On July 13, 2011, plaintiff’s decedent Rebecca Zahau, 32, an ophthalmic technician, was found dead, naked, bound and gagged with a rope around her neck at the Spreckels Mansion, on Ocean Boulevard, in Coronado. The mansion was owned by Zahau’s live-in boyfriend, Jonah Shacknai, who was the chief executive officer of Medicis Pharmaceutical. Zahau’s death occurred two days after Jonah Shacknai’s 6-year-old son, Max, took a fatal fall from a staircase banister in the subject house while Zahau was the only adult present. On Sept. 2, 2011, San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore announced that Zahau’s death was a suicide, that Max’s death was an accident, and that neither was the result of foul play. However, Zahau’s mother and other members of Zahau’s family claimed that Adam Shacknai, Jonah Shacknai’s brother who was also staying at the subject house, sexually assaulted Zahau and then murdered her. The decedent’s mother, Pari Zahau, acting on behalf of herself and her daughter, sued Adam Shacknai; the ex-wife of Jonah Shacknai and Max’s mother, Dina Shacknai; and Dina Shacknai’s sister, Nina Romano. The decedent’s sister, Mary Zahau-Loehner, initially sued acting individually and as a representative of both the estate of her sister and the estate of their father, Robert Zahau. However, both Zahau-Loehner and the estate of Mr. Zahau were dismissed from the action (and subsequently dropped as plaintiffs) prior to trial. In addition, Ms. Shacknai and Romano were dropped as defendants when evidence showed that they were not present at the times crucial to the case. Thus, the matter continued with Pari Zahau’s claims, as an individual and on behalf of Rebecca Zahau’s estate, against Adam Shacknai only. Plaintiffs’ counsel argued that the cause of Rebecca Zahau’s death was strangulation, either due to manual strangulation before she was hung or from hanging, a form of strangulation, when the decedent was hung with a rope around her neck from the second story deck of the subject house at which she was staying. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that the decedent caught Adam Shacknai leering at her when she was taking a shower and that Adam Shacknai was worried about the decedent telling his brother, Jonah Shacknai, so Adam Shacknai panicked. Counsel argued that as a result, Adam Shacknai strangled, sexually assaulted and killed the decedent before she was gagged, and her naked body was hung with a rope around her neck and her hands and feet bound. Adam Shacknai claimed he found the decedent hanging the next morning at around 6:45 a.m., cut her down, and then called 911. The decedent’s body was discovered after she had allegedly accessed her voicemail at 12:50 a.m. and played a message that had been left about the grave condition of Max, who was hospitalized. Defense counsel noted that the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department concluded that Rebecca Zahau killed herself because she felt responsible for the death of her boyfriend’s son. Specifically, investigators previously showed reporters a video reenactment of how they believed the decedent was able to bind her hands and feet, and then hang herself. Investigators also claimed that they also found the decedent’s fingerprints on a knife that was used to cut the rope and found the decedent’s toe impressions on the balcony floor. In addition, investigators noted that a message that the decedent had allegedly written in black paint — “She saved him, can you save her” — was found on the door of a guest bedroom at the home. Thus, defense counsel argued that Adam Shacknai had nothing to do with the decedent’s death and that the decedent committed suicide over the guilt of Max’s condition. In response, plaintiff’s counsel maintained that the decedent would not have committed suicide., Rebecca Zahau was found dead as a result of asphyxiation. The coroner for the county of San Diego determined that she died on July 13, 2011. She was 32 years old. She was survived by her mother, sister and father, who died prior to trial. Thus, the decedent’s mother sought recovery of wrongful death damages for the loss of her daughter. Defense counsel noted that an issue at trial was how close the decedent was with her family. According to defense counsel, the family was not extremely close and did not see each other often.