Jury deliberations begin in Coronado mansion death lawsuit

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jury deliberations have begun in a lawsuit that claims a woman found hanged at a San Diego-area mansion didn’t commit suicide but was killed.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that deliberations began Tuesday in the wrongful death lawsuit over the 2011 death of Rebecca Zahau in Coronado.

The 33-year-old Zahau was the girlfriend of a pharmaceuticals executive. That man’s brother, Adam Shacknai, called 911 to say he found the woman hanging from a balcony.

Coroner’s officials ruled the death a suicide but the lawsuit, filed on behalf of Zahau’s mother, alleges that Shacknai sexually assaulted the woman and then killed her and staged the hanging.

In closing arguments, the defense said there’s no physical evidence linking Shacknai to the crime scene.