Two deaths. Same mansion. Two days apart. In Part 2, we walk through the physical evidence in Rebecca Zahau's death: the knife, the gloves, the painted message, the balcony, the knots, the head injuries, and the tape residue almost no one talks about. We get into the independent investigation into Max Shacknai's fall led by his mother Dina, the 2018 civil trial that found Adam Shacknai responsible, the verdict that was later vacated, and what Rebecca's sister Mary is still fighting for today.

Adam Shacknai has consistently maintained his innocence and was never criminally charged. The 2018 civil verdict was vacated as part of a 2019 settlement. There was never a criminal trial related to Rebecca's death. Statements about specific individuals should be understood as allegations, opinions, or attributed claims from named sources.

Books mentioned in this episode:

• Unraveling the Knots by Mary Zahau-Loehner (available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble)
• Death on Ocean Boulevard: Inside the Coronado Mansion Case by Caitlin Rother

Follow the family's fight: Justice for Rebecca M. Zahau (Facebook)

If you need support:

• Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 (US)
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233, available 24/7
• RAINN (sexual assault): 1-800-656-4673

This episode discusses suicide, the death of a child, and allegations of sexual assault. Please take care of yourself while listening.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In July 2011, two people died at the same mansion in Coronado, California within a week. First, six-year-old Max Shacknai fell from a second-floor banister while in the care of his father's girlfriend, Rebecca Zahau. Two days later, Rebecca was found hanging from a balcony at the Spreckels Mansion, naked, bound, and gagged. The San Diego Sheriff's Department called it a suicide. Rebecca's family has spent over a decade arguing it was something else entirely.

This is Part 1 of our two-part series on the death of Rebecca Zahau. Part 2 drops next week. Subscribe wherever you listen so you don't miss it.

CONTENT WARNING This episode discusses suicide, the death of a child, and allegations of sexual assault. Please take care of yourself while listening.

IF YOU NEED SUPPORT You are not alone. Help is available. 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 National Domestic Violence Hotline: call 1-800-799-7233, available 24/7 National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN): call 1-800-656-4673

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A NOTE ON THIS CASE Adam Shacknai has consistently maintained his innocence and was never criminally charged in connection with this case. The 2018 civil verdict that found him liable for Rebecca's death was vacated as part of a 2019 settlement. Statements about specific individuals throughout this episode should be understood as allegations, opinions, or attributed claims from named sources, not as statements of fact by us.

Information in this episode is drawn from publicly available news reports, court records, autopsy reports, official statements, and books published about the case.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Need help? National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233, text START to 88788, or thehotline.org. Available 24/7, free and confidential.

On April 27, 2024, 30-year-old Mica Francis Miller was found dead at Lumber River State Park in Robeson County, North Carolina. Two days earlier, she had served her husband, Myrtle Beach pastor John Paul Miller of Solid Rock at Market Common, with divorce papers. The medical examiner ruled her death a suicide. Her family has never disputed that ruling. What they have disputed, from the day she died, is what was done to her in the 528 days before she walked into that park.

In this episode of Crime Salad, Ashley and Ricky trace the Mica Miller case from her childhood in Wichita, Kansas, through her marriage at Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach, the involuntary psychiatric commitment she said her husband fraudulently initiated, the tire deflation devices, the GPS trackers, the nude photo posted online without her consent, and the police reports that piled up in the months before her death. We walk through the December 2025 federal indictment charging John Paul Miller with cyberstalking and making false statements to investigators, the push for South Carolina's coercive control bill known as Mica's Law (Senate Bill 702), and the suspicious death of Johnnie Jacobs, the fisherman who heard her last cry.

This is a case about coercive control, a pastor's wife, and a system that called every cry for help a civil matter until a federal grand jury caught up to what Mica had been telling police all along.

Keywords: Mica Miller, Mica Francis Miller, John Paul Miller, JP Miller, Solid Rock Church, Myrtle Beach pastor, Lumber River State Park, coercive control, Mica's Law, cyberstalking indictment, true crime podcast, South Carolina, Robeson County

Content warning: This episode discusses suicide, stalking, harassment, and intimate partner abuse.

SUPPORT JUSTICE FOR MICA

Justice for Mica Miller Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/p/Justice-for-Mica-Miller-61559351220695/ FacebookFacebook

Sign the Mica's Law petition on Change.org: https://www.change.org/p/enforce-south-carolina-law-to-protect-against-stalking-and-harassment-mica-s-law Change.org

Read about Mica's Law and Mica's List at Way Makers SC: https://waymakerssc.com/micas-law Way Makers

Track South Carolina Senate Bill 702 (Criminal Coercive Control): https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/702.htm South Carolina Legislature

Find and contact your South Carolina legislators: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/legislatorssearch.php Way Makers

Need help? National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233, text START to 88788, or thehotline.org. Available 24/7, free and confidential.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.