Rebecca Zahau Was Discovered Hanging From Her Boyfriend's Balcony, Bound, and Gagged

The 32-year-old Rebecca Zahau was discovered hanging from a balcony at her boyfriend's California house on July 13, 2011. Except for the fact that Zahau was discovered gagged, chained, and naked, it seemed to be a suicide.

Zahau's cause of death has been hotly debated in the years thereafter. According to Californian authorities, her shame drove her to take her own life. Her six-year-old boyfriend's kid tragically fell to his death while in her care, only a few days before she passed away. However, Zahau's family feels she was killed.

Her bounds, a bloody knife discovered at the site, and an ominous note placed on a door that says, "She saved him, can you save her," are among the disquieting details surrounding her death that they point to.

The 32-year-old Rebecca Zahau was discovered hanging from a balcony at her boyfriend's house, gagged, and tied. This is what is known about her.

Rebecca Zahau: Who Was She?

According to Oxygen, Rebecca Mawii Zahau arrived in the United States by means of Nepal and Germany after leaving her birthplace of Falam, Myanmar, on March 15, 1979.

She began dating wealthy Jonah Shacknai, the founder of Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation, in the early part of 2009. Zahau ultimately left her career to assist Jonah in raising his three children from his two prior marriages, notably his youngest son Max.

On July 11, 2011, Zahau was watching Max. But that day, when Zahau was in the bathroom , the six-year-old kid tumbled over a second-floor railing and onto the ground below. Max was taken to the hospital immediately, but things didn't get better for him.

On July 13, around midnight, Jonah called to inform Zahau that things had become worse. Jonah was unable to get through to her, but at approximately 12:30 a.m., he left her a message, according to ABC News.

Rebecca Zahau's Strange Suicide

While residing at the property on July 13, 2011, Rebecca Zahau was discovered hanging by her neck from a balcony by Jonah's brother Adam Shacknai. At 6:48 a.m., Adam dialled 911, took a kitchen knife, cut her down, and started CPR. However, Zahau, 32, had passed away.

Nonetheless, there is still debate on the cause of her passing.

Zahau's wrists were wrapped around her back and her ankles were shackled together when Adam Shacknai discovered her body. A t-shirt that had been twisted around her neck three times was used to choke her. Unsettlingly, investigators also discovered haemorrhages on the side of her head that may have resulted from an attack to her and blood and tape residue on her legs. In addition, they discovered a knife that had Zahau's menstrual blood all over the handle.

And there was the note on the bedroom door after that. It said, "She saved him, can you save her," scrawled in block letters with black paint.

Although the significance of the message was unknown, officials surmised it had something to do with Max Shacknai's fall. Nevertheless, black paint was discovered on Zahua's corpse in other places. Her right hand, left breast, right nipple, right upper chest, right upper index finger, and neck were also discovered to have paint on them. Zahau's fingerprint was also discovered on the paint cap, but the identity of the writer could not be ascertained by handwriting specialists.

To the dismay of Rebecca Zahau's relatives, however, detectives found that the 32-year-old had committed suicide. Her relatives are convinced that's not how things ended.

Mary Zahau-Loehner, Zahau's sister, told ABC News that "nothing adds up."

"[Rebecca] had two detailed plans for the next day: to take things for Jonah [at the hospital] and to fix something for him to eat," she said in an interview with the San Diego Reader. She instructed me to inform our mother that she would give her a call in the morning while en route to the hospital. that she would send me texts all day long. I mean, is it someone preparing to take her own life?

Regarding Zahau being discovered in her undies? According to Zahau-Loehner, "No." Absolutely not. She wouldn't do it. We had a basic upbringing. Although she had a nice wardrobe, she wasn't the kind to approach people and say, "Hey! Look at me!"

For this reason, why do detectives believe Rebecca Zahau killed herself?

Is It Murder or Suicide? The Evidence Is Here

Even though Rebecca Zahau's murder appears strange, the investigators continue to believe that she killed herself, most likely due to guilt.

Lieutenant Rich Williams of the sheriff department's homicide unit stated, "We're confident that the initial investigation was handled properly, and we're confident in the science behind our conclusions, the evidence, the evidence collection, and the work of the lab," Oxygen reported. "After a thorough and comprehensive review of all of the existing evidence and searching for potential new evidence." "Everything points towards a suicide."

Zahau allegedly tied her own wrists and feet before plunging face first over the balcony, according to the authorities. Before the entire length of that rope was reached, she "slid down the wall, breaking the foliage, as well as leaving marks on the wall, and did, in fact, hang herself," San Diego County Medical Examiner Dr. Glenn Wagner stated during a news conference.

In fact, the police staged a reenactment to demonstrate Zahau's ability to tie herself. They showed a woman how to encircle her hands with a rope in front of her, remove one hand from the binding, and then put her hands back behind her back and tie them again.

Strange as it may seem, suicidal individuals have been known to bind themselves in order to prevent themselves from changing their minds, according to a 2011 news conference from the police.

Zahau's boyfriend agrees that it's probably what happened.

"My only thought is that Rebecca witnessed the events and felt accountable for them, even though she didn't do anything," Jonah said to ABC News. "And it was just too much to handle."

Yet, a lot of people feel that too many questions—including those pertaining to Rebecca Zahau's family—remained unanswered by the police inquiry into her death. They brought a wrongful death lawsuit against Adam Shacknai in 2013.

“Finding the truth is essential”, Zahau-Loehner said to ABC News. "That people realise my sister did not kill herself."

Has Adam Shacknai murdered Rebecca Zahau?

A civil jury awarded Zahau's family five million dollars in 2018 after finding Adam Shacknai responsible for her death; the family and Adam's insurance company eventually reached a settlement of $600,000. Even though Adam has consistently insisted on his innocence, some people think he could have been involved in Zahau's demise.

To begin with, he was capable to. When Zahau passed away, Adam was the sole other occupant of the home. Furthermore, he was a tugboat captain, and it has been suggested (though not proven) that only a person versed in maritime law could have bound Zahau with such complex knots.

After Max's accident, may Adam have killed Rebecca Zahau out of sadness or anger? Maybe, but he disputes that. Additionally, detectives insist that Zahau committed suicide.

Sheriff Bill Gore of San Diego County remarked, "Was Rebecca's death a homicide?.. The response is negative. It was an act of suicide.

However, Rebecca Zahau's death is still a disturbing mystery to many.

Thank you for reading! See you in the comments! :) Do you think it was a murder or a suicide?