Death and the CEO: Spouse Abuse Records Don't Explain Timeline at Shacknai's House
The investigation of two deaths at the Coronado, Calif., mansion of Medicis (MRX) CEO Jonah Shacknai became messier Tuesday with the release of police reports detailing years-old spousal abuse allegations between him and his ex-wife, Dina, at their home in Arizona.
The reports are salacious, silly and seemingly irrelevant to the case: She alleged he failed to pull his dog off her when it bit her in 2006, and that he had elbowed her in the chest in 2009. He reported that she tried to choke him while drunk and high on pills, and that Dina once broke his finger. No charges were filed and the couple released a graceful joint statement that said in part:
These police reports are not reflective of the totality or the precise details of the events during a difficult time in our marriage that we worked through together.
Most importantly, the reports don't add anything that might explain what happened at the Shacknai house last week.
Two warrants have now been served on the beachfront house where Shacknai's 6-year-old son Max died following a fall down the stairs on July 11 and his girlfriend, 32-year-old Rebecca Zahau Nalepa, died on July 13. Zahau Nalepa was found hanging from a balcony, nude, her hands and feet bound; police have yet to say whether they believe it was homicide or suicide.
Several open questions remain in the case, including the exact location of Shacknai and his wife at the time of Zahau Nalepa's death. Police have said they were not at the house at the time; the assumption has been that they were at the hospital bedside of Max since his fall on July 11.
Nor is it known exactly what Zahau Nalepa and Jonah's brother Adam were doing Tuesday night through Wednesday morning. Neighbors reported hearing a loud party at the house which Zahau Nalepa had been planning since the weekend. Adam found her body the following morning.
And on July 11, although Zahau Nalepa was looking after Max and his older sister Gabrielle when he fell, it was the 13 or 14-year-old girl who called 911, not Zahau Nalepa.
What follows is a timeline of everything that is known publicly about the deaths at the Shacknai house on this date. (See a more recent timeline here.)
Timeline of Deaths at Jonah Shacknai's Coronado Mansion:
- Saturday/Sunday July 9 and 10: Rebecca Zahau Nalepa plans a party at the Shacknai house.
- Monday, July 11, morning: Jonah Shacknai's son, 6-year-old Max, falls down the stairs. Police say it is an accident. Max is found not breathing and without a pulse. He is taken to hospital where he is believed to be in a coma. Nalepa (who changed back to her maiden name, Zahau, in May) was looking after Max and a young girl aged 13 at the time. The girl is believed to be Rebecca's younger sister, and it is she, not Zahau, who called 911.* That afternoon: Zahau Nalepa asks Camp Diggity Dogs if her Weimaraner could be boarded following Max's accident.
- Tuesday, July 12, evening: A loud party is held at the house. Zahau Nalepa is last seen alive Tuesday evening. She also talks to her sister on the phone as she gets ready for bed, sounding "normal."
- Wednesday July 13, 6.45 a.m.: Shacknai's brother, Adam, discovers Nalepa hanging naked from an outdoor balcony by her neck, with her hands and feet bound in orange cord. He calls 911. Adam and Nalepa are the only people on the property at the time, police said. Adam is currently not considered a suspect. Later, Jonah's ex-wife Dina Shacknai is reported to be "a witness in Zahau's death."
That evening: defense attorney Paul Pfingst is retained to represent someone in the family. - Thursday, July 14: Zahau Nalepa autopsy scheduled. Results not released.
- Sunday, July 17: Max dies in hospital.
- Monday July 18: Police launch investigation into Max's death. "Sexual accident" theory of Zahau's Nalepa's death is ruled out by authorities. Max's autopsy scheduled for July 17 or 18.
Related: Images via the Shacknai family; Google Street View.