Rebecca Zahau

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

San Diego County Sheriffs Office (CA)

Death Location:

Coronado, California

Summary:

Rebecca Mawii Zahau (March 15, 1979 – July 13, 2011), also known as Rebecca Nalepa, was a Burmese American woman who was found hanging at the beach house home of her boyfriend in Coronado, California, United States, on July 13, 2011. San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore announced on September 2, 2011, that Zahau's death was a suicide while the younger Shacknai's death had been ruled an accident, and that neither was the result of foul play. However, in April 2018, having heard evidence which only had to meet the less stringent standards of a civil case, the jury in that civil trial found Adam Shacknai responsible for Zahau's death and awarded the Zahau family a judgment totaling $5.2 million.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Death:

On July 11, 2011, Zahau, Max, and Zahau's teenaged sister, Xena, were at the Ocean Boulevard Beach House Mansion (built for John D. Spreckels and referred to in coverage as the Spreckels Mansion) in Coronado, California. At some point during that day, Max fell face-first over a second-floor banister, suffering injuries to his spinal cord and facial bones. Zahau said she was in the bathroom at the time; she found Max moments later, and Xena called 9-1-1. He died on July 16 due to brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation resulting from his injuries. On July 12, 2011, Zahau dropped off Xena at the airport for her flight back to Missouri, and then picked up Jonah Shacknai's brother, Adam, who had just arrived on a flight from Memphis, Tennessee. On the morning of July 13, at roughly 6:45 a.m., Adam stated that he found Zahau's nude body hanging from a balcony, with her wrists and ankles bound and her hands behind her back. He called 9-1-1 at 6:48 a.m., then sent a text message to his brother to inform him of the news. Zahau's hands were bound behind her back with rope, her ankles were tied together, a T-shirt was stuffed in her mouth, and the cryptic message "She saved him, can you save her" was painted in black letters on a white door in her guest house bedroom. The autopsy report revealed there were hemorrhages under Zahau's scalp, tape residue and blood on her legs, and the T-shirt that was wrapped around Zahau's neck had been partially stuffed in her mouth. The T-shirt wrapped three times around her neck. Tied to a bed with neat slip knots and square knots.

Additional Details:

Members of Zahau's family disputed this finding and filed a US$10 million wrongful death lawsuit against numerous named and unnamed defendants, before reducing their focus to Jonah Shacknai's brother Adam. In April 2018, having heard evidence which only had to meet the less stringent standards of a civil case, the jury in that civil trial found Adam Shacknai responsible for Zahau's death and awarded the Zahau family a judgment totaling $5.2 million. In February 2019, prior to final arguments in Shacknai's appeal being presented to the judge, the Zahau family chose to enter a settlement for $0.6 million judgment, resulting in the civil case being dismissed with prejudice and vacating the original $5.2 million judgment. Within two weeks of the conclusion of the civil trial, the San Diego County Sheriff's Office began a review of its investigation and resubmitted to the County of San Diego Medical Examiner's Department for it to further review. After an attorney for the Zahau family requested a review of Rebecca's death in 2022, staff pathologists and a medical examiner who originally worked on the case reviewed it again. In September of 2023, Chief Medical Examiner Steven Campman issued a letter that stated, "After reviewing the totality of the evidence, the conclusion of this office has not changed." On September 19, 2011, it was reported that local Coronado author Kathleen McKenna would be writing a book on the case; McKenna expressed doubts that Zahau's death was a suicide. Family members and people close to Zahau expressed doubt that her death was suicide. Family members disputed police characterizations of Zahau as depressed, describing her instead as a happy person. Furthermore, they state that Zahau believed as a Christian that suicide was wrong. On September 7, the family launched the website JusticeForRebecca.org, seeking donations to fund their own investigation into Zahau's death. The family of Rebecca Zahau announced new information regarding the 2011 case and a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the man found liable for her death.

Case Last Updated:

May 11, 2026