Killer Led Cops To Body For Lesser Charge

Software Designer Killed Wife But Maintained Innocence Until Conviction, When He Cut A Deal

(CBS/ AP)  Investigators confirmed Tuesday that a body a prominent software engineer led them to is, in fact, that of the estranged wife he was about to be sentenced for killing, pulling closer together the final pieces of a murder mystery.

Hans Reiser was convicted in April of first-degree murder even though Nina Reiser's body had not been found. Reiser, 44, showed police the body in exchange for the possibility of a lighter sentence, prosecutor Paul Hora said.

The deal would allow Reiser to plead guilty to second-degree murder, providing for a lighter sentence, but deny him the right to appeal. It still must be approved by a judge and was made with the support of Nina Reiser's relatives, Hora said.

"Now the family gets to pick the burial site, not the defendant," Hora said.

Dental records, jewelry and clothing helped confirm the woman's identity, police said. The cause of her death is still being investigated, they said, declining to give many specifics of what they found when Reiser led them to the body Monday.

But Oakland police Lt. Ersie Joyner III did say evidence from the grave, which was in a ravine in a park not far from Reiser's house in the Oakland hills, indicates Reiser did not have help. And Hora said the body was in a bag.

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Betrayal: "48 Hours" Investigates The Disappearance Of Nina Reiser
Watch The Full "48 Hours" Episode

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The disappearance of Nina Reiser, who was last seen on Labor Day weekend in 2006 when she dropped off the couple's two children for a visit with their father, had prompted a long and intense search, including the area where the body was found.

But Joyner said the grave was at least 40 yards from any path and probably would never have been found without Reiser's directions.

Reiser's defense attorneys did not immediately return messages Tuesday.

At trial, Hans Reiser adamantly denied anything to do with Nina Reiser's disappearance, and the defense suggested she might have run off to her native Russia.

Prosecutors said that was nonsense, pointing out that traces of her blood were found in his home and car. Witnesses testified she never would have left her children.

But as CBS' 48 Hours reports, after more than 50 witnesses and five months of testimony, the trial really came down to just one witness: Hans Reiser, who with a grin on his face, seemed more than eager to tell his side of the story. DuBois realized that having Reiser take the stand was a huge risk, but a risk Reiser insisted he should take.

But the first impression he made on the jury was a good one. "He was quirky and he was weird but he wasn’t that weird," one of the jurors noted.

Reiser was composed on the stand. In a matter-of-fact, unemotional tone of voice, he told jurors that on the day Nina vanished he saw her walk out the front door of his house, get in her minivan and drive away.

"It was the first time that he ever told anyone in law enforcement what had happened to Nina that day. The first I had ever heard of it, too," remembers prosecutor Paul Hora, who watched and worried.

"As a prosecutor, when a defendant takes a witness stand in a murder trial it's a critical witness because if the jurors like him and believe him, he's goin' home," Hora told 48 Hours.

But likable or not, the jurors didn't find Reiser's testimony believable, convicting him of the murder in April. After the conviction the defense approached prosecutors with an offer, Hora said.

The deal would allow Reiser to plead guilty to the reduced charge in return for showing authorities the body and giving up his right to appeal, Hora said. First-degree murder carries a sentence of 25 years to life, compared with 15 to life for second-degree murder.

That also means Reiser could seek parole sooner.

Sentencing had been scheduled for Wednesday, but Hora said both sides will ask that the hearing be postponed.

[ofasof]

he said he was scared about his wife taking their kids back to Russia. well, now they're back in Russia anyways with their grandma. what a loser.

[CraigBerkeley]

See Bigamists Among Us, Marin County Californian James K. Olson @ http://reno.broowaha.com/article.php?id=3481. Here California James K. Olson's bigamy fueled illegal trampling on a Nevada citizen's rights.

See what Gun Controller California and a lying California attorney, Gun Controller Steven T. Schoonover, and flip flopper James K. Olson did here to a Nevada citizen?s right to have a gun to protect herself after James K. Olson had broken into this Nevada citizen?s home! Gun Controllers Among Us, Marin County California Courts

Most liberal Gun Controller Marin County California has repeatedly thumbed their nose at the US Constitution, then imposed their illegal Gun Controller actions onto a Nevada citizen. What's next?

Lying California attorney, Steven T. Schoonover had the Nevada citizen served at 7:30 Thursday evening in Nevada for a 9 am the following Monday court in California and the California incompetent Gun Controller judge allowed that 1 day notice although illegal as have to be served more than 10 days before a hearing and furthermore it was to a Nevada citizen!

Three strikes you?re out lying California attorney, Gun Controller Steven T. Schoonover

http://reno.broowaha.com/article.php?id=3749
http://www.babelation.com/?q=node/1833
http://reno.broowaha.com/article.php?id=3630

[longduck69]

I used to work at a government contracting place in the Middle East. Bush put one of his buddies into a position for which he wasn''t qualified. This guy was a used car salesman. Now is a deputy director. He constantly claims to have an IQ of 150. It''s gets old. He is truely a dumb@ss. So, IQ doesn''t mean very much to me either. I did watch this guy on TV talk about how his wife left him. I thought it was a strange case. He was an obvious suspect. I''m glad they caught him.

[jon2012-2009]

Do any lawyers even know what integrity truly is? Besides being something they can sell or manipulate?

Posted by toldyouso12 at 01:21 AM : Jul 09, 2008

I assume you are critical of defense lawyers in this case. Remember, without them, the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise woud be a joke. They can only do a good job by doing a good job for everyone, the guilty and the innocent.

[honestabe8]

berniepeders: even if he does have an IQ of 150 (which I doubt), what does that mean? so, the person with the highest IQ is always right? my issue was not with capital punishment, but with the people who would actually want to see a beheading. they have public beheadings in saudi arabia, but i don''t know that i would want to live there. i think mr. IQ is just a blowhard

[berniepeders]

I know...I''''m SUCH a Barbarian...but with a 150 IQ Thank You. Posted by jjarden at 08:03 PM

Does anyone else think it''s extremely tacky for a person to flaunt their (supposed)IQ like this person? Get over yourself, weirdo.

Peace

[cfin5]

This Russian gal is one gorgeous woman,.....he is the opposite. He''s so homely its a wonder she even gave him a second look. I wish she had a better fate than failing to rid herself of this ghoul. The Lord watch over her children because the one who swore to do so in these things would not.

[whiskyrocker]

What was his motive? I guess he didn''t want her around anymore. I feel sorry for the kids who no longer have a mother.

[patriot12436]

I wonder what society hamilton grad lives in. Must be a weird place, or probably just in his/her mind the fairytale thing.

[honestabe8]

longtree: it does appear that crime pays everywhere

[longtree-2009]

Strange that he gets 15 years for giving up the body when he would have received 25 years without the body. Plea bargains are too easy on criminals. He will be eligible for parole very soon. Thinking he should have gotten the death penalty or life without parole. No justice anymore. Crime does pay, especially in CA.

[grammawhamma]

patriot: Hamiltongrad is a woman who goes by several other names on these boards. Not sure if she is just crazy or a troll.

[patriot12436]

noaanhc
Actually the sentence for murder is sometimes easier to deal with than the sentence for divorce. Depends on what state you live in. I knew a guy in Lousiana got convicted of first degree murder and got probabtion bcause it was his first offense. Damm good lawyer.

[patriot12436]

sassilin
Good faith takes place before the conviction, he was only looking to cut a deal. Even if he serves 15 and gets out he has his knowledge and ability so can still work and make a fortune.

[patriot12436]

Remember Lizzie Borden
Lizzie had an ax
She gave her mother forty whacks
When her father complained
She gave him 41

[patriot12436]

sbbm
Finally i agree withthe statement nancy made. This man is supposed to be a computer genious, he should be made to use his knowledge to help our govt while in prison. I think it is the least he can do to pay for his room and board.

[patriot12436]

toldyouso12
I agree. Every time hamilton opens his mouth it makes me glad i didn''t send my kids to school where he went.

[patriot12436]

newstert
The problem here is negoiations between defense and prosecutor are no admissable in court, the prosecutor could not uise it. I think the prosecutor made a wise decision. Now the family can bury their daughter and have closure. I think the judege will still rack him. His children will grow up hating him for killing their mother and he will neve see them again.

[toldyouso12]

Punishment and BLAME does not meet anyone''''s needs, not the person accused, who acted out, or that of society. We need to learn to go beyond that which seems so primitive - what will do next tear out his heart on a rock at some ceremony ?
As a Internationalist I am against laws, jails and the terror of corporations. We have to learn to live with nature, not fight it.

Posted by hamiltonGRAD at 08:26 PM : Jul 08, 2008


Okay, nutcase--if/when some sicko decides to tear you limb from limb in public (or does it to one of your loved ones) we won''t call the police. We won''t help you. According to you, we should just step over the two of you wrestling, ignore your screams and go get some popcorn. You are not an internationalist--you aer an idiot and someone forgot to raise your stupid azz.

[toldyouso12]

Love the land sweeps of the search crew...only 40 yards away from a path and the search crews would have never found the body? Why the hell not? Do they only stay on the path, or follow the yellow brick road when looking for a corpse?