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Courtesy of Dina Shacknai
Dina Shacknai and her son, Max, 6. The California mom believes her son's death last summer was no accident.
The mother of 6-year-old Max Shacknai believes her son was slain inside his millionaire father's Coronado, Calif., mansion last summer and wants police to find out who did it.
"He was a victim of assault and a victim of homicide," Dina Shacknai told NBC News on Thursday. "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."
Dina Shacknai is at odds with the conclusion of Coronado police, who have called Max's death a tragic accident. Police say the boy fell over a railing and tumbled down the stairs at his father's historic John D. Spreckels mansion on July 11, 2011. He struck the carpeted floor face first, fracturing his forehead, police said. He was not breathing and did not have a pulse when paramedics found him. Max died a week later at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego.
Dina Shacknai and the boy's father, Jonah Shacknai, a pharmaceutical company executive and multimillionaire, divorced in 2009, she said. She said they kept their relationship amicable, for the sake of their son.
"We believed in co-parenting and wanted the best for Maxie," Dina Shacknai said.
Timeline of events in the Spreckels mansion deaths
She said Max was visiting his father, spending time at the mansion to be with his two step-siblings, Jonah Shacknai's two children from a separate marriage. The older siblings, however, were not at the mansion at the time of Max's fall, she said.
She said the terrible set of events continue to shock and horrify her to this day.
Max Shacknai
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.
Shacknai hired two independent experts to review the Coronado police's findings.
“Things just didn’t add up to me," she said. “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.
Melinek said there is the possibility of a scenario in which Max was assaulted, leading to his fall from the balcony. Here's the investigator's take:
"The perpetrator injured [Max's] face and shoulder and Max then was pushed against or backed into the second-story railing, causing the pattern(ed) injuries along his back."
"He was then either lifted over the banister or escaped over the banister, falling down to the front entry way..." causing further injury to his back.
"He landed on the top of his head and collapsed with his legs following, rather than with his legs first and his face second."
Jonah Shacknai also 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 separate investigation. According to NBC News, the family appeared on two episodes of the afternoon television show "Dr. Phil" in November to talk about the case.
For more, view NBCSanDiego.com's report on mansion death investigation
A spokeswoman for the Coronado police said the department will review information presented by Dina Shacknai's investigators.
“They provided the information, we told them we would look at it. We don’t even know what we’re looking at at this point,” Lea Corbin, spokeswoman for the Coronado Police Department, told NBC News.
Attempts to contact Jonah Shacknai were unsuccessful on Thursday. A telephone call to his lawyer's office was not returned.
'He was a gift'
A year later, Dina Shacknai said she is still filled with grief.
"He was such a beautiful, generous child and we donated his organs; his liver saved an infant and his kidneys went to two adults," she said.
"He was a gift to us and gift to all of us. I was the luckiest mom in all the universe," said Dina Shacknai as she fought back tears during a telephone interview from Arizona.
She said she misses her son's bright smile, and his voice.
"Every time I saw Maxie, I felt I had won the lottery. He was the best," she said. "It is a terrible thing to now know what happened to someone you love. He deserves justice."
View more videos at: http://nbcsandiego.com.
NBCSanDiego.com contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
There is something so terribly wrong with this entire story. That poor little boy obviously died a traumatic death and I find it hard to believe someone could tie their wrists and ankles then hang themself. Nothing adds up here ... I hope investigators get the truth.
ZONIES causing trouble in San Diego...they flock here every summer and flood the town with ZONIE kinda behaviour and trouble.....watch out, the ZONIES are coming to a beach near you!!
I believe he was playing rough around the staircase with noone supervising him, he fell, got a concussion, got the wind knocked out of him and he died. The babysitter on the other hand I believe was murdered. The San Diego sheriff's dept. did a terrible job on the case concerning her. It's laughable if it wasn't so seriously sad and deplorable.
She was his step-mother. It's an odd coincidence. I'm inclined to think she caused his death then killed herself out of guilt...but nude? And I read that her hands were tied, as well.
The women home with the boy was the boy's fathers girlfriend.
I don't buy for one minute that the girlfriend killed her boyfriend's son, whom she loved as a son. I do however believe the girlfriend Rebecca Zahau was murdered. I hope they re-open the case!
The details of both deaths are very strange. The little boy was with his step mom to be, and her younger sister. before step mom to be died a criptic message was painter inside the bedroom door. the door was repainted and the house was sold. When her body was discovered, the dads brother (who was staying in the guest house) cut her down destroying evidence.
with the boy falling head first....i do suspect someone lifted him over. even if he was playing on the banister...he still should have fallen side or legs first.
The California Attorney General's name is KAMALA Harris, not Kama Harris.
And some people named Jonathan go by John, some people named Marcus go by Mark, some people named Michael go by Mike, etc. Of all the things to take away from this story, that's your point of concern?
If he had injuries to his back that are under the back injuries he received when he hit the floor sounds more like someone pushed or threw him into the bannister.
Their reasoning that she tied her ankles, then her wrists, then took one hand out, put her arms behind her back and put her hand back in, then tightened the noose sounds quite implausible.
Yea, he was such a small little guy too... rage and adrenaline can be a deadly mix. The strength it induces. If it did happen the way Dina's investigators say, how do we really know RZ caused it? Maybe someone else was in the house. I thought the guy from Diggity Dog who picked up the dog the day before RZ was found said he saw another woman at the mansion as he was leaving the driveway. Of course that doesn't mean anything, but I'm just saying.
Gimme a break! BOTH these people died accidentally under the same roof - NO WAY!! And were not talking heart attack or carbon monoxide poisoning, we're talking violent deaths. These are murders. Although the kid is a tougher one to understand without the forensic evidence in front of you, nobody who commits suicide is found hanged with their feet and hands bound together. The Coronado Police are either lazy, stupid, or being bribed.
Bribed.....Wealthy people think we little people are ignorant. The news is biased also....always have been. Money buys you anything you want. Perhaps the little boy was playing and then the other child he was playing with was jealous of him...when my grandson use to live with us..he went to visit his other grandmother where his stepsister lived that was 4 years old than him..he came home one day with a red hand mark on his face...which turned to a bruise...their excuse was...they were just playing...yea right...his sister hurt him every time he went there...the real problem here is he had aphasia and had to use sign lanquage to tell me what happened to him...there is a lot of jealousy amongst kids..I think the kid was murdered by the girlfriends sister and the girlfriend was murdered by the childs father...but only an idiot would say it was suicide...or someone that just came into a lot of money.
I know one thing. If the house wasn't haunted before, it is now. A death of a child and a suicide, bad karma in that house:/
Karma is the debt humans accumulate. It has nothing to do with ghosts. Please, learn the definition of karma.
Even still now there going to be alot of bad energy in that house now
Well it looks like someone accumulated a lot of debt and that is like Dee Ree said....Bad Karma.
Then the debt would be accumulated by a person and not a house. So Karma still doesn't apply here.
And this is so at least one murder or a death someone felt guilty for thus causing the 2nd death. I want to follow this store to the end.
That was not the babysitter that hung herself, it was the man's girlfriend. I think she did it due to jealousy or money (I'm sure he was paying out a large monthly child support). And yes you can tie your hands and feet people - tie your feet, put the noose .... then tie your hands. Hands might be tied a little sloppy but could be done. What better way for her to bring suspicion on the boy's father. So sorry about this little boy.
have you done that trick lately ? I would like to see it.
It has been done in other suicides so therefore it is possible.
Or the other "suicides" to which you refer should have been more thoroughly investigated.
If you decide to commit suicide, why would you tie your hands and feet at all? You've made the decision to hang yourself already.
Well if I was going to hang myself and was serious about it, I would also bind my own hands and feet so that in my last throes when last my survival instinct tries to save myself there wont be a damn thing I could do about it. It's just further insurance against failure. Horrible thought, but the truth. Thats not to say she wasnt murdered, just that suicide is still plausible... gosh how awful
That could be true, many people who have hanged themselves have been found with a finger or thumb under the rope. That last second try to change your mind thing that usually doesn't work. ie: Kennedy.
Someone wanted these cases to be closed and quickly. No way was either of these an accident.
yep.
I think that the father got himself into a bad situation, someone threatened to harm the boy, when that didn't work they went after the girlfriend....not more far fetched than the police report hmm..
This case show that if you have enough money, that it will keep you out of jail for a long time.
This case stinks to high heaven.
This is worse than Drew Peterson - there you had a homicide ruled an accident. Here you have a double homicide ruled a double suicide.
This case was swept under the rug so quick it makes one question who is being paid off here. I say the girlfriend was in a scuffle with the boy and he accidently went over the rail. She phones the boys multimillionaire father and trys to explain it to him. He is outraged and had her killed for what happened to his boy. He paid off everyone else involed to keep it hush-hush. I never seen a case of this magnitude closed so quick in my entire life, and folks this isn't some back hills country town this is San Diego, come on notice how no one can ever seem to reach the father, and why hasn't the father questioned this more so....think people think.
Another: I agree: I think the girlfriend was somehow involved with the little boy's death & her 'suicide' was payback time. The father apparently has plenty of 'hush' money.......and yes the case was closed way too quickly-good for the mom-I hope the truth comes out......
Another....to the "story" you present, i would agree.
Surely something that needs independent investigators.
If it doesn't make sense, it is probably a lie.
Kids that age are still top heavy. But that does not explain the bruise on his back.
I hope she stays with this investigation.
It doesn't make sense that a depressed woman would hang herself. That's not a characteristic method for a woman to chose - apart from the problems of being found with bound hands and feet. And if she did decide to hang herself, it wouldn't be naked, and in a central place. If she was involved with the child's death, and was overwhelmed, she likely would have picked another method, like pills, and chosen a less visually spectacular place.
But I also don't think that the Kennedy wife killed herself in a barn - out of sight of surveillance cameras.
Is it hunting season on inconvenient girlfriends and ex-wives?
What an adorable little boy. When I first read about this last year, I thought something sounded fishy. Hanging yourself nude is usually a sign of guilt. So that was a clue. And there were too many things about the accident that did not seem right. The woman did kill herself - the evidence seems to prove that and you can find it all on the San Diego Sheriff's Office site. I hope this Mother finds out what happened to her little boy. To me, there is nothing worse than someone hurting a child.
Zahau's younger sister who was 13 was at the house that day. She said they were in their rooms when Max fell which means he was all alone. The kids could have had an altercation. Due to the marks on his back it's unlikely that he toppled over the railing. He did have to be lifted up and pushed. Rebecca wouldn't do this to Max because it would end her life as she knew it among other reasons. But she might kill herself to keep the secret of who did it.
I don't know the facts in either case, any more than the rest of you. But think for a second. Something led the police to conclude the woman's death was a suicide. It would be easy to tie your feet and put on a noose. Difficult to securely tie your hands. So maybe they found the hands were tied in a manner she could have easily slipped out of. Is it more plausible she was attacked, tied up, and with her hands easily removable chose to leave them behind her back as she was being hanged or is it more plausible she committed suicide? Again, that is speculation, something popular on here I see.
As for the boy, maybe she felt guilty because she had something to do with it. Maybe she felt guilty because she felt she felt responsible for not keeping a closer eye. Maybe she was depressed and grief took her over the edge. Maybe a hell of a lot of things we will probably never know.
Coranado police cheif says he doesn't know what they are looking at. This tells me he was either paid off or is totally incompenent for his job.
I think the girlfriend knew who killed the little boy and somone was afraid she would talk..so they killed her as well. This whole case is so strange. I can't believe the women hung herself. Especially when Jonah Shacknai brother knew how to tie the kind of knots that were in her hanging rope...very strange. Of course when you have money you can make things go away. I really hope karma comes around on this one and justice will be served
Sounds like a bitter mom
Sounds like the makings for a damn good scarry movie to me. And good luck selling that house to anyone besides Steven King!
There are way too many details left out of this report for us to even begin to reach any kind of explaination as to what may have caused the deaths of the boy and the girlfriend. For instance who else if anyone was there at the time of these two deaths. It took me a while because most other articles were just as vague but I found some startling facts from a local news source there.
First, there is the fact that the boys uncle, Adam, his father's brother, was also staying there at the mansion and was there that at the time.
Then I learned that the girlfriend's little 13 year old sister was there also.
There was also a note of some kind written in black paint on the balcony door which police said was not "not a clear suicide note." A strange choice of medium for a woman. Why not lipstick or a marker? Paint?
And also that the girlfriend's body was actually found on the lawn! The uncle said he had cut her down before he called police. And he just let her fall to the ground?
Also, the rope that she supposedly used was taken from the garage and police found "mixed DNA" on it. I guess this woman knew her way around a garage and knew where such things would be. I for one have no reason to explore my garage since it's my husband's domain. All I do is drive the car in and out! I wouldn't know where he keeps a rake, extension cord OR a rope. I bet a mansion's garage is way bigger than mine with a lot more storage. Just a little something that occurred to me.
Then there is the phone message from the boy's father informing her of the boy's worsening condition and imminet death. Police said it was about the time she "decided to kill herself". That's assuming that she actually DID kill herself.
Or there is the scenario of her confronting the person she knew injured the boy who was threatening her to keep her quiet, or the fact that the person that injured the boy also received a message and knew the boy was going to die. It would be necessary to eliminate the only other person who knew something about what really happened and knew that she would be questioned by authorities in more depth once the boy died.
How the police could have reached their conclusions with such information is questionable. But then I couldn't find any articles or reports showing they had questioned or received statements from the others who were there when the boy or the woman died.
I agree that these parents should have a private investigation. They can afford it and most other parents would do the same if they could.
My hypothesis: Dina is jealous of Rebecca Z. Quite possibly, J. Shacknai was responsible for the death of his son Max and Rebecca found out about it and so she too was murdered. Jonah Shacknai probably paid off the San Diego Sheriff's so that he is not held responsible.
come on people... the boy dead might be accident or it might not. It sounded like it is not to me since there were bruises on his back and as for the g-friend who supposedly hung herself naked and tied up...don't think so, women who usually committed suicide usually tends not to go the messy route, they tends to worry more on their appearance so I would not think they will commited suicide naked... that is my opinion....Hope they found who did these hiddious crimes to these inocent people
My hypothesis: Dina is jealous of Rebecca Z. Quite possibly, J. Shacknai was responsible for the death of his son Max and Rebecca found out about it and so she too was murdered. Jonah Shacknai probably paid off the San Diego Sheriff's so that he is not held responsible.