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>> we had an instant connection , it's very rare you meet someone like that. >> they married in 2001, a second marriage for jonah, who was already the father of two. he'd gotten rich owning a pharmaceutical company. she went back to school to get a ph. d. in developmental psychology. and then along came max? >> and then along came maxie. >> he's almost told the edge. oh my. he did it. how do you feel max shacknai? >> he was an active kid who loved sports and performing, for his mother and her camera. >> mom. this is my song, right? >> it is. >> during one of those summers in coronado, a mansion on ocean boulevard was on the market. >> i said let's go by and look. >> they bought it in 2007. but soon there was trouble in paradise, and a bitter divorce in 2009 when max was four. they shared custody and worked to be civil, and it wasn't long before jonah met someone
hear from the man at the center in his first television interview. you thought you had nothing to hide? >> i knew i had nothing to hide. >> the worst shock in probably my entire life. >> hello and welcome to "dateline." victims families have often described their feeling of loss simply as surreal. and so it was for both of the shacknai and the zahau families, their tragedies were entangled in one rivetting mystery that enthralled the nation. at the center of the story to puzzling deaths and lingering suspicions. the search for the truth would pit the families against each other in a battle sparking more questions than answers. here is josh mankiewicz, with the "the mansion on ocean boulevard". >> some places feel secluded,
how do you feel max shacknai? >> he was an active kid who loved sports and performing, for his mother and her camera. >> mom. this is my song, right? >> it is. >> during one of those summers in coronado, a mansion on ocean boulevard was on the market. >> i said let's go by and look. >> they bought it in 2007. but soon there was trouble in paradise, and a bitter divorce in 2009 when max was four. they shared custody and worked to be civil, and it wasn't long before jonah met someone new. >> max told me about it and i said, maybe i should meet her and he said, that would be great, mommy. >> rebecca zahau was 32 and born in myanmar. she'd moved in the u. s. in her twenties. you were okay with her spending time with max?
>> welcome back to dateline. i'm natalie morales. police had ruled six-year-old max shacknai's fatal fall an accident. and rebecca zahau's hanging a suicide. but neither max's mom nor rebecca's sister were convinced. each woman suspected foul play. and one of them was about to make an explosive accusation. continuing with our story, here is josh mankiewicz with "the mansion on ocean boulevard". >> the official investigation was over. the crime scene tape and evidence marker long gone. that said, an unofficial search for clues was just beginning. online message boards buzzed with theories from the far fetched to the implausible. through it all, rebecca's sister mary didn't buy the official finding of suicide. was she fragile? was she easily upset? is she the kind of person who would fall apart after a crisis?
adam insisted that he tried to save rebecca after finding her hanging from the balcony. now the two were facing off in a civil lawsuit. a jury would decide who was responsible for rebecca's death, and the verdict would leave both sides stunned. here is josh mankiewicz with the conclusion of "the mansion on ocean boulevard". >> the plans attorney, he has a good imagination. >> adam shacknai said it was simple, he had nothing to do with the death of rebecca zahau. were you present when rebecca died? >> no. >> did you attack her? >> no. >> did you sexually assault her? >> no. >> did you tie those not on your body? >> no. >> are those a types of not that only a sailor would know? >> no. those are common knots. >> sheriff's investigators found no evidence adam was present when rebecca died. and they cleared him. that didn't stop rebecca's
insulated. secure. >> i can remember saying that and feeling that and saying nothing bad could ever happen here. >> here is coronado, california. just over a bridge from san diego. a town of beautiful beaches, people and homes. like this one, on ocean boulevard. except that in the summer of 2011, this mansion became ground zero for a mystery. >> this is a very bizarre death. there is no doubt about it. >> well actually there's been plenty of doubt and plenty of theories. >> my sister was dead. and did a lot of things go through my mind? yes. >> secrets, both suspected and imagined. >> is it possible that other people know more than they're saying? yes. >> it's certainly possible. beyond that, it's hard to say for sure. especially when it seems
funeral was held for six -year-old max shacknai in arizona. just a few days later, rebecca zahau was laid to rest in missouri. back in coronado, the mansion on ocean boulevard was the focus of overflowing numbers of both questions and rumors. >> there is roughly 200 years of experience in the sheriff's homicide unit, they all agree that this is a very unusual circumstance. >> rebecca was found hanging, naked, bound hand and foot. if it was suicide, it looked like a highly unusual one. and remember, rebecca was in the house when max shacknai fell. >> right now we don't see any connection between the two incidents. >> the sheriff's department investigated for two months. coronado held its breath. then at a news conference sheriff bill gore laid out the facts as his investigators saw them.
make an explosive accusation. continuing with our story, here is josh mankiewicz with "the mansion on ocean boulevard". >> the official investigation was over. the crime scene tape and evidence marker long gone. that said, an unofficial search for clues was just beginning. online message boards buzzed with theories from the far fetched to the implausible. through it all, rebecca's sister mary didn't buy the official finding of suicide. was she fragile? was she easily upset? is she the kind of person who would fall apart after a crisis? >> not at all. >> so when detectives said that voice mail, the one jonah left for rebecca with the grim news about max, may have caused rebecca to hang herself, mary wasn't having it. >> i was not about to have my sister's name smeared, and the world remember her as this crazy woman who committed her suicide because of a phone call. >> was all this just about how
and once again their destination was the mansion on ocean boulevard. jonas girlfriend rebecca was staying there, jonas brother adam had spent the night in the guesthouse. >> you wake up, you walk out, tell me what you see? >> a woman hanging, at the time i didn't necessarily think to myself, oh my goodness she's bound, or whatever. but just rebecca's hanging. >> naked, bound hand and foot, rebecca zahau was hanging by the neck from the second floor balcony. >> my heart started racing. this is actually happening. >> okay. how did she? >> i'd say about 30. >> 30? okay. when was the last time you saw her? >> last night. >> even as he called 9-1-1, adams said he thought she was dead. but you try to do something
their tragedies were entangled in one rivetting mystery that enthralled the nation. at the center of the story to puzzling deaths and lingering suspicions. the search for the truth would pit the families against each other in a battle sparking more questions than answers. here is josh mankiewicz, with the "the mansion on ocean boulevard". >> some places feel secluded, insulated. secure. >> i can remember saying that and feeling that and saying nothing bad could ever happen here. >> here is coronado, california. just over a bridge from san diego. a town of beautiful beaches, people and homes. like this one, on ocean boulevard. except that in the summer of 2011, this mansion became ground zero for a mystery. >> this is a very bizarre