The Mysterious Death of Rebecca Zahau

 Rebecca Zahau was born on March 15th, 1979 in Falam, Chin State. Which is a town in Chin Hills located in Northwestern Burma. She was from a family of Chin ethnicity and was raised as a Protestant. She lived in Nepal and Germany before coming to the United States, which was about 10 years before her death. In 2002 she married Neil Nelepa of Scottsdale, Arizona and they divorced in February 2011. She started dating Jonah Shacknai, the CEO of Medicis Pharmaceutical. She was still married to Nelepa at the time. Jonah had been married twice before. His first marriage to Kimberly James had ended in a three-year custody battle for their two children. He also had a third child, a son to his second wife, Dina Romano. He was named Maxfield Aaron Shacknai better known as Max. It is said that Rebecca was close to Max, who was 6 years old at the time of his accident. 

On July 11th, 2011, Max had been playing on the second story of the mansion with his scooter. Rebecca had warned him multiple times that day, not to be doing this. But, the boy did not listen. The only people in the house that day were Max, Rebecca, and her teenage sister, Xena. As well as the family dog, Ocean. Rebecca had gone to the bathroom and in those short but precious minutes, it happened. 

It is believed that Ocean had something to do with the accident that day. But, somehow, Max and his scooter ended up going over the banister. The boy either hit or grabbed the chandelier on the way down. When Rebecca found Max, he was unresponsive. However, as Xena quickly called 911, Rebecca revived Max, who said only one word, Ocean, before paramedics arrived on the scene. 

Max had suffered injuries to his spinal cord and facial bones which affected his heart rate and breathing. He was taken to Rady Children's Hospital but passed away on July 16th due to brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation. By July 26th the investigators that had been working on the case had ruled it an accident. They had decided that the boy somehow tripped and fell. However, there was a doctor who thought otherwise. He had examined Max before his death and autopsy. He told police that he didn't think the boy's injuries were from a fall. According to him, the boy's injuries were not consistent with cardiac arrest and brain swelling that the boy suffered. In his opinion, he believes that Max was suffocated before his fall. 

The day following Max's fall, Rebecca had taken her sister to the airport so she could catch her flight back home. At the same time, she picked Jonah's brother Adam up from the airport who just arrived on a flight from Memphis Tennessee. Later that evening Rebecca and Adam ate dinner with Jonah and their friend named Howard. After dinner, Rebecca and Adam returned to the mansion, while Jonah returned to the hospital. Later that night there were reports of loud music being heard from the mansion. 

At about 6:45 in the morning of July 13th, Adam claimed that he had found Rebecca's naked body hanging from the balcony of her bedroom. She had her wrists and ankles bound with red rope. Her hands were behind her back and she had been gagged with a shirt tied around her head. There had also been tape residue on her legs and her hair was inside the noose. 

Adam called 911 at around 6:48 in the morning, then he sent a text message to Jonah telling him what had happened. He cut down her body with a knife before the police arrive. There was no DNA found on the knife he had used. Speculations of foul play had started almost immediately. Some sources say there were signs of a sexual assault, others say there were not, and a neighbor heard a scream for help around 11:30. 

The initial autopsy revealed four instances of head trauma, and there was evidence she went over the balcony in a non-vertical way. This made it possible to have hit her head. Ignoring everything else the death was quickly deemed a suicide because there was a lack of DNA found at the scene of the crime. 

The family ordered a second autopsy. The examiner believed that fractures in her neck were caused by manual strangulation and not by suicide hanging. He felt confident that Rebecca's death was in fact a homicide. The family questioned police about how Rebecca could have killed herself if she was bound and gagged. The police, of course, had an excuse. They claimed that such behavior wasn't uncommon in suicides and showed the family videos on how to do this. They claimed that people did this all the time to prevent them from changing their minds. 

There was a cryptic message written on the wall in black paint. There are multiple stories about what was written on the wall. Some say it said: "She saved him, can he save her" others claim it said: "She saved him, can you save her" The funny thing about this message is that according to her family it isn't in her handwriting, and her ex-husband said she wouldn't write something like that. But, police believe it is a cryptic suicide note. 

The cell phone bill came up with nothing unusual except for a voicemail sent by Jonah around midnight that had been immediately deleted. Police believe this message had something to do with Max and that's what triggered her alleged suicide. 

There was a knife found on the scene that was covered in Rebecca's menstrual blood, and the rope that was used to hang her was way too long. In fact, it was so long that the rope was tied around the bedframe a few times, before being draped over the balcony. The strangest thing of all, however, was the book of witchcraft in her room. There was even a section in the book on binding hands and feet in red rope. Also, someone was watching porn on the laptops. 

The family ended up suing Adam. They believe that he is the one who sexually assaulted and murdered Rebecca before staging a suicide. The jury did find Adam responsible for her death, but he can never be charged in criminal court. 

There are many rumors and speculations all over the internet about Rebecca's death, and if it had some connection to Max's accident. Jonah was even said to have told his ex-wife. "Don't blame her, she saved him." This can be seen as quite curious given to the message on the wall. 

Furthermore, if it was a suicide note, why refer to herself in the third person? Some of the theories that are circulating are that Adam acted alone but Jonah helped him cover it up. Other theories suggest that a hitman killed both Max and Rebecca. There are so many theories that surround this mysterious death. However, all of them agree on one key element. Rebecca Zahau didn't commit suicide; she was murdered.