Jailhouse Interview: Reiser Talks to ABC's 20/20

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 1, 2007 (KGO) (KGO) -- The murder trial against Hans Reiser starts on Monday. Even without a body, prosecutors say they have a solid case. Reiser, a prominent and successful East Bay computer programmer, is accused of killing his wife Nina a year ago. ABC's 20/20 got an exclusive interview with him.

It's been little more than a year since Hans Reiser was arrested and charged with the murder of his estranged wife. A jury was finally selected last week after going through a pool of 300 people.

"She has the most beautiful voice. When I first heard it I called her on her telephone before I ever met her and when I heard her voice I thought this is someone special," says Hans Reiser.

Hans Reiser talks about how Nina took his breath away the first time they met in Russia 10 years ago.

In ABC's 20/20 interview, the well-known computer programmer speaks fondly of his obstetrician wife who he's now accused of murdering.

"Try to imagine a well educated Marilyn Monroe who's a doctor," says Reiser.

Reiser is accused of killing his estranged wife in the fall of last year at his mother's home in the Oakland Hills. She was last seen September 3rd leaving the house.

Police later found her minivan three miles from the house with her groceries, purse and cash still in the vehicle. Police say they found spots of Nina's blood during a search of Reiser's home and his car, but her body was never found.

The couple had been separated more than two years when she disappeared.

Reiser's attorney, Richard Tamor, tells ABC7 the prosecution's case is based on circumstantial evidence.

"There's no body that's been found. There's no murder weapon that's been found. There's no witnesses to the murder," says Tamor.

ABC7 legal analyst, Dean Johnson, says it's going to be one of the most interesting trials in recent memory.

"It's the Scott Peterson case if Laci Peterson's body had never been found and if there were actually evidence to support some of the wild scenarios that Peterson's defense came up with because that's what this case is," says Johnson.

He is also, what his attorney calls, a "unique personality."

"A college professor type who is aloof and who thinks of things in a different manner than most folks and acts in a different manner than most folks," says Tamor.

Reiser is well known in tech circles as the creator of a different type of open source or free file system which organizes data on a computer. He called it the Reiser FS File System. However, computer expert Desmond Crisis says however popular his system was, attaching his name to the software may now make it difficult to market.

"This is a man who named a product after himself. Now there are high level, high profile stories that are also using the same name," says Desmond Crisis with OPG Communications.

Reiser has pleaded not guilty. Deputy District Attorney Paul Hora declined our request for an interview, saying it is inappropriate to comment on a case that is about to go to trial.

Get more News »

• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•