Rebecca Zahau wrongful death lawsuit narrowed down to one person

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) — There are new developments in the wrong death lawsuit filed by the family of Rebecca Zahau. 

Zahau was the woman whose body was found hanging at the Spreckles mansion in Coronado.

The attorney for Zahau’s family announced Thursday that he’s dropping two of the three defendants from the civil lawsuit.

The wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents and sister of Rebecca Zahau claim that it was not a suicide, but a murder.

In a news conference in Downtown San Diego, attorney Keith Greer says he was wrong in his initial suspicions.

Dina Shacknai and her sister Nina Romano have been dismissed as defendants in the civil lawsuit. Greer says he’s confident they had nothing to do with the death of 32-year-old Rebecca Zahau. 

Zahau’s family has never been satisfied with the official finding that her July 2011 death was a suicide. She was found naked, bound and gagged and hanging from the balcony of the Coronado mansion owned by her boyfriend, Jonah Shacknai.

Zahau’s relatives do not believe Rebecca would take her own life.

They had other suspicions.  Just two days before Zahau died, Jonah’s son Max, was gravely injured and later died following a heart attack and  a fall from a mansion staircase.

Max had been under Rebecca’s care that day and Dina Shacknai was the boy’s mother. While the loss of a child might be considered a motive for murder, Zahau’s attorney points to concrete evidence that proves his initial theory in this case was wrong.

Video surveillance from cameras at Rady children’s hospital show Dina Shacknai walking in and out of the hospital on the night of Zahau’s death.

Greer says they have recovered other evidence that also clears her sister Nina of blame.

Both women accepted apologies from the Zahaus and their attorney and expressed their relief.

The Zahau’s lawsuit will be moving forward with one defendant, the brother of Zahau’s boyfriend, Adam Shacknai.

Greer says he will show that Shacknai’s brother Adam strangled Rebecca and staged a suicide scene using black paint and rope bindings in a plot to cover up the murder.