Rebecca Nalepa - suicide or murder? #1

[Winward1]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304203304576446184124867402.html

 

[Tinsamd]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304203304576446184124867402.html

The brother told officers that he found Ms. Nalepa with a rope around her neck and hanging from a balcony off the main house, Capt. Curran said, adding that Adam Shacknai cut down Ms. Nalepa before police arrived on the scene. Capt. Curran said police found Ms. Nalepa nude, with her feet and hands bound behind her.

"We have not determined if this is criminal or if this is a death investigation," Capt. Curran said. "Whether it is a homicide or a suicide, it is one of the most bizarre and unusual cases we have ever seen."

Hmmm.... So he's 54, extremely wealthy & established... She was 32......

On Monday, local police had responded to an emergency call to the same house after Mr. Shacknai's 6-year-old son fell down stairs. The boy, whose mother is Mr. Shacknai's second wife, suffered severe injuries and remains hospitalized.

Lea Corbin, a spokeswoman with the Coronado Police Department, said the boy's fall has been deemed a "tragic accident," and there is no ongoing investigation. Ms. Nalepa and a young girl, described as 13 or 14 years old, were the only people home at the time, Ms. Corbin said.

Capt. Curran said the two incidents appear to be separate, and investigators haven't found any connection between the cases.

Interesting.

In a statement after the death was reported on Wednesday, a Medicis spokeswoman expressed sadness at the "tragic incident at a California property owned by Jonah Shacknai."

 

[Winward1]

The whereabouts of Jonah Shacknai over the past few days seems equally mysterious.

 

[Charlie09]

here is another article
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jul/14/woman-found-dead-spreckels-mansion-identified/

 

[Winward1]

Why would a suicide by hanging victim bind their hands, if they could?

 

[Charlie09]

Why would a suicide by hanging victim bind their hands, if they could?

There was a comment on SignonSanDIego that they would do it if they were trying to frame someone for murder. put the noose on first, then bind your arms and ankles and roll off the balcony. I guess it would matter if her hands were in front or behind her.

 

[Winward1]

Interesting, possible if not plausible? Complex dynamics in some of the personal lives there.

 

[Charlie09]

This will be interesting to watch

 

[BrownRice]

The whereabouts of Jonah Shacknai over the past few days seems equally mysterious.

I thought I read he was at the hospital with his gravely injured child? His ex-wife (child's mother) could easily vouch for him.

I find it so typical he's a (very wealthy) middle-aged man, 2x divorced with kids from 2 other marriages, and he's involved with a 32 year old party woman. Grow up.

I spent most of my life in the San Diego area and his mansion is on my list to buy when I win the lottery. :crazy: Love, Love, Love the Ocean Blvd in Coronado.

 

[BrownRice]

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.

 

[Amalie]

Here's a link to yesterday's press conference.

http://www.cbs8.com/story/15075598/...oCatNo=default&clipId=6051226&redirected=true

 

[Carpe Pacem]

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.

 

[Charlie09]

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.

I'm in Orange county and had only seen hands tied together...not if it was in front or back. Does she really have a daughter who lived there too?

I agree it's tied together too.

 

[thesaint]

"The body of a 32-year-old woman, Rebecca M. Zahau, was found hanging from the balcony of the Ocean Boulevard house Wednesday, her nude body bound at the ankles and her wrists tied behind her back, sheriff’s investigators said."

 

[thesaint]

According to Phoenix court records, Zahau was charged with shoplifting in 2009. Police said she entered a Macy’s store and put more than $1,000 in jewelry into shopping bags from different stores. Loss prevention officers stopped her as she was walking out and called police, said Sgt. Steve Martos.

She pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and agreed to pay nearly $500 and attend a shoplifting diversion course. She used a court-appointed attorney.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jul/15/woman-mansion-mystery-devoted-tycoon-boyfriend/

 

[Winward1]

A shoplifting optician, twice acrimoniously divorced multi-millionaire, a tragic accident a few days prior and yet to be determined circumstances of death. Hmm...

 

[Winward1]

So someone was trying to make it look like suicide but forgot the part about tying someone's hands at their back.

 

[SunnieRN]

Why would a suicide by hanging victim bind their hands, if they could?

Simple. They wouldn't, but someone else would!

It stated she was the only one home with her boyfriends son, when he fell down the stairs. That 6 year old child is now in an induced coma and is consideree 'brain dead'. My gosh, that was quite the fall?!

Whole things is stinky!

 

[CocoChanel]

Of course it is a loss anytime someone dies due to other-than-natural-circumstances. However, at this point I am more concerned with the child. What sort of situation led to his 'fall' that now has him in an induced-coma? He's only 6 YEARS OLD. Please tell me Child Protective Services is investigating. These 2 tragic events ARE indeed 'related' because they happened within the SAME small circle of people within the SAME house within the SAME few days. Those factors alone make them related IMHO.

 

[nursebeeme]

The Rebecca Nalepa death in Jonah Shacknai’s mansion prompted new search warrants late yesterday. Jonah Shacknai and Rebecca Nalepa (photos below) were dating for two years at the time of her death this week. The millionaire used his Coronado Island home as a summer residence. But on Friday, local detectives were back at the home searching for new evidence.

another snip:

And how did she get into the condition in which she was found? Her hands were tied behind her back, her feet were tied together. She was found unclothed, face down in the mansion’s outside courtyard, not hanging from a balcony as reported in the 911 call.


oh and another small snip:

Earlier this week, a 911 call from the residence by a female’s voice reported that Jonah’s son had been injured. On Tuesday night there was a reported party in the mansion.

http://news.lalate.com/2011/07/16/r...shacknai-mansion-prompts-new-search-warrants/