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Max Shacknai fell down the stairs at his father's mansion July 11, 2011. He died a week later.
The mother of a 6-year-old boy who died last summer after falling down the stairs in his father’s Coronado, Calif., mansion is asking authorities to reopen the case.
Max Shacknai fell over a railing and down the stairs at his father's historic John D. Spreckels mansion on July 11, 2011, in what Coronado police called a tragic accident. The child struck the carpeted floor face first, fracturing his forehead. He was not breathing and did not have a pulse when paramedics found him. Max died a week later.
Days after the boy's fall, his father’s girlfriend, Rebecca Zahau, was found hanging nude from a second-story balcony in the same house. The San Diego Sheriff's Department ruled Zahau's July 14 death a suicide.
Timeline of events in the Spreckels mansion deaths
“Things just didn’t add up to me, so I hired independent experts to review the findings,” the boy's mother, Dina Shacknai, said in a statement given to reporters on Monday. “When I started this process all I knew is that I wanted the truth, wherever that led, like any parent would.”
Forensic pathologist Dr. Judy Melinek contributed to the independent investigation, calling the classification of Max’s death "inaccurate."
“It would be more accurate to certify that manner as a homicide, where homicide is defined as death at the hands of another,” Melinek said in the statement.
For more, view NBCSanDiego.com's report on mansion death investigation
Melinek said there is the possibility of a scenario in which Max was assaulted, leading to his fall from the balcony.
Dina Shacknai isn't the only one seeking additional details following the Coronado Police Department’s conclusion of events at the mansion.
Jonah Shacknai, a pharmaceutical company executive and multimillionaire who is divorced from Max's mother, asked California Attorney General Kama Harris to review investigators' findings that his girlfriend killed herself by tying her wrists and ankles and hanging herself.
Zahau’s family also has called for a statewide investigation. The family also appeared on two episodes of the afternoon television show "Dr. Phil" in November.
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Dina Shacknai’s presented her team's findings to the Coronado Police Department last week.
"Even though nothing will bring my only child Maxie back, I owe it to him, as his mother, to make sure the true facts of his death are known,” she said in the statement. “It’s important that his story be told, because this could happen to anyone’s child.”
A police department spokeswoman said authorities will study the new challenge to their investigation.
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This article is half-baked BS. I guess they are trying to conjure up a grieving mom, whereas the truth appears to be that there is a parent with at least 50% of the blame..
Read in between the lines... Rich older guy lets his younger girlfriend babysit his kid... Dumb younger girlfriend was most likely high on pills or drunk and either hurt the child or passed out letting the kid have free reign of the place.. Most likely the rich dad was so sickened by his little girlfriend he paid someone to kill her or did it himself.. Without any proof, money can make mostly anything go away...
Polygraph the dad... he know's way more than what is being revealed now. I would also fire the officer that was in charge. Very bad police work. I'm surprised, being CA. I would think they would have a lot more pride in their work. The whole world is going to H-LL ... There is no way that the girlfriend committed suicide. Put the screws to the "Old Man". He'll talk.
A rich dad gets the kid anytime he wants...that's why they have the expensive lawyers. The mother was likely lucky to have her son, whenever it was inconvenient to the dad. The child "likely" did not behave or listen to adults as he was able to do pretty much as he pleased like maybe trying to jump to the chandelier. Dad's girlfriend was probably busy.....doing her nails or watching TV....did she care about the child ? we will never know. I am guessing, he was a nuisance to her and she let him do what he wanted. We need to remember her boyfriend's brother was staying at the guest house. How convenient is that ?
alumette
Why would you think that?
Have to agree with The Drash. Suppose it was the girlfriend who, as he posits, might have been loaded on something, shoved the poor boy at the stairs, where he tripped--according to tthe report his forehead was broken--falling down either the stairs, or over a railing (I'd sure like to know which, it's kind of hard to do both). Then a few days later the same girlfriend commits suicide by hanging herself?!? Something's not kosher in Coronado, CA...it's starting to smell like Denmark. The only thing wrong with that is that the father's brother was also on the property the day she offed herself, and while he may not have watched her do it, he might have given her the choice of either doing it, or being exposed as the boy's killer--even if it might have been accidental on her part. There're so many variables that even the investigators are stumped.
From all I have read, the child was with the girlfriend when he "fell" over the balcony onto the staircase and then down the rest of the stairs. Very weird! A normal fall down the stairs is totally survivable by a child of this age. I just hate hearing how many kids die in the care of "girlfriends" or "boyfriends" of the parents. One problem is how much do they care about the child and the other is how much do they even know about keeping kids safe? This fall is weird.
However, the girlfriend is now dead. So, how will they find out if she harmed the boy? Then, she is found a few days later hanging from the upper stairway, naked with her hands tied behind her back and her ankles tied. So, how did she hang herself? Supposedly a suicide. If she was responsible for the boy's death, I guess that would make sense. The whole case is so weird! I just feel so sorry for the little boy in this mess and now dead.
I agree with you! There are so many sickos in todays sick society, that I cringe when I hear children in the care of boyfriends or girlfriends and where ever drugs are involved the children always suffer.
How do you hang yourself with your hands tied behind your back?
You tie yourself up first and then jump. My guess would be so that she wouldn't chicken out. It is possible to do it, and also possible that she did it out of guilt, even if she didn't push or throw him. If she was supposed to be watching him and he died, I imagine that the guilt would be awful. Especially if she was doing something irresponsible while he was running amok. I don't know how any of this went down, but if this happened to my child, I would respond the same way the mother is and do everything I could to make sure that the truth was known (or perhaps confirmed).
As for it being "weird" that kid could die falling down the stairs, you have to remember first that the house is a mansion. If it was a grand staircase, it could be quite a ways down before he hit stairs. It also says that he landed forehead first, which means the entire force of the fall was concentrated in a very bad spot. Besides which, when I was a kid there was a boy that I knew (about this age) who died after falling down a few regular stairs. It turned out that even though he didn't fall very far he ruptured his spleen. He seemed okay right after (no pain), but later he was feeling tired and went to lay down for a nap. When his mother found him he was dead in his bed where he had fallen asleep. And that was a normal fall down normal stairs. No going over a balcony or anything. It is possible that it is just a terrible tragedy. I don't think it is likely, but it is definitely possible.
He didn't fall down the stairs, he fell over a banister of a staircase, very different. But, I thought the girlfriend's death was fishy from the first time I heard about it. If I was the Mom, I'd want a much closer look at both deaths.
The brother of the dad was living in the guest house at the time. I see this story as extremely "fishy". Something was going on while the kid was left to play without supervision. I also thought there was another kid playing with him...a relative of the girlfriend ? She did not seem extremely distressed when the kid was on life support. All of a sudden, she decides to hog tie herself and jump, naked from a balcony with a rope around her neck......really hard to believe. She was murdered in my opinion.
if you trip and fall, you dont have to fall very far for when you stop falling to be killed. 4 or 5 ft, some times less, depending how you land, and what it is you land on. had a guy at work who tripped into the frame of a ship while he was walking, he's been out for 3 months or so now. even a tumble down a flight of stairs can kill a kid... so you may want to check your information on what it takes for a fall to be able to kill you.
apparently you didn't see the staircase.. a person can trip over a crack in a sidewalk hit their heads front or back and die instantly.. doesn't matter what the age.
I remember this case and I thought everything about it was odd. Well might never know the full story. In the end, it takes a very skilled and dedicated person to tie themselves up and then hang themselves. Why tie yourself up? Afraid you will have second thoughts or did someone else hang her? And with a hefty dash of money and influence...welllllll
there is no reason to tie yourself up!
This case has been mishandled ever since the police "investigated" it. The millionaire boyfriend was NEVER arrested, after two people died in his home.
The girlfriend's nude hanging bring out a few questions. Even if it is possible she could have tied herself up, WHY did she tie herself up? The funboy executive needs to be brought back to CA, placed on bond and let the police force a real explanation out of him.
This is some crazy ish....
LOL...another amatuer investigator, The millionaire boyfriend(father of the boy) was away(confirmed) when the boy was injured and he was at the hospital when the girlfriend killed herself, So what is your basis for arresting him.
Because he's wealthy and needs to suffer more... (sarcasm)
wow, a lot of people out there accusing the police of shoddy work. how does one know they did a shoddy job, unless they were there to witness how the job was done?
i think some people think when things dont turn out like they figured, in their favor, it has to be because someone didnt do it, or do it right. my thinking of this is, some of you really should ban together and form your own investigation committee, and i bet if you hurry, get your stuff together (because we know you guys are perfect, and must already have the jump on someone the like of me on this) go see president Obama. i'll bet dollars to do-nuts he have you guys flying all over the US solving the "tuff mystery(s)" that cops could never have the unbiased ability to do themselves, right!?
you all could make billions, AND it can be off the back of the taxpayers too, because, EVEN the feds cant be near as good. maybe even get your own Great Dane to help you find those special clues, only a dog can smell....
Makes sense to me,Girlfriend accidently or purposely hits child which falls over staircase. hit his head at a bad angle, dies. Remorseful girlfriend commits suicide days later. Case closed.
How do you tie your own hands behind your back--and then hang yourself?
You can tie your hands in front and put your legs through, this isn't rocket science. Can put the noose around your neck before tying the hands even. Maybe she was trying to frame someone. Only the cops know how they were tied or how well they were tied. None of us reading these articles have enough information to make any sort of judgement.
Half right. I think she was responsible for the kids death--maybe accidentally. But I think the Father killer her when he discovered the truth.
There is another odd thing about this: She was NAKED when she was found hanging. I dunno about you, but that is that LAST thing I would do right before killing myself! This plus the hands and feet being tied point to an obvious murder IMO. And Jonah Shaknai sold that house immediately after the cops were finished being paid off" investigating." You've gotta wonder WHO bought it, eh?
This whole thing stinks to high heaven.
hog tied, naked, jumping from a balcony with a rope around the neck. Unless she was a Kung-Fu expert, I doubt very much she did that to herself. Women do not degrade their bodies that way.
The father was at the hospital with his son when she was found
Sure, but she ties her own hands and feet? doesn't make sense at all...interesting that the father of Max, the boyfriend of the woman who died, has asked to re-open her case....who else was in that house? Who else had access? Doubtful, though possible that Max's death was an accident, but....hard to say without more info. I feel like this story is seriously lacking - like - what was the new evidence? What were the findings that were presented to the police to compel them to reopen the case?
her boyfriend's brother was staying in the guest house. No one bothered to investigate the scene. They called it a suicide, from the get go. Convenient ? how interesting for police to look the other way when influential people are involved.
The girlfriends family said that there is no way she was capable of tying the kind of knots that were found on her and that a lack of her footprints on the area she supposedly hung herself is also odd according to her family. I saw an interview with the sister of the girlfriend and she was really believable in saying that while her sister was bright she was not smart enough to have tied those knots. The whole thing is bizarre. I have to wonder if the father had enemies.
The facts? just don't add up. Why tie yourself up and then hang yourself.
She was tied up because she was struggling. The hanging was probably to cover up the strangulation marks left by the Father
I would say...he had friends.
When I first heard about this case, I knew in my heart that things just did not add up. I'm no detective, but I seriously can't see it being possible for someone to tie them self up (hands and feet) and then hang them self. I don't believe it would be physically possible. My conjecture would be that someone killed both this little boy and his dads girlfriend. Could have been the dad himself or someone who had it out for the dad. What really happened may never come to light, but I hope who did this horrible thing is found and gets what is coming to him or her. Rest In Peace, Max and Rebecca.
It's possible, just not probable. The thing I can't figure out is, if someone were going to try to make it look like a suicide, why leave her naked and bound? I can sit here and figure out how to make it look authentic and can't understand why no common sense would have been used.
Could the mother have killed the girlfriend because she thought she killed the boy and then as an added bonus try to set it up to look like the father killed the girlfriend?
Too many unanswered questions to make any kind of informed opinion.
This definately needs to be re-opened and it puts the investagting officers in a bad light. If the truth ever comes out, I think it will show a lot of hate on someone. I hope they take more time and do the job right. This case has a bad smell to it. And whoever is guilty, I hope they get full measure for this .
Life styles of the rich and famous.
Glad this is being re-opened. I smell a rat. That thing never, ever set well with me. Something is wrong.
Just another day in sunny California.
How's this: Girlfriend had secret boyfriend. Boyfriend comes to house while Boyfriend #1 is away. Girlfriend and secret boyfriend are having a tryst. Son of boyfriend walks in. Someone chases him out and either accidentally falls over the railing or is pushed. (probably pushed) Girlfriend is distraught. Secret boyfriend makes another "tryst" visit and girlfriend decides she wants to break off their relationship. (reason for nudity) He doesn't have time to "dress" her and decides to hang her and never intending for the gum shoes to declare it a suicide. Maybe her beau was a gum shoe? I'm just speculating.
Take two aspirin a cold shower and see your doctor in the morning !
One thing is for sure - Dr. Phil is a bottom feeder.
You've got that right!
that's what his audience wants to see. His ratings are good. He puts out there popular stories people can relate to or gossip about.
What else is 'Dr'. Phil ?
why do you say that Bruce? just wondering?
Two possibilities: Either the girlfriend killed the boy and then herself or the house is haunted. Okay, perhaps there's a third possibility that someone else killed her to make her look guilty after they themselves had killed the boy.
The key here is the nudity. There are only 2 reasons to be nude. You are going to take a shower, or........
I doubt she decided to take a shower before she killed herself. So, somebody had to kill her. Doesn't seem the kid's father would have killed her because there doesn't seem to be a motive. A secret lover makes more sense. After the boy's death, she probably felt a betrayal to the boy's father and decided to break off her affair and I don't think that went over well.
she wasn't going to break off the affair, the secret boyfriend accidently killed the boy and she decided to go to police; he couldn't handle that
Actually police have said that people do bind hands and feet so they will not "chicken out" in a suicide attempt but I have to believe the family when they say their sister would never have been able to know how to tie the knots that were found on her. They were elaborate knots according to them. Also...naked? Really? Also, I have a six year old boy who is very clumsy and had taken some major spills...but how this boy died makes no sense. He went "over the railing" and "down the stairs" and fractured his forehead on an area with carpeting. It's just really hard to believe that that is what happened.
Police have been known to be incorrect in their 'musings' and they have also been known to lie.
But where is "Charlie Chan' when we need him ?
Ahh so. Is most curious.
Why was San Diego PD so quick to close the case of Zahau's death to begin with? The Zahau family begged for investigators not to close this case, but they did so anyway. They hired an independent investigator who ruled out suicide, and even with that, the criminal justice powers-that-be at that time would not budge.
It was reported the reasons it was ruled a suicide was because apparently only her footprints were found at the scene and only her DNA was found on the rope. However, one would think it is possible for a clever perpetrator to stage a suicide. Someone could have worn gloves and eliminated other footprints. There were so many strange details about her manner of death (timing: death shortly after boy's death, she had made future plans, hands tied behind her back w/ complicated maritime knots, nude body displayed hanging over balcony for the public to see) that contradict suicide, that this case should reasonably be re-investigated with fresh eyes.
Because police are a cult that sucks up to the rich.
Oh, heck no, this case doesn't stink ... much.
It’s quite likely RZ was involved in Max's injuries which sadly resulted in his death. There is something very peculiar about the fact that two people died as a result of a tumble over a second floor balcony within days of each other in the same house. I believe there is much more to this story than has been revealed publicly. For instance, I have an extremely difficult time accepting the fact that Max’s autopsy concluded his manner of death as just an “accident”. Whatever happened to Dr. B. Peterson’s suspicion of “suffocation” when CPS was called in, a search warrant went into effect, then suddenly RZ is found dead only hours later? I guess an “accident” would be all you could call it since there was no one left to question or proof to the contrary. Even investigators weren’t sure, so a creation of their best scenario was put together. But Dina is not satisfied with what’s she’s been told, so naturally she is seeking another opinion. I would do the same. Her wounds will remain wide open until she gets her answers. I hope they come soon. JMO
Good for Mom! Get as much info as possible and then ask more questions. Two death in the same house in less than 2 years is something to think about. Especially if their is the slightest link.
Coronado police do not have the expertise to do traffic stops; hence bad judgment call on situation from beginning. Rich father with low friends in high places gets "things" done. Son is "accidentally" killed; likely from his own horseplay; girlfriend gets d'offed by one of those low friends as revenge. Dad keeps money--he can always go out and make another Max. Mom is the loser; girlfriend didn't get much either--except for some Botox.
Whatever happened in that mansion was evil and chilling. When the news article said (after Rebecca 'hanged' herself ) how high the railing was that she flung herself over...the railing would have come up to the middle of her ribcage --very hard to throw yourself over that and not leave bruises.
She had bruises on her arms and the back of her head --- not chest or abdomen .
"tying her wrists and ankles and hanging herself" is already suspicious enough to call for a thorough investigation and the fall incident of a death of a child may be the cause of the second assault.
How can one hang oneself on the balcony and one can be able to tie one's wrists and ankles?
Have people thought about which sequence, such as hanging oneself first or tying the wrist first, of the actions of hanging death on the balcony?
In terms of common sense, how can one be so cruel, inhumane to treat oneself to be naked and to hang oneself in the balcony?
It may be too late . . .
Since the Mom's private investigator said homicide was a possibility in the boy's death, one could then assume that the girlfriend was involved or knew who was involved. I'm leaning towards the possibility that the boy's own father was involved in his death and when the girlfriend's guilt overcame her and she possibly wanted to report what really happened, the father then had her killed.
Maybe the brother did it to eliminate any possible heirs.