Hans Reiser, the Linux programmer facing a mandatory 25-to life term for killing his wife, might disclose the location of Nina Reiser's body in exchange for a reduced term, Alameda County District Attorney Thomas Orloff told Threat Level on Friday.
"There's been some overtures," he said. "But everything is in its preliminary stage."
Another source familiar with the proposal, speaking on condition of anonymity because no deal has been struck, said Reiser, the prosecution and Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman would have to sign off on the proposed deal. Under the plan, Reiser's cooperation could reduce his April conviction from first-degree murder to second degree. A second-degree conviction in California carries a mandatory 15-to-life sentence.
"The only real leverage he has is if he can provide a body," the source said. "He really doesn't have any options left. Even if he won a retrial somehow, he'd likely be convicted."
Reiser, 44, was convicted by an Alameda County Superior Court jury of killing his wife, who was last seen at his Oakland hills house on Sept. 3, 2006. She dropped off the divorcing couple's two kids to stay with their father for part of the Labor Day weekend.
During his 11 appearances on the witness stand, the defendant claimed his 31-year-old wife abandoned the estranged couple's two young children and moved back to Russia.
The couple met there in 1998, when he was overseas hiring programmers for his Namesys software company that produced the ReiserFS filesystem. He testified that, before she vanished, he accused her of bilking the company out of tens of thousands of dollars.
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 source also cautioned that it remains to be seen whether Reiser would follow through with the proposal.
Reiser remains jailed without bail. His sentencing is scheduled for July 9.
"There are ongoing discussions," the source said.
Reiser stands a greater chance of seeing the light of day under a second-degree conviction. He would be eligible for parole in 15 years and would stand a better chance at receiving it if he disclosed a body.
Under California law, the governor possesses the power to veto a parole board's decision. Denying culpability is a strong mark against winning parole.
Before trial began in November, Reiser declined a deal with prosecutors in which he would have received an 11-year term in exchange to pleading guilty to manslaughter and disclosing the location of Nina Reiser's body.
On a side note, for Reiser to disclose the body might bring some element of closure to his two children, a boy now 8 and a girl 6. They live with Nina's parents in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The boy, in letters to his father last year, asked his dad why he "hid" his mother.
See Also:
- Hans Reiser Guilty of First Degree Murder
- Juror: Hans Reiser Planned the Murder, 'Thought It Out'
- Hans Reiser Turns Up 'Geek Defense' to 11
- Defense Lawyer Says Reiser Didn't Help Himself
- Reiser Jurors Reach Verdict
- Reiser Jury Checks in for Third Day of Deliberations
- Hans Reiser Jury Deliberates Two Days Without Verdict
- Reiser Prosecutor Urging Jurors to Convict Linux Programmer, Says ...
