So. Calif. mansion deaths of woman, boy puzzle investigators
(CBS/KFMB/AP) CORONADO, Calif. - Residents of the wealthy San Diego suburb of Coronado have been shocked by two mysterious deaths within a week, both tied to the historic 27-room house known as the Spreckels Mansion.
The first death came when 32-year-old Rebecca Nalepa, girlfriend of Arizona pharmaceuticals tycoon Jonah Shacknai, was found dead Wednesday hanging from a balcony in the nude with her hands tied behind her back and her feet bound.
According to CBS affiliate KFMB Rebecca Nalepa is also known as Rebecca Zahau.
Shacknai's brother, Adam, called the police emergency dispatcher Wednesday to report that Zahau appeared to be dead, investigators said. The brother was staying in the mansion's guesthouse. Jonah Shacknai was not at home.
Two days earlier, Shacknai's 6-year-old son, Max, who was being cared for by Zahau, fell down the stairs in the mansion and was hospitalized. Late Sunday he died from his injuries, his parents said in a statement.
Investigators say the son's death was an accident. They say Zahau's death is suspicious, but haven't ruled out suicide.
Authorities repeated Monday they haven't established any link between the boy's fall and the woman's death.
Zahau was at home with another woman, whom authorities won't identify, when Max fell down the stairs last Monday, Coronado Police Chief Louis Scanlon said. Paramedics found he wasn't breathing and did not have a pulse. He was treated at Rady Children's Hospital San Diego.
On Sunday, Jonah Shacknai and his ex-wife, Dina, Max's mother, announced that their son had died from his injuries.
"His loving, kind and vibrant spirit will be forever in our hearts and those whom he touched every day," they said in a statement.
The Spreckels Mansion, once owned by San Diego magnate John D. Spreckels, was built in 1908. It sits on 12,751 square feet of property with a 115-foot unobstructed view of the beach. Spreckels also owned the nearby Hotel del Coronado, in addition to many other properties and businesses.
The mansion is now owned by Shacknai, who Forbes Magazine identifies as the CEO of a Healthcare/Biotech firm in Scottsdale, Arizona called Medicis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Shacknai and his family live in Arizona and stay at their Coronado mansion during the summer months. According to records, Shacknai purchased the home in 2007 for $12.7 million.
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