Stunning end to Zahau civil case as family settles, wipes out jury finding

San Diego Union-Tribune (CA)

Feb. 06--In a surprise move, the $5.1 million judgment and jury finding that blamed Adam Shacknai for the death of Rebecca Zahau in a Coronado mansion eight years ago was wiped out and the entire case dismissed after the family of the deceased woman reached a settlement with Shacknai's insurance company.

The announcement by lawyer C. Keith Greer came at the start of a scheduled hearing to argue post-trial motions. It took Shacknai by surprise, as well as his lawyer -- and added yet another twist to the controversial death of Zahau, which has now been investigated twice by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and was the subject of a captivating civil trial last year.

Greer gave no insight or details of the settlement. "All I'm at liberty to say is the case has been resolved," he said outside court. He declined to say how much money the case settled for.

Before the trial began last year Greer said there was a $1 million offer to settle the case from the Shacknai side, but the Zahaua family rejected it.

The man who became the focus of the civil trial, Adam Shacknai, brother of Zahau's then-boyfriend Jonah Shacknai, said outside court that his insurance company "did an end-around" on him, and said the settlement was for far less -- "a pittance" -- than the $5.1 million jury award.

"They were tired of throwing money at it," he said of the insurance company. Both he and his lawyer, Seth Weisburst, said Shacknai himself is not paying out any money.

Last April, a jury voted 9-3 that Adam Shacknai was responsible for Rebecca Zahau's death and awarded the deceased woman's estate $5.1 million in damages. Shacknai planned to appeal the verdict.

But it's unclear what appeal if any is possible.The case was dismissed with prejudice -- meaning it can never be refiled -- leaving nothing from which to file an appeal.

That clearly did not sit well with Adam Shacknai, who bitterly complained outside of court about Greer, the judge, the trial and outcome. He said the case was a "hoax perpetrated by Keith Greer," and later said it was an "extortion" attempt by Greer.

Greer brushed off the insults, and repeated what he had said earlier: The family would now press the county Medical Examiner to change the findings in Rebecca Zahau's death from suicide to homicide. If that fails, he said, the family would head back to court, seeking a judicial ruling to change the finding.

Zahau's nude body was found July 13, 2011, hanging from a balcony attached to a second-floor guest bedroom at the historic Spreckels mansion. Her hands and feet were bound, a t-shirt was stuffed into her mouth and a cryptic message was scrawled in black paint on the bedroom door.

The message read: "She saved him can you save her."

County authorities said there was no evidence -- no fingerprints, DNA or footprints belonging to anyone other than Zahau -- indicating she was killed.

Greer argued that Shacknai battered his brother's girlfriend, hit her on the head, sexually assaulted and manually strangled her, then staged the hanging to look like she took her own life.

Outside court, Shacknai flatly denied killing Zahau. His attorney Seth Weisburst said they were prepared to appeal the case, saying it was "a gross miscarriage of justice."

While technically the dismissal eliminates the verdict and judgment, Weisburst acknowledged that practically the finding holding Shacknai responsible remains in the public conscience.

"Many, if not most people, are not going to understand the legal particulars here," Weisburst said.

On Jan. 25, San Diego Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal issued a tentative ruling, denying the post-trial motions filed by Shacknai seeking to set aside the verdict and get a new trial. The hearing Wednesday was scheduled so Weisburst could argue to change the ruling, but it never progressed to that point.

In the Jan. 25 ruling, Bacal -- who presided over the case and trial -- openly questioned the conclusions of the two Sheriff's Department investigations -- one in the wake of the 2011 death, and a second completed in December in the wake of the civil trial. Both concluded Zahau killed herself.

But Bacal was openly skeptical in her ruling. She wrote the investigation "leaves almost as many questions unanswered as answered" and focused on the cryptic message, which she said Zahau likely did not write.

She then added: "And if she did not, someone else did. Determining who wrote the message would certainly be circumstantial evidence pointing to who killed Rebecca Zahau. This was only one of numerous pieces of circumstantial evidence that puts the Sheriff's conclusion into question.

"As a result, it is not unreasonable to still ask, 'who killed Rebecca Zahau?'"

Twitter: @gregmoran

greg.moran@sduniontribune.com

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