Death on Ocean Boulevard: Inside the Coronado Mansion Case - Caitlin Rother Audiobook

Written by Caitlin Rother
Read by Rachel Perry
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc.
Release date: April 27, 2021
Duration: 12:11:49

The call came on the morning of July 13, 2011, from the historic Spreckels Mansion, a lavish beachfront property in Coronado, California, owned by pharmaceutical tycoon and multimillionaire Jonah Shacknai. When authorities arrived, they found the naked body of Jonah’s girlfriend, Rebecca Zahau, gagged, her ankles tied and her wrists bound behind her. Jonah’s brother, Adam, claimed to have found Rebecca hanging by a rope from the second-floor balcony. On a bedroom door in black paint were the cryptic words: SHE SAVED HIM CAN YOU SAVE HER.

Was this scrawled message a suicide note or a killer’s taunt? Rebecca’s death came two days after Jonah’s six-year-old son, Max, took a devastating fall while in Rebecca’s care. Authorities deemed Rebecca’s death a suicide resulting from her guilt. But who would stage either a suicide or a murder in such a bizarre, elaborate way?

Pulitzer Prize-nominated investigative journalist Rother’s vast research catalogs the numerous, extensive, and conflicting inquiries into both deaths, focusing on an intriguing cast of characters with competing motivations.

“…Readers will quickly understand why this case was featured on more than seven television documentaries. Other bizarre details include a sexual harassment suit against Jonah Shacknai by multiple former employees, a medium who conducted an energy reading on Rebecca Zahau’s bed at the request of a curious private investigator, and threatening emails that Rother received from Adam Shacknai. Deftly weaving together all these plot points, Rother’s narrative is well written and empathetic. VERDICT An absorbing chronicle of a bizarre story, this is the perfect addition for true crime sections.”—Library Journal