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Hans Reiser To Reveal Location of Wife's Body

Posted by CmdrTaco on Mon Jun 09, 2008 08:03 AM
from the dark-days-almost-at-an-end dept.
News
dlgeek writes "The story of Hans Reiser is well known to all Slashdotters by now. Some still placed doubts about the conviction, stating that he might be innocent. It now seems that all doubt has been quelled, since Alameda County District Attorney Thomas Orloff has revealed that Hans Reiser will disclose the location of Nina's body for a reduced sentence. The deal is not yet finalized, though. 'There's been some overtures,' Orloff said, 'But everything is in its preliminary stage.' The deal would reduce his conviction from first degree to second degree murder. In addition, an anonymous source close to the situation said that 'the only real leverage he has is if he can provide a body. He really doesn't have any options left. Even if he won a retrial somehow, he'd likely be convicted.'"
+ -
story

Related Stories

[+] Your Rights Online: Hans Reiser and the "Geek Defense" Strategy 738 comments
lseltzer alerts us to a story in the Washington Post on the defense strategy in the Hans Reiser murder trial. "In the courtroom where Hans Reiser is on trial for murder, [the evidence] might appear to indicate guilty knowledge. But his attorneys cast it as evidence of an innocence peculiar to Hans, a computer programmer so immersed in the folds of his own intellect that he had no idea how complicit he was making himself appear. 'Being too intelligent can be a sort of curse,' defense counsel William Du Bois said. 'All this weird conduct can be explained by him, but he's the only one who can do it. People who are commonly known as computer geeks are so into the field.'"
[+] Your Rights Online: Hans Reiser Guilty of First Degree Murder 1395 comments
Anonymous Meoward writes "Today Hans Reiser was found guilty of first degree murder in Oakland, California. Quoting Wired: 'In a murder case with no body, no crime scene, no reliable eyewitness and virtually no physical evidence, the prosecution began the trial last November with a daunting task ahead... The turning point in the trial came when Reiser took the stand in his own defense March 3.' Whether he really did it or not, Hans basically just didn't know when to shut up."
Submission: Hans Reiser to reveal location of body by dlgeek (1065796)
[+] Hans Reiser Leads Police To Nina's Body 1523 comments
jlmcgraw was the first to alert us that Hans Reiser has led police to the location in the Oakland Hills where he buried the body of his wife Nina. (We discussed the rumor that he would do so last month.) SFGate.com reports that remains were recovered but have not yet been identified. Reiser is to be sentenced on Wednesday. CBS5 claims that Reiser made a deal for a reduced sentence, to 15 years, in exchange for revealing the body.
[+] Your Rights Online: Hans Reiser Gets Sentence of 15-To-Life 553 comments
mallumax writes "Hans Reiser was today handed a prison sentence of 15-to-life for murdering his wife. Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty and led police to his wife's body. His jury trial concluded in April with Reiser's first-degree murder conviction. That carries a 25-to-life term, but the authorities, in a backroom deal, later offered him 15-to-life if he produced his wife's body and waived any rights to appeal his conviction." Several other readers contributed coverage at SFGate.
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  • World's Greatest Detective (Score:5, Funny)

    by alcmaeon (684971) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:05AM (#23707725)
    BS. This doesn't mean he did it. It means he is the World's Greatest Detective. He's Batman!

  • *sigh* (Score:5, Interesting)

    by afxgrin (208686) <nboli AT cogeco DOT ca> on Monday June 09 2008, @08:10AM (#23707767) Homepage
    Wow I feel like a moron for have ever attempted to defend Hans online at all. Like he was friends, and his wife was seeing, a guy that murdered several people.

    Now he's just going to fess up to the murder.

    I guess this marks the end of ReiserFS. I'm sure no one in the Linux community wants to be associated to that piece of work.

    • Re:*sigh* (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Atlantis-Rising (857278) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:13AM (#23707799) Homepage

      I guess this marks the end of ReiserFS. I'm sure no one in the Linux community wants to be associated to that piece of work.

      Which, while it might be true, is still stupid.

      Imagine if Albert Einstein had accepted the position of leader of Israel after World War II and ordered some massive war crime, like say slaughtering the Arabs with nukes.

      Would we just toss aside General Relativity, never to see it again, because we don't want to be associated with the author?

      • Re:*sigh* (Score:5, Informative)

        by OzRoy (602691) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:21AM (#23707905)
        Hans Geiger was a Nazi and betrayed his Jewish Collegues.

        Heisenberg also worked for the Nazi's and attempted to build a Nuclear bomb. That one however is debatable. He later claimed he was secretly sabotaging the project.

        I think what will have to happen is ReiserFS will need to change its name. Once they do that then ithey will be able to move the project forward.

      • Re:*sigh* (Score:5, Informative)

        by afxgrin (208686) <nboli AT cogeco DOT ca> on Monday June 09 2008, @08:33AM (#23708093) Homepage
        Albert Einstein didn't name his theories after himself.

        But after reading the article, the summary is highly deceptive. The article basically says that Hans needs to reveal the location of the body if he wants a reduced sentence.

        It doesn't say he will. The judge is just assuming that Hans will do that to reduce the sentence.

    • Re:*sigh* (Score:5, Interesting)

      by antifoidulus (807088) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:16AM (#23707827) Homepage Journal
      They should at least rename it to try to distance the software as much as possible from its creator....

    • Re:*sigh* (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Tribbin (565963) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:21AM (#23707901) Homepage
      That raises the question; if Linus murders, will you stop using the kernel and everything associated with it?

    • reasonable doubt (Score:5, Insightful)

      by nguy (1207026) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:23AM (#23707941)
      Wow I feel like a moron for have ever attempted to defend Hans online at all.

      You shouldn't. To most people, even people who "defended" him, it was more likely than not that he was guilty. But the legal criterion is "beyond a reasonable doubt". I think based on the publicly released evidence, there was still a reasonable doubt.

      I still don't feel really comfortable with jurors making decisions based on "looking into people's eyes", as one of the jurors was saying; given how many people believe in astrology, mind reading, new age, and other supernatural stuff, I think there there's a lot of potential for bad decision making there. And there are, indeed, lots of wrongful convictions, so it's not like the system is working perfectly.

      Still, it looks like the jurors were right on this one.

      • Re:reasonable doubt (Score:5, Insightful)

        by alcmaeon (684971) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:45AM (#23708261)

        I still don't feel really comfortable with jurors making decisions based on "looking into people's eyes"

        Frankly, that bothers me a whole hell of a lot less than the fact that he was convicted of murder without any significant evidence his wife was dead as opposed to simply missing.

    • Re:*sigh* (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Xiph1980 (944189) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:23AM (#23707945)
      ReiserFS is maybe created by a murderer, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Hans Reiser may have comitted an intolerable crime, but if you would rob yourself of what might be the best filesystem for your application, it would just be a bloody shame. In my opinion using ReiserFS doesn't immediately mean you agree with his actions. It just mean that you prefer ReiserFS over other systems.

      This being said though, I prefer ZFS myself :)

      Also, considering Microsoft has so many employees, I have no doubt, that there have been people working there that comitted far worse than a crime of passion. Doesn't mean that the product is bad... Well, okay it is, but not because of some employee going nuts.
      Besides, I think there are many CEO's or CFO's or any C?O's out there that have comitted far worse than a single murder, like Shell pumping oil in africa, killing thousands knowingly by pollution. If you'd go your route, you wouldn't be able to get groceries anymore in a normal fasion, because the truck getting the groceries might have filled it up with diesel at a shell.

      • Re:*sigh* (Score:5, Insightful)

        by afxgrin (208686) <nboli AT cogeco DOT ca> on Monday June 09 2008, @08:37AM (#23708149) Homepage
        In the end the article just says the judge assumes Hans will reveal the body to reduce the sentence. The summary is bad for this article.

        Hognoxious hit that detail on the head

        "Well if the DA says it then it must be true! I mean a DA is a kind of lawyer, right?"

        Alright alright, I'll RTFA before posting next time.

  • Am I missing something or (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Splab (574204) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:18AM (#23707857)
    did the article just speculate?

    No where in the article does it say that he has agreed to it, they are speculating that there might be a reduced sentence if Hans discloses where the body is. Also, he is most likely going to be someone's "slave" once he is in prison, so if he gets 15 or 25 years it is most likely going to be in protected custody (= voluntary solitary confinement) and 15 years alone is going to mess him even up let alone 25 years, either way he is done for.

    Glad I'm not in the US, getting life in prison for something that has way too many loose ends, just isn't right.

    (On a side note, whats with those extremely long terms in prison? Anyone going in for 25 years will never be able to get back into society - I thought the point of prison was to punish and correct the guilty and get them back into working order. There was a couple who got life in prison for mistreating their child to the point of death (raised her as a vegan) - a British couple got 3 years community service for the same thing)

    • Re:Am I missing something or (Score:5, Insightful)

      by faloi (738831) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:33AM (#23708095)
      It sounds like they're in discussions about it. Presumably the DA wouldn't leak something about a deal of that nature unless he's really bad at his job. I would think that kind of publicity from the DA could earn him some censure, at he very least.

      Long terms in prison tend to be the result of mandatory minimum sentences. Politicians, in a zeal to "fight crime!!111" have placed certain minimum terms on crimes, so judges can have their hands tied in sentencing. For the record, depending on which case you're thinking of, the US couple got 99 days in jail. And none of it was related to the death of their child, it was for neglect of their other four children (being underweight and malnourished).

      • Re:Am I missing something or (Score:5, Insightful)

        by jimicus (737525) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:45AM (#23708257) Homepage

        It sounds like they're in discussions about it. Presumably the DA wouldn't leak something about a deal of that nature unless he's really bad at his job. I would think that kind of publicity from the DA could earn him some censure, at he very least.
        But there's no hint as to what direction those discussions are taking. Right now, for all we know the discussions are along the lines of:

        Prosecutor: Come on, you've been found guilty. Your only hope of improving your situation even slightly is to admit you did it and tell us where the body is.
        Reiser: Didn't do it.
        (lather, rinse and repeat)

    • Re:Am I missing something or (Score:5, Insightful)

      by domatic (1128127) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:48AM (#23708319)

      I thought the point of prison was to punish and correct the guilty and get them back into working order.



      That can be a point of prison but there are at least four not always compatible reasons from prison:

      1. Deterrence.
      2. Reformation.
      3. Punishment.
      4. Removal.

      Ultra long sentences serve 1,3, and 4 at the expense of 2. Furthermore, reform tends to get lip service at best in the US. We're generally a revenge minded lot Who Want Criminals Off The Street And Thinking Twice About Messing Up.

  • Got any Line? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Creepy Crawler (680178) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:18AM (#23707859)
    Great comic strip who didnt believe him HERE [geekz.co.uk].

    Got any lime?

  • The Anastasia mail order bride ad (Score:5, Funny)

    by edittard (805475) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:18AM (#23707865)
    Anyone else consider the Anastasia advert to be in bad taste, given the context of the story?

  • I would really like to know (Score:5, Funny)

    by Scholasticus (567646) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:22AM (#23707915) Journal
    Does this mean that some time soon Richard Stallman is going to tell us where the HURD kernel is?
  • I've got the troll points for arguing that he was guilty from the get-go, and I think that he is. But, in this case, I think before those people who supported him jump off of a mental cliff, let's let the DA actually deliver the body and the proof of Hans's cooperation. The story is believable enough, but, let's let the DA PROVE it first.

  • ReiserFS Undelete Option Shown (Score:5, Funny)

    by cryptodan (1098165) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:24AM (#23707953) Homepage
    Reiser shows off his new methods of undeleting a file and recovering it.
  • oj simpson's case was skewered in this country by race. that is, more black people tended to think of oj as innocent, and more white people thought of him as guilty

    the hans reiser case reveals that techies suffer this same sort of prejudice as black people concerning oj simpson. had this guy not authored a file system,

    1. no one would care about this case
    2. most would assume his guilt

    a lot pof people here think of themselves as intelligent and unbiased. if you assumed reiser's innocence, take a good har dlook in the mirror. tribal-level prejudice flows in your veins

    • Re:this reminds me of oj simpson (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Paralizer (792155) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:39AM (#23708185) Homepage

      if you assumed reiser's innocence, take a good har dlook in the mirror
      Everyone should be assumed innocent until it is proven beyond a reasonable doubt that they are guilty. I don't need to look in the mirror to know that...

    • Re:this reminds me of oj simpson (Score:5, Interesting)

      by ScentCone (795499) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:50AM (#23708339)
      tribal-level prejudice flows in your veins

      Yup. I think that such biases are actually stronger in support of someone for irrational tribal reasons than they are, these days, when it comes to being irrationally against someone who's not in your tribe. Classic examples these days would be the small number of people who poll saying they'd vote against Obama because he's black, compared to the huge number who will (and say they will!) vote for him because he's (to whatever degree) black. The folks who completely tossed their reason out the window over Reiser because he's a fellow nerd really do get a chance to stop and think, now. It's very similar to those that tolerate script kiddies and web site defacers because they feel some kinship to them, despite the fact that if the same kids did something similar in meat space (to their car, with spray paint) they'd get all upset.

      It was fair to assume Reiser's innocence until the testimony and his behavior started stacking up.

  • interesting insight on possible outcomes (Score:5, Insightful)

    by v1 (525388) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:56AM (#23708421) Homepage Journal
    from the provided article, I spotted one very interesting comment:

    Conclusion: Either he is guilty and gets 15 years or he is innocent and gets 25 years.

    For that reason I think the whole idea of "making deals" should be tossed out. Criminals should not be allowed to trade aspects of their crime to reduce their sentence. All that seems to do is encourage them to plan their crime more carefully so they have more "bargaining power" if caught. If he did it, and hadn't hid the body as well, and they found it, he wouldn't be offered this option to reduce his sentence.

    Although someone else said that recently no governor has granted parole for anyone convicted of 1st or 2nd degree murder, so it may not matter either way. The "to life" probably will be applied.

    • Re:fuck (Score:5, Insightful)

      by martinX (672498) on Monday June 09 2008, @08:49AM (#23708323)
      The opposite, I think. The parole board isn't there to second-guess the jury, or give you time off "just in case". They assume that because you were found guilty, you are guilty and your protestations to the contrary are simply because you refuse to face up to the fact you are guilty, so you can't yet be paroled.

      This means, of course, that if you are innocent, it sucks to be you when you front up to a parole board.

      Disclaimer: I garnered my knowledge from someone who was innocent but in jail, and also the movie Double Jeopardy, starring Ashley Judd.

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