Jury: Rebecca Zahau Was Killed at Spreckels Mansion

Jurors determined Adam Shacknai was responsible for the death of Rebecca Zahau, a woman found hanging from the balcony at a Coronado mansion in 2011.Jurors were asked to answer two questions in this civil trial: Did Adam Shacknai touch Rebecca Zahau before her death with the intent to harm her? The jury’s vote was yes 9 to 3. A Timeline of the Deaths at Spreckels Mansion For the wrongful death verdict, did that touching cause the death of Rebecca Zahau? The jury’s vote was also yes 9 to 3. They determined Shacknai owed Zahau’s mother, Pari Zahau approximately $5,167,000 in damages.  Max Shacknai’s Death Remains ‘Accident’ Shacknai looked down throughout the reading of the verdict. He has not been criminally charged in the case.Mary Zahau-Loehner, Zahau’s sister, wiped tears from her face as she listened to the verdict.  Her attorney, Keith Greer, turned around to the spectators at one point and gave a thumbs up. 2-Year-Old Run Over by Mother in San Bernardino Driveway Zahau, 30, was found dead at the Spreckels mansion more than six years ago.Zahau’s family filed the $10 million civil suit claiming that her death was not a suicide as determined following an investigation by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.Greer outlined several key pieces of evidence he said proved Shacknai, a 55-year-old tugboat captain, is responsible for Zahau’s death.Shacknai called 911 on July 13, 2011, and reported the death as a suicide, Greer said. He argued that no one would look at a woman in Zahau’s state — nude, bound and hanging from a balcony — and say the woman killed herself.Defense attorney Dan Webb argued that law enforcement officers had already investigated the case and determined it to be a suicide.Zahau’s family sued to have the case reopened in 2013. They criticized the sheriff’s investigators’ theory that Zahau herself tied a series of intricate knots on her hands behind her back, put the noose over her head and propelled herself off the mansion’s balcony. Sheriff’s investigators even released a video that they say shows how it can be done.”I hope that the sheriff’s department is paying some attention,” the plaintiff’s attorney said. “We’ve allowed the public to see that evidence and say, ‘Wow how did the sheriff’s department and medical examiner’s office come up with the conclusions they did.'”When asked what she would say to Sheriff Bill Gore following the verdict, Zahau-Loehner said, “Be honest, be truthful and reopen the case.”Photo Credit: NBC 7
Source: NBC San Diego