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Moms and Mysteries: A True Crime Podcast

The Mysterious Death of Rebecca Zahau

Moms and Mysteries: A True Crime Podcast

Moms got ya covered-feed

True Crime

4.6 • 8.8K Ratings

🗓️ 29 August 2017

⏱️ 63 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A Note from the Moms: Hey everyone! Just a quick heads-up: this is one of our early episodes, so please be gentle! We were still figuring things out, and we promise the audio quality and our hosting skills have gotten much better since. Thanks for sticking with us from the beginning! Welcome back to Moms and Murder! This week, we’re diving into a case that is as bizarre as it is tragic: the death of Rebecca Zahau at the historic Spreckels Mansion in Coronado, California. Just two days after her billionaire boyfriend’s 6-year-old son suffered a fatal fall under her care, Rebecca was found dead—naked, bound, and hanging from a balcony. Authorities ruled it a suicide, but the evidence tells a much more complicated and sinister story.In this episode, we explore the deeply suspicious circumstances surrounding Rebecca's death: •A Double Tragedy: We begin with the tragic accident involving Max Shacknai, who fell from a second-story landing, and the questions that immediately began to surface. •The Discovery: We detail the chilling 911 call made by Adam Shacknai, Jonah’s brother, who claimed to have found Rebecca hanging and cut her down before authorities arrived. •A Staged Suicide?: The scene was incredibly elaborate. Rebecca was found with her hands and feet bound in complex knots, a gag in her mouth, and four hemorrhages on her head that suggested she was struck before her death. •The Cryptic Message: A bizarre message was painted on the bedroom door: “She saved him. Can you save her?” But the handwriting didn’t appear to be Rebecca’s. •Conflicting Evidence: We break down all the reasons the suicide ruling doesn’t add up, from the lack of Rebecca’s DNA on the balcony to the fact that the knots would have been nearly impossible for her to tie herself. •Theories and Suspects: We discuss the main players, including Jonah’s brother Adam—the only other person on the property—and the civil lawsuit Rebecca’s family filed, convinced she was murdered. Join us as we unravel a case where wealth, power, and tragedy collide, leaving behind a mystery that continues to haunt everyone involved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi and welcome to the Moms and Murder podcast, a true crime podcast featuring myself Melissa

0:25.2

and with me as always is Mandy. Hi, Mandy. Hi, Melissa. How are you doing? I have a cold.

0:31.0

Yeah. So Mandy's a little under the weather, but we are going to persevere and push through

0:36.7

and because it's not me, we'll keep going and won't quit. Yeah, you weather, but we are going to persevere and push through. And because it's not

0:38.0

me, we'll keep going and won't quite. Yeah, your voice is still as buttery as always.

0:44.0

Buttery is what you always want to hear. So tonight we were going to talk to you about the case

0:49.2

of Rebecca Zahau. She is an interesting case, as all of ours are, and this comes to us from a friend

0:59.4

on the old Twitter who suggested this case, our friend Megan over there. And this is one that

1:07.1

you've probably heard a little bit about. I remember, I mean, I'm somewhat familiar with this case before we really looked into it

1:13.6

and thought it was strange and weird.

1:16.4

But once you deep dive into this, it's a whole lot of crazy.

1:20.7

A whole lot of crazy.

1:21.9

A whole lot.

1:23.3

So I'll give you a small little bit of bio on Rebecca and then pass it over to Mandy.

1:29.1

So Rebecca was born on March 15, 1979 in Phalam, Burma.

1:34.2

She grew up with three sisters, her mom and dad, and they relocated to the U.S.

1:40.5

I'm not sure of exactly when that happened.

1:47.7

And then Mandy will continue. So she moved to the U.S. I'm not sure of exactly when that happened. And then Mandy will continue. So she moved to the U.S. and I believe she was married prior to the relationship she was in when she passed away.

1:55.8

And then they got divorced. Actually, I believe she started dating Mr. Jonah Shacknye before she was actually

2:02.0

officially divorced. So at the time of her death, she was 32 years old living with Jonah Shacknay,

2:09.1

who was a pharmaceutical CEO for a company, Medici's pharmaceutical company. And they lived

2:17.0

together at his beach house in Coronado, California, along with Jonah's six-year-old son, Max, from a previous marriage.

...

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