Rebecca Zahau's Death Might Be Homicide, Dr. Cyril Wecht Says On 'Dr. Phil'

A woman found naked, bound and hanging in her boyfriend's Southern California mansion might have been murdered, according to a prominent pathologist.

That inconclusive finding contradicts the investigations of two police departments and a medical examiner who ruled that Rebecca Zahau killed herself in July just days after her lover's son was seriously injured in a fall while she was babysitting him in Coronado, Calif., according to CBS News.

Dr. Cyril Wecht revealed his grisly hypothesis to Zahau's family on the "Dr. Phil" talkshow on Tuesday.

The family had Zahau's body exhumed from her Missouri grave and flown to Wecht for a second autopsy in Pittsburgh, because they disagreed with the official reports that called the death a suicide.

Wecht disputed the original postmortem, saying that he found evidence of blunt trauma to Zahau's head, which could have been caused by an attacker "Good Morning America" reports.

He also doubted that Zahau, 32, hanged herself, because her neck wasn't fractured.

The evidence was suspicious, Wecht says, leading him to say he'd change the cause of death from suicide to undetermined on the death certificate, according to "Good Morning America."

The San Diego County Medical Examiner interpreted the head injuries differently, saying that they were "relatively minor," according to TV station KFMB.

San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore chided Wecht and the Zahau family's attorney for allegedly misrepresenting the investigation on Dr. Phil McGraw's program and urged them to share new evidence, if they found any, KFMB said. For now, he considers the case closed.

The tragedy unfolded in July at the home of Zahau's boyfriend Jonah Shacknai. Zahau was looking after Shacknai's six-year-old son, Max, when he fell down the stairs and slipped into a coma. Two days later, Jonah Shacknai's brother discovered Zahua's limp body hanging from a balcony in the suburban San Diego palatial home. Her mouth was gagged with a t-shirt and her hands were tied behind her back. Her ankles were also bound together. Days later, Max died from his injuries.

But family members didn't believe that Zahau was depressed and were vexed by a cryptic message scrawled on a bedroom wall that said "She saved him. Can you save her," according to "Good Morning America."

The "Dr. Phil" show helped fund the exhumation and had heavily publicized that it would air the results.

PHOTOS FROM THE CONTROVERSIAL CASE:

CORRECTION: An earlier version misstated the timeline of Rebecca Zahau and Max Shacknai's deaths. Zahau died two days after Shacknai suffered serious injuries from a fall, but he was still alive at the time of her body was found.

Comments

[Nerdiac]

11:26 PM on 12/17/2011

I hope this woman and her family get justice. I knew this much all along, it's so sad that her family is having to go through all this these many months later. Money talks.

[jnoodleno]

03:38 AM on 12/10/2011

she "saved" him from a bad relationship, now she wonders if he can save her (if he could and if he wanted to) and she knows the answer is "no". She looked at the starkness of that reality and decided she was done. She had known and felt for a long time that his love for her had waned and she was fast becoming a burden and now, with everything that happened? This was the last straw. She knew he was done with her...had been for a long time. The reality, the desperation, the feelings of guilt over the boy, whether he lived or died, she couldn't live with it, she was done. Nothing in the house belonged to her, she brought nothing with her, she would take nothing, and so she jumped from the balcony, naked.

[Gizmo9]

08:35 PM on 12/13/2011

Do you hallucinate often?

[ckellogg]

11:49 PM on 12/17/2011

Romance does not belong in murder investigations. We need facts not fiction. I thought the same as you originally, but stop to think about the facts and very odd circumstances surrounding Rebecca's death. There has to be someone else involved.

[Denisehh3]

12:03 AM on 12/24/2011

@ckellog.......The FACTS all point to the killer in this case........this has nothing to do with romance.......

[jj johnson100]

02:58 AM on 12/01/2011

@ dbrett480, for the 4th time, answer the question!

Why did Sheriff Gore lie to the Zahau family about Adam's lie detector results? Gore called up Mary Zahau and told him that Adam "passed with flying colors," when the POLYGRAPHER, the EXPERT, said the results were INCONCLUSIVE and, as a POLYGRAPH EXPERT, he recommended a 2nd test? Why did Sheriff Gore to follow the EXPERT advice in this instance? Why did Sheriff Gore proceed to tell the Zahau and the public all these big fat lies????

[dbrett480]

06:17 PM on 12/01/2011

I have no idea. I don't know Sheriff Gore. However, he is under no obligation to divulge ANY information to them.

BTW; lie detector results are notoriously unreliable and have been successfully challenged many times in court. Most detectives don't seriously consider them to be an accurate test. Anyone can pass the test if they believe the answer to be true.

[Denisehh3]

09:43 PM on 12/01/2011

@ dbrett480......BTW.......why is it that Gore did not go with the Polygraph Experts advice on the second polygraph?

[jj johnson100]

01:05 AM on 12/02/2011

LOL.

Well, your response was most certainly satisfactory...

Not reliable? When used on the general UNTRAINED public, it is fairly reliable... maybe not 99%, but in the high 90%, and that is why SDSO under Sheriff Gore keeps a full-time EXPERT POLYGRAPHER on their payroll.

[dbrett480]

09:10 PM on 12/02/2011

Polygraphs have been successfully challenged on many occassions. The issue is that if you truly believe you didn't do anything, then you will get a negative result. You will also get a positive result if you are incredibly nervous about certain lines of questioning.

[Denisehh3]

11:20 PM on 11/30/2011

Obviously the overwhelming facts in this case point to an inaccuracy of the ruling in this particular case.......this was no suicide........this case was beyond a doubt ........"Vigilante Justice".........It is obvious this crime scene was staged.........How do you all sleep at night as this case weighs on your consciences?........Eventually time will tell........and Justice will prevail.......sooner or later......

[dbrett480]

06:18 PM on 12/01/2011

So everything was staged, including the suicide? Does this include convincing Zahau to cut the ropes, tie her hands behind her back, and fall over the balcony?

[Denisehh3]

08:09 PM on 12/01/2011

@dbrett480......Actually you have read my numerous opinions on this case based on the facts........and I do think the Homicide was staged to appear as if a Suicide........the perpetrator obviously fixated on intricate knot tying tied Rebecca up ........and most likely did so after she was rendered incapacitated, with multiple blows to her head and ........strangled.......the perpetrator/perpetrators carried her to the balcony.......and placed her over the balcony........she did not fall over the balcony.........

The brother claims to have cut Rebecca down........it is very odd how he expresses himself during the 911 call........very odd......

[dbrett480]

06:48 PM on 11/30/2011

The Sheriff's web site has a very informative section that answers every "challenge" that is presented by those that believe in some homicide/bribery conspiracy theory. http://sdsheriff.net/coronado/faq.html

[jj johnson100]

09:57 PM on 11/30/2011

Oh really? Then why did Sheriff Gore lie to the Zahau family about Adam's lie detector results? Gore called up Mary Zahau and told him that Adam "passed with flying colors," when the polygrapher said the results were inconclusive and he, as the polygrapher, recommended a 2nd test.

Also, why did Gore and his SDSO cronies refuse to speak with any member of the Zahau family during their "investigation." SDSO called the Zahau once only to notify them of their suicide ruling. Wouldn't you want to speak to the family of the victim during the investigation to understand her state of mind hours before her supposed suicide? In fact, it's STANDARD PROCEDURE!

[dbrett480]

12:38 AM on 12/01/2011

The investigators did speak with them. It is in the investigative report.

[jj johnson100]

02:51 PM on 11/30/2011

@ dbrett480, I like how you come on this site and confuse people that the suicide ruling is based on the facts. What people in here are disputing is the CONCLUSIONS drawn from all the evidences, facts, circumstances and motives.

You are like the Conrad Murray-equivalent of a police officer. Both of you are black. Both of you cherry-pick and distort evidences to arrive at your desired conclusions. For Murray, it was the conclusion that MJ killed himself. For you, it's the conclusion Rebecca Zahau somehow killed herself, despite the fact that it would have been IMPOSSIBLE for her to do so given the TOTALITY of evidences and facts in the case.

I'm willing to bet Jonah Shacknai's left nut that Murray's MCAT score was well below the national average of those accepted into US medical schools, as I'm sure your police score was well below the average of your peers.

[dbrett480]

06:45 PM on 11/30/2011

Look at the facts and the evidence. They show that the exact opposite. It would have been impossible for this to be a murder. http://sdsheriff.net/coronado/

[jj johnson100]

10:06 PM on 11/30/2011

"impossible for this to be a murder?????" LOL.

You've lost this one! The overwhelming amounts of evidences that suggest homicide has made you so desperate that you now have to resort to making LUDICROUS and UNINTELLIGENT statements about the case.

Like I said, you've lost this one. Your comments are clearly suspect to any reasonably intelligent person reading this comment section.

[csmomo]

08:49 AM on 11/29/2011

MAY HAVE BEEN MURDER???
They find a woman hanging from a balcony with both hands tied behind her
in intricate knots and they think --hmmm--know what? This COULD BE MURDER!
Brilliant deduction, Sherlock--I would never have thought of that!

[cmfrtblebbw]

09:42 PM on 11/28/2011

MIGHT have been homicide? Might......really? Like it might rain during a hurricane. Might be a windy tornado? Tsunamis might be wet.

Yea, she MIGHT have been murdered. eyeroll.

[jj johnson100]

01:41 AM on 11/28/2011

@ dbrett480, I would like apologize for some of the racial jokes I made earlier. I think you're either completely incompetent or you have your motives for defending SDSO, the suicide ruling and the Shacknai's.

[octopusia7]

11:42 AM on 11/27/2011

Two police departments and medical examiner, and LOTS OF MONEY to rule that Rebecca committed suicide with mouth gagged with a t-shirt, her hands were tied behind her back, Her ankles were also bound together, how can she hang herself from a balcony with NO HANDS TO PUT THE ROBE AROUND HER OWN NECK and with NO FEET to walk to the balcony? This is a COLD CASE, must be REOPENED, and re-investigated. STOP the rich, the TWO POLICE DEPARTMENT and the medical examiner to be involved in the COLD CASE ? what kind of police forces are these ? What kind of person is the medical examiner ? It is INCREDIBLE that these evidences can be ruled A SUICIDE. Brazenly, this is a rule of the RICH and INFLUENTIAL.

[dbrett480]

10:33 PM on 11/27/2011

First off, it was one police department and the sheriff's department that were involved. You have absolutely no evidence that shows money was involved, nor do you have any idea how crimes are investigated.

Secondly, the sheriff's department has been incredibly open in how they demonstrated Ms. Zahau's ability to commit suicide with her hands tied behind her back. Also you do not need to walk to the balcony, it is pretty easy to hop (which explains the close together foot prints found on the balcony). Also the Sheriff's department has no problem going after the rich and influential, but there has to be probable cause. All you see is individual bits of evidence and the fact that a rich person was involved.

[jj johnson100]

11:17 PM on 11/27/2011

So now it's "one police department and the sheriff's department" that was involved? At least you're NOT selling that utter BS of 4 law enforcement agencies independently investigated this case... even though you admit later that Coronado didn't have the capacity to carry out a full and thorough investigation. But really, it was SDSO that conducted this "investigation," and they just slapped on the names of 3 other departments to make their findings appear more legitimate.

That video of the TRAINED officer tying herself in that complicated knot IN THE FRONT was a joke by the way. SDSO never looked into how Rebecca ACQUIRED those knot tying skills or where she even got those cords that she supposedly hung herself with. There goes your full and thorough investigation by your revered experts!

Also, Adam did not pass the lie detector test. In fact, your SDSO polygrapher said the results were "inconclusive" and he recommended a 2nd test... so you tell me why Sheriff Gore calls up the Zahau's to tell them Adam passed "with flying colors?" Why is he such a liar and why do you keep defending his lies?

[jj johnson100]

11:54 PM on 11/27/2011

No probable cause? Are you really that incompetent?

Of course there was probable cause. Max died and the Shacknai's blame Rebecca for it. Just read the comments coming out of Nina Romano, as I'm sure her views reflect the views of Dina and Jonah. They COMPLETELY blame Rebecca for Max's death. That gives them MOTIVE.... that gives SDSO PROBABLE CAUSE to at least take their FINGERPRINTS! Instead, they have Xena fly back for fingerprinting when she wasn't even in California during the time of Rebecca's murder!

[Denisehh3]

06:43 PM on 11/26/2011

@ dbrett480........Obviously you are being paid overtime as a PR associate, in an effort to attempt to discredit the........findings......and the cruical facts......in this case.......I will listen to Mr. Wecht's input regarding this case, and definitely dismiss your input........

[jj johnson100]

09:47 PM on 11/25/2011

dbrett480, you're either an incompetent product of affirmative action initiative on the force, harbor deep resentment towards asians or both. Asians have been in this country for less than a hundred years and have achieved impressive levels of success, instead of roaming around like mindless apes in the desert. I can see why a black SDSO police officer like yourself would resent someone like Rebecca.

The plethora of evidences almost certainly points to murder. Again, if you truly believe this is a suicide, you're either an incompetent member of law enforcement with below average test scores, who got in because of the department's need to increase diversity at the expense of competency... and you mostly likely harbor deep hatred towards people of asian descent

[moroccantreasures]

08:28 PM on 11/24/2011

That is a mansion? I dont think so!
Who gags themselves ties themselves up when they commit suicide? Sounds like a scary movie with a creepy and smart murderer!

[dbrett480]

12:59 AM on 11/24/2011

It's amazing how many people will ignore mountains of scientific evidence, expert testimony, and tons of hours of investigation simply because a single pathologist states otherwise during sweeps-week on a tabloid show.

[Denisehh3]

08:45 PM on 11/24/2011

@ dbrett40........I'm inclined to contemplate the blatant disregard for crucial "Facts" that were ignored in this Investigation........as well as the rush to close the case and seal the deal ........right about now, this particular protocol appears quite suspicious.........to say the least.......

Seems to me you are definitely in the wrong line of work.......as well.......

[dbrett480]

01:26 AM on 11/25/2011

Rush to seal the deal? 2 months is the longest I have ever heard of for a suicide investigation (and for many homicide investigations).

My line of work deals with analyzing an overwhelming amount of evidence. That is what the detectives did here. The pathologist paid by the family picked and chose elements from the medical examiners' report to prove his point and ignored the totality of the circumstances.

[Denisehh3]

10:03 PM on 11/24/2011

@dbrett480........You underestimate Dr. Wecht's findings, yet he is a revered EXPERT in his field........you.......whoever you may claim to be.......are no expert in your field........you should seriously turn it down a notch or two........

[dbrett480]

01:23 AM on 11/25/2011

You can find a revered expert in any field to say anything on television. How else do you think the climate change deniers get on Fox News?

[Denisehh3]

06:02 PM on 11/23/2011

The Hand Painted Message on the wall "sarcastic in tone" mocks the victim........this message seals the deal on this Premeditated Homicide ........it is a crucial piece of this puzzle..........this case is undeniably "Vigilante Justice".......considering the unusal circumstances surrounding the young child's fall.........the brothers tone is "sarcastic".......and somewhat odd as he describes Rebecca as he relays the information when he calls 911..........the perpetrator experienced with knot tying, wore gloves........is his DNA found at the scene?........If not, why so?...............

I am inclined to speculate that Rebecca's fate was as a result of the fact that the innocent, childs prognosis was that he would die of his injuries.........thus she was killed prior to the child's imminent death..........