Defendant Shacknai found responsible in Zahau wrongful death, ordered to pay more than $5M

One of San Diego’s most compelling and controversial death investigations took another turn Wednesday when a San Diego Superior Court jury determined that Rebecca Zahau didn’t commit suicide at a Coronado mansion in 2011, and that her boyfriend’s brother is legally responsible for her death.

The jury found that Adam Shacknai must pay Zahau’s family $5 million for the loss of Zahau’s love and companionship, plus $167,000 for the loss of financial support she would have provided her mother and siblings.

The verdict rebukes the finding by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department that Zahau — the then-girlfriend of millionaire pharmaceutical executive Jonah Schacknai — committed suicide, and ratified her family’s long contention that the 32-year-old surgical technician imbued with a strong Christian faith would never take her own life.

Immediately afterward, both the family lawyer, C. Keith Greer, and Zahau’s sister, Mary Zahau-Loehner, called on Sheriff Bill Gore to reopen the case and investigate further.