Death on Ocean Boulevard

May 1, 2021
Dual tragedies took place in July 2011 at the Spreckels Mansion, one of the most historic locations in Coronado, California, a resort enclave on San Diego Bay. Over a two-day period, pharmaceutical industry titan Jonah Shacknai lost his six-year-old son, Max, in a tragic accident and his paramour, Rebecca Zahaus, in an apparent suicide. The two events appeared connected, but how and why? Was Max's death caused by negligence or a previously undiagnosed medical condition? Rebecca's death by hanging was so bizarrely staged, the absence of second-party involvement seemed improbable. As with any case in which wealth and notoriety are factors, the deaths aroused intense scrutiny and invited the involvement of a coterie of lawyers and media figures who challenged the official findings. While a civil case was adjudicated, criminal charges went unfiled and Rebecca's death remains a tantalizing mystery. 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.

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