Jump to content
Join the Unexplained Mysteries community today! It's free and setting up an account only takes a moment.
- Sign In or Create Account -

Spreckel Mansion Death/Suicide


Vincennes

Recommended Posts

ok now before I have people wigging out - Please note I am new and was not involved in UM when this happened and I HAVE SEARCHED AND SEARCHED FOR A THREAD REGARDING THIS - if there is one, please just point me ~ Please

I can't believe this topic has not been discussed.

Thanks!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

ok now before I have people wigging out - Please note I am new and was not involved in UM when this happened and I HAVE SEARCHED AND SEARCHED FOR A THREAD REGARDING THIS - if there is one, please just point me ~ Please

I can't believe this topic has not been discussed.

Thanks!

I'M WIGGING OUT!!!!! WHERE'S THE LINK?!?!?!?! :sk

What are we talking about now? :hmm:

Edited by Lava_Lady
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'M WIGGING OUT!!!!! WHERE'S THE LINK?!?!?!?! :sk

What are we talking about now? :hmm:

I'm finding links .Seems quite interesting actually .

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/A-Timeline-of-the-Deaths-at-Spreckels-Mansion-125827638.html

Hmmmm....

http://www.wcvarones.com/2011/07/spreckels-mansion-murder-theory.html

Edited by Simbi Laveau
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm finding links .Seems quite interesting actually .

http://www.nbcsandie...-125827638.html

Hmmmm....

http://www.wcvarones...der-theory.html

You're right... very interesting.

I find it hard to believe someone can hange themselves and bind their own hands and feet.

Here's a theory, the g/f accidently pushed the son down the stairs, then the mother of the boy finds out and exacts revenge by killing the g/f. Or maybe it was the father.

Regardless, it's really quite sad. That house will never be the same.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So maybe there was no discussion on this but this is "True Crime" This girl tore up her own bedroom bound herself with duct tape hands & feet and then threw herself naked out the window.. so she would be found that way ...... hanging naked from a mansion..... oh, please but CA investigators have called it suicide...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, she was found hanging from a balcony but I'm not sure if that means in side or outside the house.

Interesting case. I think it's apparent the girl friend had something to do with the death of the 6 year old but did she jump, or was she pushed? Because I don't know what the crime scene looks like I don't have a clear idea but it's possible that she committed suicide. Highly unlikely maybe, but it could be possible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I essentially agree with Antilles...I'd be somewhat suspicious about the 6 year old's manner of death, but I think it appears that the girlfriend's death was suicide.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry that I did not include some links - I'm new and I really thought this had been discussed and there would be a thread

http://coronado.patch.com/articles/author-ann-rule-someone-killed-rebecca-zahau-coronado-spreckels-fatal-friendshttp://

This is one of the better ones I have found. The father was some kind of beauty care chemist who had made a fortune. His alibi for both his son's death and Rebecca's seems to be sound. I saw something on TV about it and they feel pretty certain the little boy was sliding down the banister maybe even using a skateboard to gain speed. His skateboard was found near him and the correct distance from the banister.

Rebecca's sister was with her the day before she was found hanging and saw no evidence of severe depressiion. Her family is trying to exhume her body for more tests.

She was outside the house hanging from the balcony not inside. Found by the owner's brother who was staying in the guest house.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I was wrong about her being found hanging. Thanks for the link D'smom. I had actually never heard of this before and it is interesting particularly since Ann Rule is writing about it.

Zahau, 32, died two days after Max, her boyfriend's 6-year-old son, suffered what ultimately would be a fatal head injury during a fall from a staircase at the residence. Detectives found her to the rear of the main house, on the lawn, bound by the neck, hands and feet with a shirt raised and looped about her neck.

She wasn't found hanging, she was found on the lawn. That does sound a lot less like suicide, doesn't it but still, I think the child's death had something to do with this. Someone blamed her? The child's father apparently had an airtight alibi but I wonder about the child's mother.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read this story on the HuffPost when it first came out. Very tragic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Body hanging outside definitely - I believe there was a bit of a question as to how far out from the house her body fell when cut down.

It seems a little strange the father was absent so often. His son had died just 2 days prior to this and he's gone again all night?

The mother never did really present an alibi that I heard and she did have a domestic violence offense in the past.

Rebecca's family appeared on Dr. Phil trying to advocate exhuming Rebecca's body but I missed that show.

Edited by Duncansmom
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It seems a little strange the father was absent so often. His son had died just 2 days prior to this and he's gone again all night?

Reports I've read from ABC and CNN state that the incident involving the son occurred two days prior to the hanging- that the father was at the hospital with his son when the hanging occurred- and that his son died five days after his injuries.

At a PC (and referencing the morning of her death), authorities stated that "Rebecca received news regarding Max's grave condition at about ten minutes till one in the morning."

Also, info. I've read is that the boy was stated to have simply fallen down the stairs....I've seen no mention of a skateboard, nor have I read about any other circumstances surrounding that incident.

Edited by regi
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There appears to be quite a few contradictory accounts of this case. Maybe that's why Rule is so interested.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The circumstances of this case are indeed unusual, so I think right off the bat, that's reason enough for an immediate interest for any true crime writer.

I've read that Rule's a longtime friend of the attorney who's representing Zahau's family, and I'd prefer that not be the case...

Obviously, Rule questions the suicide ruling, but it has to do with interpretation. She cites "the physical evidence, her injuries, the way she was tied up..."

I know there are other things she finds questionable, but as I recall, those things have to do with perception, so that's subjective, also.

An article reported that despite Rule's "extensive" research, if it was homicide, she doesn't know who could have done it. I think that's huge considering the severe limitation of a potential "POI pool" to begin with.

The big picture is that if there's no evidence of any kind which points to anyone else involved in the death- and taking into account all the evidence that IS there, and that it points to only Zahau- then it's an obvious conclusion.

All reports about the boy simply falling down the stairs appear to be inaccurate.

Apparently, it was determined he went over the top railing.

A chandelier in the center of the "U" configuration of the two stairways (and situated below the top railing) was broken.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/09/new-witness-mansion-deaths-says-they-heard-woman-scream-help-hours-cops-

Give this link a look if you have a minute.

Earlier, I was reviewing the news on this topic and I know I found a more recent article that talked about the location of

the skateboard which was at the bottom of the stairs to the left as you look at the staircase. It looked to whoever was writing the article that it was in the correct placement to indicate the little boy might have been trying to use it to slide down the banister.

I've never read that the chandelier was damaged - but it would seem to be that those facts might be indicative of the same thing. If the little boy placed the skateboard on the top of the railing and then tried to lay across it both might have gone down and either the skateboard or kid could have hit the chandelier on their way to the bottom. I will keep looking for the article re. skateboard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Correction to my post #18: The article reported that Rule "talked extensively with Zahau's loved ones", not that her research itself was extensive.

http://www.coronado....-zahau-shacknai

I've spent hours reading investigative documents regarding both deaths (located on another forum), among other articles and interviews, and I don't know where to start.

People are intrigued by- and skeptical of- the unusual circumstances of Zahau's death, but to me, the circumstances of Max's death appear more sinister, and more so in light of Zahau's death, and considering the circumstances of both deaths.

Re: the chandelier...it wasn't just broken; it was crashed on the floor.

When first responders arrived, Max was essentially dead- no breathing, no pulse.

There was the back part of a scooter across one of his shins, and the chandelier was on the floor near his body with scattered broken pieces all around.

Only two other people were in the home at the time of the incident; Zahau, and Zahau's 13 yr. old sister.

Zahau stated that she'd been in a first floor bathroom for about 10 minutes when she heard a crash... that she found Max, and that she called for her sister to call 9-1-1. (The sister was said to have been just out of a shower on the second floor.)

Authorities theorize that Max had been riding the scooter on the second floor hallway, crashed into the railing...that he was propelled over the railing, and apparently, the scooter went over with him.

There were nicks on and near the corner of the railing, and paint chips on the carpeting.

(The hallway, stairs and foyer were covered with the same think carpet.)

Zahau stated that Max had been told not to ride the scooter in the hallway, and that the last time she saw the scooter was the day before, on the second floor.

She stated that Max said one word, "Ocean", which was the name of the dog in the house.

The sister had stitches for an injury said to have occurred when she was handling the chandelier/pieces, and she left San Diego the next day.

In an audio interview, Max's aunt (his mother's fraternal twin sister) said that after Max's injury, Zahau picked her up from the airport and dropped her off at the hospital. The sister said she was confused because Zahau wasn't forthcoming about what had happened...that when she asked her about what happened, she just wouldn't talk about it. She wasn't able to see Max that night because of ICU rules.

She saw Max the next day and stunned by the critical condition of her nephew, she wanted to get a thorough account from Zahau.

She texted Zahau at 9:41pm (the evening before Zahau's death) and Zahau didn't respond. She decided to walk over to Zahau's house, which was only a 4-5 minute walk from where she was staying at Max's mother's house.

She said she knocked several times, but got no answer. She said the bottom part of the house was dark, but there was a light on on the second floor.

She said that Zahau's car was there, but that she knew Max's uncle (Max's father's brother) was in town and was staying in the guesthouse, and so she figured that either they might have gone out for dinner- that walking anywhere isn't unusual in that area- or that Zahau simply didn't want to talk to her.

Before she walked back to her sister's house, she walked around to see the back area of the house. It was dark, and she said the only light on was that in the bedroom with the balcony.

She said the news the flollowing day that Zahau was dead was another perplexing event (I don't recall the words she used), but she never questioned that it was suicide.

Re: the excessive nature of the circumstances of the death, she said she didn't know Zahau very well, but that Zahau struck her as someone who if was determined to do something, would do so "balls to the wall."

She said she believes that Zahau knew more than she told about Max's death. Zahau said she performed CPR, and she believes that was a lie.

The fact that Zahau's body was naked is a point that Zahau's family (and others) cite as something she- or any woman- wouldn't do.

There's apparently not been much research on that specific aspect of a suicide, but it certainly has happened.

Interestingly, there's indication that it most often occurs with hanging.

There's biblical reference..."Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked I shall return." Job 1:21

There are other theories at the following link, and there's more info under another link from that article under the heading "Why Naked Suicide."

http://www.jaapl.org...t/36/2/240.full

Edited by regi
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great post regi. Thanks for all the background info. I think Zahau must have had something more to do with the child's death than she let on. But was she definitely found fully naked or was she partially clothed because the latter is what I read in an earlier link.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Regi: That truly was a great post!! I feel more of a scenario around it than I ever have. I followed this daily when it happened and I don't

know where you picked up the info but it wasn't out there at the time. I felt from the beginning it was one of those cases that had a tight lid on it because of the amount of money in the family. I had to look around each day for articles on what was happening. I'm so sorry that I missed the interviews on Dr. Phil but I did.

The description you gave on the scene of Max's death was what I did find more recently. I had never thought of an involvement of Rebecca but it sounds like it might be there. My first thought on reading you post was that in view of Rebecca's sister' age. Maybe the kids were playing. A 13 year old will get into play with a kid Max's age and maybe there was an accident in that play. However, Rebecca's sister has been one of the most vocal in saying something is wrong Rebecca was not suicidal. That doesn't work if she is covering an involvement. However, you had one other thing that the sister was in the shower right before the accident was found. That seems to leave things more open for an involvement by Rebecca.

That still leaves Max's mother open to having a reaction to the accident. She seems to have had a temper in the area of domestic desputes.

Hanging Rebecca naked outside would seem to me to be good way to humilate her.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, Duncansmom.

You know, I'm coming at these cases after much has been established, and so there's lots of information available now which wasn't previously available, so it's easier going into it with questions already answered.

Zahau's sister, Zena, was the one in the home the day of the incident with Max, and now I'm not sure if she was 13 or 14, but it was Zahau's sister, Mary, who's been outspoken about her sister's death.

I think Zahau has several sisters...

Max's mother was at the hospital with Max. There's witness statements to support that, and cellular records also back that up, and remember, those recs. also help verify all witness statements of their contact with one another, and where they all were during critical hours.

As I can only try to imagine, Max's mother's sole concern/focus during the time her son was in the hospital was for/on her son, and from what I've gathered, she rarely left his bedside, except to try to eat or rest... which her sister (Nina) later said was essentially futile.

Since I think Zahau's death was suicide, I have a different take on that aspect. Of course, I don't know the "why" of it specifically in her case, but there are many possible theories.

The painted message on the bedroom door is what I find most intriguing.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yah, painted message makes no sense that I can give it - Except maybe if you read it with malice toward Rebecca -Has anyone found there was someone with Max's mother - A bodyguard, a driver perhaps for some reason that comes back to me there was someone with her during this time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.