Patrick Radden Keefe's Pursuit of Truth in a London Tragedy
In the summer of 2023, American writer and journalist Patrick Radden Keefe found himself in London for the filming of Say Nothing, the television adaptation of his acclaimed account of a Troubles murder. While on set, a chance conversation with a visitor would lead him to a story he could not ignore—the mysterious death of 19-year-old Zac Brettler.
A Family's Unanswered Questions
Zac Brettler died in November 2019 when he jumped from the fifth-floor balcony of a luxury Thames-side apartment. The coroner recorded an open verdict, stating plainly: "I don't know what happened." For Zac's parents, Rachelle and Matthew Brettler, this conclusion offered no closure. They believed the Metropolitan Police investigation had been inadequate, with key witnesses not formally interviewed and bloodstains on apartment walls left untested.
The Crown Prosecution Service decided in 2021 there was insufficient evidence to bring charges for murder or perverting the course of justice. The Brettlers were left searching for answers about their son's final months, during which he had become entangled with two men who believed him to be the heir to a £200 million Russian oligarch fortune.
From New Yorker Article to Full-Length Investigation
Keefe's initial investigation was published in the New Yorker in February 2024. Now, he has expanded his findings into a book titled London Falling, which examines Zac's story against the backdrop of a London transformed by oligarch wealth and the hustlers who orbit it.
"I'm always on the lookout for stories," says Keefe, whose previous works include Empire of Pain about the Sackler family and the opioid crisis, and the podcast Wind of Change investigating CIA propaganda claims. "This was that rare case where, within minutes, I knew that if this family was ready to talk, this would be how I'd spend the next year of my life."
Zac Brettler's Transformation and Tragic Descent
The book reveals how Zac's attendance at a private secondary school populated by the global super-rich profoundly affected him. Separated from merely "wealthy" British classmates by millions, Zac became obsessed with status symbols, money, and power. He told friends his father was an arms dealer who drove two Range Rovers—in reality, Matthew Brettler worked in financial services and their car was a Mazda.
By age 19, Zac had created an alter ego—"Zac Ismailov," son of a Russian oligarch—and blagged his way through Mayfair's clubs and casinos. His parents, increasingly concerned, found him a psychiatrist and tried to steer him toward activities matching his talents, hoping this was just a phase.
The Men in Zac's Final Months
Keefe's investigation focuses heavily on two men who spent significant time with Zac in 2019: Verinder "Dave" Sharma, a gangland enforcer known for theatrically heating knives to intimidate victims, and Akbar Shamji, an entrepreneur with a history of collapsed businesses who had declared bankruptcy in 2019.
Messages between Sharma and Shamji in the days before Zac's death reveal growing skepticism about his supposed fortune. "I'm highly sceptical about this £205m. Is anything fucking real?" Shamji asked Sharma. "Fuck this little kid," Sharma responded. "He's not allowed to run away now." In reality, Zac had just £4 in his bank account.
The Night of November 28, 2019
What exactly happened inside the Riverwalk apartment that night remains unknown, but Keefe presents alarming indicators. At one point, Shamji texted a friend saying he'd been "heating up knives and clearing up blood." Zac searched online for "what to do with skin burns." CCTV footage shows him on the balcony at 2:24 AM, moving between corners before jumping from its center.
Many readers will conclude Zac was jumping not to die, but to escape—a desperate bid for survival. Sharma, who claimed to have been asleep during the incident, died a year later from a drug overdose. Shamji declined interviews with Keefe and maintained to police that Zac was suicidal and a heroin addict.
A Father's Perspective and London's Transformation
As a father of teenage sons himself, Keefe felt an immediate connection to the Brettlers. "I think there are some pretty malign forces, particularly affecting boys, in adolescence," he reflects. "In all my dealings with the Brettlers, I've felt a really profound sense of: 'There but for the grace of God, go I.'"
Keefe, who studied at the London School of Economics in 2000 and has returned frequently since, describes a city reshaped by unfathomable wealth. "For a 19-year-old who's still trying to figure out who he is and what matters in the world, I think that kind of fantasy land can be quite disorienting."
The Limits of Investigation and Hope for Accountability
From the beginning, Keefe was careful not to promise the Brettlers too much. "All I could promise was that I would chase down the truth as aggressively as possible," he says. While the book may not answer every question, Keefe hopes it serves as a form of accountability. "It's a physical object, between two covers, and when it's out there in the world, there's no expunging it."
The Metropolitan Police responded to points raised in the book, stating: "The Met carried out an extensive investigation... Our investigation concluded there was no evidence that Zac's death was suspicious."
Now working on a new story about fraud in New Orleans, Keefe reflects on how this investigation has affected him as a parent. "It's a fantasy to believe that our kids are clay and we can just shape them," he says. "You can do all the right things—and it may not be enough."
