Death at the Mansion: Rebecca Zahau

**_A lot of confirmation bias on both sides and a lot of info left out, but the central thesis is convincing_**

>_Conventional wisdom has it that a woman found hanging naked is most likely a homicide or a staged suicide. It is thought that "feminine modesty" carries over into a suicidal death. Nonetheless, women_ do _hang themselves or induce asphyxia by other means while naked._

- Dr. Robert I. Simon, Director of Psychiatry and Law, Georgetown University School of Medicine; "Naked Suicide" (_Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law_; 36:2; February 2008)

> _Fingerpri__nts from the guest-room entry door, the door jamb itself, the balcony door, the large knife, and the bed leg directly next to the rope were all from Rebecca. DNA profiles from the victim's bindings, both her hands and her feet, the rope around her neck, the rope attached to the footboard of the bed, and the small knife were only from Rebecca. No additional evidence or information was received during the course of this investigation to believe foul play was involved in this event._

- Sgt. Dave Nemeth; San Diego Sheriff's Office press conference (September 2, 2011)

>_Common sense says Rebecca did not paint the amateurishly painted message on the door. And if she did not, someone else did. Determining who wrote the message would certainly be circumstantial evidence pointing to who killed Rebecca Zahau. This was only one of numerous pieces of circumstantial evidence that puts the Sheriff's conclusion into question. As a result, it is not unreasonable to still ask, "Who killed Rebecca Zahau?"_

- Judge Katherine Bacal; Zahau family vs. Adam Shacknai; court ruling (January 25, 2019)

July 13, 2011; Coronado, San Diego County, CA. At 6:45am, Coronado PD received a frantic phone call from a man named Adam Shacknai, who had found the body of a young woman hanging from a balcony and was desperately trying to revive her. He was unable to do so, and by the time police arrived, the woman, identified as 32-year-old Rebecca Zahau, was already showing signs of rigour mortis. However, what caused the case to make national headlines, were the specifics of her death. As well as the rope around her neck, Zahau's hands were bound behind her back. Her feet were tied together. Her mouth was gagged with a towel. A nonsensical suicide note was scrawled on a door in handwriting that didn't resemble hers. The nine-foot drop from the balcony should have caused extensive damage to her neck muscles and spinal column, certainly internal decapitation, and possibly partial external decapitation, yet her wounds were more consistent with manual chocking. A knife lay on the floor of her bedroom, the handle of which was encased with her menstrual blood. And she was completely naked.

Police ruled her death a suicide.

And so began an emotional and often fiery debate which has led to accusations of a cover-up, angry finger pointing, two unquestionably innocent people being accused of murdering her, a civil trial, an out-of-court settlement made without the knowledge of the defendant, and a quest by the Zahau family to have the case reopened, which continues to this day.

Airing on Oxygen in North America and Sky Crime in the UK and Ireland, the four-part _Death at the Mansion: Rebecca Zahau_ is executive produced by Dan Partland, Krysta Beth Heidman-Weatherby, Haylee Vance, and Nicole Zien. The show follows the efforts of former LA District Attorney's Office prosecutor Loni Coombs, investigative journalist Billy Jensen, and forensic criminologist and former cold case investigator Paul Holes as they try to uncover enough evidence to convince the San Diego Sheriff's Department to declare Zahau's death "undetermined" and re-open the case. It's fairly compelling stuff, but as a TV show, although some fascinating questions are raised regarding the nature of the 'suicide', much of the four hours feel unnecessarily padded. This is especially frustrating when one considers just how much information is left out; information one can learn by watching the superior (and much shorter) _Rebecca Zahau: An ID Murder Mystery_ (2019), or by listening to Dr. Phil McGraw's excellent five-episode podcast on the case, "Mansion of Secrets: The Mysterious Death of Rebecca Zahau" (2019), part of his _Mystery and Murder: Analysis by Dr. Phil_ series. Completely confident in their assertion that Zahau was murdered and their belief that they know both who did it and why, the trio at the centre of _Death at the Mansion_ spend a lot of time talking about the confirmation bias of the police, apparently unaware that their own bias is clear to see. This isn't a bad introduction to the case, but I'd strongly advise that, if you're interested in Zahau, you supplement your viewing with something a little more objective.

Rebecca Zahau was born on March 15, 1979 in Myanmar. Her father Khua Hnin Thang and mother Zung Tin Par were of Chin ethnicity and raised their children as Protestants. A political activist and critic of the military dictatorship of President Ne Win, as the government began to clamp down on opposition, Khua got his family out of the country, moving first to Nepal and then Germany. In 2001, the family moved to the US, settling in Saint Joseph, MO. In 2002, Zahau married nursing student Neil Nalepa, although they broke up a few years later and were ultimately divorced in February 2011. Finding work as an ophthalmic technician, in 2008, Zahau met Jonah Shacknai (founder and CEO of Medicis Pharmaceutical, a medical cosmetics company valued at around $2.5 billion), when he attended a dental appointment and the two soon began dating.

On July 11, 2011, Zahau was at home in Spreckles Mansion in Coronado, which Shacknai used as a summer estate. Accompanied by her teenage sister Xena, Zahau was looking after Max Shacknai, Jonah's six-year-old son with his second wife, Dina Romano. With Xena downstairs and Zahau in the bathroom, Max toppled over the second-floor balcony, suffering serious injuries to his spinal cord, facial bones, and chest. As Xena called 911, Zahau performed CPR on Max, and although she saved his life, he was still in critical condition, and soon went into a coma. With Jonah and Dina spending most of their time at the hospital, along with Dina's twin sister Nina, Zahau sent Xena home, and adopted a supportive role, maintaining close contact with her older sister, Mary Zahau-Loehner. On July 12, Zahau received a call from Adam Shacknai, Jonah's brother, a tugboat captain in Memphis. He asked her if she thought he should come to Coronado to support the family, and she advised him to "_do what's in your heart_". Adam arrived that evening, and Zahau picked him up from the airport. He went to the guesthouse on the Spreckles property and was asleep by 20:30. Awakening the following morning around 6:00, he left the guesthouse to get a cup of coffee, and found Zahau hanging.

On July 16, Max died, with his cause of death listed as oxygen deprivation resulting from injuries sustained when he fell. On July 26, investigators ruled his death an accident. On September 2, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department announced that Zahau's death had been ruled a suicide, and that they had found no sign of foul play. They believed that guilt about Max's accident had driven her to take her own life, a theory they felt was supported by the fact that several hours before her death, Jonah had contacted her to tell her it was unlikely Max would live. However, refusing to accept this verdict, in 2013, the Zahau family filed a $10million wrongful death civil suit against Dina, Nina, and Adam. Their lawyer, Keith Greer, suggested a scenario where an argument between the sisters and Zahau about the nature of Max's accident had turned physical, Adam had intervened, and Zahau had been killed either by accident or intentionally, with the suicide staged to cover up the homicide.

However, if you're familiar with the case, you'll know that this is by no means the end of the bizarre twists and turns.

Hosted by Coombs, with a lot of input from Jensen and Holes, the show features interviews with Zahau-Loehner, Greer, Dr. Rebecca Hsu (forensic pathologist), Dr. Laura Pettler (crime scene analyst and expert on staged murder scenes), Dr. Eric Hickey (criminal psychologist), John Grogan (polygraph examiner), Bradley Murphree (forensic audio engineer), Sam Louie (psychotherapist and expert on concepts of Asian honour), Caitlin Rother (true crime writer), Sean Elder (journalist), Ofc. Van Erhard (first officer on the scene after Max's fall and also attended Zahau's death), and Dave Myers (ran for Sheriff against Bill Gore, the sheriff in charge during the Zahau investigation).

And this list of interviewees highlights one of the show's biggest problems – with the exception of Erhard, _every single one_ of them thinks that Zahau was murdered. Now, fair enough, the show _is_ about trying to uncover enough evidence to convince the police that there was foul play, so it makes sense to focus on that side of the debate. Nevertheless, there's no balance whatsoever; it's so one-sided as to be distracting, and even when Erhard does make his case that it was a suicide, he's summarily dismissed and we never hear from him again. The showrunners don't seem to realise that interviewing people who believe it was a suicide would have forced Coombs, Jensen, and Holes to more actively engage with such theories, which would have strengthened their own arguments for homicide (assuming they'd been able to refute the suicide theories). All three believe that confirmation bias played a huge role in the investigation, and they may be correct, but the confirmation bias of this central trio, and many of the show's list of interviewees, is just as big a problem.

Nevertheless, the show _does_ raise some fascinating issues, and for the most part, it _is_ convincing. For example, it points out quite early that some suicide victims _do_ bind their hands so as to prevent self-rescuing. However, the knots on Zahau's hands and feet were complex, and some central questions teased out over the four episodes include a) would she have known how to tie such knots, b) would she have been able to tie her hands behind her back using these knots, c) if so, why would she also have tied her feet, d) assuming she'd managed to tie both her hands and feet, would she have been able to climb over the four-foot railing on the balcony, and e) were the knots similar to those that a tugboat captain might use?

In relation to whether she'd have known how to tie such knots, the show points out that on a computer in the house, someone had searched for Asian bondage porn, suggesting she may have been looking for instructions. But if so, why the search for specifically _Asian_ bondage? In terms of whether or not she'd have been able to secure her hands behind her back in this manner, we're shown footage of a police officer demonstrating how Zahau may have done so, and Coombs and Jensen visit a BDSM expert who instructs Jensen on how to secure his own hands behind his back. However, as is discovered later on, both the demonstration and the BDSM example use a slightly simpler form of the knots than Zahau used, with each missing a final knot. Thus far, no one has been able to demonstrate how it's possible to tie one's hands behind one's back using an exact replica of the knots used by Zahau.

The show also spends a lot of time looking at her 'suicide note' – "_SHE SAVED HIM CAN YOU SAVE HER_", written on a door in black paint. "She saved him" presumably refers to Zahau performing CPR on Max, but if it is a suicide note, why is it written in the third-person, and what does the second half mean? To whom is it addressed? Who is the "you"? It also seems to be the case that the note is not written in her handwriting, although experts are somewhat divided on this issue. Additionally, the paint used to write the sign was found on Zahau's nipples and inner thigh. How'd it get there? And why only there? If there was a sexual element to her murder, as Coombs, Jensen, and Holes believe, it would explain both the presence of the paint at those locations and the menstrual blood encrusted on the handle of the knife (Zahau was on her period when she died, and if the handle of the knife was used to sexually assault her, it would account for how her blood got there).

Another issue is the complete lack of any DNA or prints other than Zahau's at the scene, which makes little sense as there should have been plenty of samples in a room that was used by many people. The complete lack of DNA and prints is itself a significant red flag, suggesting the room was wiped clean. Additionally, the knife Adam used to cut her down had no prints on it, suggesting it too may have been wiped clean. But why would you wipe clean something you've used to try to save someone?

There's also the issue of Zahau's state of mind, with the show pointing out that she was planning her father's upcoming birthday party, and on the day of her suicide, she spoke to both Mary and her mother – telling Mary she had to be strong for Jonah, and telling her mother she'd talk to her the following day. Neither conversation gave even the remotest hint of suicidal thoughts. As McGraw explores on his podcast, Zahau exhibited _none_ of the signs of someone thinking about suicide. And, of course, there's the huge (unanswered) question of why was Zahau naked? It's extremely unusual (although not completely unheard of) for a female suicide victim to be naked. Additionally, according to Sam Louie,

> _to lose face means dishonouring yourself or dishonouring somebody, so with Max dying by accident on her watch, there's no way to hide from that, so there's an immense, I can imagine, cultural shame. Whenever anybody goes through a loss, or even a perceived loss, that in itself could be a precipitating event that could have led her to take her own life. But being naked, that's very shameful in a lot of cultures, especially Asian cultures. That's something you really keep to yourself. I wouldn't understand why she'd disrobe. That's the part that's still a mystery._

In short, if the suicide was related to honour and brought about by guilt, how does her nudity factor in? Dr. Eric Hickey says he's never heard of a case where a woman stripped naked and hung herself outside, and he argues she was killed by someone who knew her but who wasn't planning to kill her; it was an impulse murder and the suicide was staged to cover up that fact.

The show also looks at other pieces of fascinating evidence that certainly speak to murder rather than suicide. 1) Greer (amongst others) argues that Zahau couldn't have fallen nine feet (the length of rope over the balcony) or her neck would have been broken and she would have suffered, at the very least, internal decapitation. He feels it's likely someone choked her and used the hanging to cover it up. 2) A woman (Marsha Alison) two houses down from Spreckles heard a woman shouting "_help me_" the night of the suicide. However, police never tried to find another ear witness. 3) According to Myers, the investigation was rushed because Gore decided it was suicide from the start. Gore and Jonah were associates and often talked on the phone – one conversation was about Medicis' falling stock price, with Jonah telling Gore he wanted the investigation to end quickly. 4) Forensic audio engineer Brad Murphree analyses Adam's 911 call, and hears Adan saying "_hold her still_". To whom was he talking? Adam was supposedly alone when he found Zahau's body. Murphree also identifies a very a garbled voice that isn't Adam's, although what the voice is saying is impossible to make out.

It's all pretty fascinating and it's all pretty convincing. But one of the main problems with the show is what it leaves out. If one watches the ID documentary or listens to the McGraw podcast, one will hear some interesting elements that are completely ignored in _Death at the Mansion_. A big example is Max's death. In _Death at the Mansion_, his death is presented as fairly cut and dry – he fell over the balcony whilst playing with his scouter and died a few days later from his injuries. But it isn't quite that simple. According to Zahau, she performed CPR on Max, but when doctors examined him, they found no evidence of CPR, determining that he had been deprived of oxygen for around 30 minutes prior to the arrival of paramedics. Additionally, Zahau said that when she reached him, Max asked for the family dog, Ocean, but according to Dr. Judy Melinek, a forensic pathologist hired by Nina, Max's injuries would have made it categorically impossible for him to say anything. Melinek also found that the thickness of the carpet on the second floor would have made it impossible for Max to have gotten up enough speed to go over the baluster. She also argued that his centre of gravity was too low to support Zahau's version of events, _and_ she hypothesised that the injuries he suffered were inconsistent with a fall. Her theory was that Zahau went to discipline him when he was on the balcony, and somehow he fell over. She also believes this explains the sudden suicide. However, it's also worth noting that Nina herself doesn't believe Zahau was involved with Max's death. She is of the opinion that someone else may have entered the house – possibly the same person who killed Zahau two days later (Nina believes Zahau was murdered, but she does not believe it was by Adam). This entire line of inquiry, which obviously speaks somewhat in support of suicide, is completely absent in the show – another example of the glaring confirmation bias.

On the other hand, the show inexplicably leaves out information that supports its case. For example, there's virtually nothing on the fact that after Mary hired attorney Anne Bremner, Bremner brought on famed forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht to help review the evidence. In the ID documentary, Wecht is interviewed, explaining that in his 56 years, during which time he has worked on about 20,000 autopsies, he doesn't know of a single case in which a woman hung herself suicide nude. He also explains how he found four subgaleal haemorrhages on Zahau's scalp that couldn't be explained except by blunt force trauma. Police said they came from impact with branches as she fell – but how could that be possible if she went over the balcony feet first? Wecht concludes she could only have got them from impact prior to her hanging. He also felt the injuries to her neck tissue and muscles indicative of strangulation rather than hanging.

In the podcast, McGraw gives a lot more detail about Adam's polygraph than the show does. McGraw points out that the test was a multi-issue test, in which questions are asked about a variety of topics, rather than the more accurate single-issue tests usually used in such circumstances. He also explains how it was highly unusual that the test was ruled "inconclusive", yet the examiner (Paul Redden) went on the record and said he "felt" Adam was being honest. McGraw quotes Jack Trimarco, former FBI agent and one of the world's leading polygraph experts, in addressing just how strange this is; "_for someone with Redden's credentials and reputation to say that he wasn't able to draw a conclusion but_ felt _Adam Shacknai was telling the truth simply isn't acceptable_." The show does spend some time looking at the polygraph, but nothing is mentioned about Redden's statement or Dimarco's criticisms. Another issue left out of the show is something that was presumably cut for time, as it has been released as a web exclusive on the show's official website. In a meticulous recreation of the crime scene, using a mannequin of the same weight and height as Zahau tied to the exact same bed on the exact same carpet with the exact same rope, biomedical engineer Prof. Cynthia Bir conducted multiple experiments by dropping the body off the balcony in a variety of ways. In the real case, police say the bed moved seven inches when she hung herself, but in the experiments, the shortest distance the bed ever moved was 24 inches, suggesting she was lowered carefully into position rather than dropping a sheer nine feet. This scene absolutely should have been included as it's in the realm of physics rather than speculation.

_Death at the Mansion: Rebecca Zahau_ is a flawed documentary about a suicide that was almost certainly a murder. Although many of its central points are convincing, it does itself no favours by limiting its interviewees to people who already support its conclusions, nor does it address the very real confirmation bias of the hosts, even as they criticise the confirmation biases of others. As an introduction to the case, it's decent enough, and its main theories are convincing, without doubt, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it as a final word on the topic, and would strongly suggest you check out some other resources dealing with the case.