Rebecca Zahau: The Coronado Mansion Death Ruled Suicide

From the beginning, the investigation into Rebecca’s death has existed in two realities.

Reality One: The Official Conclusion.

The medical examiner rules Rebecca’s death a suicide, and investigators with the sheriff’s department support that finding. They examine the rope, the balcony, the bindings, and the scene. Demonstrations are done to show how someone could, in theory, tie their own wrists and ankles and still position themselves to step off the balcony. Case materials point to Rebecca’s emotional state, including writings that suggest deep distress and guilt after Max’s fall. In later years, when public pressure reignites the case, a review team re-examines the evidence and again concludes there is no proof she died at the hands of another and nothing inconsistent with suicide.

Reality Two: The Public and the Family.

From the moment details leak—naked body, hands tied behind her back, feet bound, gag, black-painted message—many people see a staged tableau, not a self-inflicted death. Critics focus on the restraints and the wording on the door: “She saved him. Can you save her?” It reads like accusation, like a narrative about Max’s fall turned into a twisted test. A book about witchcraft found in the home, with imagery of a nude woman bound, fuels speculation even as investigators insist it’s irrelevant. Questions circle: Is this possible? Maybe. But is it probable? Is it how a person alone, grieving and guilty, behaves—or how a killer dramatizes a crime?

Attention also narrows to who was on the property that night. Jonah is reported to be at the hospital with Max. Adam is staying on the estate, making him, in many accounts, the only other person physically present when Rebecca dies. Witness statements about someone crying “help” near the house add more unease, even though they never become firm evidence.

In 2013, Rebecca’s family files a wrongful death lawsuit. Civil court has a lower burden of proof than criminal court, and in 2018 a jury finds Adam Shacknai liable for battery resulting in Rebecca’s death, awarding damages. Adam denies involvement. Jonah calls the idea that his brother was involved “inconceivable.” The verdict, though not a criminal conviction, reignites public suspicion and forces a fresh review by the sheriff’s department—who again publicly state they find no evidence of homicide.

Those are the pillars: a suicide ruling, a civil jury finding of liability against Adam, and an official law-enforcement review that refuses to change its conclusion. Between those pillars is where the haunting lives. People argue evidence, but they also argue human behavior: whether a grieving woman would create such a symbolic scene, whether a killer would risk leaving such a message, and whether a death that looks like a question mark can ever be fully accepted as an answer.