cellphone records) and Rebecca had informed Mary that she would be *bringing fresh clothes and breakfast* for Jonah the next morning and that she will speak with her parents the next day. So why would she suddenly off herself without any provocation? That makes zero sense.

No. The only thing that makes sense about Rebecca's abrupt hanging *IN THE NUDE* no less, with rope-bindings, legs and hands tied behind her back, gag, noose, long length of rope from bed leg to over the balcony railing, crazy third-person painted message on a bedroom door, is that SOMEONE ELSE MURDERED her in order to *punish and humiliate* Rebecca. Now, who do we know who would have such a hateful agenda? Who do we know who had a *reported & documented history* of physical violence and stalking,threatening behavior towards Rebecca? Yes, the very Dina.

That's the only thing that makes sense. Dina murdered Rebecca. That is my candid, unwavering belief and I believe this 100% with no scintilla of doubt.

 

[bourne]

Thanks Ausgirl & KZ for the researched info.

Based on the physical evidence in Rebecca's autopsy, I believe Rebecca was first strangled and then tossed over the balcony like a piece of trash because that was the statement Dina wanted to make to the world. That Rebecca was a piece of sex trash and should die in a manner so horrific and disgusting because she had injured Dina's one and only son. Plus the nudity and rope bindings make sense in light of the fact that Dina thought Rebecca stole what Dina perceived as her Asian-fetished husband. What do nudity and rope-bindings remind you of? Asian fetish sex games, correct? That was what Dina wanted to induce in the public's mind. And she went all out to do so by hanging Rebecca in a publicly visible courtyard for all the world to see and gawk at. That is my honest to goodness educated opinion.

 

[bourne]

MissUnderstood, here is the official SDSO information on the deaths. It is very informative to see the true facts...

http://www.sdsheriff.net/coronado/

"true facts" LOL. So you believe all published info from cops are "true facts"? What about the current case in NY about Eric Garner? Cops claim they didn't do a chokehold on him because he could still breathe because he was "speaking" and telling them he couldn't breathe until he passed out and died.

Cherrypicking info to confirm your theory is not the truth. It's distorting info to make an invalid, unproven point. This is also called an *omission of facts in evidence* and a bold-faced *LIE*.

 

[justice be served]

"true facts" LOL. So you believe all published info from cops are "true facts"? What about the current case in NY about Eric Garner? Cops claim they didn't do a chokehold on him because he could still breathe because he was "speaking" and telling them he couldn't breathe until he passed out and died.

Cherrypicking info to confirm your theory is not the truth. It's distorting info to make an invalid, unproven point. This is also called an *omission of facts in evidence* and a bold-faced *LIE*.

This case is a classic case of confirmation bias by the investigation. From the moment Adam "found" Rebecca, former DA and rumored friend of JS, Paul Pfingst, was on the scene and behind the tapes. Who better to put the meme of suicide in the ear of investigators than Pfingst. JS had a company that was close to being acquired and he couldn't have this scandal. And the lauded investigator Angela Tsuida who originally headed up the case is suddenly absent? From day one, confirmation bias took hold and real evidence was not only passed over but ignored. It is a travesty and doesn't give me confidence in our criminal justice system - especially SDSO.

 

[Ausgirl]

The SCMs were not merely hemorrhaged, but nearly torn in half. Take a look at the AR. A 4 1/2 inch tear is nearly the entire muscle body. It takes a significant amount of violent pull to accomplish that. Muscles are not torn like that in manual or ligature non-weighted strangulation. It's my opinion that there was some element of significant drop hanging (not hoist from below) while her heart was still beating. I think it's probable she was unconscious or semiconscious at that moment, either from strangulation, or stunning blows, or a combination of both. That's been my opinion since I originally wrote about this for another site in around Sept 2011, just after the AR was released.

And was it the cricoid cartilage that was fractured? I thought I remember that it was the thyroid cartilage that was fractured. Going off memory here. I will have to go look again.

Thanks for that additional info re the tearing, KZ. My research so far indicates that the same muscles are very often damaged in *all* types of hanging deaths (including homicidal), but I will certainly look into length of drop/extent of tearing.

As for fractures - thyroid, hyoid, cricoid, all three were fractured.

Something else that strikes me as odd is that "thin red line" pointed out in the AP, 1/8 inch below the ligature furrow on the left side of the neck, with "an area of pallor" in between. In your previous research, what explanations were offered for that injury?

 

[LuckyLucy2]

The SDSO report is anything *but* informative, LOL.

Okay -- here's a fact they didn't choose to include in their whitewashed, *advertiser censored*-covering report:

Rebecca had an injury that almost never occurs in hanging deaths.

In fact, it occurs in 0.003 per cent of cases. That's a whole LOT less than 1% of cases. That's really "this NEVER happens" in hanging deaths.

"Cricoid fracture is virtually non existent in suicidal hangings."
http://gangsquebec.com/wp-content/u...ospective-study-on-contributing-variables.pdf

But it DOES happen in a substantial amount (up to 20%) of homicidal strangulation cases.

That's one fact they chose to leave out. I wonder why.

The Medical Examiner that examined Rebecca after her death certainly doesn't agree with you, and he knows his stuff, and, unlike Weict, wasn't hired by the Zahaus for an entertainment television show.

 

[justice be served]

The Medical Examiner that examined Rebecca after her death certainly doesn't agree with you, and he knows his stuff, and, unlike Weict, wasn't hired by the Zahaus for an entertainment television show.

The medical examiner also changed his report some time later so I wouldn't hold much to this ME. I will look for that information. The report was changed to mesh with the suicide finding. It was an oops moment for SDSO to make all the pieces fit.

 

[justice be served]

Bourne, I will quote you from your post in "The Case for Murder No. 2" on the other thread - in answer to my above post. Hopefully you don't mind?

(Abbreviated)
On page 15 of Rebecca's autopsy report, the bottom said:
"JRL:CN:lcb
D: 7/14/11 T: 7/15/11
Rev. 9/2/11 clb"

I assume this means the autopsy report was dictated 7/14/11 (a day after Rebecca's body was found on 7/13/11) and transcribed 7/15/11. And then it was revised (albeit we have no idea what exactly was "revised") on 9/2/11, correct?

So for all intents of purposes, ME Lucas completed Rebecca's autopsy within ONE DAY that Rebecca's body had been found reportedly hanging off Spreckels mansion courtyard balcony and ruled that her death was a "suicide" within ONE DAY.

On page 1 of Rebecca's autopsy report, it plainly states:
""MANNER OF DEATH: SUICIDE"

Although I read the autopsies are generally completed within a day or two, one would hope that in Rebecca's case wherein a "violent, suspicious death" was indicated, that the ME would WAIT until all available evidence and the completion of a THOROUGH investigation such as obtaining the so-called suicide trigger voicemail from Jonah, analyses of all blood and prints and women's underwear, polygraphs of all POIs, interviews and prints of all POIs, etc. BEFORE ME Lucas concluded the autopsy report and ruled that her death was a "suicide".

So GMAB, ME Lucas and SDLE. YOU CONCLUDED that Rebecca's death was a suicide several hours (not even a full day!) after her body was found -- on 7/14/11 -- without even a proper or thorough investigation! You expect us to believe that a complete, scientific investigation was done in LESS THAN A DAY? Remember, ME Lucas and ME assistant didn't even bother to show up to the crime scene until 13 plus hours after her body was found, and none of you even found the decency or professionalism to shield her nude body with a tent in those 13 plus hours! SHAME ON YOU. You're a disgrace to all ME's.

 

[LuckyLucy2]

The ME's report was never changed after the Sept. 2011 press conferece.

 

[justice be served]

The ME's report was never changed after the Sept. 2011 press conferece.

I didn't say that. My point is this:


"So for all intents of purposes, ME Lucas completed Rebecca's autopsy within ONE DAY that Rebecca's body had been found reportedly hanging off Spreckels mansion courtyard balcony and ruled that her death was a "suicide" within ONE DAY."

Now if that's not confirmation bias, then I don't know what is. Even Adam calling 911 saying "hey we got a woman that just hung herself" or whatever his exact words were. Really? The investigation was decided before it even started and the SDSO press conference was a true dog and pony show.

Thank goodness we now have a civil suit to prove that Rebecca was brutally murdered. Justice will happen and it has nothing to do with money. That much is obvious.

 

[bourne]

The Medical Examiner that examined Rebecca after her death certainly doesn't agree with you, and he knows his stuff, and, unlike Weict, wasn't hired by the Zahaus for an entertainment television show.

Where did you get that the Zahaus *hired* Dr. Wecht? And what's with the purposeful misspelling of his name and the intentional dropping of the "Doctor" in front of his name, just like Dina conveniently misspells and mispronounces "Zahau" at Dr Phil show and also fails to call Dr Wecht a doctor...Hmm...fascinating.

Dr. Wecht was asked to help by Dr Phil show. He accepted *pro bono*. Dr. Wecht willing and gladly offered his help because he saw a grave injustice done on a minority in the community. Why are you taking issue with a medical professional helping out a minority member?

 

[LuckyLucy2]

I didn't say that. My point is this:


"So for all intents of purposes, ME Lucas completed Rebecca's autopsy within ONE DAY that Rebecca's body had been found reportedly hanging off Spreckels mansion courtyard balcony and ruled that her death was a "suicide" within ONE DAY."

Now if that's not confirmation bias, then I don't know what is. Even Adam calling 911 saying "hey we got a woman that just hung herself" or whatever his exact words were. Really? The investigation was decided before it even started and the SDSO press conference was a true dog and pony show.

Thank goodness we now have a civil suit to prove that Rebecca was brutally murdered. Justice will happen and it has nothing to do with money. That much is obvious.

Suicide was not determined in one day by the ME. Please link that if you can. I will look for the link that shows he waited until all the test results were in, becaue that if what he did.

 

[kittychi]

MissUnderstood, here is the official SDSO information on the deaths. It is very informative to see the true facts...

http://www.sdsheriff.net/coronado/

For clarification for newcomers to the board:

Police ruled Rebecca's death suicide and you believe that.

Police ruled Max's death an accident but you don't believe that.

Correct?