Reiser may lead police to wife’s body
By
Ashley Clark
10 June 2008 10:21AM
Tags:
hans | resier | police | wife | body
Famed Linux programmer and ReiserFS creator Hans Reiser may strike a deal to lead authorities to his wife’s dead body in exchange for a reduced prison sentence, sources told US magazine Wired on Friday.
In April a California jury convicted Reiser , who until now has publicly maintained his innocence, of first degree murder of his estranged wife Nina in September 2006.
Alameda County, California District Attorney Thomas Orloff confirmed to Wired on Friday that the early stages of a deal are in the works, and an anonymous source said Reiser, the prosecution, and an Alameda County judge have all signed off on the agreement.
Reportedly, if Reiser successfully cooperates and locates his wife’s body, his sentence will be reduced from first degree murder, which carries a mandatory 25 years to life sentence, to second degree murder, which carries 15 years to life.
However, the condition of the body could play a factor in the decision, as Wired quoted the anonymous source as saying “the deal, as it stands in its early stages, would be off if an autopsy of the body somehow demonstrated that it was first-degree, premeditated murder with, for example, ‘two bullet holes to the back of the head'.”
The Reisers were in the process of separating when Nina was last seen dropping the couple’s two children off at Reiser’s home on 3 September, 2006.
Throughout his trial Reiser portrayed himself as simply a misunderstood computer geek, and even went as far as to suggest that his Russian-born wife had faked her own death, framed him, and was hiding with their children in St. Petersburg.
Reiser’s sentencing is scheduled for 9 July, and if his conviction were reduced, he would be eligible for parole in 15 years.