Case Closed: Mansion Murder Deemed Suicide, Though for Many, Doubts Remain

Rebecca Zahau either committed suicide or was murdered

in her billionaire boyfriend's mansion after the accidental death

of his son from a fall.

Mary Zahau tells HLN's Dr. Drew that she believes her sister Rebecca Zahau was murdered. I have to say--I agree with her. This one simply doesn't pass the "smell test." There are just so many strange facts in the case -- the body as found nude, with the hands and feet bound; and there was a rather large coincidence in that the woman's death occurred so very soon, two days, after the tragic, accidental death of her boyfriend's son, in whose mansion her body was found.

I don't see how any homicide detective could rush to judgment and close a case like this as quickly.

[Of course this could be a trick -- to lull a possible suspect into a false sense of security and thereby rendering them more vulnerable to covert investigation techniques.]

Watch the video portion of the recent episode of Dr. Drew in which the case is discussed: Sister thinks mansion suicide was murder – Dr. Drew - CNN.com Blogs.

Etidbits.com offered a useful recap for those not familiar with the case.

The family of Rebecca Zahau -- who was found hanging, nude, on July 13 at the Coronado, Calif., mansion of her billionaire boyfriend Jonah Shacknai, a hotshot CEO of a pharmaceutical company -- don’t believe that her death was a suicide, which is what investigators have concluded when they announced last week that the case was closed. Rather, the family thinks that Rebecca may have been murdered.

The woman’s body, found , only two days after Shacknai’s six-year-old son from a different marriage, Max, whom Zahau was babysitting at the time, died in a hospital after he was critically injured from a fall down the stairs.

Some media reports suggest Zahau allegedly committed suicide due to depression over the death of her boyfriend’s son. Shacknai, who is the chairman and chief executive of Medicis Pharmaceuticals, was not at home when the suicide took place, officials say.

At one point during the investigation, an anonymous law enforcement source was quoted as saying that Rebecca’s death wasn’t by suicide. “The evidence we have gathered so far, points us in the direction of this being a very, very suspicious death,” the source said at the time. 

If she had committed suicide, she first removed every stitch of clothing, then tied her feet and hands together before hanging herself by the neck until dead.

View the Dr. Drew interview with the family: Sister thinks mansion suicide was murder – Dr. Drew - CNN.com Blogs.

Read the full article mentioned in the post: Investigators Rule Death Of Rebecca Zahau A Suicide, Family Unconvinced | Etidbits.com