Death on Ocean Boulevard : Inside the Coronado Mansion Case

Title: Death on Ocean Boulevard : Inside the Coronado Mansion Case 

Author: Caitlin Rother 

Publisher: Citadel Press 

Release Date: April 27, 2021 

Genre(s): Unsolved murder, hanging

Page Count: 368 

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 

Read book blurb here

The image of the Spreckels Mansion is an apt metaphor for this true crime story of death and terrifying loss. At first glance the historic mansion looks impressive, but inside there is mold on the bathtubs, the carpet is in need of replacement, the decor is somewhat dated - appearances can be deceiving.

On the surface, Rebecca Zahau was living the good life with her millionaire boyfriend Jonah and his teenage kids, as well as sweet adorable six-year-old Max. But on July 11, 2011, Max falls face-first from a second story staircase onto the floor below and is taken to the hospital in critical condition. Two days later, Rebecca is found dead .... nude, bound in red rope, hanging from an exterior balcony. Max dies of his injuries on July 16, 2011, having never regained consciousness. 

What happened those summer days in Coronado have never been fully solved, despite a jury in a civil case finding Jonah's brother Adam responsible for Rebecca's death, and the San Diego Sheriff's department declaring Rebecca's death a suicide.  And ... Max may have simply tripped and fell over the bannister, although a trauma doctor believes he was suffocated prior to his fall. 

Caitlin Rother begins by sharing her husband's 1999 death by suicide, as well as some unsettling events from Rebecca's past which creates a framework of sorts for the larger mystery. As Dr. House would say, "everybody lies" and with that unsteady foundation in place, we move on to investigate the case. 

Rother's narrative at times is a bit unclear and while she gives us brief sketches of the major players, at times I found myself trying to remember exactly who some of those players were.  There is also a lot of repetition along the way. But then again, there are a lot of details about the case, most of which are still highly disputed.  As Sheriff Gore stated: "Sometimes family members hear what they want to hear" or as Rother says:

"What comes out in a trial is not a single truth. Each side tries to win its case by presenting witnesses who offer conflicting interpretations of the same evidence [...]. I came away convinced that the whole truth had not come out - from either side."

Rother's book provides some new information and theories of the case and overall, I felt she did a good job of balancing all the various "truths" about what happened those summer days in 2011. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the case and anyone seeking to learn more about the inner workings of investigation and analysis.  4 stars. 

I recieved an ARC from the Publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

At Any Cost : A Father's Betrayal, a Wife's Murder, and a Ten-Year War for Justice

Title: At Any Cost
Author: Rebecca Rosenberg and Selim Algar
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: April 6, 2021
Page Count: 304
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

Please note that "At Any Cost" does not provide much in the way of an in-depth discussion of Rod Covlin and Shele Danishefsky or their respective backgrounds or personalities but rather focuses primarily on the long years it took to bring this case to trial and the subsequent courtroom drama. 

I mention this only because my initial perception of the book was that it was more of a "true crime" work and I had hoped to learn more about the respective personalities in this case. But, what the authors give us is an absolutely heartbreaking story of a woman murdered by her faithless ex-husband, who killed her to get her estate (valued at almost $6M) and the subsequent alienation (and essentially brainwashing) of their two young children. 

Because Rod Covlin is simply such a horrible person, I would have liked to learn more about his upbringing, his school friends, his relationship with his incredibly supportive parents, etc. Rod was incredibly lucky in that a seriously incompetent investigation by New York's "finest" compromised evidence, as well as no initial autopsy due to Shele's strong Jewish faith. And finally, the NYC DA wasn't terribly interested at first in bringing the case to trial. 

But despite this perfect storm of incompetence, the case was finally brought to trial, almost 10 years after Shele's murder, and where this work really shines is in detailing how the case was presented to the court, how the attorneys presented their case, and how all the circumstantial evidence was woven into a strong net to finally catch Rod Covlin. 

The heartbreaking remainder of this case is what has happened to Shele's beloved children, Anna and Myles, who were manipulated and gaslighted by Rod, and continue to believe in his innocence. The crime has been solved, but what lingers is still so sad and unsettled. 3.5 stars for "At Any Cost." 

I received an ARC of this book from the Publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Two Pollyannas : Beneath the Oil (K9, Book #3)

Title: Two Pollyannas: Beneath the Oil (K9, Book #3)

Author: Nick van der Leek 

Publisher: A Shakedown Title 

Release Date: November 12, 2018 

Genre(s): Family Killer, Filicide 

Page Count: 185 

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 

Read book blurb here

The third in a quickly-written series of books about the Watts family murders, this book contains some interesting commentary and insights into the Watts case.

The author focuses quite a bit on the financial state of the Watts family. Regarding Shan'ann's commitment to selling Thrive: "But to pretend something is working when it's not is something worse than defeat: it's delusion, deception, deceit."

And "We want to shake Shan'ann and say, can't you see what's happening in your life? Can't you see if you don't do something, something terrible to going to happen to you? Please stop. Please just look at your life, for God's sake." 

And finally "Unlike Shan'ann with her pretty patches, his [Chris Watts] work was hard and greasy. He muscled his way through engines, loosening and tightening bolts, making broken things fixed, getting motors to power to their full-blown growling, gutteral potential. And that's why he wanted to do: roar."

Overall, I would give the series so far 3.5 stars, as the author has quite a bit of incorrect information, but does provide an interesting viewpoint on the case as this series of book inexorably pulls us along the awful path to family anihilation.  

Two Face : Beneath the Oil (K9 Book #2)

Title: Two Face : Beneath the Oil (K9, Book #2)

Author: Nick van der Leek 

Publisher: A Shakedown Title 

Release Date: October 1, 2018 

Genre(s): Family Killer, Filicide 

Page Count: 119 

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 

Read book blurb here

This is the second in a quickly-written series of books about the Watts family murders, and again while many of the basic facts are incorrect - given that the book was published less than two months after the murder -  many of the author's musings are very insightful. 

The author tends to toss out several larger theories (Becker's theory of identity for example), and then winnows down to bits and pieces that pertain to the Watts family.  If you are a fan of this style of writing (which I personally am), you will probably be willing - as I was - to wait to see how this all relates.  Otherwise, you may find the whole series somewhat off-putting.

But having said that, I am fascinated by the way the author puts forward some very concise nuggets of wisdom. He compared Chris Watts to Scott Peterson in that they share the same persona : "the strong, silent charisma, which cast a temporary spell on Shan'ann and Laci - until it didn't."  Each kept up appearances until "these women were trapped in a lie they themselves were breathing life into, and it was the death of them."  It's the eventual heartbreak where "marriage is a reality check, especially if your marriage is founded on a fairy tale." 

The author also gives us a blow-by-blow account of a horrendous Christmas video with Chris as Santa and their two daughters sobbing in fear .... as Shan'ann continuing to film for 15 minutes cajoling them to sit on Santa's lap and smile for the camera. It's beyond sad and very telling in how Shan'ann's tone-deaf desire for that "fairy tale" moment is such a gut-punch for Chris and their family.

3.5 stars, and I'm moving on to the next book in the series, which is currently available on Kindle Unlimited, FYI. 

Two Face : The Man Underneath Christopher Watts (K9, Book #1)

Title: Two Face : The Man Underneath Christopher Watts 

Author: Nick van der Leek 

Publisher: A Shakedown Title 

Release Date: September 10, 2018 

Genre(s): Spousal Murder, Filicide 

Page Count: 117 

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 

Read book blurb here

Written in the fall of 2018, only a month after the horrendous Watts family murders, the author had a LOT of incorrect information here (the footnotes at the end of the book make some corrections and additions for this edition), yet I found some very worthwhile commentary here about the nature of the Watts' marriage and relationship. 

The author provides some interesting food for thought about the nature of Chris Watts' rage - at a financial crisis looming over the family (a second bankruptcy in 5 years?), a third child coming in a few months, the relationship with Chris' parents torn apart by Shan'ann, the constant camera recording their "perfect life" with Thrive MLM products, etc. 

In contrast to My Daddy is a Hero, where the author spends a great deal of time stressing how no one say this coming, and that Watts was a very nice man that murdered his family out of the blue, van der Leek fairly clearly lays out the contributing factors that drove Watts to murder and they read pretty convincingly. 

There are some off-the-wall conclusions, but there was enough here that I found Two Face a good companion piece to other books I've read about Chris Watts. 3.5 stars.