Rebecca Zahau autopsy report showed that she was murdered, not a suicide. Rebecca Zahau’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the family of her multimillionaire boyfriend, claiming that she was murdered. Rebecca Zahau’s death was ruled a suicide. Rebecca Zahau’s body was found nude and hanging from the balcony of her boyfriend Jonah Shacknai’s mansion. Zahau’s family contends that the 32-year-old California woman was murdered. The wrongful death suit was filed against Shacknai’s ex-wife Dina, Dina’s twin sister Nina Romana and Adam Shacknai, Shacknai’s brother.

Rebecca Zahau's family filed a $10 million wrongful death suit against the family of the Medicis CEO, claiming she was murdered and didn't commit suicide. Rebecca Zahau’s boyfriend, Jonah Shacknai, the multimillionaire founder and CEO of Medicis, wasn't named in the wrongful death suit. According to Radar Online, the family sued because they believe it is the only way to get to the bottoms of Rebecca Zahau’s death. The family has been skeptical since Zahau’s death was ruled a suicide by a medical examiner in July 2011.

A source told Radar Online that the family “had no other choice but to file the lawsuit because it was the only way in which they could ever get answers about how Rebecca died. They don’t accept or believe that Rebecca killed herself. Nothing will stop the family from getting to the bottom of how their beloved Rebecca died.”

When Rebecca Zahau’s family appeared on the “Dr. Phil” show they revealed that “some clues weren’t investigated. The family will have Rebecca Zahau’s body exhumed so a second autopsy can be peformed. The wrongful death suit was filed in federal court in San Diego on Friday. The suit claims that the parties named in the suit were somehow involved in the “murder” or participated in covering up the killing. The Los Angeles Times reports that Zahau’s family is seeking $10 million in damages and the lawsuit also accused Shacknai’s ex-wife Dina, Dina’s twin sister Nina Romana and Adam Shacknai, of “threatening to attack, choke, gag, bound and hang [Zhang] on the premises” of Shacknai’s mansion in Coronada, Calif.

Court papers say that “On July 13, 2011, Rebecca Zahau was found dead, naked, bound and gagged, with a rope noose around her neck. Her cause of death was strangulation, which was caused by either manual strangulation before she was hung, or from being hung with a rope noose around her neck from the second story deck of the Coronado vacation home at which she was staying. The Coroner for the County of San Diego determined that she died on that date. Each of the Defendants named herein participated in some manner in the planning, implementation, execution and subsequent concealment to murder Rebecca Zahau.”

Zahau was living at Shacknai’s mansion with Max, the CEO’s his 6-year-old son. Zahau was taking care of Max after he suffered injuries in a fall. Max died from injuries sustained in the fall two days after Zhou was found naked, bound and hanging from Shacknai’s balcony in the Spreckles Mansion. Max’s death was ruled an accident.

The suit challenges medical examiner findings, the Coronado Police Department and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, which all indicated that Zahau’s death was a homicide. At the Time, Bill Gore, Sheriff of San Diego County said that the circumstances of of Zahau’s death were unusual but not “unprecedented” for suicides.

ABC News said Adam Shacknai found Zahau’s body. Shacknai told the police that he found her hanging from the balcony off the main house of the mansion. Zahau was found naked with a rope around her
neck.

The lawsuit was filed a day before the two-year anniversary of Zahau’s death.

 by Tony Sokol