Nina Reiser

Case background and investigation

Nina Reiser was a 31-year-old mother of two living in Oakland, California. She was separated from her husband, Hans Reiser, a software developer known for creating the ReiserFS file system for Linux, and the two were involved in a dispute over custody of their children. On September 3, 2006, during the Labor Day weekend, she drove the children to the house in the Oakland hills where Hans Reiser was living with his mother, to hand them over for a visit. She was not seen again, and she was reported missing on September 5.

Police arrested Hans Reiser on October 10, 2006, and he was charged with murder even though no body had been found. His trial began in November 2007 and lasted several months. On April 28, 2008, the jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, a conviction that carried a sentence of 25 years to life.

After the verdict, Reiser and prosecutors reached an agreement. As CBS News reported, he would show authorities where his wife's body was and give up his right to appeal, and in return he would be allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder. On Monday, July 7, 2008, he led investigators on a hike to a ravine in a park in the Oakland hills, not far from his home and about 40 yards off any trail. ABC News reported that the remains were buried in the ground inside a plastic bag. The identification was confirmed the following day.

Reiser also gave an account of what had happened. According to the Associated Press report of his sentencing, carried by the Press Democrat, he said he punched and strangled his estranged wife during an argument at the house while the children were downstairs, kept her body in a duffel bag in his car for two days, and then buried it in the ravine after two nights of digging.

On August 29, 2008, he was sentenced to 15 years to life in state prison, the maximum for second-degree murder. He told the court that he had taken the life of a human being. The couple's children went to live with their maternal grandmother in Russia. According to Wikipedia's account, a jury in a civil case awarded the children $60 million against him in July 2012.

Reiser remains in the custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He has been considered for parole and has been denied; Wikipedia's entry states that the most recent denial came in 2025 and that his next hearing is set for October 2028.