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HANS REISER TRIAL. BERNARD PALMER. Friday, April 28, 2000 A memorial service will be conducted May 6 in Oakland for Bernard Palmer, a former professor of education at San Francisco State University and a violist in the Berkeley Symphony. Professor Palmer, 79, died April 5 of cancer in his Oakland home. A native of Utica, N.Y., and a graduate of Columbia University and the University of California at Berkeley, Professor Palmer was a sergeant and radio operator in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, flying combat missions over Germany. He was a high school teacher in Tennessee before coming to San Francisco State in the 1950s to instruct college students working for their high school teaching credentials. He retired in 1991. As a violist, he was a member of the Berkeley, Prometheus and Kensington symphonys and the Holy Names and Oakland Civic orchestras. Last fall, he won praise for his performance of a Dvorak piece with the Kensington Symphony. He is survived by his wife of 29 years, Beverly, of Oakland, and by children Hilary Palmer of Richmond, Hans Reiser of Oakland and Simone Palmer of Waterboro, Maine. A memorial service featuring a performance by the Exeter String Quartet, of which Mr. Palmer was a member, will be held on May 6 at 2 p.m. at the Mills College faculty lounge in Oakland. This article appeared on page D - 7 of the San Francisco Chronicle http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/04/28/MN48689.DTL WOMAN VANISHES AFTER SHE DROPS OFF HER KIDS. Jim Herron Zamora, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, September 12, 2006 Oakland police were searching Monday for a woman who disappeared Sept. 3 after dropping off her two young children with her ex-husband. Nina Reiser, 31, was last seen about 2 p.m. Sept. 3 at her ex-husband's home in the Montclair district of Oakland, police said. "She was planning to go shopping at Berkeley Bowl that afternoon," said Anthony Zografos, her boyfriend. "Then she was going to go to her friend's. She never showed up at the friend's house." Police said they found Reiser's tan 2001 Honda Odyssey at an unspecified location, but no trace of her. A police bulletin issued Monday said Reiser is "at risk'' and could be a victim of foul play. "There were groceries inside her car, so we think she went to Berkeley Bowl," Zografos said. Reiser has lived in Oakland since she emigrated from Russia in 2000 with her former husband. They split up about four years ago, and Reiser has lived in the Temescal district in recent years, Zografos said. Reiser was trained as a doctor in Russia and was working to become certified in the United States. She has worked for an accounting office and has held other jobs in the past several years, Zografos said. The mother of a 7-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl, Reiser is known to friends as a devoted mother who always attends her children's soccer games. "We're lost. We checked with everyone we can imagine. I have personally crisscrossed the city of Oakland," Zografos said. "She's a really great person, pleasant and pretty and fun. I am really worried. This is not like her at all." Authorities describe Reiser, whose nickname is Nenasha, as 5 foot 5 and 114 pounds, with brown eyes, black hair and a fair complexion. Police ask anyone with information about Reiser or who may have seen her van to call contact investigators at (510) 777-3333. Callers can also leave information on the Police Department's tip line at (510) 637-0298. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/12/BAGSPL3LIP1.DTL COPS, CADAVER DOG SEARCH HOME OF MISSING MOM'S HUSBAND. Henry K. Lee and Jim Herron Zamora, Chronicle Staff Writers Wednesday, September 13, 2006 (09-13) 13:47 PDT OAKLAND -- Oakland police and a cadaver dog with the Alameda County sheriff's office today are searching the home of a software developer whose estranged wife hasn't been seen for 10 days, police said. Law-enforcement officials received a warrant to search the home of Hans Reiser, 43, on the 6900 block of Exeter Drive in the city's Montclair District, police said. Reiser's wife, Nina "Nenasha" Reiser, 31, was last seen at about 2 p.m. Sept. 3 at his home, where she dropped off their 6-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter. A police bulletin issued Monday said the woman is "at risk" and could be a victim of foul play. The children have been placed with Child Protective Services. Hans Reiser has not been termed a suspect in her disappearance, and police have yet to speak to him, authorities said. Hans Reiser wasn't at home today, but his mother, Beverly Palmer, was present during the search and was being cooperative, said Oakland police Lt. Kevin Wiley. "We have not spoken to him yet," Wiley said of Reiser. A cadaver dog searched a crawl space underneath the home, located on a winding street off Shepherd Canyon Road in a steep wooded canyon. Also on scene was an agent with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Reisers frequently traveled to Russia. Meanwhile, concerned friends, neighbors and teachers from the Reiser children's former school, Grand Lake Montessori, have been posting flyers in the Lake Merritt area and other parts of the Montclair district. On the day she disappeared, Nina Reiser was planning to go shopping at Berkeley Bowl before going to a friend's house, said Anthony Zografos, her boyfriend. She never showed up at the house. Police said they found Reiser's tan 2001 Honda Odyssey at an unspecified location, but no trace of her. There were groceries inside the car, authorities said. The couple married in 1999 and separated in 2004. Nina Reiser filed for divorce in 2004, citing irreconcilable differences, according to Alameda County Superior Court records. She was granted custody of the children. The couple's divorce was never finalized. She said he was out of the country on business for his firm, Namesys, for nine months out of each year, records said. Nina Reiser accused her husband of subjecting their son, then 4, to violent video games and movies. "This is an activity that Hans does almost obsessively to relax," Nina Reiser wrote in her divorce filing. "Hans believes a child should 'know the real world' and sees nothing wrong with this behavior. He doesn't seem to grasp that children are not little adults." Hans Reiser, in turn, denied that movies were to blame and accused his wife of having an extramarital affair and of being mentally unstable and physically abusive to him, court records show. Hans Reiser's court filings touched on Sir Francis Bacon, Aristotle, Ralph Waldo Emerson and the scientific method. He said his son played "more hours of educational games" than those depicting violence and told the court that he was being "scammed" by his wife. He wrote of Nina Reiser, "She is a product of a KGB-dominated society and is the child of someone who works for the KGB." Nina Reiser was granted a temporary restraining order against her husband in December 2004. A year later, she agreed not to seek a permanent order. But earlier this year, Hans Reiser allegedly failed to pay 50 percent medical expenses and child care expenses as ordered by Judge Ronni McLaren, records show. He pleaded not guilty Aug. 25 on a civil contempt charge and is scheduled for trial in October. "I would like to think -- and I hope -- that he had nothing to do with this," Shelley Gordon, Nina's Reiser's divorce attorney, said today. "This has been a very acrimonious divorce, and I'm very fond of Nina and quite heartsick over her disappearance." Nina Reiser, who is trained as an obstetrician/gynecologist in Russia, has lived in the Temescal district in recent years, Zografos said. Authorities describe Reiser, whose nickname is Nenasha, as 5-foot-5 and 114 pounds, with brown eyes, black hair and a fair complexion. Oakland police homicide investigators have not been called in to assist officers with the missing person's unit, authorities said. Police want to look into the possibility that she could have left the country, said Oakland police Capt. Jeff Loman. "We don't have any evidence of foul play," Loman said Tuesday. Police ask anyone with information about Reiser or who may have seen her van to call contact investigators at (510) 777-3333. Callers can also leave information on the Police Department's tip line at (510) 637-0298. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/13/MNG34L4TIJ109.DTL MAN'S HOME SEARCHED -- WIFE IS MISSING. Henry K. Lee, Jim Herron Zamora, Chronicle Staff Writers Thursday, September 14, 2006 Oakland police and a cadaver dog with the Alameda County sheriff's office searched the home Wednesday of a computer programmer whose estranged wife hasn't been seen for 10 days. Law enforcement officials pored over the home of Hans Reiser, 42, on the 6900 block of Exeter Drive in the city's Montclair district for most of the day in hope of finding clues to the whereabouts of his wife, Nina "Nenasha" Reiser, 31. He wasn't home at the time. She was last seen at about 2 p.m. Sept. 3 at his home, where she dropped off their 6-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter. The children have been placed with Child Protective Services. Hans Reiser hasn't been termed a suspect in his wife's disappearance, and police have yet to speak to him, said Deputy Police Chief Howard Jordan. "As far as we know, he was the last person to see her at the home," Jordan said. A dog that can smell a cadaver searched a crawl space underneath the six-room home, located on a winding street off Skyline Boulevard in a steep wooded canyon, as well as the backyard and neighboring yards. Also on scene were agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The Reisers, who acquaintances said met through a Russian dating service, frequently traveled to Russia. On Sept. 3, Nina Reiser dropped off her children and planned to go shopping at the Berkeley Bowl market before going to her friend Ellen Doren's house. She never showed up. Police found Nina Reiser's tan 2001 Honda Odyssey in North Oakland with groceries inside, Jordan said. Doren, who picked up the couple's children from school on Sept. 5, said Wednesday that she plans to apply to become a foster parent to the Reisers' children. "No news is good news," she said. "We'll just keep waiting for Nina no matter what." Nina Reiser's boyfriend, Anthony Zografos, said he wasn't surprised that police were investigating Hans Reiser. "(He) is really the only person I know who dislikes her. They really don't get along." But Jack Clauson, who has lived next door to Hans Reiser for 25 years, said, "I've never seen or heard a bad thing about him in all the time I've known the family." The Reisers married in 1999 and separated in May 2004. Nina Reiser filed for divorce three months later, citing irreconcilable differences and saying their children "hardly know their father" because he'd be out of the country on business for most of the year, records said. Nina Reiser, who is trained as an obstetrician and gynecologist in Russia, was granted custody of the children. The couple's divorce has not been finalized. Nina Reiser accused her husband of subjecting their son, then 4, to violent video games and movies, causing him to have nightmares. "This is an activity that Hans does almost obsessively to relax," Nina Reiser wrote in her divorce filing. "Hans believes a child should 'know the real world' and sees nothing wrong with this behavior. He doesn't seem to grasp that children are not little adults." Hans Reiser, in turn, denied that movies were to blame for their son's nightmares and accused his wife of having an extramarital affair with Sean Sturgeon, a former friend of his, and that Sturgeon was a danger to the children. In an interview Wednesday, Sturgeon, 42, of Oakland denied having been a threat to the kids. Sturgeon said he became romantically involved with Nina Reiser only when her husband made it clear that the couple were through. Sturgeon filed a lawsuit in 2004 against Hans Reiser accusing him of failing to pay back an $84,000 loan. Greg Silva, an attorney for Hans Reiser filed a notice of settlement in the case Wednesday. Silva declined comment. Sturgeon said Hans Reiser had made a lot of "irrational" accusations against him. "He has shown increasing signs of mental instability," Sturgeon said. But Nina Reiser is the one who is mentally unstable and physically abusive, her husband claimed in court filings that touched on Francis Bacon, Aristotle, Ralph Waldo Emerson and the scientific method. He said his son played "more hours of educational games" than those depicting violence and told the court that he was being "scammed" by his wife. He wrote of Nina Reiser, "She is a product of a KGB-dominated society and is the child of someone who works for the KGB." Hans Reiser has prided himself in interviews as having been accepted to UC Berkeley at the age of 15 after dropping out of junior high school. He attended the university off and on before graduating in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in "systematizing," an individualized computer-science major. He operates his own business, Namesys, from his home. Nina Reiser was granted a temporary restraining order against her husband in December 2004 after she reported that he had pushed her and was abusive to her. A year later, she agreed not to seek a permanent order. But earlier this year, Hans Reiser allegedly failed to pay 50 percent medical expenses and child care expenses as ordered by a judge, records show. He pleaded not guilty Aug. 25 to a civil contempt charge and is scheduled for trial in October. "I would like to think -- and I hope -- that he had nothing to do with this," Shelley Gordon, Nina Reiser's divorce attorney, said Wednesday. "This has been a very acrimonious divorce, and I'm very fond of Nina and quite heartsick over her disappearance." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/14/BAGPJL5DHV1.DTL CANDLELIGHT VIGIL FOR MISSING OAKLAND MOTHER. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Saturday, September 16, 2006 (09-16) 09:33 PDT -- Dozens of people attended an emotional candlelight vigil Friday evening for an Oakland mother of two who has been missing for nearly two weeks, as police said for the first time that her estranged husband has agreed to be interviewed by investigators. Nina "Nenasha" Reiser, 31, has not been seen since Sept. 3, when she dropped off her 6-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter at their father's home in Oakland's Montclair District before stopping by the Berkeley Bowl. Her tan 2001 Honda Odyssey minivan was found in North Oakland with groceries inside, but she failed to meet her best friend Ellen Doren at her house later that evening, authorities said. Friends have blanketed the neighborhood with flyers with her picture, urging anyone with information to call police. This week, investigators searched her home on 49th Street in the city's Temescal District and, along with a cadaver dog, pored over the home of her estranged husband, Hans Reiser, 42, on the 6900 block of Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills. They have found one of two cars associated with him. Police say Hans Reiser is not a suspect in her disappearance. But they noted that he had failed to respond to police phone calls until late this week, when noted Oakland criminal defense attorney William Du Bois said his client would be available "to both the press and the police" for an interview early next week. "I have no information suggesting that he had anything whatsoever to do with the disappearance of his estranged wife," Du Bois said. "He is upset about the whole thing as much as everybody else." Hans Reiser did not attend the candlelight vigil Friday at Montclair Park, which his wife frequents with their children. Authorities said they believe he is in the area because he attended a court hearing in Oakland earlier this week that dealt with the custody of their children, who have been placed with Child Protective Services. Deputy Police Chief Howard Jordan and Officer Roland Holmgren, the department spokesman, made an appearance at the vigil in uniform. Later, a plainclothes police officer was seen holding a yellow carnation among well-wishers, which included the missing woman's boyfriend, Anthony Zografos. All wore pictures of Nina Reiser adorned with yellow ribbons. "I feel happy because of the community that showed up today to give their hopes to Nina and, so in that way, I feel grateful," Doren said. "Otherwise, of course, I feel very sad.I feel empty inside not to have my best friend with me." Asked if she was surprised that Hans Reiser wasn't present at the vigil, Doren said, "I really didn't know him that well. Sure, I thought he would be here." The Reisers married in 1999 and separated in May 2004. Nina Reiser filed for divorce three months later, citing irreconcilable differences and saying their children "hardly know their father" because he'd be out of the country on business for most of the year, Alameda County court records said. Nina Reiser, who is trained as an obstetrician and gynecologist in Russia, was granted custody of the children. The couple's divorce has not been finalized. Police ask anyone with information to contact investigators at (510) 777-3333. Callers can also leave information on the Police Department's tip line at (510) 637-0298. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/16/BAGIAL75A346.DTL $15K REWARD OFFERED FOR INFO ON MISSING OAKLAND MOM. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, September 25, 2006 (09-25) 14:14 PDT -- Authorities announced a $15,000 reward today for information leading to the location of an Oakland mother of two who has been missing for more than three weeks. Nina "Nenasha" Reiser, 31, has not been seen since Sept. 3, when she dropped off her 6-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter at their father's home in Oakland's Montclair District before stopping by the Berkeley Bowl. She failed to meet her best friend Ellen Doren at her house later that evening, authorities said. Reiser's tan 2001 Honda Odyssey minivan was found on Sept. 9 in the city's Thornhill district with groceries inside. Neighbors first spotted the minivan parked on Sept. 5, the same day she failed to pick up her children from school, police said today. Over the weekend, volunteers and law-enforcement officials scoured Redwood Regional Park and other parks in the Oakland hills for any signs of Reiser, who is described as a "missing person at risk." On Sunday, her mother, Irina Sharanova, who arrived from Russia, was among those who attended a service at a Berkeley church. The $15,000 reward is being offered by the Carole Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation, a nonprofit started on behalf of relatives of two of three slain Yosemite tourists. Doren said today that the reward was "great news." "I hope that it will make people come out and give police information that they're looking for." Two weeks ago, investigators searched Reiser's home on 49th Street in the city's Temescal District. They also brought a cadaver dog to pore over the home of her estranged husband, Hans Reiser, 42, on the 6900 block of Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills. Police say Hans Reiser is not a suspect in her disappearance, but they also said he has failed to respond to police phone calls. His lawyer, noted Oakland criminal defense attorney William Du Bois, had initially said that his client would be available "to both the press and the police." But Du Bois now says Hans Reiser has no plans to talk to police because he is upset about the search of his home and doesn't trust investigators. Hans Reiser did not attend the searches Saturday and Sunday, nor a candlelight vigil Sept. 15 at Montclair Park in the Oakland hills, which his wife frequented with their children. Police believe he's still in the area because he has attended recent court hearings in Oakland that dealt with the custody of their children. At one of the hearings, Oakland police testified before Alameda County commissioner Nancy Lonsdale. The officers said they had evidence they couldn't share, even with the commissioner, that would argue against giving Hans Reiser temporary custody of his children, according to Du Bois. Lonsdale placed the children with Child Protective Services. She is expected to make a final decision over the children's placement at a hearing Wednesday. The Reisers married in 1999 and separated in May 2004. Nina Reiser filed for divorce three months later, citing irreconcilable differences and saying their children "hardly know their father" because he'd be out of the country on business for most of the year, court records said. Nina Reiser, who is trained as an obstetrician and gynecologist in Russia, was granted custody of the children. The couple's divorce has not been finalized. Police ask anyone with information to contact the Oakland police missing persons unit at investigators at (510) 587-2528 or e-mail youthandfamilyservices@oaklandnet.com. Callers can also leave information on the Police Department's tip line at (510) 637-0298. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/25/BAGQQLCDEA37.DTL REWARD OFFERED IN MISSING MOM CASE. Henry K. Lee Tuesday, September 26, 2006 Authorities announced a $15,000 reward Monday for information leading to the location of an Oakland mother of two who has been missing for more than three weeks. Nina "Nenasha" Reiser, 31, has not been seen since Sept. 3, when she dropped off her 6-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter at their father's home in Oakland's Montclair District. She failed to meet her best friend, Ellen Doren, at her house later that evening, authorities said. Reiser's tan 2001 Honda Odyssey minivan, with groceries inside, was found Sept. 9 in the city's Thornhill district. Neighbors first spotted the parked minivan Sept. 5, the day she was supposed to pick up her children at school, police said Monday. Police said that her estranged husband, Hans Reiser, 42, is not a suspect in her disappearance but that he's failed to return police phone calls. Police ask anyone with information to contact the Oakland police missing persons unit at (510) 587-2528 or e-mail youthandfamilyservices@oaklandnet.com. Callers may also leave information on the Police Department's tip line at (510) 637-0298. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/26/BABADIGEST4.DTL MISSING WOMAN'S HUSBAND SEES KIDS. Henry K. Lee Friday, September 29, 2006 The estranged husband of an Oakland woman who has been missing for more than three weeks visited his children Thursday but declined to talk about the case with reporters. Hans Reiser, 42, attended an Alameda County Superior Court custody hearing in Oakland regarding his 6-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter. He then visited his children, who are under foster care, at a nearby county building. When approached by reporters before the visit, Reiser ran away. His attorney in the custody hearing, Cheryl Hicks, said she couldn't discuss the issue but has previously said Reiser "wants his children back." Reiser's wife, Nina "Nenasha" Reiser, 31, has not been seen since Sept. 3, when she dropped off her children at his home in Oakland's Montclair District. Investigators have searched Hans Reiser's house. Police have sent certified letters to the computer programmer asking him to meet with them, but he has repeatedly declined to do so. Police have not termed him a suspect, but hope he can "give us some information to help us find Nina," police Lt. Kevin Wiley said Thursday. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/29/BABADIGEST2.DTL MISSING WOMAN'S HUSBAND DETAINED FOR DNA SAMPLE. Jim Herron Zamora and Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, September 29, 2006 (09-29) 12:26 PDT -- The estranged husband of a woman who has been missing for nearly four weeks was detained Thursday night for a DNA sample, Oakland police said today. Deputy Chief Howard Jordan said Hans Reiser, 42, has declined to cooperate with the investigation so officers were forced to obtain a search warrant in order to collect a DNA sample. "He has not cooperated, he has not answered questions," Jordan said. "He was released after we received a biological sample." Although police have focused on Hans Reiser and searched his house, his car and his computer, Jordan said he is not a suspect. "We still don't have a crime," he said, adding that Nina "Nenasha" Reiser is considered a missing person because police have no proof of foul play in her disappearance. Reiser has refused to speak to police since the 31-year-old woman went missing after she dropped off her 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter at their father's Oakland home on Sept. 3. She failed to meet her best friend later that evening, authorities said. Hans Reiser was detained Thursday by police who followed him after he left a child custody hearing in Alameda County Superior Court, Johnson said. At the time he was stopped, Reiser was carrying a telescope that was birthday present for his son. Both children are in foster care. Alameda County commissioner Nancy Lonsdale declined to grant Reiser's custody request following testimony from Oakland police officers who said they had evidence that would argue against giving Reiser the children. Police said they couldn't share the evidence, not even with the commissioner. Nina Reiser's minivan was found Sept. 9 in Oakland's Thornhill neighborhood. Groceries from Berkeley Bowl were found inside. Neighbors first spotted the minivan on Sept. 5, the same day the mother failed to pick up her children from school, police said. Two weeks ago, investigators searched Nina Reiser's home on 49th Street in Oakland's Temescal neighborhood. They also brought a cadaver dog to pore over Hans Reiser's Montclair district home. His lawyer, noted Oakland criminal defense attorney William Du Bois, had initially said that his client would be available "to both the press and the police." But Du Bois later said the 42-year-old father would not talk to police because he is upset about the search of his home and doesn't trust investigators. Authorities announced a $15,000 reward Monday for information related to Nina Reiser's disappearance. Over the weekend, volunteers and law-enforcement officials scoured Redwood Regional Park and other parks in the Oakland hills for any signs of Nina Reiser. On Sunday, her mother, Irina Sharanova, who arrived from Russia, was among those who attended a service at a Berkeley church. The Reisers married in 1999 and separated in May 2004. Nina Reiser filed for divorce three months later, citing irreconcilable differences and saying their children "hardly know their father" because he'd be out of the country on business for most of the year, according to court records. Nina Reiser, who is trained as an obstetrician and gynecologist in Russia, was granted custody of the children. The couple's divorce has not been finalized. Police ask anyone with information to contact the Oakland police missing persons unit at investigators at (510) 587-2528 or e-mail youthandfamilyservices@oaklandnet.com. Callers can also leave information on the Police Department's tip line at (510) 637-0298. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/29/BAGUALFDNE22.DTL MISSING WOMAN'S HUSBAND FORCED TO SUBMIT DNA SAMPLE TO POLICE. Jim Herron Zamora, Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Staff Writers Saturday, September 30, 2006 The estranged husband of a woman who has been missing for nearly four weeks was detained Thursday night for a DNA sample, Oakland police said Friday. Deputy Chief Howard Jordan said Hans Reiser, 42, had declined to cooperate with the investigation so officers were forced to obtain a search warrant to collect DNA. Jordan said that Reiser did not resist police technicians when they took his biological sample. Although police have focused on Reiser and searched his house, his car and his computer, Jordan said he is not a suspect. "We still don't have a crime," he said, adding that Nina "Nenasha" Reiser is considered a missing person because police have no proof of foul play in her disappearance. Hans Reiser has refused to speak to police since the 31-year-old woman disappeared after dropping off her 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter at their father's Oakland home on Sept. 3. She failed to meet her best friend later that evening, authorities said. Hans Reiser was detained Thursday by police, who followed him after he left a child custody hearing in Alameda County Superior Court, Johnson said. At the time he was stopped, Reiser was carrying a telescope that was a birthday present for his son. Both children are in foster care. When confronted by reporters outside the courthouse, Reiser sprinted away. Alameda County Superior Court Commissioner Nancy Lonsdale declined to grant Reiser's custody request after testimony from Oakland police officers who said they had evidence that would argue against giving Reiser the children. Police said they couldn't share the evidence, not even with the commissioner. Nina Reiser's minivan was found Sept. 9 in Oakland's Thornhill neighborhood. Groceries from Berkeley Bowl were found inside. Neighbors first spotted the minivan on Sept. 5, the same day the mother failed to pick up her children from school, police said. Two weeks ago, investigators searched Nina Reiser's home on 49th Street in Oakland's Temescal neighborhood. They also brought a cadaver dog to Hans Reiser's Montclair district home. His lawyer, Oakland criminal defense attorney William Du Bois, had initially said that his client would be available "to both the press and the police." But Du Bois later said Reiser would not talk to police because he is upset about the search of his home and doesn't trust investigators. The Reisers married in 1999 and separated in May 2004. Nina Reiser filed for divorce three months later, citing irreconcilable differences and saying their children "hardly know their father" because he was out of the country on business for most of the year, according to court records. Nina Reiser, who was trained as an obstetrician and gynecologist in Russia, was granted custody of the children. The couple's divorce has not been finalized. Police ask anyone with information to contact the Oakland police missing persons unit at investigators at (510) 587-2528 or e-mail youthandfamilyservices@oaklandnet.com. Callers can also leave information on the Police Department's tip line at (510) 637-0298. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/30/BAGJNLFTII1.DTL CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED IN HOPES OF FINDING MISSING OAKLAND WOMAN. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, October 6, 2006 (10-06) 08:49 PDT OAKLAND -- Friends of an Oakland woman who has been missing for more than a month have launched a new campaign, including billboards and a Web site, in hopes of generating leads that will help find her. Nina Reiser, 31, disappeared after dropping off her son and daughter at their father's Oakland home on Sept. 3. She failed to meet her best friend, Ellen Doren, later that evening, authorities said. "I have not given up hope, and I'm not going to give up hope until Nina is found," Reiser's boyfriend, Anthony Zografos, said today. Friends launched the Web site, www.ninareiser.com, which offers suggestions to those who want to help find her. It also reminds people of a $15,000 reward for information leading to her location. Beginning Monday, 20 billboards with Reiser's picture and police contact information will be posted throughout Oakland. Clear Channel and CBS Outdoor are covering the cost of the campaign, Zografos said. At noon Sunday, friends will hold a "play date" at Montclair Park at 6300 Moraga Ave. in Oakland for children, who will be given yellow balloons. They will release 35 balloons, one for each day Reiser has been missing. Reiser's minivan was found Sept. 9 in Oakland's Thornhill neighborhood. Groceries from Berkeley Bowl were found inside. Neighbors first spotted the minivan on Sept. 5, the same day the mother failed to pick up her children from school, police said. In mid-September, investigators searched her home on 49th Street in Oakland's Temescal neighborhood. They also brought a cadaver dog to search the Montclair district home of her estranged husband, Hans Reiser. His lawyer, Oakland criminal defense attorney William Du Bois, had initially said that his client would be available "to both the press and the police." But Du Bois later said Hans Reiser would not talk to police because he is upset about the search of his home and doesn't trust investigators. An Alameda County Superior Court commissioner declined to grant Hans Reiser custody of the couple's children after testimony from Oakland police officers who said they had evidence that would argue against giving Hans Reiser the children. Police said they couldn't share the evidence, not even with the commissioner. Although stressing that he was not a suspect in Nina Reiser's disappearance, police used a search warrant to obtain a DNA sample from Hans Reiser on Sept. 28. Hans Reiser has still declined to talk to police, who have sent him and his attorney registered letters urging him to speak to investigators. "You know, I really don't understand his behavior," Zografos said today. "If he can find Nina in any way, I think he needs to come forward with whatever information he has. If he doesn't have anything, I don't know why he's running away." The Reisers married in 1999 and separated in May 2004. Nina Reiser filed for divorce three months later, citing irreconcilable differences and saying their children "hardly know their father" because he was out of the country on business for most of the year, according to court records. Nina Reiser, who was trained as an obstetrician and gynecologist in Russia, was granted custody of the children after the separation. Her son celebrated his 7th birthday without his mother on Sept. 28. Her daughter is 5. The couple's divorce has not been finalized. Police ask anyone with information to contact the Oakland police missing persons unit at investigators at (510) 587-2528 or e-mail youthandfamilyservices@oaklandnet.com. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/06/BAGK6LKAFK23.DTL BILLBOARDS AND WEB SITE FOR MISSING WOMAN. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Saturday, October 7, 2006 Friends of an Oakland woman who has been missing for more than a month are renewing their search for her using billboards and a Web site. Nina Reiser, 31, disappeared after dropping off her son and daughter at their father's Oakland home on Sept. 3. She failed to meet her best friend later that evening, authorities said, and didn't show up on Sept. 5 to pick her children up from school. "I have not given up hope, and I'm not going to give up hope until Nina is found," Reiser's boyfriend, Anthony Zografos, said Friday. Friends launched a Web site, www.ninareiser.com, which reminds visitors of a $15,000 reward for information leading to her location. Beginning Monday, 20 billboards with Reiser's picture and police contact information will be posted throughout Oakland. Clear Channel and CBS Outdoor are covering the cost of the signs, Zografos said. At noon Sunday, friends will hold a "play date" at Montclair Park at 6300 Moraga Ave. in Oakland, where children will be given yellow balloons to release -- 35, one for each day Nina Reiser has been missing. Reiser's minivan, with groceries inside, was found Sept. 9 in Oakland's Thornhill neighborhood. Days later, investigators searched her home on 49th Street in Oakland's Temescal neighborhood. They also brought a cadaver dog to search the Montclair district home of her estranged husband, Hans Reiser. An Alameda County Superior Court commissioner declined to grant Hans Reiser custody of the couple's children but would not disclose why. While stressing that Hans Reiser was not a suspect in her disappearance, police used a search warrant to obtain a DNA sample from him on Sept. 28. Hans Reiser has declined to talk to police, who have sent him and his attorney registered letters urging him to speak to investigators. The Reisers married in 1999 and separated in May 2004. Nina Reiser filed for divorce three months later, citing irreconcilable differences and saying their children "hardly know their father" because he was out of the country on business for most of the year, according to court records. The divorce has not been finalized. Nina Reiser, who was trained as an obstetrician and gynecologist in Russia, was granted custody of the children after the separation. The Reisers' son celebrated his 7th birthday on Sept. 28. Their daughter is 5. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/07/BAG9ALKU7V1.DTL HOME OF MISSING WOMAN'S HUSBAND IS SEARCHED IN OAKLAND. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, October 9, 2006 (10-09) 23:14 PDT -- Oakland police and FBI officials were searching the home Monday night of the husband of missing Oakland woman Nina Reiser. Reiser, 31, has been missing since Sept. 3 when she dropped off her son and daughter at the Exeter Drive home where her estranged husband, Hans Reiser, was living. The search Monday was the second time authorities have gone to the home. This time, police returned with a homicide investigator and federal officials. It was unclear whether they found anything during the search, which began at 6 p.m. and continued into the night. Reiser's minivan, with groceries inside, was found Sept. 9 in Oakland's Thornhill neighborhood. Hans Reiser has declined to talk to police, who have sent him and his attorney registered letters urging him to speak to investigators. The Reisers married in 1999 and separated in May 2004. Nina Reiser filed for divorce three months later, citing irreconcilable differences and saying their children "hardly know their father" because he was out of the country on business for most of the year, according to court records. The divorce was not finalized. Friends have launched a Web site, www.ninareiser.com, which reminds visitors of a $15,000 reward for information leading to her location. Twenty billboards asking for help in finding Nina Reiser were posted throughout Oakland Monday. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/09/BAGMOLM0FB3.DTL HUSBAND OF MISSING OAKLAND MOM ARRESTED ON SUSPICION OF MURDER. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, October 10, 2006 (10-10) 16:47 PDT OAKLAND -- The estranged husband of an Oakland woman who has been missing for more than a month was arrested today on suspicion of murder. Hans Reiser, 42, was taken into custody at 11 a.m., hours after Oakland police and FBI technicians searched his home in the Oakland hills. His estranged wife, Nina Reiser, 31, has been missing since Sept. 3, when she dropped off the couple's son and daughter at his home on the 6900 block of Exeter Drive. Nina Reiser's minivan, with groceries from Berkeley Bowl inside, was found several miles away Sept. 9 in Oakland's Thornhill neighborhood. "I guess that the police are not expecting to find Nina alive. I'm very sad about that, terribly sad," Shelley Gordon, Nina Reiser's divorce attorney, said today. "I just pray for the children." Anthony Zografos, Reiser's boyfriend, said, "I have no thoughts. Until they find Nina, I don't know what to think." Authorities did not immediately say today why they believe Reiser is dead. Monday's search was the second at Hans Reiser's six-room house, located on a winding street off Skyline Boulevard. In mid-September, police spent several days searching the home where his mother, Beverly Palmer, also lives. They brought in a cadaver dog during that search. On Monday night, police with the missing persons unit returned with a homicide investigator and the FBI's evidence response team. Police removed items from the home, including what appeared to be a door and a rolled-up carpet. Police used a search warrant Sept. 28 to obtain a DNA sample from Hans Reiser, who has declined to talk to police. His lawyer, criminal defense attorney William Du Bois, had initially said Reiser would be available "to both the press and the police." But Du Bois later said Reiser would not talk to police because he was upset about the search of his home and didn't trust investigators. Du Bois complained today that police had not allowed him to meet with his client after the arrest. He said investigators were keeping Reiser in isolation. Police made the arrest based on circumstantial evidence and have not found Nina Reiser's body, Du Bois said. "I have no idea what the circumstantial evidence is," he said. "When I hear what the evidence is against him, I'll make a decision as to whether he'll talk to them." The Reisers were married in 1999 and frequently traveled to Russia, where she was born. They separated in May 2004. Nina Reiser filed for divorce three months later, citing irreconcilable differences and saying their children "hardly know their father" because he was out of the country on business for most of the year, according to court records. Nina Reiser, who was trained as an obstetrician and gynecologist in Russia, was granted custody of the children. The divorce was not finalized. Hans Reiser has prided himself in interviews on having been accepted to UC Berkeley at the age of 15 after dropping out of junior high school. He attended the university off and on before graduating in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in systematizing, an individualized computer-science major. He operates his own business, Namesys, from his home. Nina Reiser was granted a temporary restraining order against her husband in December 2004 after she reported that he had pushed her and was abusive to her. A year later, she agreed not to seek a permanent order. Hans Reiser was accused earlier this year of failing to pay medical and child-care expenses as ordered by a judge, records show. He pleaded not guilty Aug. 25 to a civil contempt charge and was scheduled for trial in October. Nina Reiser's friends have started a Web site, www.ninareiser.com, which reminds visitors of a $15,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts. Twenty billboards asking for help in finding her were posted throughout Oakland today. Zografos and Nina Reiser's best friend, Ellen Doren, said they still planned to formally unveil the billboards Wednesday. "I'm very hopeful because that's the only way to get through the day right now, to keep having hope," Doren said. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/10/BAGERLM3RR15.DTL OAKLAND POLICE ARREST MISSING WOMAN'S ESTRANGED HUSBAND. By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer Wednesday, October 11, 2006 (10-11) 00:01 PDT Oakland, Calif. (AP) -- The estranged husband of a missing mother was arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with her disappearance more than a month ago, police said. Hans Thomas Reiser was arrested one day after Oakland police, with the help of the FBI, searched his house a second time for clues in the disappearance of Nina Reiser. Nina Reiser, 31, was last seen Sept. 3 while dropping off her 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter at her husband's home in the Oakland hills. She never showed up for a meeting with her best friend that evening. Her Honda minivan was found Sept. 9 with her purse and groceries still inside. Deputy Chief Howard Jordan said on Tuesday that even though police are still looking for Nina Reiser's body they decided to charge Hans Reiser based on biological evidence and statements from friends and relatives of the missing woman. "Our investigation has gone from a search and rescue to a search and recover," Jordan said at a news conference. The Reisers have been embroiled in an acrimonious divorce and child custody fight after separating in May 2004. Nina Reiser filed for divorce three months later, but it has not been finalized. Jordan said Hans Reiser has remained under surveillance for several weeks. Hans Reiser, who is expected to be charged this week, has refused to speak to authorities. His lawyer, William DuBois, did not immediately return a call Tuesday. Nina "Nenasha" Reiser moved to the U.S. in 1999 from St. Petersburg, Russia where she worked as a medical doctor. Her mother, who still lives in St. Petersburg, said she talked to her daughter the day she disappeared. She said Hans Reiser has ignored her attempts to speak with him. The two children remain in protective custody. Their father has tried to convince authorities they should be reunited with him. Even though Nina Reiser's body has not been found, police believe she is dead and enough circumstantial evidence exists to allow for Hans Reiser to be prosecuted. Police told the Oakland Tribune biological evidence that puts the missing woman in a car her husband had access to is a strong part of the circumstantial case against him. They would not say what the biological evidence is, but the term usually includes blood, hair or other body fluids. The link to the car is important because Nina Reiser's friends have told authorities she would never had voluntarily ridden in a car with him. Last month, police obtained a search warrant to secure a DNA sample from Hans Reiser. A $15,000 reward was offered for information about the missing woman. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/10/10/state/n142844D48.DTL NINA REISER'S BOYFRIEND HAS 'GLIMMER OF HOPE'. Billboards with missing mom's photo unveiled. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, October 11, 2006 (10-11) 12:02 PDT OAKLAND -- The boyfriend and the mother of an Oakland woman presumed killed at the hands of her estranged husband unveiled billboards today with her picture and reward information in hopes of finding her. On Tuesday, Oakland police arrested Hans Reiser, 42, on suspicion of murdering his wife, Nina Reiser, 31, who disappeared Sept. 3. Her body hasn't been found, but police said they had enough circumstantial evidence to take him into custody. "I still hope -- a glimmer of hope -- that Nina is alive and that we'll see her again," said her boyfriend, Anthony Zografos, standing today near the corner of Telegraph and West Grand avenues in Oakland with one of the billboards as a backdrop. "But regardless of whether this is a search-and-rescue or search-and-recovery operation for the police, Nina is still missing -- we've got to find her," said Zografos, his face quivering as he spoke. "What you see on the billboard is a beautiful woman with a beautiful smile, and she's missing and she has kids and she has family," Zografos said. "We just can't give up." Zografos said he was "very surprised that someone may have actually hurt her. I can't understand why anyone would want to hurt Nina." Zografos shook his head after being asked about his reaction to Hans Reiser's arrest. "I don't know," he said. "I'm still numb." He said if Hans Reiser had information as to his estranged wife's whereabouts, "It's not too late," Zografos said. Zografos was joined by Nina Reiser's mother, Irina Sharanova, who also voiced hope that her daughter was still alive. But, Sharanova said, "I wish Nina never met Hans." She said her grandchildren, a 7-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl, remain in protective custody and are attending school. "They are healthy and safe," Sharanova said, adding that they would likely need psychotherapy to help deal with the likelihood that their mother was dead and their father was in jail. Zografos said Nina Reiser, whom he had been dating for about a year, never discussed her relationship with her husband. After she disappeared, Zografos said, he reached out to Hans Reiser, inviting him by e-mail to play dates. He never responded, Zografos said. Zografos had planned to have dinner and see a movie with Nina Reiser on Sept. 4, the day after she was last seen. She was supposed to show up at 5:30 p.m. "At 5:31, I knew there was something wrong," he said. Zografos and Sharanova were flanked today by a representative of Clear Channel, which donated eight signs that are in place throughout Oakland. CBS Outdoor donated nine signs in Oakland and one in Berkeley along Interstate 80. Hans Reiser, a computer programmer, is expected to be arraigned on a charge of murder Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland. Nina Reiser was last seen at her husband's home on Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills on Sept. 3, when she dropped off the couple's children. She failed to meet her best friend at her house later that evening, authorities said. Nina Reiser's 2001 Honda Odyssey minivan, with groceries inside, was found Sept. 9 in the city's Thornhill neighborhood. Neighbors first spotted the parked minivan Sept. 5, the day she was supposed to pick up her children at school, police said. The Reisers were married in 1999 and frequently traveled to Russia, where she was born. They separated in May 2004. Nina Reiser filed for divorce three months later, citing irreconcilable differences and saying their children "hardly know their father" because he was out of the country on business for most of the year, according to court records. Nina Reiser, who was trained as an obstetrician and gynecologist in Russia, was granted custody of the children, whom Oakland Deputy Police Chief Howard Jordan described Tuesday as "basically orphans." The divorce was never finalized. Nina Reiser's friends have started a Web site, www.ninareiser.com, which reminds visitors of a $15,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts. Police ask anyone with information to contact Oakland homicide Sgt. Bruce Brock at (510) 238-3821 or a police tip line at (510) 637-0298. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/11/BAGQJLNA3U54.DTL HUSBAND ARRESTED AS SUSPECT. Police say they have evidence that missing mother of two is dead. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, October 11, 2006 Capping a monthlong investigation, Oakland police arrested the estranged husband of a missing Oakland woman Tuesday on suspicion of murder. Police said they have evidence to suggest that Nina Reiser, 31, who went missing Sept. 3, is dead. Her body has not been found. "All avenues led us to Mr. Reiser being responsible for the death and disappearance of Ms. Nina Reiser," said homicide Lt. Ersie Joyner. Police arrested Hans Reiser, 42, at 11 a.m. at an acquaintance's home on Simson Street in East Oakland. The computer programmer is expected to be arraigned on murder charges Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland. "We believe that based on circumstantial evidence, as well as statements and other evidence, that Hans Reiser murdered Nina Reiser," Oakland Deputy Police Chief Howard Jordan said at a news conference. Without elaborating, police said they had biological and trace evidence suggesting that Nina Reiser was dead. Her body is believed to be somewhere in the Bay Area, police said. "We have not located her body," Jordan said. "However, we are working diligently to locate the body. Our investigation has gone from a search and rescue to a search and recovery." Jordan added, "We feel very strongly that the D.A. will file charges against him and that we will prosecute him with or without a body." Hans Reiser has "made himself unavailable" to speak with police about what happened on the day his wife dropped off their children at his home, said Oakland police Officer Ryan Gill, a missing persons investigator. The suspect's attorney, William Du Bois of Oakland, said Tuesday, "I have no idea what the circumstantial evidence is. When I hear what the evidence is against him, I'll make a decision as to whether he'll talk to them." Du Bois said police were refusing him access to his client after the arrest. Jordan disputed that, saying Hans Reiser had not requested his attorney. Hans Reiser's arrest came after Oakland police and an FBI evidence response team searched his home on the 6900 block of Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills beginning at about 6 p.m. Monday. Police removed items from the home, including what appeared to be a door and a rolled-up carpet. Police said they had served 15 search warrants during the investigation but declined to detail the material that was seized. The search was the second at the six-room house, located on a winding street off Shepherd Canyon Road. In mid-September, police spent several days searching the home, where his mother also lives, and brought in a cadaver dog. Investigators used a search warrant Sept. 28 to obtain a DNA sample from Hans Reiser. Nina Reiser, who filed for divorce in August 2004, was last seen at her husband's home on Sept. 3, when she dropped off the couple's son and daughter. She failed to meet her best friend, Ellen Doren, at her house later that evening, authorities said. Nina Reiser's 2001 Honda Odyssey minivan, with groceries inside, was found Sept. 9 in the city's Thornhill neighborhood. Neighbors first spotted the parked minivan Sept. 5, the day she was supposed to pick up her children at school, police said. Hans Reiser's mother, Beverly Palmer, and a second person were at the Simson Street home when he was arrested. Both were being interviewed Tuesday, police said. Curtis McDonald, who lives on Simson, said investigators searched the home Tuesday and about two weeks ago. Police said they had tracked the suspect to the home and to points throughout the Bay Area in recent weeks through undercover surveillance. Residents of the home where he was arrested declined comment. Anthony Zografos, Nina Reiser's boyfriend, wept while attending Tuesday's news conference. Then he abruptly left. "I have no thoughts," Zografos said earlier Tuesday. "Until they find Nina, I don't know what to think." Shelley Gordon, Nina Reiser's divorce attorney, said, "I guess that the police are not expecting to find Nina alive. I'm very sad about that, terribly sad. I just pray for the children." The Reisers were married in 1999 and frequently traveled to Russia, where she was born. They separated in May 2004. Nina Reiser filed for divorce three months later, citing irreconcilable differences and saying their children "hardly know their father" because he was out of the country on business for most of the year, according to court records. Nina Reiser, who was trained as an obstetrician and gynecologist in Russia, was granted custody of the children, whom Jordan described Tuesday as "basically orphans." The divorce was not finalized. Nina Reiser's friends have started a Web site, www.ninareiser .com, which reminds visitors of a $15,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts. Twenty billboards asking for help in finding her were posted throughout Oakland on Tuesday. Zografos and Doren said they still planned to formally unveil the billboards today. "I'm very hopeful, because that's the only way to get through the day right now, to keep having hope," Doren said. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/11/BAGCELMT0D1.DTL MURDER CHARGES LIKELY DESPITE MISSING BODY. Circumstantial evidence may be used against husband. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, October 12, 2006 When Hans Reiser appears in an Oakland courtroom today on charges that he killed his estranged wife, Nina, prosecutors will be moving forward even though her body hasn't been found. The lack of a body in a homicide case is rare, but there have been plenty of instances in which murder defendants have been convicted through circumstantial evidence alone, legal experts said Wednesday. Sources close to the investigation told The Chronicle on Wednesday that police believe Hans Reiser, 42, killed his wife at his Oakland hills home on Sept. 3, the day she dropped off the couple's two children. Nina Reiser's blood, confirmed through DNA testing, was found at his Exeter Drive home and in his car, the sources said. Court records show that Nina Reiser, 31, last lived at the home in March 2001, several years before the couple separated. Hans Reiser, a computer programmer, is expected to be charged today with murder. He refused to speak to police after his wife disappeared, and he declined to make a statement to investigators after being arrested Tuesday at a friend's house in East Oakland, police said. "There is no pool of blood in any location," said his attorney, William Du Bois. "They're talking about traces of biological evidence, and when people live together for years, it's not uncommon for them to deposit trace evidence." Du Bois, who met with his client in jail Wednesday, said, "He's saddened, of course. If you were arrested in connection with the death of your wife when they haven't even found her body, how would that make you feel?" Prosecutors can proceed in a homicide case without many things, including a confession, a motive or a body, said Contra Costa County prosecutor Harold Jewett, who oversees homicide and gang cases. "There's certainly no requirement in the law that a body be present, any more than there's a requirement in the law, for instance, that a murder weapon be produced," Jewett said. But not having a body does present prosecutors with challenges, such as proving to a jury that the supposed victim hasn't run off or somehow faked his or her death to start life anew. "You've got to have evidence to defeat that," said Steve Wagstaffe, San Mateo County chief deputy district attorney. "In a no-body case, you have to convince the jury that the victim is truly dead and not simply a runaway." To do that, investigators often introduce evidence showing that a missing person has stopped making phone calls, sending e-mail, or using his or her credit and ATM cards. "I think more damning would be like a $40,000 bank account that has not been touched, and very close friends and family haven't heard from them," said Oakland criminal defense attorney Deborah Levy. In the case of Nina Reiser, friends and family have insisted that the Russian-born gynecologist would never leave her 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter. Alameda County Assistant District Attorney Tom Rogers said, "There have been numerous cases successfully prosecuted throughout the state and in the country where a body has not been recovered." In Contra Costa, prosecutors won a first-degree murder conviction in 1994 against a man who kidnapped and killed a Navy civilian worker whose body was never found. In 1986, a man was convicted in San Mateo County of murdering his former fiancee, whose skeletal remains were found 14 months after the trial ended. In Sacramento County, Mario Garcia is now being tried on murder charges in the October 2005 disappearance of Christie Wilson, 27. The two were caught on videotape leaving a casino in Placer County. Wilson's body hasn't been found. The trial was moved to Sacramento because of pretrial publicity. Nina Reiser's boyfriend, Anthony Zografos, and mother, Irina Sharanova, maintained hope Wednesday that Reiser would be found alive. They unveiled billboards with her picture and reward information in hopes of finding her. "But regardless of whether this is a search-and-rescue or search-and-recovery operation for the police, Nina is still missing," Zografos said. "We've got to find her." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/12/BAG61LNLN21.DTL BLOOD OF MISSING OAKLAND MOTHER FOUND IN EX-HUSBAND'S CAR. By MICHELLE LOCKE, Associated Press Writer Thursday, October 12, 2006 (10-12) 23:08 PDT Oakland, Calif. (AP) -- The estranged husband of a woman who's been missing for more than a month appeared in court Thursday to face a murder charge in the case. Hans Reiser, 42, was arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court, but postponed entering a plea. He was arrested Tuesday, a day after police and FBI found his wife's blood in his home and car, police said. Her body, however, has not been found. Reiser, a computer software engineer, appeared in court for the brief hearing, but didn't say anything. He remained held without bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. One of Reiser's lawyers, William Du Bois, said outside court the circumstantial case is "relatively flimsy." Nina Reiser, 31, was last seen Sept. 3 when she dropped off their 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter at his house in the Oakland hills. She never showed up for a meeting with her best friend that evening. Police believe the couple's children were in the house when Hans Reiser killed his wife that day, according to a probable cause statement filed by investigators Thursday. Interviews with the children revealed that the two were arguing upstairs, while they played downstairs. At one point, the boy went to his parents, and his father told him to leave and "not to come back upstairs, not even to the kitchen area," Officer Ryan Gill wrote in the statement. Nina Reiser's Honda minivan was found Sept. 9 with her purse and groceries inside. Small amounts of her blood were found in Hans Reiser's home and in his 1988 Honda Civic, which was missing its front passenger seat when police seized it Sept. 19, according to the statement. The seat has not been recovered. Another of Reiser's lawyers said the scant genetic evidence is not necessarily proof of a crime. "There's not a lot of forensic evidence at all. Whatever they got is trace," said attorney Daniel Horowitz. "It's not clear whether it's evidence of a crime or evidence of people living together for seven years." Police also found two books about how murders are investigated in Reiser's car, but Horowitz said that does not point to guilt. "He's an intelligent man. He's going to want to know what the police were up to," he said. "What's he supposed to be doing, reading comic books?" The hearing was attended by Hans Reiser's mother, Nina Reiser's mother and the missing woman's best friend. "Now we feel angry and we want justice," said Ellen Doren. Deputy Chief Howard Jordan said Tuesday even though police still are looking for Nina Reiser's body they decided to charge Hans Reiser based on biological evidence and statements from friends and relatives of the missing woman. The Reisers were embroiled in an acrimonious divorce and child custody fight after separating in May 2004. Nina Reiser, a Russian immigrant who was trained as a doctor, filed for divorce three months later. The two children remain in protective custody. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/10/12/state/n164036D62.DTL BLOOD EVIDENCE REVEALED IN REISER CASE. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, October 12, 2006 (10-12) 15:58 PDT -- An Oakland man accused of murdering his estranged wife bought two books dealing with homicide investigations in the days after she disappeared and removed the front passenger seat from a car that investigators say contained traces of her blood, according to a police statement filed in court today. Hans Reiser, 42, had assaulted his wife, Nina Reiser, 31, during the course of their separation in 2004 and had threatened to harm her "for the rest of her life," police said in a statement filed in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland. The statement gave no further details on the alleged assault. Hans Reiser, a computer programmer, was arrested Tuesday at a friend's home in East Oakland. His wife's body has not been found. His hands shackled to his waist, Reiser was arraigned this afternoon on a charge of murder. He spoke only to confirm his name and made brief eye contact with his mother, Beverly Palmer, who declined to comment afterward. Judge Trina Thompson Stanley ordered the defendant held without bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin pending his next court date of Nov. 28. "We're not numb. Now we're angry, and we want justice," Nina Reiser's best friend, Ellen Doren, said outside court. "We're not going to give up. We're waiting for her to come back." Reiser is being represented by Oakland attorneys William Du Bois and Daniel Horowitz, whose wife was murdered last year in Lafayette by a teenage neighbor of the couple, Scott Dyleski. Outside court today, Du Bois said the case against his client was "relatively flimsy." Nevertheless, Hans Reiser "knows that this is a severe problem and a solemn undertaking," Du Bois said. Horowitz said investigators were "leaking sensational information that may not even be accurate," and that in court the police would have to "put up or shut up." "They're releasing things to the press before the evidence is given to the defense," he said. "It's a cheap tactic. Until the police have the integrity to turn over the evidence to the defense as required by law, we're not going to comment on their spin." Police believe Hans Reiser killed his wife Sept. 3, the day she dropped off their two children at his home on Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills, sources said. Police found "trace amounts" of her blood in his home as well as in his 1988 Honda CRX, which was missing its front passenger seat when police seized it Sept. 19, Officer Ryan Gill wrote in a statement filed with the court. The seat has not been found. After technicians removed the carpeting from the front seat area, they noticed that the floorboard had been saturated with water, the statement said. Inside the car, police say they found a roll of trash bags, absorbent towels and two books: "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets," by David Simon, about the Baltimore police homicide squad, and "Masterpieces of Murder," by Jonathan Goodman, about notorious murder cases. Police believe Reiser bought the books at a store in Berkeley on Sept. 8, based on surveillance camera footage. Horowitz said the books weren't evidence of any wrongdoing. He noted that police had been following Reiser, and that "innocent people might want to know what the police are doing just as well as a guilty person. ... Anybody being pursued and followed around by the police might want to read a book whose focus is on improper police tactics." Gill's statement said Reiser seemed to be aware police were tailing him and at times made apparently evasive maneuvers while driving, such as making numerous turns and abrupt stops. He was driving his mother's car at the time, police said. He told a friend Sept. 6 that the battery in his Honda had died. Two days after that, Reiser picked up the CRX at a location in Berkeley, the police statement said. The passenger seat did not appear to be missing Sept. 12 when Reiser was given a traffic ticket by Redwood City police, the statement said. Nina Reiser was last seen Sept. 3, when she dropped off the couple's two children at Hans Reiser's home after she went shopping at the Berkeley Bowl supermarket. The children heard their parents "possibly involved in an argument," Gill's statement said. One of the children later reported to police that they were using "not nice words," the statement said. At one point, Hans Reiser told his son, then 6, to go downstairs and "not to come back upstairs, not even to the kitchen area," the statement said. The boy turned 7 on Sept. 28. Police have twice searched the home, where Hans Reiser lives with his mother. They have also taken a DNA sample from him. Nina Reiser's 2001 Honda Odyssey minivan was found Sept. 9 on Fernwood Drive, about three miles from Hans Reiser's home and near Highway 13. Groceries were found strewn in the back seat "in such disarray that it appeared that it was a result of the vehicle being driven rapidly and possibly recklessly," the police statement said. Scent-tracking dogs didn't pick up Nina Reiser's odor outside of the vehicle, suggesting that she had never been in the area, the statement said. Her cell phone was found in the minivan with its battery removed, police said. Investigators said the last call had been placed to Hans Reiser's home at 2:02 p.m. Sept. 3. Investigators listened to voice-mail messages on the phone. "Not one call was left by Hans Reiser to express concern, or to inquire about her whereabouts, or even mention that he had the children after picking them up from school on Sept. 6," the police statement said. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/12/BAGR7LO3UI96.DTL WHY HUSBAND WAS ARRESTED. Report tells of overheard argument, missing car seat, books about murder probes. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, October 13, 2006 The young children of an Oakland man accused of killing his estranged wife heard the couple arguing and using "not nice words" the day police believe he killed her, authorities said in court records released Thursday. On a day when Hans Reiser, 42, appeared in an Oakland courtroom on charges that he murdered his wife, Nina Reiser, 31, police painted a portrait of an uncaring, abusive man who bought two books about homicide investigations five days after she disappeared. Hans Reiser assaulted his wife after they separated in 2004 and threatened to harm her "for the rest of her life," Oakland police Officer Ryan Gill wrote in a statement that outlined grounds for Reiser's arrest. The statement didn't elaborate on the alleged assault. Nina Reiser has not been seen since Sept. 3, when she took her children shopping at the Berkeley Bowl supermarket, then dropped them off at her estranged husband's home on Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills, Gill's statement said. It was the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, and the Reisers argued about who was going to have the children -- a 5-year-old girl and a boy who turned 7 on Sept. 28 -- over the rest of the holiday, the children told police. The boy said he had heard his parents talking at a "medium" volume while using "not nice words," the police statement said. At one point, he said, his father told him to go downstairs and "not to come back upstairs, not even to the kitchen area," according to the police statement. Nina Reiser's 2001 Honda Odyssey was found six days later about 3 miles from Hans Reiser's home, the groceries askew in the back seat as if someone had driven the minivan wildly, police said. Police dogs failed to find Nina Reiser's scent in the area, suggesting she was never there, the police statement said. Her body has not been found. On Thursday, two days after he was arrested at a friend's home, Hans Reiser was arraigned on a charge of murder. His hands shackled to his waist, the computer programmer spoke only to confirm his name and made brief eye contact with his mother, Beverly Palmer. He did not enter a plea and was ordered held without bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin pending his next court date Nov. 28. "We don't feel numb anymore. Now we feel angry and we want justice," Nina Reiser's best friend, Ellen Doren, said outside court while accompanied by Nina Reiser's mother, Irina Sharanova. "Either Hans had something to do with it, or he knows somebody that had something to do with it, and in either case, it's time to come out with the information." Reiser is being represented by Oakland attorneys William Du Bois and Daniel Horowitz, whose wife was murdered last year in Lafayette by a teenage neighbor of the couple, Scott Dyleski. Outside court Thursday, Du Bois said the circumstantial case against his client is "relatively flimsy." Nevertheless, Hans Reiser "knows that this is a severe problem and a solemn undertaking," Du Bois said. Horowitz said investigators were "leaking sensational information that may not even be accurate," and that in court the police would have to "put up or shut up." Police found small amounts of Nina Reiser's blood in her estranged husband's home as well as in his 1988 Honda Civic CRX, which was missing its front passenger seat when police seized it Sept. 19, Gill wrote in the statement filed with the court. The seat has not been found. After technicians removed the carpeting from the front seat area, they noticed that the floorboard had been saturated with water, the statement said. Inside the car, police say they found a roll of trash bags, absorbent towels and two books: "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets," by David Simon, about the Baltimore police homicide squad, and "Masterpieces of Murder," by Jonathan Goodman, about notorious murder cases. Police believe Hans Reiser bought the books at a Berkeley bookstore on Sept. 8, based on surveillance camera footage. Horowitz said the books aren't evidence of any wrongdoing. "Anybody being pursued and followed around by the police might want to read a book whose focus is on improper police tactics," Horowitz said. The Civic's passenger seat appeared to be in the car when Redwood City police gave Hans Reiser a traffic ticket Sept. 12, but it was gone when Oakland police seized the car a week later, the police statement said. Nina Reiser's minivan was found Sept. 9 on Fernwood Drive near Highway 13. In addition to the groceries, police found her cell phone, its battery missing. Investigators said the last call had been placed to Hans Reiser's home at 2:02 p.m. Sept. 3. Investigators listened to voice-mail messages on the phone. "Not one call was left by Hans Reiser to express concern, or to inquire about her whereabouts, or even mention that he had the children after picking them up from school on Sept. 6," the police statement said. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/13/BAG2VLOTGM1.DTL REWARD FOR MISSING OAKLAND MOM STANDS AT $25K. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, October 23, 2006 (10-23) 13:07 PDT OAKLAND -- A reward for information leading to the discovery of an Oakland woman who authorities believe was killed by her estranged husband now stands at $25,000, her boyfriend said today. Nina Reiser, 31, disappeared in September. Her body hasn't been found, but on Oct. 10 police arrested her estranged husband, computer programmer Hans Reiser, 42, on suspicion of murdering her. Eighteen billboards are in place in Oakland and Berkeley with pictures of Nina Reiser. In September, authorities announced a $15,000 reward for information leading to her location. That reward has now increased by $10,000, said her boyfriend, Anthony Zografos. "We plead with anyone with information that may help police locate Nina to come forward," Zografos said today. "It is the right thing for the community, Nina's friends and family and most importantly her children, who are faced with the prospect of never finding out where their mother is." Hans Reiser was arraigned Oct. 12 in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland on a charge of murder. He is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin and is due back in court Nov. 28. "We were all hoping that this was a terrible mistake," Zografos said. "Unfortunately the evidence suggests that this is a terrible tragedy and a heinous crime was committed. Hopefully the increased reward will help find Nina and bring this to a closure." Nina Reiser was last seen at her husband's home on Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills on Sept. 3, when she dropped off the couple's two children. They may have heard their parents arguing and using "not nice words" that day, Oakland police said in court records. She failed to meet her best friend, Ellen Doren, at her house later that evening, authorities said. Her 2001 Honda Odyssey minivan was found Sept. 9 in the city's Thornhill neighborhood. Nina Reiser's friends have started a Web site, www.ninareiser.com. Police ask anyone with information to contact Oakland homicide Sgt. Bruce Brock at (510) 238-3821 or a police tip line at (510) 637-0298. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/23/BAGDBLUGV339.DTL REWARD NOW $25,000 FOR MISSING WOMAN. Henry K. Lee Tuesday, October 24, 2006 A reward for information leading to the discovery of a missing Oakland woman who authorities believe was killed by her estranged husband now stands at $25,000, her boyfriend said Monday. Nina Reiser, 31, disappeared in September. Her body hasn't been found, but on Oct. 10 police arrested her estranged husband, computer programmer Hans Reiser, 42, on suspicion of murdering her. In September, authorities announced a $15,000 reward for information leading to Nina Reiser's location. That reward has now increased by $10,000, said her boyfriend, Anthony Zografos. "We plead with anyone with information that may help police locate Nina to come forward," Zografos said. "It is the right thing for the community, Nina's friends and family and most importantly her children, who are faced with the prospect of never finding out where their mother is." Nina Reiser was last seen at her husband's home on Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills on Sept. 3, when she dropped off the couple's two children. Police ask anyone with information to contact Oakland homicide Sgt. Bruce Brock at (510) 238-3821 or a police tip line at (510) 637-0298. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/24/BAGA7LTLQ11.DTL REISER PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO KILLING ESTRANGED WIFE. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, November 28, 2006 (11-28) 12:11 PST OAKLAND -- An Oakland man pleaded not guilty today to killing his estranged wife, whose body is still missing more than two months after she disappeared. Hans Reiser, 42, entered a not-guilty plea in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland in the slaying of his wife, Nina Reiser, 31. The computer programmer invoked his right to have a preliminary hearing within 10 days of today's court appearance. Judge Trina Thompson Stanley scheduled the hearing for Dec. 11, after which Judge Julie Conger will decide whether there is enough evidence to hold Reiser over for trial. His mother, Beverly Palmer, showed no emotion during the morning hearing, but Nina Reiser's best friend, Ellen Doren, cried as she sat next to the victim's mother, Irina Sharanova. Nina Reiser's friends said they were more focused on the fate of the couple's children and on finding their mother -- who has not been seen since September -- than on Hans Reiser's court appearance. "The plea is not important to me," said Nina Reiser's boyfriend, Anthony Zografos, who accused Oakland police of not doing enough to locate the missing woman. "I think that's unacceptable," he said. Nina Reiser was last seen Sept. 3, when she took the couple's son and daughter shopping at the Berkeley Bowl supermarket, then dropped them off at her estranged husband's home on Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills, police said. The couple's 7-year-old son told police he heard his parents arguing and using "not nice words" the day police believe he killed her, authorities said. Nina Reiser's 2001 Honda Odyssey was found six days later about 3 miles from Hans Reiser's home, the groceries askew in the back seat as if someone had driven the minivan wildly, police said. Today, attorney Daniel Horowitz withdrew from the case, saying Reiser couldn't afford his services. "This is an incredibly complex case," Horowitz said in an interview. "It requires hundreds of hours of intense work and a major amount of staff involvement. He actually can't afford me. There's no money." Reiser's other attorney, William Du Bois, said his client wanted to have the preliminary hearing set sooner rather than later. The attorney said the case against his client was "flimsy." "No case in the history of California, based on circumstantial evidence of murder, has featured an investigation which ran such a short period of time," Du Bois said. "They have to prove not only that she's missing, which we all know, but also that's she dead, which we don't know." Du Bois added that there's no evidence that her death was "caused by a criminal agency." His client had a number of theories of where his wife could be, including "all around the world," Du Bois said. Doren said she wanted to focus on the couple's children. "The people suffering right now are the children," she said, adding that a fund for their education has been established. Contributions can be sent to Education Fund for the Reiser children, 6114 LaSalle Ave. #127, Oakland, CA 94611, she said. There is a $25,000 reward for information leading to the location of Nina Reiser. Police ask anyone with information to contact Oakland homicide Sgt. Bruce Brock at (510) 238-3821 or a police tip line at (510) 637-0298. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/28/BAGERMLCGJ38.DTL HUSBAND OF WOMAN MISSING 3 MONTHS ENTERS NOT-GUILTY PLEA. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, November 29, 2006 An Oakland man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to killing his estranged wife, who is presumed by police to be dead after she disappeared nearly three months ago. Hans Reiser, 42, entered a not-guilty plea in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland to a charge of murdering his wife, Nina Reiser, 31. In an unusual move, the computer programmer invoked his right to have a preliminary hearing within 10 days. Judge Trina Thompson Stanley scheduled the hearing for Dec. 11, after which Judge Julie Conger will decide whether there is enough evidence to hold Reiser over for trial. His mother, Beverly Palmer, showed no emotion during the hearing, while Nina Reiser's best friend, Ellen Doren, cried as she sat next to the victim's mother, Irina Sharanova. Nina Reiser's friends said they were more focused on the fate of the couple's children and on finding their mother -- who has not been seen since September -- than on Hans Reiser's court appearance. "The plea is not important to me," said Nina Reiser's boyfriend, Anthony Zografos, who accused Oakland police of not doing enough to locate the missing woman. "I think that's unacceptable," he said. Nina Reiser was last seen Sept. 3, when she took the couple's son and daughter shopping at the Berkeley Bowl supermarket, then dropped them off at her estranged husband's home on Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills, police said. The couple's 7-year-old son told police he heard his parents arguing and using "not nice words" the day police believe he killed her, authorities said. Nina Reiser's 2001 Honda Odyssey was found six days later about 3 miles from Hans Reiser's home, the groceries askew in the back seat as if someone had driven the minivan wildly, police said. After appearing in court with Reiser on Tuesday, attorney Daniel Horowitz withdrew from the case, saying Reiser couldn't afford his services. "This is an incredibly complex case," Horowitz said in an interview. "It requires hundreds of hours of intense work and a major amount of staff involvement. He actually can't afford me. There's no money." Reiser's other attorney, William Du Bois, said the case against his client was "somewhat flimsy." "No case in the history of California, based on circumstantial evidence of murder, has featured an investigation which ran such a short period of time as this one," Du Bois said. "They have to prove not only that she's missing, which we all know, but also that she is dead, which we don't know." Du Bois added that there's no evidence that her death was "caused by a criminal agency." His client had a number of theories of where his wife could be, including "all around the world," Du Bois said. Doren said she wanted to focus on the couple's children. "The people suffering right now are the children," she said, adding that a fund for their education has been established. Contributions, she said, can be sent to the Reiser children's Education Fund, 6114 LaSalle Ave., No. 127 , Oakland, CA 94611. A $25,000 reward is offered for information leading to the location of Nina Reiser. Police ask anyone with information to contact Oakland homicide Sgt. Bruce Brock at (510) 238-3821 or a police tip line at (510) 637-0298. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/29/BAGUFMLORN1.DTL DEFENDANT SAID WIFE WAS 'NEUROTIC,' MOTHER SAYS. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, December 12, 2006 (12-12) 13:32 PST OAKLAND -- An Oakland man accused of murdering his estranged wife during an acrimonious divorce considered her to be a "very neurotic" liar who placed her two children with a babysitter too often, the defendant's mother testified today. Hans Reiser, 42, also believed that his wife, Nina Reiser, "projected ailments" on their 7-year-old son and used the boy to hurt him, Beverly Palmer testified on the second day of her son's preliminary hearing in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland. The defendant has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder in the presumed slaying of his wife, whose body hasn't been found since she disappeared on Sept. 3, when she dropped off their children at the home Hans Reiser shared with his mother on Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills. In a Sept. 23 telephone conversation that was taped by police, the defendant told his mother that he didn't deserve to be a suspect in her disappearance and that he resented that his son had been placed in foster care. Palmer, an artist, testified that when she returned to Oakland after visiting the Burning Man festival in Nevada during the Labor Day weekend, her son was using her vehicle instead of his own Honda CRX. Police have said they found small amounts of Nina Reiser's blood in the defendant's home as well as in his Honda, which was missing its right front passenger seat when seized by investigators. When it was time for cross-examination, the defendant whispered into the ear of his attorney, William Du Bois, who then asked Palmer if she had ever called her son "an inconsiderate slob" and told him to move out from her home. Palmer laughed and said yes, adding that her son then made an effort to clean the house and their cars. Also today, Nina Reiser's divorce attorney, Shelley Gordon, testified that the couple's divorce proceedings "were extremely hostile and acrimonious." In her career, only a few divorces have been "really, really hostile, and this was one of them," Gordon said. Nina Reiser, who had joint physical custody of her children at the time she disappeared, never missed court dates or appointments, Gordon said. Outside court, Du Bois said a bitter divorce was not evidence of murder. The enmity between Hans and Nina Reiser was "not a secret. It's not new information," Du Bois said. But Deputy District Attorney Greg Dolge said in an interview that the fact that there was "no love lost between Hans and Nina" could be a key indicator in pointing to the defendant's state of mind and involvement in the slaying. In an interview today, Reiser's father, Ramon Reiser, 64, said there wasn't enough evidence to try his son. "I have never heard of arresting anybody when you don't have solid evidence of a murder occurring," he said, noting that his grandson had testified Monday that he hugged his mother goodbye on Sept. 3, the day she disappeared. "That sort of just speaks for itself," he said. Nina Reiser was last seen when she took the couple's son and daughter shopping at the Berkeley Bowl supermarket, then dropped them off at her estranged husband's home. Nina Reiser's 2001 Honda Odyssey was found six days later on Fernwood Drive in Oakland's Montclair district, with groceries -- including a tub of sour cream and fruit -- "jumbled" on the floor, testified Chris Bunn, who lives on the street and found the vehicle. The hearing continues into the week, after which Superior Court Judge Julie Conger will determine whether Hans Reiser should be held over for trial. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/12/BAGVLMU8I559.DTL BOY, 7, NOW SAYS HE DIDN'T HEAR PARENTS ARGUING. He testifies at hearing to decide if dad will be tried for murder. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The 7-year-old son of an Oakland computer programmer charged with murdering his wife testified in court Monday that, contrary to an earlier police account, he hadn't heard his parents arguing and that his mother walked out the door the day police believe she was killed. An Oakland police statement in October said the boy, whom The Chronicle is not naming because of his age, had heard his parents arguing and using "not nice words" on the day investigators say Hans Reiser, 42, killed her. The boy's comments came as his mother was alternately portrayed at a preliminary hearing Monday as either a devoted mother of two who would never leave her children willingly or a woman whose family had ties to the former KGB and who once dated someone interested in sadomasochism. After the hearing concludes later this week, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Julie Conger will determine whether there is enough evidence to try Hans Reiser, who has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors have voiced confidence that they can prove their case despite the fact that a body hasn't been found. But outside court, Hans Reiser's attorney, William Du Bois, said this was nothing more than an unsolved, missing-person case. "He had nothing to do with her demise," Du Bois said. "There are other factors in her life that may have accounted for her disappearance." Hans Reiser raised his eyebrows in greeting Monday as his son entered the courtroom, but the boy didn't look at him. When he got on the stand, however, he looked at his father at times before answering questions from Deputy District Attorney Greg Dolge. At times fidgeting with a plastic cup, the boy told Dolge that he understood the difference between the truth and a lie. The boy told the prosecutor that his mother took him and his 5-year-old sister to his father's home on Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills on Sept. 3, the last day she was seen. He said he hugged his father -- a comment that drew a smile from his father -- before his father told them not to come upstairs. "Did you hear any kind of argument upstairs?" Dolge asked. "No," the boy replied. He said that he later gave his mother a hug and that she left the home through the front door. The boy said his parents had otherwise argued "every time my mom would drop me off at my dad's house." Also Monday, Nina Reiser's best friend, Ellen Doren, and boyfriend, Anthony Zografos, testified that they became concerned when Nina Reiser never responded to phone calls after Sept. 3. When Doren asked Hans Reiser in a phone call where his wife went after stopping by his house, he replied, "I need to talk to my lawyer," Doren said. During cross-examination, Du Bois said his client had been asking for his divorce attorney, and Zografos testified that he believed that Hans Reiser made the comment about a lawyer to a police officer, not Doren. Du Bois also said in his questioning of Doren and Zografos that a former boyfriend of Nina Reiser was involved in sadomasochism, that the word "rage" was "carved" in his arm, and that he was addicted to pain pills. Zografos testified that the former boyfriend had twice entered Nina Reiser's home with a key, unannounced. Du Bois suggested to Doren that she didn't know everything about her friend. "You only go on what you've been told?" Du Bois asked. "Yes," Doren said. Zografos, who wept at one point while on the stand Monday, suggested in his testimony that Nina Reiser's children had been turned against her, sometimes becoming upset with her, calling her a liar, accusing her of lying to the judge (in the divorce case) and saying, "You want to steal our dad's money." Nina Reiser was last seen when she took the couple's son and daughter shopping at the Berkeley Bowl supermarket, then dropped them off at her estranged husband's home. Nina Reiser's 2001 Honda Odyssey was found six days later about 3 miles from Hans Reiser's home, the groceries strewn about the back seat as if someone had driven the minivan wildly, police said. Police have said they found small amounts of Nina Reiser's blood in the defendant's home as well as in his 1988 Honda Civic CRX. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/11/BAGO9MTK9F26.DTL http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/12/BAGMTMTQM21.DTL DEFENDANT'S MOM SAYS HE CALLED WIFE NEUROTIC LIAR. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, December 13, 2006 An Oakland computer programmer accused of murdering his estranged wife considered her a "very neurotic" liar who didn't pay enough attention to her children, his mother testified Tuesday. Hans Reiser, 42, also believed that his wife, Nina Reiser, "projected ailments" on their 7-year-old son -- saying he suffered from sicknesses that he didn't have -- and used the boy to hurt him, Beverly Palmer testified on the second day of her son's preliminary hearing in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland. Reiser has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife, who has not been seen since Sept. 3 when she dropped off their son and younger daughter at the home Reiser shared with his mother on Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills. Police have not found her body but believe she is dead. Palmer, 63, an artist, testified that when she returned to Oakland after visiting the Burning Man festival in Nevada over the Labor Day weekend, her son was using her vehicle instead of his own Honda CRX. Police have said they found small amounts of Nina Reiser's blood in the defendant's home as well as in his Honda, which was missing its right front passenger seat when investigators seized it. Under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Greg Dolge, Palmer said her son thought his estranged wife was "very neurotic." "Hans felt Nina was a liar?" Dolge asked. "Yeah, I would say that's true," Palmer replied. Asked how her son felt about Nina Reiser as a parent, Palmer said, "He felt she didn't give the children enough attention and left them with the babysitter too much." Dolge asked, "Did Hans ever tell you that Nina did not just abuse Hans but looked for every possible way to screw him?" "I don't know if he used those words, but something like that," Palmer said, who agreed with the prosecutor that her son felt that Nina Reiser was using their son to hurt him. Dolge did not press the matter. When it was time for cross-examination, the defendant whispered into the ear of his attorney, William Du Bois, who then asked Palmer if she had called her son "an inconsiderate slob" about a month before Nina Reiser disappeared and told him to move out from her home. Palmer laughed and said yes, adding that her son then made an effort to clean the house and their cars. Also Tuesday, Nina Reiser's divorce attorney, Shelley Gordon, testified that the couple's divorce proceedings "were extremely hostile and acrimonious." In her career, only a few divorces have been "really, really hostile, and this was one of them," she said. Nina Reiser, who had joint physical custody of her children at the time she disappeared, never missed court dates or appointments, Gordon said. Hans Reiser accused her of being a bad mother who cared more about her studies to resume her career as an obstetrician than the children, Gordon said. Nina Reiser was last seen when she took the couple's son and daughter shopping at the Berkeley Bowl supermarket, then dropped them off at her estranged husband's home. Her 2001 Honda Odyssey was found six days later on Fernwood Drive in Oakland's Montclair district, with groceries jumbled on the floor, testified Chris Bunn, who lives on the street and found the vehicle. Police also found Nina Reiser's cell phone, with its battery missing, in her car, Oakland police criminalist Todd Weller and crime-scene technician Bruce Christensen testified. The hearing is expected to last at least until the end of the week, after which Superior Court Judge Julie Conger will determine whether Hans Reiser should be held over for trial. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/13/BAGS0MUMJS1.DTL POLICE SAY OAKLAND MURDER SUSPECT REISER TRIED TO ELUDE THEM. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, December 13, 2006 (12-13) 13:38 PST OAKLAND -- An Oakland computer programmer charged with murdering his wife tried to elude police surveillance in the weeks after she disappeared in September, a police officer assigned to track the defendant testified today. Hans Reiser, 42, laughed numerous times and whispered into his attorney's ear as Oakland police Officer Eugene Guerrero described how 12 officers in unmarked cars and a plane tracked the defendant's movements on Sept. 18, two weeks after his wife disappeared. Reiser repeatedly paced up and down streets in downtown Oakland after leaving a court hearing for his children, Guerrero said. Reiser then got into a BMW driven by a friend, who checked the car as if he was looking for tracking devices, Guerrero said. The friend would routinely make evasive maneuvers while driving through Berkeley, such as making numerous turns off San Pablo Avenue and at one point driving so slowly on Solano Avenue it caused a traffic jam, Guerrero testified. After the two left a restaurant, the friend dropped Reiser off at San Pablo and Ashby avenues in Berkeley, where Reiser again walked back and forth before getting into his Honda CRX, Guerrero said. The defendant parked the Honda on Monterey Boulevard, along Highway 13 in Oakland and, on four occasions, walked away from the car before returning and opening and closing the trunk, Guerrero said. At that point, a taxi pulled up, and police thought he got into it. So they began following the cab as it traveled toward the Oakland International Airport. But as that was happening, another officer saw the defendant running up windy Snake Boulevard toward his house, Guerrero said. Superior Court Judge Julie Conger then flashed a puzzled look. "I'm confused," the judge said. "Was he in the taxi or was he running up Snake?" "We thought he was in the taxi. He was running up Snake," Guerrero said. Conger nodded and said, "A red herring -- a decoy." Reiser's movements and behavior are "evidence of a guilty conscience," Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Greg Dolge said outside court today. But Reiser's attorney, William Du Bois, said in an interview that his client simply didn't like being followed by police and never intended to flee. "It's sort of silly," Du Bois said. "It's an attempt to make a silk purse from a sow's ear." The testimony came on the third day of a preliminary hearing in Oakland, which is expected to continue at least until the end of the week, after which Superior Court Judge Julie Conger will determine whether Reiser should be held over for trial. The defendant has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife, who has not been seen since Sept. 3 when she dropped off their son and daughter at the home her estranged shared with his mother on Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills. Police have not found her body but believe Reiser killed her during an acrimonious divorce. Also today, Oakland police Officer Shan Johnson testified that Nina Reiser had accepted a job assisting Russian immigrants in San Francisco two days before she disappeared. She was to have started the job on Sept. 21, Johnson said. She never showed up, nor did she show up Sept. 7 to be fingerprinted, he said. Du Bois, who has suggested in his questioning that Nina Reiser's family had ties to the former KGB, said outside court today that it was possible she didn't want to be fingerprinted so as to avoid a background check. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/13/BAGORMUUN238.DTL MURDER SUSPECT EVADED POLICE, OFFICER TESTIFIES. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, December 14, 2006 An Oakland computer programmer charged with murdering his wife tried to elude police surveillance in the weeks after she disappeared in September, an officer assigned to track him testified Wednesday. Hans Reiser, 42, laughed numerous times and whispered into his attorney's ear as Oakland police Officer Eugene Guerrero described how 12 officers in unmarked cars and a plane had tracked his movements Sept. 18, two weeks after his estranged wife, Nina Reiser, disappeared. Reiser paced up and down streets in downtown Oakland after leaving a custody hearing for his children, Guerrero said. Then he got into a BMW driven by a friend, who checked the car as if he was looking for tracking devices, Guerrero said. The friend made several evasive maneuvers while driving through Berkeley, such as making numerous turns off San Pablo Avenue and at one point driving so slowly on Solano Avenue it caused a traffic jam, Guerrero testified. After the two left a restaurant, the friend dropped Reiser off at San Pablo and Ashby avenues in Berkeley, where Reiser again walked back and forth before getting into his Honda CRX, Guerrero said. Reiser parked the Honda on Monterey Boulevard along Highway 13 in Oakland and, on four occasions, walked away from the car before returning and opening and closing the trunk, Guerrero said. At that point, a taxi pulled up, and police thought he got into it, Guerrero said. They followed the cab as it headed toward Oakland International Airport. But as that was happening, Officer Jim Saleda saw Reiser sprinting up Snake Boulevard toward his house in the Oakland hills, Guerrero said. Superior Court Judge Julie Conger flashed a puzzled look. "I'm confused," the judge said. "Was he in the taxi or was he running up Snake?" "We thought he was in the taxi. He was running up Snake," Guerrero said. Conger nodded and said, "A red herring -- a decoy." Reiser's movements and behavior are evidence of a guilty conscience, prosecutor Greg Dolge said outside court. But Reiser's attorney, William Du Bois, said in an interview that his client simply didn't like being followed by police. "It's sort of silly," Du Bois said of the prosecution's interpretation. "It's an attempt to make a silk purse from a sow's ear." Under questioning by Du Bois, Guerrero said police had never followed Reiser to an airport, a train or bus station or to points beyond the Bay Area. The testimony came on the third day of a preliminary hearing in Oakland. The hearing will continue next Wednesday with testimony from police technicians who analyzed DNA evidence in the case. Police have said they found small amounts of Nina Reiser's blood in her husband's home as well as in his Honda. At the end of the hearing, Conger will determine whether Reiser should be held over for trial. Reiser has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife, who has not been seen since Sept. 3 when she dropped off their son and daughter at the home on Exeter Drive where Reiser lived with his mother. Police have not found Nina Reiser's body. Also Wednesday, Oakland police Officer Shan Johnson testified that two days before she disappeared, Nina Reiser had accepted a job assisting Russian immigrants in San Francisco. She was to have started Sept. 21, Johnson said. She never showed up, nor did she show up Sept. 7 to be fingerprinted, he said. Du Bois, who has suggested in his questioning that Nina Reiser's family had ties to the former KGB, said outside court that it was possible she didn't want to be fingerprinted in order to avoid having her background exposed. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/14/BAGHCMVABE1.DTL DNA MATCH OF BLOODSTAINS IN CASE OF MISSING WIFE. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, December 21, 2006 Traces of blood matching that of an Oakland woman presumed dead were found in her estranged husband's car and home, a criminalist testified Wednesday. A bloodstain found on a sleeping bag sack found in Hans Reiser's Honda CRX matched the DNA profile of his missing wife, Nina Reiser, said Oakland police criminalist Shannon Cavness. Bloodstains found on a pillar in the living room of Hans Reiser's home on Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills contained DNA belonging to him and his wife, said Cavness, testifying in Alameda County Superior Court on the fourth day of a preliminary hearing for the computer programmer. Police obtained Nina Reiser's DNA from a contact-lens case, razor and underwear taken from her home on 49th Street in Oakland's Temescal neighborhood, Cavness said. The testing linked Nina Reiser's DNA profile with such certainty that only 1 in 45 trillion women would also match, Cavness said under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Greg Dolge. On cross-examination, Cavness acknowledged to Reiser's attorney, William Du Bois, that DNA testing can't confirm when bloodstains are deposited. Du Bois suggested in his questioning that the bloodstains could have been degraded over time because of exposure to heat, ultraviolet radiation and moisture in the air. Cavness agreed with the defense attorney that Nina Reiser's DNA could have been deposited on the pillar at a different time than when the defendant's DNA was left there. Du Bois will continue his cross-examination today. Reiser has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife, who has not been seen since Sept. 3 when she dropped off their son and daughter at the home where he lived with his mother. Police have not found Nina Reiser's body. Hans Reiser's Honda was missing its front passenger seat when police seized it Sept. 19, Cavness testified in an Oakland courtroom. After technicians removed the carpeting from the front seat area, they noticed that the floorboard had been saturated with water, Cavness said. Inside the car, police found a 40-piece socket set, Cavness said. The tools appeared to have been used to remove four bolts that had been used to attach the passenger seat to the floor, she said. Also found inside the car, according to police, was a roll of trash bags, masking tape, a siphon pump, absorbent towels and two books: "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets," by David Simon, about the Baltimore police homicide squad, and "Masterpieces of Murder," by Jonathan Goodman, about notorious murder cases. Police believe Hans Reiser bought the books at a Berkeley bookstore on Sept. 8, based on surveillance camera footage. Cavness testified that police also found a traffic citation in the glove compartment of the defendant's car. When Hans Reiser was ticketed by Redwood City police on Sept. 12, the passenger seat appeared to have been in the car, police have said. Outside court, Du Bois said he intends to call witnesses when the hearing resumes next month after the holidays. After the hearing concludes, Superior Court Judge Julie Conger will determine whether Reiser should be held over for trial. A $25,000 reward is offered for information leading to the location of Nina Reiser. Police ask anyone with information to contact Oakland homicide investigators at (510) 238-3821 or a police tip line at (510) 637-0298. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/21/BAG29N3O5N1.DTL MISSING WOMAN'S HUSBAND NERVOUS, WITNESS SAYS. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, January 3, 2007 An Oakland computer programmer accused of killing his wife appeared nervous and didn't make eye contact with an employee at his children's after-school program two days after his estranged wife was last seen, the employee testified Tuesday. Hans Reiser's wife, Nina Reiser, didn't pick up her children as scheduled Sept. 5, Natalie Potter testified on the sixth day of Hans Reiser's preliminary hearing in Alameda County Superior Court. Instead, Hans Reiser showed up at Adventure Time at Joaquin Miller Elementary School in Oakland, looking "very nervous-like, his head down, his body moving from side to side," Potter said. "No eye contact with me at all." Without providing specifics, Reiser asked if he could set up a meeting to discuss the after-school program's enrollment policies, Potter said. He wrote down a cell phone number as a contact that turned out to be incorrect, she said. Reiser, 43, has pleaded not guilty to murder in the disappearance of his wife, who has not been seen since Sept. 3 when she dropped off their son and daughter at the Oakland hills home where Reiser lived with his mother. Police have not found Nina Reiser's body but say they believe she is a victim of murder. The defense contends that there is no proof she is dead and that the prosecution's case is circumstantial. Under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Greg Dolge, Potter said Hans Reiser had told her when he arrived at the after-school program that "he was not there to pick up the children." After Potter asked him if it was all right for Ellen Doren, a friend of Nina Reiser's, to pick them up, he said, "Yeah, yeah, that's fine," with a dismissive wave of his hand, Potter said. "He left without his children," she said. "He seemed really dismissive of the children." Defense attorney William Du Bois objected to that statement, and Judge Julie Conger sustained the objection. On cross-examination, Potter said that when Doren arrived, she told school employees that Nina Reiser, 31, was out of town. But the missing woman's daughter was with Doren at the time, and Doren made the remark "for the benefit of the child," Potter said. Also Tuesday, Du Bois parried with the prosecutor and the judge over whether a book about the Baltimore police homicide squad, found in Hans Reiser's car Sept. 19, could be introduced as evidence. Reiser bought the book, "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets" by David Simon, at a Barnes and Noble store in Berkeley on Sept. 8, Oakland police Officer Jesse Grant testified Tuesday, basing his statements on surveillance camera footage and a receipt. Du Bois objected to the book's admission as evidence, saying that meant the defense lawyer would have to read it. "That doesn't follow," the judge said, shaking her head. After discussing something with his client, Du Bois withdrew his objection and said, "I think we all should read it. There's some good stuff in there." To support his change of heart, Du Bois asked Grant if he knew the book includes a chapter about police planting evidence. Grant said he did not, but he then told the prosecutor that he did know the book discusses the difficulties in disposing of a body. The preliminary hearing resumes Jan. 16, when the judge plans to question the Reisers' 7-year-old son in a closed courtroom. The boy testified last month in open court that, contrary to an earlier police account, he hadn't heard his parents arguing and that his mother walked out the door the day police say they believe she was killed. Du Bois said he plans to call Cheryl Hicks, an attorney representing Hans Reiser in child-custody hearings and, possibly, some relatives of his client. When the hearing concludes, Conger will determine whether Reiser should be held over for trial. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/03/BAG16NC1611.DTL REISER'S SON LIKELY TO STAY IN RUSSIA. News of key witness halts preliminary hearing. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, January 16, 2007 (01-16) 12:56 PST OAKLAND -- The preliminary hearing for an Oakland computer programmer charged with killing his wife came to a halt today when his 7-year-old son, a key witness in the case, failed to return from a planned visit to Russia, and attorneys said the boy may never come back. The surprise revelation -- coupled with reports that Russian courts might now be seeking custody of Hans Reiser's son -- came on the day the boy was to have testified in a closed courtroom before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Julie Conger in Oakland. The boy, who already has testified in open court as a prosecution witness, is under the care of a Russian therapist who recommended that he not return to the United States on the grounds that he is traumatized by the presumed slaying of his mother, Nina Reiser, whose body has not been found, attorneys told Conger today. Deputy District Attorney Greg Dolge said the boy's grandmother, Irina Sharanova, had indicated that the boy would be in Russia from Dec. 23 until Sunday. But the prosecutor said he learned on Monday that the boy wouldn't return, citing reports from a therapist that he was having behavioral problems, including crying and not being able to sleep. The defendant's attorney, William Du Bois, said Sharanova could be in violation of a separate family-court judge's order that the boy attend a child-custody hearing in Oakland on Jan. 24. Du Bois said he wasn't sure, however, whether Sharanova could be found in violation of Conger's order that the boy be made available as a witness, as Sharanova wasn't personally told of that order. Now, the judge and attorneys in the case said they are mulling over their options. A hearing will be held Thursday to determine how the case will proceed. "I've never had a witness ignore my order to return," Conger said. Outside court, Dolge said he didn't believe the boy's failure to return would affect his case, saying the youth had already testified in court and that his testimony could be used at trial. The prosecutor added that he didn't know what the judge wanted to ask the boy. The boy's 5-year-old sister also is staying with family members in St. Petersburg, Russia. Reiser wasn't in court today because traffic problems delayed a sheriff's bus from Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. But he will "put a hole in the roof" once he learns his children are in Russia, Du Bois said. Reiser, 43, has pleaded not guilty to murder in the disappearance of his estranged wife, who has not been seen since Sept. 3 when she dropped off the couple's son and daughter at the Oakland hills home where Reiser lived with his mother. Police have not found Nina Reiser's body but say they believe she is a victim of murder. The defense contends that there is no proof she is dead and that the prosecution's case is circumstantial. http://cdn.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/16/BAG59NJICG39.DTL REISER BOY MISSES COURT HEARING -- STAYING IN RUSSIA. 7-year-old is a key witness in alleged death of his mother. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, January 17, 2007 The preliminary hearing for an Oakland computer programmer charged with killing his wife came to a halt Tuesday when his 7-year-old son, a key witness in the case, failed to return from a planned visit to Russia, and attorneys said the boy may never come back. The surprise revelation -- coupled with reports that Russian courts might now be seeking custody of Hans Reiser's son -- came on the day the boy was to have testified in a closed courtroom before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Julie Conger in Oakland. The boy is under the care of a Russian therapist who recommended that he not return to the United States on the grounds that he is traumatized by the presumed slaying of his Russian-born mother, Nina Reiser, 31, whose body has not been found, attorneys told Conger. Last month, the boy testified in open court that, contrary to an earlier police account, he hadn't heard his parents arguing and that his mother walked out the door the day police believe she was killed. Deputy District Attorney Greg Dolge said the boy's grandmother, Irina Sharanova, had indicated that the boy would be in Russia from Dec. 23 until Sunday. But the prosecutor said he learned on Monday that the boy wouldn't return, citing reports from a therapist that he was having behavioral problems, including crying and not being able to sleep. The defendant's attorney, William Du Bois, said Sharanova could be in violation of a separate family-court judge's order that the boy attend a child-custody hearing in Oakland on Jan. 24. The judge and attorneys in the case said they are mulling over their options. A hearing will be held Thursday to determine how the case will proceed. "I've never had a witness ignore my order to return," Conger said. Outside court, Dolge said he didn't believe the boy's failure to return would affect his case, saying the youth had already testified in court and that his testimony could be used at trial. The prosecutor said he didn't know what the judge wanted to ask the boy. The boy's 5-year-old sister also is staying with family members in St. Petersburg, Russia. Reiser wasn't in court Tuesday because traffic problems delayed a sheriff's bus from Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. But he will "put a hole in the roof" once he learns his children are in Russia, Du Bois said. Reiser, 43, has pleaded not guilty to murder in the disappearance of his estranged wife, who has not been seen since Sept. 3 when she dropped off the couple's son and daughter at the Oakland hills home where Reiser lived with his mother. Police have not found Nina Reiser's body but say they believe she is a victim of murder. The defense contends that there is no proof she is dead and that the prosecution's case is circumstantial. When the hearing concludes, Conger will determine whether there is enough evidence to hold Reiser over for trial. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/17/BAGM8NK0C31.DTL JUDGE WON'T ASK 7-YEAR-OLD TO TESTIFY IN REISER MURDER CASE. Boy's father accused in mother's slaying. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, January 18, 2007 (01-18) 11:17 PST OAKLAND -- An Alameda County judge today rescinded her request for the 7-year-old son of an Oakland man charged with murdering his wife to return to testify in court, saying the boy is likely to remain in Russia. Superior Court Judge Julie Conger said the boy's maternal grandmother is seeking custody of him in Russian courts. "I am not inclined to take any action on (the boy's) non-appearance at this time," Conger said, adding that the boy had already testified in open court last month, and nothing further is needed from him unless he returns to the United States voluntarily. Today's hearing was delayed until Feb. 23, at which point attorneys will give closing arguments before Conger decides whether there is enough evidence to hold Hans Reiser, a 43-year-old computer programmer, over for trial. Reiser has pleaded not guilty. On Tuesday, the hearing came to a halt when attorneys told the judge that the boy had failed to return from a planned visit to Russia and might never come back. The boy, whom The Chronicle is not naming because of his age, is under the care of a Russian therapist who recommended that he not return to the United States on the grounds that he is traumatized by the presumed slaying of his Russian-born mother, Nina Reiser, 31, whose body has not been found, attorneys told Conger. The therapist reported that the boy was having behavioral problems, including crying and not being able to sleep, according to Deputy District Attorney Greg Dolge. Last month, the boy testified that, contrary to an earlier police account, he hadn't heard his parents arguing and that he had seen his mother walk out the door of his father's home on Sept. 3, the day police believe that she was killed. Outside court, Reiser's attorney, William Du Bois, said the fact that both the boy and his 5-year-old sister are in St. Petersburg, Russia, could mean that Nina Reiser is alive and with her children. Nina Reiser obtained Russian citizenship for her daughter two years ago and did the same for her son in July, two months before she disappeared, Du Bois said, noting that Russia doesn't recognize dual citizenship. "I think the clear implication is that she might have had something to do with this," Du Bois said. "Maybe she was planning to take the kids to Russia and leave her husband here in jail." Du Bois said he planned to file briefs to the judge arguing that the case against his client is weak because Nina Reiser's body hasn't been found. But the prosecutor maintained that Nina Reiser is the victim of murder -- and that the evidence points to Hans Reiser. "I have absolutely no information, no indication that Nina is alive in Russia," Dolge said. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/18/BAGT7NKU5518.DTL JUDGE LIFTS REQUEST FOR BOY TO TESTIFY IN ALLEGED KILLING. Reiser child's grandmother seeking custody in Russian courts. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, January 19, 2007 An Alameda County judge on Thursday lifted her request for the 7-year-old son of an Oakland man charged with murdering his wife to return to testify in court, saying the boy is likely to remain in Russia. Superior Court Judge Julie Conger said the boy's maternal grandmother is seeking custody of him in Russian courts. Another Oakland judge had ordered that the boy appear at a child-custody hearing next week, but Conger said she had no jurisdiction in that case. "I am not inclined to take any action on (the boy's) non-appearance at this time," Conger said, adding that the boy had already testified in open court last month, and nothing more is needed from him unless he returns to the United States voluntarily. Thursday's hearing was delayed until Feb. 23, at which point attorneys will give closing arguments before Conger decides whether there is enough evidence to hold Hans Reiser, a 43-year-old computer programmer, over for trial. Reiser has pleaded not guilty. On Tuesday, the hearing came to a halt when attorneys told the judge that the boy had failed to return from a planned visit to Russia and might never come back. The boy, whom The Chronicle is not naming because of his age, is under the care of a Russian therapist who recommended that he not return to the United States on the grounds that he is traumatized by the alleged slaying of his Russian-born mother, Nina Reiser, 31, whose body has not been found, attorneys told Conger. The therapist reported that the boy was having behavioral problems, including crying and not being able to sleep, according to Deputy District Attorney Greg Dolge. Last month, the boy testified that, contrary to an earlier police account, he hadn't heard his parents arguing and that he had seen his mother walk out the door of his father's home on Sept. 3, the day police believe she was killed. Outside court, Reiser's attorney, William Du Bois, said the fact that both the boy and his 5-year-old sister are in St. Petersburg, Russia, could mean that Nina Reiser is alive and with her children. Nina Reiser obtained Russian citizenship for her daughter two years ago and did the same for her son in July, two months before she disappeared, Du Bois said, noting that Russia doesn't recognize dual citizenship. "I think the clear implication is that she might have had something to do with this," Du Bois said. "Maybe she was planning to take the kids to Russia and leave her husband here in jail." Du Bois said he planned to file briefs to the judge arguing that the case against his client is weak because Nina Reiser's body hasn't been found. But the prosecutor maintained that Nina Reiser is the victim of murder -- and that the evidence points to Hans Reiser. "I have absolutely no information, no indication that Nina is alive in Russia," Dolge said, adding he expected the boy to appear in court should there be a trial. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/19/BAGE2NL9VV1.DTL REISER TO STAND TRIAL IN WIFE'S SUSPECTED SLAYING. Body of woman has not been found. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, March 9, 2007 (03-09) 13:14 PST OAKLAND -- Oakland computer programmer Hans Reiser will stand trial for murder in the suspected slaying of his estranged wife, a judge ruled today in a case that has drawn national attention. After hearing six days of testimony over the course of three months, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Julie Conger ruled that prosecutor Greg Dolge had presented ample evidence that Reiser, 43, may have killed his wife, Nina Reiser, 31, in September during a bitter divorce. Even though Nina Reiser's body hasn't been found, "There is strong suspicion that an offense has been committed -- namely, Nina Reiser is dead," Conger said. "I can see no other reasonable conclusion that can be drawn from the evidence presented." The judge added that although she had problems with the prosecution's theory about what happened, there was also a "strong suspicion" that the defendant had the motive to kill his wife, based on the "totality of the circumstances." The defendant, who is well known in computer-programming circles as the creator of the ReiserFS file system, is to be arraigned March 23. He is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. Reiser showed no emotion today as Conger made her ruling in an Oakland courtroom shortly after Dolge -- for the first time -- outlined his theory about how the killing occurred: that the defendant lured his wife to the home he shared with his mother, started arguing with her and disabled or killed her at the home before hiding her body as well as her van. "She did not make it away from that house," Dolge said. Nina Reiser's 2001 Honda Odyssey was found six days after she disappeared about 3 miles from Hans Reiser's home, groceries askew in the back seat as if someone had driven the minivan wildly, police said. Outside court, Reiser's attorney, William Du Bois, criticized the judge's decision, saying "it was the easy way out" as well as the result of conjecture. "There is unquestionable evidence that the client did not commit this crime," Du Bois said. "The judge had to push the envelope of speculation to reach this judgment." Du Bois told the judge today that his client had no opportunity to kill his wife. During the preliminary hearing, the couple's 7-year-old son testified that, contrary to an earlier police account, he hadn't heard his parents arguing and that he had seen his mother walk out the door of his father's home on Sept. 3, the day police believe that Nina Reiser, a Russian-born gynecologist, was killed. After the boy left the stand, Conger said she had further questions for the boy and asked him to return to testify in closed court. But that never happened, as attorneys told the judge that the boy had failed to return from a planned visit to Russia and might never come back. A Russian therapist had recommended that the boy not return to the United States on the grounds that he was traumatized by the alleged slaying of his mother, the attorneys said. Conger ultimately lifted her request to have the boy return to testify. Today, Dolge urged the judge to consider the boy's testimony as part of a whole and to consider that he may have been "flat-out wrong" in some of his recollection of key dates. "He clearly is not an entirely reliable witness," Dolge said. At the preliminary hearing, Oakland police criminalist Shannon Cavness testified that traces of blood matching that of Nina Reiser were found in her estranged husband's car and home. Neighbors saw the defendant hosing down his driveway around the time of her disappearance, police said. Hans Reiser's Honda was missing its front passenger seat when police seized it Sept. 19, Cavness testified. After technicians removed the carpeting from the front seat area, they noticed that the floorboard had been saturated with water, Cavness said. Inside the car, police found a 40-piece socket set, Cavness said. The tools appeared to have been used to remove four bolts that had been used to attach the passenger seat to the floor, she said. Also found inside the car, according to police, were a roll of trash bags, masking tape, a siphon pump, absorbent towels and two books: "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets," by David Simon, about the Baltimore police homicide squad, and "Masterpieces of Murder," by Jonathan Goodman, about notorious murder cases. Police officers testified that Reiser tried to elude their surveillance -- by car and by plane -- in the weeks after his wife disappeared. Reiser's attorney has contended that there is no proof Nina Reiser is dead and that the prosecution's case is circumstantial. Du Bois has noted that the couple's 5-year-old daughter is in Russia with her brother and suggested that Nina Reiser is alive and with her children. Nina Reiser obtained Russian citizenship for her daughter two years ago and did the same for her son in July, two months before she disappeared, Du Bois said, noting that Russia doesn't recognize dual citizenship. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/09/BAG1OOI9ID46.DTL HUSBAND TO STAND TRIAL IN WIFE'S ALLEGED KILLING. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Saturday, March 10, 2007 Oakland computer programmer Hans Reiser will stand trial for murder in the suspected slaying of his estranged wife despite the fact that her body hasn't been found, a judge ruled Friday in a case that has drawn national attention. After hearing six days of testimony over the course of three months, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Julie Conger ruled that prosecutor Greg Dolge had presented ample evidence to merit a trial on whether Reiser, 43, killed his wife, Nina Reiser, 31, in September during a bitter divorce. Even though her body hasn't been found, "there is strong suspicion that an offense has been committed -- namely, Nina Reiser is dead," Conger said. "I can see no other reasonable conclusion that can be drawn from the evidence presented." The judge added that although she had problems with the prosecution's theory about what happened, there was also a "strong suspicion" that the defendant had the motive to kill his wife, based on the "totality of the circumstances." The defendant, who is well known in computer-programming circles as the creator of the ReiserFS file system, is to be arraigned March 23. He is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. Conger made her ruling in an Oakland courtroom shortly after Dolge theorized that the defendant lured his wife to the Exeter Drive home he shared with his mother in the Oakland hills, started arguing with his wife and disabled or killed her at the home before hiding her body as well as her van. "She did not make it away from that house," Dolge said. Beverly Palmer, the defendant's mother, wasn't home at the time. Nina Reiser's 2001 Honda Odyssey was found six days after she disappeared about 3 miles from Hans Reiser's home, groceries askew in the back seat as if someone had driven the minivan wildly, police said. The judge, however, questioned whether it was feasible for Reiser to have lured his wife and killed her while his children were inside the home. Outside court, Reiser's attorney, William Du Bois, said, "There is unquestionable evidence that the client did not commit this crime," Du Bois said. "The judge had to push the envelope of speculation to reach this judgment." During the preliminary hearing, the couple's 7-year-old son testified that, contrary to an earlier police account, he hadn't heard his parents arguing and that he had seen his mother walk out the door of his father's home on Sept. 3, the day police believe that Nina Reiser was killed. Dolge urged the judge Friday to consider the boy's testimony as part of a whole and to consider that he may have been "flat-out wrong" in some of his recollection of key dates. "He clearly is not an entirely reliable witness," he said. The boy has gone to live with relatives in Russia, where his mother was born. At the preliminary hearing, Oakland police criminalist Shannon Cavness testified that traces of blood matching that of Nina Reiser were found in her estranged husband's car and home. Neighbors saw the defendant hosing down his driveway around the time of her disappearance, police said. Hans Reiser's Honda was missing its front passenger seat when police seized it Sept. 19, Cavness testified. The judge said the missing seat factored into her decision to hold Reiser over for trial. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/10/BAGQMOJ03A1.DTL REISER PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN WIFE'S SLAYING. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, March 23, 2007 (03-23) 10:08 PDT OAKLAND -- Oakland computer programmer Hans Reiser pleaded not guilty today to murdering his estranged wife in a case that could go to a jury next month after he exercised his right to a speedy trial. Reiser's hearing in Alameda County Superior Court lasted less than a minute. His attorney, William Du Bois, said Reiser, 43, was not waiving his right under state law to be tried within 60 days. "It's his desire to go to trial immediately," Du Bois said outside court. Prosecutors said the move was unusual for a defendant charged with murder. Alameda County Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay set a trial date for May 7. It could take at least two weeks to pick a jury before opening statements would begin. Reiser is well known in computer-programming circles as the creator of the ReiserFS file system. He is accused of killing his estranged wife, Nina Reiser, 31, in September at his home in the Oakland hills. Her body hasn't been found. The defendant is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. Du Bois said at a court hearing earlier this month that he might seek bail for his client. But today, the defense attorney said most murder defendants aren't granted bail and Reiser wouldn't be able to afford it anyway. "He felt he would get out of custody at some point, and it would be a waste of money," Du Bois said. On March 9, after hearing six days of testimony over the course of three months, Superior Court Judge Julie Conger ruled that prosecutors had presented ample evidence to merit a trial on whether Reiser killed his wife. Prosecutors have theorized that Reiser lured his wife to the Exeter Drive home he shared with his mother in the Oakland hills, killed her and hid the body. The couple's two children were in the house at the time, but Reiser's mother was not, authorities said. Nina Reiser's 2001 Honda Odyssey was found six days after she disappeared about 3 miles from Hans Reiser's home, groceries askew in the back seat, police said. Conger, however, questioned whether it was possible for Reiser to have killed his wife while his children were inside the home. Conger also suggested that at least one other person might have been involved, but prosecutors dispute that. During the preliminary hearing, the couple's 7-year-old son testified that, contrary to an earlier police account, he hadn't heard his parents arguing and that he had seen his mother walk out the door of his father's home on Sept. 3, the day police believe that Nina Reiser was killed. That testimony prompted prosecutor Greg Dolge to tell Conger that the boy may have been "flat-out wrong" in some of his recollection of key dates. "He clearly is not an entirely reliable witness," the prosecutor said. After the boy left the stand, Conger said she had further questions for him and asked him to return to testify in closed court. But that never happened, as attorneys told the judge that the boy had failed to return from a planned visit to Nina Reiser's native Russia. A Russian therapist had recommended that the boy not return to the United States on the grounds that he was traumatized by the alleged slaying of his mother, the attorneys said. Conger ultimately lifted her request to have the boy return to testify. Today, Deputy District Attorney Paul Hora, who is the trial attorney, declined to say whether he would attempt to call the son as a witness. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/23/BAGIROQKMB38.DTL NOT GUILTY PLEA IN WIFE'S ALLEGED KILLING. Henry K. Lee Saturday, March 24, 2007 Oakland computer programmer Hans Reiser pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he murdered his estranged wife and, in exercising his right to a speedy trial, could go on trial as early as May. Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay set a trial date for May 7. It could take at least two weeks to pick a jury before opening statements would begin. Reiser is well known in computer-programming circles as the creator of the ReiserFS file system. He is accused of killing his estranged wife, Nina Reiser, 31, in September at the home he shared with his mother in the Oakland hills. Her body hasn't been found. "It's his desire to go to trial immediately," Reiser's attorney, William Du Bois, said outside court. Prosecutors said the move was unusual for a defendant charged with murder. Du Bois said at a court hearing earlier this month that he might seek bail for his client. But the defense attorney said Friday that most murder defendants aren't granted bail and Reiser wouldn't be able to afford it anyway. On March 9, after hearing six days of testimony over the course of three months, Superior Court Judge Julie Conger ruled that prosecutors had presented ample evidence to merit a trial on whether Reiser killed his wife. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/24/BABADIGEST3.DTL AUTHORITIES CONTINUE SEARCH FOR MISSING MOTHER. Monday, August 20, 2007 (08-20) 08:56 PDT Moraga, Calif. (AP) -- Authorities continued to search for an Oakland woman who disappeared nearly a year ago as her husband awaits trial for her murder. Search and rescue teams combed the Oakland hills and parts of Contra Costa County Sunday for any clues in the disappearance of Nina Reiser, who disappeared last September after dropping off her children at the house of Hans Reiser, her estranged husband. Authorities called the search routine and said it was not based on any new tips in the case. The Reisers were in a custody dispute over their two young children, a son and a daughter, when Nina Reiser disappeared. Her minivan was found abandoned on Sept. 3 with groceries and purse still inside. Although prosecutors have not found Nina Reiser's body, they say physical evidence implicates Hans Reiser, a prominent software engineer, in his wife's death. Defense attorneys say Hans Reiser does not know his wife's whereabouts and has suggested she's alive in Russia, her native country. Jury selection in the case is expected to begin Aug. 28. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/08/20/state/n085613D29.DTL PROSPECTIVE JURORS SCREENED ON MISSING BODY ISSUE IN OAKLAND CASE. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, September 20, 2007 Attorneys asked prospective Alameda County jurors in the murder trial of computer programmer Hans Reiser on Wednesday whether they were comfortable hearing a circumstantial-evidence case in which the body of Reiser's alleged victim - his wife - has never been found. Deputy District Attorney Paul Hora and defense attorney William Du Bois took turns questioning prospective jurors on whether they could be objective about the case, given that Nina Reiser has not been seen since disappearing last September. Hans Reiser, 43, who is well known in computer-programming circles as the creator of the ReiserFS file system, has pleaded not guilty to killing his estranged wife, who was 31 when she vanished. "This case is a little bit different than other cases," Hora told prospective jurors in the Oakland courtroom of Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman. Usually, there's a body, an autopsy and a cause of death, but not so in this case, Hora noted. Du Bois told prospective jurors that he would argue for acquittal because "there is no direct evidence of a homicide, let alone that there even was a homicide." One man made it clear Wednesday that he didn't want to be on the panel. "I'm uncomfortable about this," the man told Hora. Pressed by the prosecutor for an explanation, the man said, "Just this whole show, that's all. You're not going to like what I have to say." The judge excused the man after he concluded by saying, "I just don't think I'd be fair." Nina Reiser was last seen Sept. 3, 2006, at the home her estranged husband shared with his mother on Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills. Prosecutors theorize that he killed her there that day and hid the body. The couple's two children were in the house when Nina Reiser was there, but Reiser's mother was not, authorities said. Nina Reiser's 2001 Honda Odyssey was found six days after she disappeared about 3 miles from the home, groceries askew in the back seat, police said. Investigators have said they found small amounts of Nina Reiser's blood in the Exeter Drive home as well as in Hans Reiser's Honda Civic CRX. Friends of Nina Reiser held a vigil for her Tuesday at Montclair Park in Oakland. Prosecutors say the couple's children are now with their grandmother in Russia, where Nina Reiser was born. Du Bois has suggested that she could be alive and with her children. The jury-selection process continues this month and next, and opening statements in the trial are scheduled for Oct. 29. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/20/BA7FS9CVI.DTL TRIAL IN MISSING MOM CASE DELAYED. By MICHELLE LOCKE, Associated Press Writer Monday, November 5, 2007 (11-05) 17:32 PST Oakland, Calif. (AP) -- The opening of the trial for a computer programmer accused of killing his wife -- whose body was never found -- was postponed Monday, and lawyers on both cases would not reveal the reason for the delay. Opening statements were rescheduled for Tuesday in the murder trial of Hans Reiser, who plans to testify in his own defense, according to his lawyer. Nina Reiser, 31, disappeared last year after shopping for groceries and dropping her two children off at her estranged husband's house in a quiet section of the Oakland hills. Her minivan was found six days later with her purse and groceries still inside. Prosecutors say there's no great mystery about what happened; they believe blood and other evidence proves Hans Reiser killed the woman, even though her body hasn't been recovered. The defense maintains that there is no proof Nina Reiser is dead, let alone slain, and that she may very well be secretly living in her native Russia. Hans Reiser, 43, is well known in computer engineering circles. Defense attorney William Du Bois said that Reiser wants to testify but that he has qualms about how much of an asset his client will be. Reiser has memorized hundreds of pages of pretrial documents, Du Bois said. "We are apprehensive to some degree, because we don't know how he will come across because of his intellect," he said. "It would be easy if he didn't testify, but it may be that he has to testify." Prosecutor Paul Hora declined to discuss the case. The challenge facing prosecutors is to build a convincing case out of the DNA and circumstantial evidence, said attorney Ivan Golde, who briefly discussed joining in Reiser's defense but ultimately did not get involved. "You just start adding up block after block," he said. "At the end of the day, will it be strong enough? You never know how it will play out." Investigators say they found small amounts of blood matching Nina's DNA at Hans' home. They also reported finding her blood in his car, which was missing the front passenger seat and had a floorboard soaked with water when police found it. Seven-year-old Rory Reiser later told police he never saw his mother leave the house. But during a pretrial hearing, the boy testified that he saw his mother drive away. Jurors aren't likely to hear either story, since both the boy and his sister are now in Russia with their maternal grandmother, who has begun custody proceedings. Nina, a trained doctor, and Hans had met in Russia and married in 1999. They were separated by 2004 but had never divorced. They were fighting over custody of the children. During the pretrial hearing, Du Bois suggested that Nina and her family had ties to a Russian spy agency. There was also testimony that Nina had dated a sadomasochist. Google Cache PROGRAMMER'S MURDER TRIAL STARTS TUESDAY - WIFE'S BODY NEVER FOUND. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, November 5, 2007 As the murder trial of computer programmer Hans Reiser begins with opening statements Tuesday in an Oakland courtroom, a key question remains: Presuming his estranged wife is dead, where is her body? Alameda County prosecutors don't know, but they are moving forward nevertheless in the highly anticipated trial with the belief that circumstantial evidence will lead to a conviction. After a trial that could last until January, a seven-man, five-woman jury will decide the fate of Reiser, 43, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering Nina Reiser during a divorce that was never finalized. The 31-year-old mother of two disappeared in September 2006 after buying groceries and dropping off her children at the house in the Oakland hills where her estranged husband lived with his mother. Friends have said she was devoted to her children and would never abandon them. Searches in several East Bay parks turned up nothing, however. Hans Reiser's attorneys say there is no proof she's dead and have even suggested that she's alive and living a secret life in her native Russia, where her children moved after her disappearance to be with their maternal grandmother. "I think the clear implication is that she might have had something to do with this," Hans Reiser's attorney, William Du Bois, said outside court earlier this year. "Maybe she was planning to take the kids to Russia and leave her husband here in jail." The trial is expected to be one of the most sensational in recent memory in Alameda County, in part because the defendant, who is being held without bail, is well known in computer-programming circles as the creator of the ReiserFS file system. Numerous national news outlets plan to cover the case. The trial will pit veteran Deputy District Attorney Paul Hora, who successfully prosecuted self-proclaimed San Leandro sausage king Stuart Alexander for murdering three meat inspectors during a 2000 rampage, against Du Bois, a former Alameda County prosecutor who has defended clients in other publicized trials, including a man convicted of murder for killing Newark transgender teen Gwen Araujo in 2002. In an interview Friday, Hora acknowledged that the Reiser case is unusual in that most murder investigations start with the finding of a body. This trial won't have any autopsy photos or crime-scene diagrams. Hora said California juries are entitled to consider both direct and circumstantial evidence of a crime. At times, "circumstantial evidence can be even more compelling than direct evidence," he said. Du Bois and his co-counsel, Richard Tamor, declined to discuss the case in detail, saying they will present their arguments in court. Du Bois wouldn't say whether his client will testify. But he has said in the past that prosecutors haven't proved that Nina Reiser is dead. Du Bois has also suggested or elicited testimony that Nina Reiser was unfaithful to her husband, had dated a sadomasochist and had ties to the former KGB, the Russian spy agency. In the month between his wife's disappearance and his arrest, Hans Reiser tried to dodge Oakland police watching him from the air and on the ground, according to court testimony. He has run away - at a full clip - from reporters seeking comment. The Reisers married in 1999 and frequently traveled to Russia, where she was born and had been trained as an obstetrician. They separated in May 2004. Nina Reiser filed for divorce three months later, citing irreconcilable differences and saying their children "hardly know their father" because he was out of the country on business for most of the year. She was last seen Sept. 3, 2006, at the home her estranged husband shared with his mother on Exeter Drive. Prosecutors theorize that he killed her there that day and hid her body. The couple's two children - a boy, then 6, and a girl, then 5 - were in the house when Nina Reiser was there, but Hans Reiser's mother was out of town at the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert, authorities said. Six days after she disappeared, Nina Reiser's 2001 Honda Odyssey was found on Fernwood Drive in Oakland's Montclair district, groceries from Berkeley Bowl askew in the back seat. Police also found her cell phone, its battery missing. Investigators said the last call had been placed to Hans Reiser's home at 2:02 p.m. Sept. 3. Investigators have said they found small amounts of Nina Reiser's blood in the Exeter Drive home as well as in Hans Reiser's Honda Civic CRX. The defense has countered that DNA testing can't confirm when bloodstains are deposited. The car was missing its front passenger seat, and the floorboard was saturated with water, police said. Inside the car, police say they found a roll of trash bags, absorbent towels and two books: "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets," by David Simon, about the Baltimore police homicide squad, and "Masterpieces of Murder," by Jonathan Goodman, about notorious murder cases. Hora, a 15-year veteran of the Alameda County district attorney's office, is expected to call to the stand Nina Reiser's boyfriend, Anthony Zografos, and her best friend, Ellen Doren. During the preliminary hearing, the couple's son testified that, contrary to an earlier police account, he hadn't heard his parents arguing and that he had seen his mother walk out the door of his father's home on the day police believe she was killed. By January, the boy and his sister had left for Russia, and as far as anyone knows, they're not coming back, attorneys on both sides said. Hora declined to say whether any of the boy's testimony from the preliminary hearing will be introduced at trial. Friends hope that Nina Reiser won't be forgotten amid the focus on whether her husband is guilty of murder. They've helped look for her and held candlelight vigils at Montclair Park, where she liked to go with her children. Even after Hans Reiser was charged, Zografos insisted on distributing flyers with Nina Reiser's picture, hoping someone would come up with the tip that would lead police to her. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/05/MNT8T5HP9.DTL HANS REISER MIGHT TESTIFY WHERE HIS WIFE IS, LAWYER SAYS. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, November 6, 2007 Computer programmer Hans Reiser plans to take the stand in his own defense to deny he murdered his estranged wife, his attorney said Monday. Reiser, 43, may also be able to say where his wife is, defense attorney William Du Bois said, even though police believe she is dead. Reiser's wife, Nina Reiser, disappeared in September 2006 after dropping off the couple's two children at his home in the Oakland hills. The defense attorney reiterated that Nina Reiser might be alive. "I don't know where Nina is," Du Bois said outside court in Oakland. "I know where she could be," and that includes her native Russia, where the couple's two children are living with their maternal grandmother, he said. "She could be in what was formerly known as the Soviet Union or any number of countries in that area of the world," Du Bois said. His comments came after opening statements in the Alameda County Superior Court trial, which were to have started Monday, were put off until today. Neither the defense nor prosecutors would go into the reasons for the delay. Reiser wants to testify even though that could pose a challenge to his defense, Du Bois said. "We are apprehensive to some degree, because we don't know how he will come across because of his intellect," he said. "We are hopeful that he will be able to communicate and that he will vindicate himself when he testifies." Du Bois added, "It would be easy if he didn't testify, but it may be that he has to testify." The defense attorney said his client is so meticulous that he can readily identify by memory where key pieces of evidence are amid some 9,000 pages of discovery. That has led to some disagreements between Reiser and his attorneys over how their case is to be presented, Du Bois said. As for prosecutor Paul Hora's case, which is based in large part on circumstantial evidence, Du Bois said, "I don't think he has a strong case. I think he has an extremely weak case, as will be seen." Co-counsel Richard Tamor added, "We're extremely confident." Hora declined to discuss the case outside court Monday. He has said that circumstantial evidence can often be more compelling than direct evidence. The prosecutor and Du Bois also declined to comment about the delay in the trial, saying they had met with Judge Larry Goodman in his chambers and that the discussions couldn't be made public. Du Bois said only that those involved in the case were "ironing out a few small details." Hora's opening statement is expected to last all day today and continue until Wednesday. The defense plans to give an opening statement Wednesday and possibly part of Thursday, Du Bois said. Reiser has pleaded not guilty to charges that he murdered his wife, who was 31 when she disappeared. The Reisers married in 1999 and frequently traveled to Russia, where she was born and had been trained as an obstetrician. They separated in May 2004. Nina Reiser filed for divorce three months later, citing irreconcilable differences and saying their two children "hardly know their father" because he was out of the country on business for most of the year. She was last seen Sept. 3, 2006, at the home her estranged husband shared with his mother on Exeter Drive. Prosecutors theorize that he killed her there that day and hid her body. Reiser is well known in computer programming circles as the creator of the ReiserFS file system. He has prided himself in interviews as having been accepted to UC Berkeley at the age of 15 after dropping out of junior high school. He attended the university off and on before graduating in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in systematizing, an individualized computer-science major. The case has drawn national attention because of Reiser's prominence in the computer world and because of the mystery over his wife's whereabouts. His mother, Beverly Palmer, was among the dozens of reporters, courtroom sketch artists, trial-watchers and others waiting in line to get into court Monday, only to leave in disappointment because of the delay. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/06/BASUT6KAE.DTL D.A. SAYS MOM WOULD NEVER DESERT HER KIDS - HUSBAND KILLED HER. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, November 7, 2007 (11-07) 04:00 PST Oakland -- Nina Reiser, the Oakland woman who disappeared more than a year ago, would never have willingly abandoned her two children, an Alameda County prosecutor told jurors Tuesday in the murder trial of her estranged husband. The 31-year-old mother of two "vanished from the face of the Earth" in September 2006 after buying groceries and dropping off her children at the Oakland hills house where her estranged husband, Hans Reiser, lived with his mother, Deputy District Attorney Paul Hora said. He acknowledged that her body hasn't been found. Delivering his opening statement in the high-profile trial of the self-proclaimed computer genius, Hora told jurors that they would hear testimony from friends, relatives and others who would insist that Nina Reiser would never let her children be "up for grabs" in the court or foster care system after she filed for divorce from her husband in 2004. "She would have never, ever abandoned those kids. Ever. Impossible," Hora said. As he spoke, pictures of the woman, smiling with her children - a son, now 8, and a daughter, now 6 - were flashed on a screen. A portrait of Nina Reiser with her son when he was a baby sat on an easel. "She would have never, ever let them live a life not knowing where she was," Hora said. "She would never be that cruel." Hora said, "That evidence all by itself, you're going to know without a doubt, that something happened to Nina. Something terrible happened to her: She's dead." The case is built on circumstantial evidence, but Hans Reiser had the motive and opportunity to kill her, Hora said. "Although we don't know it all in this case, as in many cases, we certainly know enough." Hans Reiser, clad in a charcoal suit, appeared attentive and frequently whispered to his attorney, William Du Bois, during the prosecutor's introductory remarks, which will continue today. Nina Reiser, a gynecologist trained in her native Russia, had much to live for, including hopes to become an obstetrician in the United States and plans to start a new job that she was offered just two days before she disappeared on Sept. 3, 2006, Hora said. She was to have helped Russian immigrants maneuver the health care system in San Francisco, the prosecutor said. Hora told jurors that Nina Reiser wasn't perfect - she had an affair with her husband's best friend, Sean Sturgeon - and fell in love with him. "There's no way to sugarcoat it," Hora said. "She shouldn't have done that. It was wrong, but nonetheless it happened." The defense has sought to portray Nina Reiser as a cheater who could be living secretly with her children. The children are staying with their maternal grandmother in St. Petersburg, Russia. But Hora rejected those assertions Tuesday, saying Nina Reiser took her children to Russia in the summer of 2006 - and then came back with them - despite an opportunity for her to have stayed overseas to escape an unhappy marriage. The slaying is simply a "classic" case of a husband murdering his estranged wife, Hora said, adding, "The mystery has been solved." Hora portrayed the defendant as an angry man fixated on issues surrounding the divorce proceedings and the upbringing of the couple's son. The prosecutor read excerpts from Nina Reiser's August 2004 divorce filing in which she accused her husband of subjecting their son, then 4, to violent video games and movies, causing him to have nightmares. Hans Reiser railed against the Alameda County judicial system in its handling of his family law case in numerous e-mails to county Supervisor Gail Steele, asking whether judges and child-custody evaluators were biased and using a "sound scientific method" in making decisions, Hora said. Nina Reiser spent $159.66 at the Berkeley Bowl half an hour before she disappeared at her husband's doorstep, Hora said. All those groceries "because she was planning to run away?" he asked. Her 2001 Honda Odyssey wasn't found until Sept. 9, 2006, on a street in Oakland's Montclair district, the Berkeley Bowl groceries rotting inside and strewn about as if someone had been driving the vehicle wildly, according to police. Outside court Tuesday, Du Bois said the prosecution "is reaching, and they need to reach because they don't have anything readily available to prove the case. And the farther they reach, the more indicative of the weakness of their case. Divorces are never fun. They're lousy." Du Bois said the prosecution's portrait of Nina Reiser as a loving mother "was the image she projected." She had left her children on two occasions, said Du Bois. He didn't elaborate. His client, meanwhile "worships his children, and that's why I'm convinced that he had nothing to do with this, because he never would have deprived children of their mother," said Du Bois, who will provide his opening statement Thursday. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/07/BAUJT7C01.DTL FROM RUSSIA WITH TESTIMONY. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, November 8, 2007 (11-07) 20:02 PST Oakland -- The 8-year-old son of Hans Reiser will testify in his murder trial, a prosecutor told the jury Wednesday, ending months of speculation over whether the boy would travel from Russia to provide evidence that could help convict his father of killing the boy's mother. The boy, whom The Chronicle is not naming because of his age, has told investigators that he saw someone carrying "something big" in the middle of the night after his mother, Nina Reiser, was last seen. The sight made the boy shake and close his eyes in fear, Deputy District Attorney Paul Hora said on the second day of his opening statement in Alameda County Superior Court. Hora implied that the object could have been Nina Reiser, the defendant's estranged wife, who was 31 when she was last seen Sept. 3, 2006, after dropping off the couple's two children at Hans Reiser's home on Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills. The person carrying the object would have been Hans Reiser, the prosecutor hinted. The Reisers' son recalled that there was a full moon to illuminate the darkened home that night, and data provided by astronomers confirms that, Hora said. But the prosecutor acknowledged that the boy's memory could be faulty, and that what he believed he saw could have been the product of his imagination or a "bad dream." Hora also admitted that the boy has provided conflicting statements about what he saw and did with his mother and father in the weeks before she disappeared. "He's just not reliable, because he's so little," Hora said, suggesting that the boy had been influenced by his father not to "relate important details." Outside court in Oakland, defense attorney William Du Bois blasted the prosecution for seeking to call his client's son to the stand, saying the boy is a "worthless witness." He said the boy's report of seeing someone carrying something big was "an illusion. It's a dream." The boy and his 6-year-old sister are living with their maternal grandmother in St. Petersburg, Russia, authorities said. There had been doubt over whether he would testify. Du Bois has speculated that Nina Reiser, a native of Russia, could be alive and living with the couple's children. Asked outside court if the boy would testify that he was living with his mother, the defense attorney said only, "Wouldn't that be something?" Du Bois noted that the boy had testified at Reiser's preliminary hearing that, contrary to an earlier police account, he hadn't heard his parents arguing and that he had seen his mother walk out the door of his father's home the day she was last seen. Du Bois said that removed any possibility that Hans Reiser, 43, committed the crime. In court, Hora said police had found no murder weapon, and that there were no witnesses who can say that Nina Reiser is dead. But there is "a lot of other stuff" to indicate that Hans Reiser could have killed her, Hora said, "including the fact that the defendant is quite accomplished" in judo and has a black belt. Though relatively small in stature, Hans Reiser is very strong, Hora said. The prosecutor suggested that the defendant, as a judo expert, was trained in the "art of choking" and that "when you choke somebody, it's fast, it's quiet and it's deadly." Du Bois smiled and shook his head as the prosecutor spoke. Hora showed jurors security videotape of Hans Reiser buying two books about murder and homicide investigations at the now-shuttered Barnes and Noble bookstore in downtown Berkeley on Sept. 8, 2006. Over the next week, Reiser also bought a siphon pump and absorbent towels, and made inquiries about a self-storage unit in Manteca and a one-way truck rental from Manteca to Oakland, Hora said. Bloodstains found on a pillar in Hans Reiser's living room contained DNA belonging to both him and his wife, the prosecutor said. He acknowledged, however, that DNA testing cannot confirm when the blood was left there. A friend driving Hans Reiser made a number of apparently evasive maneuvers while driving through Berkeley on Sept. 18, 2006, as Oakland police in unmarked cars and a plane followed the car, Hora said. Police ultimately saw Reiser getting into his Honda CRX, which officers had been looking for. Reiser then drove the car from Berkeley to the Oakland hills where he exited and ran up a steep street, Hora said. Police then seized the Honda, which was missing its front passenger seat, Hora said. Outside court, Du Bois said Reiser had been sleeping in the Honda and had thrown the seat away to make it more comfortable. Before jurors were led into court Wednesday, Reiser could be heard having a heated discussion with Du Bois over why the prosecutor had been allowed to make certain statements the first day of his opening statement Tuesday. Du Bois acknowledged later, "Yeah, there's abrasion there. But Hans has an abrasive personality, as you will see." The defense attorney has said his client wants to take the stand. But it would be a downer to be charged with "a murder you didn't commit," and that's why his client is upset and out of sorts, Du Bois said. Hora will conclude his opening statement today, after which Du Bois will deliver his introductory remarks. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/08/BANMT83JE.DTL DEFENSE SHOWS DARKER SIDE OF MISSING MOM. By MICHELLE LOCKE, Associated Press Writer Thursday, November 8, 2007 (11-08) 20:52 PST Oakland, Calif. (AP) -- A defense attorney for a man accused of killing his estranged wife reminded jurors in opening statements Thursday the woman's body was never found, and described her as a deceptive schemer. "This is not Nina," defense attorney William Du Bois said, gesturing toward a portrait-style photograph set up by the prosecution at the front of the courtroom that shows a smiling Nina Reiser holding her infant son. "This is the image that the prosecution wants you to have," he said. "This is the image that Nina wanted the world to have." Du Bois showed jurors the ad Reiser had placed in a dating service publication, "European Connections," as "Nina5279." He described her as embarking on a "five-year-plan" in 1998 in which she intended to marry and get U.S. citizenship. Hans Reiser, 43, and Nina, 31 at the time of her disappearance, met in her native Russia and were married in 1999. But their marriage had fallen apart by 2004. Nina vanished last year after dropping off the couple's two children at Han Reiser's house. The two were engaged in a bitter custody fight at the time. Her body has never been found, leading the defense to question whether she is even dead. Du Bois said Nina had once dated a sadomasochist who has the word "rage" carved on his arm and suggested her family in Russia has some connection to spy agencies. Du Bois' opening statement lasted about two hours, compared with the more than two days taken by the prosecutor, Paul Hora. Hora disputed the idea that Nina Reiser could be alive, saying she was a loving mother who would never abandon her children. He described Han Reiser's behavior following his wife's Sept. 3, 2006, disappearance as suspicious, including his purchase of two books dealing with murder cases. Earlier, Hora told jurors about blood stains matching Nina's DNA that were found at Han Reiser's home and in his car, and the fact that his car was missing its front passenger seat when police found it. Hora told jurors they might be able to come up with innocent explanations for some of the circumstances of the case -- but not for all. "One simple reason explains it all," he said, walking toward the defense table and pointing his finger at Hans, "and that's that this man killed her." But Du Bois said there are other explanations. He said the blood evidence can't be tied to the weekend Nina disappeared because it had been there for some time. He read jurors testimony the couple's son, Rory, gave in a pretrial hearing last year in which he said that he saw his mother drive away after dropping the children off. "Based on Rory's testimony, Hans had no opportunity to commit this crime," Du Bois said. Hora has said that Rory, who was 6 at the time his mother disappeared, is confused about what happened and has given conflicting statements. Du Bois said the boy is scheduled to testify for the prosecution Tuesday, but he does not know what he will say since he has been living with his maternal grandmother in Russia for some months. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/11/05/national/a014641S21.DTL WIFE CALLED 'MASTER OF DECEPTION' Nina Reiser may still be alive, lawyer says in opening remarks at her husband's murder trial. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, November 9, 2007 Hans Reiser's wife was a "master of deception" who may still be alive and trying to "screw Hans to the wall" by making him appear guilty of murder, his attorney told an Oakland jury Thursday. There is no proof that Nina Reiser is dead, and the couple's 8-year-old son will testify that she hugged the boy and left her estranged husband's Oakland hills home without incident the day she was last seen in September 2006, defense attorney William Du Bois said in his opening statement in Alameda County Superior Court. Prosecutors have theorized that Hans Reiser, 43, killed his wife at the house that day. Her body has never been found. "Hans had no opportunity to commit this crime - none," Du Bois said. Instead, he said, his client is the victim of a woman whose family had ties to the former KGB. Nina Reiser married the computer programmer in 1999 after listing herself as a mail-order bride living in Russia, Du Bois said. She had an ad in an Atlanta publication called European Connections, Du Bois said. "That's Nina Reiser as she really was" at the time, Du Bois said, suggesting that she had been seeking an American husband merely to gain U.S. citizenship. She falsely advertised herself as simply a university student, when in fact she came from a well-to-do family that had ties to the former KGB, Du Bois said. In their wedding video, he said, "Nina's not really that interested in Hans." "This is not Nina - this is the image that the prosecution wants you to have," said Du Bois, pointing to a portrait of Nina Reiser with her son when he was a baby. Deputy District Attorney Paul Hora had placed the picture - the same one that hung in Nina Reiser's bedroom- on an easel in front of jurors. As for where Nina Reiser is now, Du Bois said, "Let's say (she) left the area" last year to "let's say, really screw Hans to the wall." After the couple separated, she had had an affair with Hans Reiser's best friend, who has practiced sadomasochism, the defense attorney said. Prosecutor Paul Hora's objection was overruled by Judge Larry Goodman. Hans Reiser is "an odd person," his lawyer conceded, extremely smart and blessed with a photographic memory, yet "devoid of social skills." "Nina is almost the opposite," Du Bois said. "Perhaps that is what attracted the two of them initially." Du Bois' remarks came after Hora wrapped up more than two days of opening remarks to the jury by saying that there was only one "very simple explanation" for what happened to Nina Reiser. "One single reason explains it all, and that's that this man killed her," said Hora, walking over to point at Hans Reiser. The defendant turned in his seat to look at Hora but showed no expression. Although there is no murder weapon, let alone a body, there is enough circumstantial evidence to prove that Hans Reiser killed his wife, Hora said. Nina Reiser was 31 when she was last seen Sept. 3, 2006. After she vanished, Hans Reiser appeared at one point to be trying to elude Oakland police, bought two books on murders and homicide investigations, removed the passenger seat of his Honda CRX, stayed in a motel, contemplated hiding the car in a Manteca storage locker and complained about his wife in a phone call to his mother, Hora said. Before he was detained for a DNA sample on Sept. 28, 2006, Reiser parked the car off Highway 13 in Oakland to hide it from police, Hora said. In his opening statement, Du Bois said Reiser had bought the books out of intellectual curiosity and had removed his car's passenger seat to make it more comfortable while he slept there. Hora showed jurors pictures, taken after Nina Reiser vanished, of her home on 49th Street in Oakland's Temescal neighborhood. There was mail piled up, her cat was still there, and pictures of her and her children were on the refrigerator. Hora also played a recording of a phone call Hans Reiser made to his mother, Beverly Palmer, on Sept. 23, 2006, which was 20 days after his wife disappeared. Reiser discussed their divorce battle and offered "10 minutes of reasons of why Nina is dead," Hora said. Palmer was heard telling her son that Nina Reiser "didn't deserve whatever it is that's happened to her. Don't you think?" After a pause, Reiser replied, "I think my children shouldn't be endangered by her. 'Cause all I ever wanted was to be nice to her." Palmer later repeated, "Still, Nina didn't deserve whatever it is that happened to her." Her son responded, "And neither did I, and neither did" his son. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/09/BA17T8SV7.DTL YOUNG SON OF HANS REISER SAYS HE HAS NO IDEA WHERE HIS MOTHER IS. Tuesday, November 13, 2007 (11-13) 11:32 PST Oakland, Calif. (AP) -- The young son of murder defendant Hans Reiser says he has no idea where his mother is. Nina Reiser's body hasn't been found since she disappeared last year. Attorneys for her estranged husband -- Hans -- have suggested she may not be dead. But prosecutors say they can prove that Nina -- who was involved in a better custody battle with her estranged husband -- say she was murdered. Eight year-old Rory Reiser has been living in Russia with his maternal grandmother. He returned to California to testify Tuesday. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/11/13/state/n113221S26.DTL REISER'S YOUNG SON TAKES STAND IN MURDER TRIAL. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, November 13, 2007 (11-13) 12:44 PST OAKLAND - The 8-year-old son of computer programmer Hans Reiser testified today that he hasn't seen his mother since she dropped him off at his father's home in the Oakland hills last year. The boy, whom The Chronicle isn't naming because of his age, told prosecutor Paul Hora that he's sad because he doesn't know where his mother is. Prosecutors believe the boy's mother, Nina Reiser, was killed by his father sometime after she dropped him at Hans Reiser's home on Exeter Drive on Sept. 3, 2006. Her body has never been found, and defense attorneys have hinted that she might still be alive and possibly living with the couple's two children in her native Russia. The boy flew from Russia with his maternal grandmother, Irina Sharanova, over the weekend to testify at his father's murder trial in Alameda County Superior Court. Hans Reiser, 43, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his estranged wife, who was 31 when she was last seen. Reiser looked at his son as he testified in the Oakland courtroom, and the boy frequently glanced at his father. "Have you seen your mom since you've been in Russia?" Hora asked the boy. "No," the boy replied. He gave the same answer when the prosecutor asked if his mother had phoned him. "Do you have any idea where she is?" Hora asked. "No," the boy said. "How do you feel about that?" the prosecutor continued. "Sad," the boy replied. The boy said he didn't remember a number of details about the day he last saw his mother. "What happened to your mom? Do you remember what happened to your mom?" Hora asked. "No," he said. "Do you remember what happened to your dad?" Hora asked. "No," the boy said. Hora asked the boy if he loved his mom, and he said yes. "Do you love your dad?" "At that moment, yes," he said. When pressed by the prosecutor, the boy said he loved his father in September 2006 but that he couldn't explain why he felt differently now. The boy told the prosecutor that he understands the difference between the truth and a lie. He said he lives with his grandmother and his 6-year-old sister in St. Petersburg, Russia. He said no one had told him what to say in court. Before jurors were brought in this morning, Hora and defense attorney William Du Bois sparred over the manner in which the boy would testify. Du Bois told Judge Larry Goodman that he didn't think the boy should be accompanied on the stand by a Russian social worker. The judge allowed the social worker to remain. Du Bois later complained at one point that the woman was holding the boy's hand as he gave an answer. Du Bois also objected to having Sharanova present in the courtroom gallery. Hora said had he allowed the defendant's mother, Beverly Palmer to attend the trial as a courtesy. The judge ultimately ruled that all witnesses would have to leave, so both women walked out. Outside court, Du Bois said he had been barred from talking to the boy, which he said was necessary before cross-examining him. "They told him not to talk to me," Du Bois said of the prosecution. "They don't want me to be able to make friends with him." Du Bois noted that the boy had testified at a preliminary hearing that his mother hugged him and left his father's home on the day police believe he killed her. Today, however, the boy seemed to remember less about that day, Du Bois said. He added that he believed the boy had been influenced by Sharanova and Russian psychiatrists to "hate his father." The boy's testimony continues this afternoon. The defense is expected to cross-examine him Wednesday. Google Cache. BOY TESTIFIES AT DAD'S TRIAL HE HASN'T SEEN MOM SINCE SHE VANISHED. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, November 14, 2007 The 8-year-old son of computer programmer Hans Reiser testified Tuesday that he hasn't seen his mother since she dropped him off at his father's home in the Oakland hills the day she vanished last year, and that letters he has written to his father asking where she is have gone unanswered. The boy told prosecutor Paul Hora that he hasn't been living with his mother in her native Russia, hasn't talked to her on the phone or received letters from her and doesn't know where she is. Prosecutors believe that the boy's mother, Nina Reiser, was killed by his father sometime after she dropped him at Hans Reiser's home on Exeter Drive on Sept. 3, 2006. Her body has never been found, and defense attorneys have hinted that she might still be alive and possibly living with the couple's two children overseas. The boy, whom The Chronicle is not naming because of his age, flew from Russia with his maternal grandmother over the weekend to testify at his father's trial in Alameda County Superior Court. Hans Reiser, 43, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his estranged wife, who was 31 when she was last seen. Reiser looked at his son as he testified in the Oakland courtroom, and the boy frequently glanced at his father. "Have you seen your mom since you've been in Russia?" Hora asked the boy. "No," the boy replied. Speaking with a slight Russian accent, he gave the same answer when the prosecutor asked if his mother had phoned him or written him letters. "Do you have any idea where she is?" Hora asked. "No," the boy said. "How do you feel about that?" the prosecutor continued. "Sad," the boy replied. The boy said he didn't remember a number of details about the day he last saw his mother, besides eating macaroni and cheese and playing computer games. "Do you remember what happened to your mom?" Hora asked. "No," he said. Hora asked the boy if he loved his mom, and he said yes. "Do you love your dad?" "At that moment, yes," he said. When pressed by the prosecutor, the boy said that he loved his father in September 2006 but that he couldn't explain why he felt differently now. The boy described a picture he drew recently that he said showed "Hans going down the stairs with somebody." "I think here is Nina," the boy wrote next to the picture. Asked by Hora who that "somebody" was, the boy said he didn't know. But then he said that he thought his father might have been carrying a bag down the stairs of his home and that his mother could have been in the bag, curled up like a ball. The boy got off the stand and got into a ball on the ground, prompting the judge and some jurors to stand up and crane their necks to see. Outside court, defense attorney William Du Bois said the boy's memory of seeing his father with some kind of object was only a dream. The boy testified that he wrote his father several letters over the past year, asking him where his mother was. "Were is Nina?" the boy wrote repeatedly in one letter, misspelling "where." Hora asked the boy whose idea it was to write the letters. "Mine," he replied. In another letter, the boy told his dad, "I don't want to see you, Hans." The boy explained that he was "mad at him" because "he hides Nina" and that "no one knows about her except her friends and Hans." The boy told Hora that he never received letters back from his father. At the outset of Tuesday's session, the boy said he understands the difference between the truth and a lie. He said he lives with his maternal grandmother, Irina Sharanova, and his 6-year-old sister in St. Petersburg, Russia. He said no one had told him what to say in court. Before jurors were brought in, Hora and Du Bois sparred over the manner in which the boy would testify. Du Bois told the judge that he didn't think the boy should be accompanied on the stand by a Russian social worker. Judge Larry Goodman allowed the social worker to remain. Du Bois later complained that the woman was holding the boy's hand as he gave an answer. Outside court, Du Bois said he had been barred from talking to the boy, which he said was necessary before cross-examining him. "They told him not to talk to me," Du Bois said of the prosecution. "They don't want me to be able to make friends with him." Du Bois noted that the boy had testified at a preliminary hearing last year that his mother hugged him and left his father's home on the day police believe he killed her. On Tuesday, however, the boy seemed to remember less about that day, Du Bois said. "His memory has changed since he's been in Russia," said Du Bois, who is expected to cross-examine the boy later this week. He said he believes the boy has been influenced or brainwashed by Sharanova and Russian psychiatrists to "hate his father." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/14/BAFFTBKI1.DTL SON TOLD COPS REISERS HAD STORMY RELATIONSHIP, MOM 'LOST IN OAKLAND' Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, November 15, 2007 The son of computer programmer Hans Reiser told police three weeks after his mother disappeared that she was "lost in Oakland" and offered to help officers find her, according to a taped interview played for jurors Wednesday. Nina Reiser's son couldn't provide specifics on what she did Sept. 3, 2006, the last day he saw her. But he said his parents had a tempestuous relationship and that his father had complained that she stole "thousands of bucks" from him. "Your dad told you that?" a police investigator asked him. "Yes. She wants more than my dad even has," the boy, who is now 8 years old, exclaimed during the police interview played for jurors Wednesday in his father's murder trial in Alameda County Superior Court. The boy, whom The Chronicle is not naming because of his age, told authorities that "my dad makes her mad" and confided to a social worker that his father is "grumpy when he talks to her." His parents had a loud conversation on the day he last saw her, he said. Reiser, 43, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he murdered his estranged wife. Nina Reiser's body hasn't been found, and the defense has suggested that she is alive and has been living in her native Russia with her son and 6-year-old daughter. But the boy, who flew from St. Petersburg, Russia, with his maternal grandmother to testify, told jurors Tuesday in Oakland that he hasn't seen his mother since she disappeared. In the police interview on Sept. 25, 2006, the boy said he believed she was "lost in Oakland." When an investigator asked him if she could be somewhere else, he replied, "Why would she be lost somewhere else when she said nothing about leaving the house?" The boy added that it was possible that his mother was working on some kind of surprise for him. "Maybe she didn't want to tell the future to me," he said. "I think she often does that, she didn't want to tell the future - something that, uh, that is exciting." Police told the boy that if he wanted officers to help him find his mother, he would have to tell them any secrets. But he said he didn't have any. "There's no secret that I have about her," he said. He said he would help police if he found "some little kind of clue, or I find some of her, one of her shoeprints." If there were shoeprints, he'd follow them to his mom, he said. He then told police that he had a "little clue" for them: His mother has black hair and black eyes. She doesn't often wear dresses but favors skirts or pants, he said. Asked what his mother was wearing the day he last saw her, he said he didn't remember. An investigator asked the boy if he wanted police to find his mother. "Mm-hmm," he replied. Defense attorney William Du Bois is expected to cross-examine the boy Thursday. After that, jurors will hear from Irina Sharanova, Nina Reiser's mother, said prosecutor Paul Hora. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/15/BAVDTCA05.DTL REISER'S ATTORNEY IMPLIES SON WAS COACHED TO TESTIFY AGAINST DAD. Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, November 16, 2007 The defense attorney for Hans Reiser suggested Thursday that his client's 8-year-old son had been coached to give damaging testimony against the computer programmer, who is on trial for allegedly murdering his estranged wife. William Du Bois' persistent cross-examination of the boy came on a day when Reiser frustrated both his attorney and the judge in the case, who told him outside the jury's presence that he needed to keep his "paranoid delusions" about authorities' treatment of his son to himself. The boy testified that his maternal grandparents had told him his father "hides" his mother, Nina Reiser. They also told him Hans Reiser may have done "something bad" to her, he said. Nina Reiser's body hasn't been found since she disappeared in September 2006 after dropping off the boy and his sister at Hans Reiser's Oakland hills home. The defense has maintained that she might be living in her native Russia and could be purposely avoiding her son and 6-year-old daughter until the end of the trial. The boy, whom The Chronicle is not naming because of his age, has been living with his maternal grandmother, Irina Sharanova, and his sister in Russia over the past year. Du Bois intimated in his questioning Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court that the boy had been coached by Sharanova, his grandfather and Russian social workers to give damaging testimony against his father. The boy testified that Sharanova had talked with him about news stories on the Internet dealing with whether his father killed his mother. He also said social workers told him, "Good," after he drew a picture showing his father possibly carrying his mother in a bag down the stairs of his home at the time she disappeared. Under questioning by prosecutor Paul Hora earlier this week, the boy said his mother could have been in the bag, curled up in a ball. Next to the picture, which he drew in recent months, the boy wrote, "I think here is Nina." In court Thursday, Du Bois asked if anyone had told him to draw the figure, and the boy said no. "What was it that caused you to do this drawing, if you remember?" Du Bois asked. "The thought just came to you?" "Yes," he replied. "Sometimes when you say 'no,' do you mean, 'I don't remember'? " Du Bois asked. "No," he replied. At one point, Du Bois asked him, "Is it hard to remember what to say and what not to say?" Hora objected, saying that was argumentative, but the boy had already answered no. The prosecutor later objected when Du Bois posed the same question to the boy repeatedly. "This has been asked and answered several times," Hora said. Judge Larry Goodman sustained the objection. Outside the Oakland courtroom, Du Bois said it was challenging to cross-examine Reiser's son, because the boy had been told not to talk to the defense by Russian psychiatrists and others associated with the prosecution. It was also difficult to pin down exactly what happened to Nina Reiser because her son has provided conflicting testimony, he said. "It's confusing," Du Bois said. "It's hard to dredge up a youngster's memory from a year ago." Du Bois added, "He's got certain things he has to say - that he's been told to say." The judge's admonishment of Hans Reiser came after the boy left the courtroom and jurors had been dismissed for the day. They will return when the trial resumes Nov. 26. Du Bois, who has described Reiser as a brilliant yet "odd" person who is "devoid of social skills," told the judge that his client had been interrupting him throughout the afternoon and "since I can't finish what I was doing, he might as well be heard." In a barely audible voice, Reiser, 43, voiced concerns to the judge about "American CPS (child protective services) and Russian CPS" and said he believed his son was improperly being spirited back to Russia now that his testimony was over. "Wait a minute, Mr. Reiser," the judge said. "You're not just trying your attorney's patience, you're also starting to try my patience." Goodman continued, "You can have whatever paranoid delusions you want, but the court won't have anything to do with that." He said he was simply a "lowly trial judge doing a criminal trial," with no jurisdiction over the juvenile court system or a federal treaty that allowed the boy to come from Russia to testify. The judge denied Reiser's request that he be appointed co-counsel in the case so he could ask questions of witnesses. Du Bois is a "good lawyer with sound tactical reasons for asking the questions he asks," the judge told the defendant. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/16/BA6FTD5PQ.DTL NINA REISER DESCRIBED AS 'FABULOUS MOM' WHO'D NEVER ABANDON KIDS Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, November 27, 2007 Hans Reiser is charged with murdering his estranged wife,... Nina Reiser disappeared in September 2006. DMV photo via... Nina Reiser was a devoted mother to her two children and would never have left them, a former fellow school volunteer testified Monday at the murder trial of Reiser's husband. Marni Hunter said Reiser's name was "constantly on the signup sheets" at Grand Lake Montessori in Oakland, where Hunter's daughter and Reiser's son went to school and where both mothers served as parent volunteers. Referring to Reiser's children, Alameda County prosecutor Paul Hora asked, "Based on your contact with Nina ... do you think that she would have ever abandoned them?" "No," Hunter said. Reiser was 31 when she disappeared in September 2006 after dropping off her son and daughter at the Oakland hills home of her estranged husband, Hans Reiser, now 43. The prosecution believes he killed her; the defense has maintained that she might be living in her native Russia and could be avoiding her children until the end of the trial. Nina Reiser's body has never been found. Hunter told of speaking with Hans Reiser once on the phone while calling parents to confirm they were paying for a school pizza party. He apparently didn't know who she was, because he railed about his wife during the call, she testified. "He was very upset," and demanded to know what Nina Reiser had said about him, Hunter testified. He told her his wife frequently accused him of withholding money from her, accusations he called baseless, Hunter said. Hora asked Hunter what kind of mother Nina Reiser was. "I really, truly believe that she was a fabulous mom. She had the most infectious smile," Hunter said. "A very kind person. I think she was a very wonderful person, and I think the children loved her dearly." On cross-examination, defense attorney William Du Bois asked Hunter if Nina Reiser had ever discussed her children's therapy sessions, her online searches for male companionship, former boyfriend Sean Sturgeon or sadomasochism. Attorneys on both sides have said Nina Reiser had an extramarital affair with Sturgeon, and the defense has said Sturgeon practiced sadomasochism. Hunter said Nina Reiser had never brought up any of those topics. Outside the Oakland courtroom where the murder trial is taking place, Hunter would not say whether she believed Hans Reiser had killed his wife. "I just want justice to be served," said Hunter, who helped organize candlelight vigils for Nina Reiser after she disappeared. Also on the stand Monday was Shelley Gordon, the attorney who was handling Nina Reiser's divorce. The Reisers married in 1999 and separated in May 2004. Nina Reiser filed for divorce three months later, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple's divorce was never finalized. From the outset, Gordon said, her client told her the case "would probably be difficult." "Did you know what was in store for you?" Hora asked. "No," Gordon replied. Asked to characterize the divorce, Gordon said, "It went from bad to worse. It was very adversarial. It was very hostile, and it just dragged on at a snail's pace." Hans Reiser accused his wife of being a manipulative liar, Gordon said. She said he appeared to be more interested in his computer business, Namesys, than his children. Among the issues the Reisers fought over were the selection of a child-custody evaluator and whether Hans Reiser was subjecting their son, then 4, to violent video games and movies, causing him to have nightmares. "It was a huge bone of contention, pretty much spanning the whole case," Gordon said. Outside court, Du Bois told reporters that "appearances can be deceiving" with regard to the prosecution's portrayal of Nina Reiser being a devoted, caring mother. Du Bois said the divorce was "contentious over a lot of technical points" and that it didn't necessarily have a " 'War of the Roses' element that some divorces have." The lawyer added, "It takes two to be contentious." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/27/BASITJ659.DTL HANS REISER'S ANGRY E-MAILS TO HIS WIFE READ IN OAKLAND COURT Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, November 28, 2007 (11-27) 21:54 PST Oakland -- Hans Reiser sent his estranged wife a flurry of angry, accusatory e-mails during their divorce proceedings that mentioned her affair with his best friend and his belief that she was dreaming up illnesses for their son, according to testimony in his murder trial Tuesday. Reiser railed about how Nina Reiser was raising the boy, accused her of lying and said she suffered from Munchausen-by-proxy syndrome, in which parents make up diseases for their children to get attention for themselves, jurors were told. The computer programmer's e-mails to his wife were read to the panel by Nina Reiser's divorce attorney, Shelley Gordon, over the objections of his attorney, William Du Bois. The lawyer said the missives were hearsay, hadn't been authenticated and that Nina Reiser had given Gordon only the e-mails she wanted her lawyer to have. The testimony came in Alameda County Superior Court in the trial of Reiser, 43, who is accused of killing his wife sometime after she dropped off the couple's children at his Oakland hills home in September 2006. Her body has never been found. Gordon read the e-mails during redirect questioning by the prosecution after Du Bois finished a contentious cross-examination that drew an admonition by the judge that he treat her with respect. In his e-mails, written after Nina Reiser filed for divorce in 2004, Reiser complained bitterly about the affair she started with his friend after the couple separated and accused her of being an unstable liar. In one e-mail, Reiser told his wife, "It is 1941 and you are the Nazis and you think we (Reiser and his divorce attorney) will not suffer the necessary amount to defeat you." Reiser accused her in another missive of concocting illnesses for their son, such as "sensory integration dysfunction," in which the smallest touch or sound is overwhelming. Reiser also said his wife took their son, who is now 8, to see therapists who implanted false memories in him. Gordon testified Monday that the Reisers' divorce proceedings had been "very hostile" and said Reiser had failed to pay his wife thousands of dollars in support for the couple's son and younger daughter. He pleaded not guilty to a civil contempt charge in August 2006, a month before Nina Reiser disappeared. He was never tried, and the divorce was never finalized. On Tuesday, Gordon testified that she was surprised to learn that Reiser had donated $2,000 to Alameda County Supervisor Gail Steele in May 2006, at the same time he was failing to pay child support. Prosecutor Paul Hora has told jurors that Reiser resented how he had been treated by the county's family law system and had sent numerous e-mails to Steele before Nina Reiser disappeared. Steele is scheduled to testify Wednesday. Du Bois pressed Gordon to discuss details of the couple's divorce proceedings. At one point, Gordon described what she believed was the "myopic focus that Hans has on things." Du Bois made clear in his tone that he didn't appreciate Gordon's answers, prompting Judge Larry Goodman to tell the defense attorney to "stifle yourself." "Bill, if you ask a question and you don't like the answer, it's not her fault," Goodman said. After jurors were dismissed for lunch, Hora complained that Du Bois was inappropriately challenging Gordon on how she had reached her opinions and what her sources were. "And he's not liking the answers," Hora said. "It's not fair to the witness to be asked a question and then not be allowed to give a complete answer regarding the question. He doesn't like the answer, and he modifies the question." Du Bois said, "This witness is giving the most run-on, protracted, diatribical, nonsensical answers that I've ever heard. I suppose the problem is she's a lawyer. However, she hasn't been responsive. She's been allowed to run on, instead of answering questions yes or no." The judge said he was concerned that Du Bois, despite being "one of the best trial lawyers I know," seemed to be having problems controlling a witness. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/28/BAMTTJSJG.DTL REISER LOBBIED COUNTY SUPERVISOR FOR CHANGES IN CHILD CUSTODY SYSTEM Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, November 29, 2007 Nina Reiser. DMV photo via The Oakland Tribune via Associ... Hans Reiser (11-28) 18:12 PST Oakland - -- Hans Reiser lobbied Alameda County Supervisor Gail Steele to change what he believed was a biased family-court system as he fought with his estranged wife for custody of the couple's two children, Steele testified Wednesday. Reiser talked to Steele in person, exchanged e-mails and phoned her office several times in the year before his wife disappeared, the supervisor testified in Reiser's murder trial. He apparently believed that she had authority over the system for awarding custody in divorce cases, something outside the control of county supervisors. The contact stopped once Reiser's wife, Nina Reiser, disappeared in September 2006, Steele testified. Reiser, 43, is on trial in Alameda County Superior Court for allegedly murdering his wife, whose body has never been found. Steele said she first met Hans Reiser in 2005 outside the county's Administration Building in Oakland as he was gathering signatures for a petition to change the family law system. Although Steele did not sign the petition, she said she sympathized with him because she, too, had concerns about how children were faring in the system. "I was interested in what he had to say," she said. Steele represents the Hayward area on the board, and Reiser's Oakland hills home was outside her district. Nevertheless, over the next year the two exchanged e-mails in which they discussed family law matters and Reiser complained about his personal situation, Steele testified. Reiser had issues with how Nina Reiser, who had custody of the couple's young son and daughter, was raising the children, Steele testified. He also gave Steele advice about interacting with her grandchildren and proposed the creation of a county department that would oversee child-custody evaluators, the supervisor said. Reiser told Steele that former Rep. Ron Dellums, now Oakland's mayor, should be contacted to help revamp the system. Reiser appeared to be frustrated, but not obsessed, with the family court process, Steele said. She noted that as a supervisor, "I can't do anything with the courts, unfortunately." "Did you tell Hans that?" prosecutor Paul Hora asked. "Oh, I'm sure I did," Steele replied. In April 2006, as Steele was running for re-election, Reiser gave her two unsolicited money orders totaling $2,000 toward her campaign, she said. Reiser donated the money at the same time that he was failing to make child support payments, Nina Reiser's divorce attorney has testified. Hans Reiser now owes $30,645 in child support, Joyce Harnett, a case worker with the county's Department of Child Support Services, testified Wednesday. The amount has been accruing since a court-ordered settlement in December 2005 and has continued after his arrest in October 2006. Also on Wednesday, Ron Zeno, the executive director of Safe Exchange in Oakland, where the Reisers dropped off and picked up their children in 2005, testified that every time Nina Reiser came in, she'd get down on one knee, put her hands out and both kids would run to her. Hora asked Zeno if he believed she was the kind of person who would "voluntarily just disappear" and leave her kids. "No, sir," said Zeno. Nina Reiser was last seen on Sept. 3, 2006, after dropping off the children at Hans Reiser's home for a visit. Steele testified that he left several messages with her office during the previous week, but that she didn't call back, possibly because she was overwhelmed with other business. However, Reiser's cell phone records show that on Sept. 1, there was a 16-minute call and a six-minute call between his phone and someone in Steele's office, according to Hora. Steele said neither she nor her staffers recalled talking to Reiser that day. Outside the courtroom in Oakland, defense attorney William Du Bois said Steele's testimony helped his client and proved that he was trying to "change the process" and "correct errors in the system which he felt were victimizing his children." Du Bois said of Reiser, "He wasn't acting like someone who was going to do harm to another individual." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/29/BAOBTKGBT.DTL OAKLAND POLICE OFFICER TOLD NINA REISER TO GET A GUN Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, November 30, 2007 (11-29) 18:02 PST Oakland - -- When Hans and Nina Reiser met at the Oakland Police Department to exchange their children, their interactions were so hostile that one officer recommended she get a gun to protect herself, according to courtroom testimony Thursday. Retired Oakland police Officer Ben Denson testified that the enmity between the two was apparent when they used the downtown police headquarters to pick up and drop off their children in 2005. "It was almost an ever-present thing," Denson testified in Alameda County Superior Court. "They rarely talked for any length of time, but when they did engage in face-to-face conversation, it was my impression - this is what I observed - the defendant displayed hostility toward Nina, and I would call it barely restrained aggression." During one particularly acrimonious visit, Denson said he gave Nina Reiser some chilling advice: "I told her, 'You need to get yourself a gun.' " Nina Reiser was 31 when she disappeared in September 2006 after dropping off her son and daughter at the Oakland hills home of her estranged husband. Hans Reiser, 43, is on trial for allegedly murdering his wife, whose body has never been found. The defense has said that Nina Reiser might be living in her native Russia and could be avoiding her children until the end of the trial. Denson testified that although he never witnessed any physical fights between the two at the Police Department, he was concerned to the point that he went outside the building to check on them during one exchange. "He never put his hands on her but, you know, I could tell by the way he was looking at her, there was menace in his eyes," Denson said. "It was very hostile." Denson said the defendant would nevertheless play with his children for about 15 minutes during the exchanges, taking time to "toss them up in the air, swing them around." As for Nina Reiser, "My impression was that she was a caring, loving mother," said Denson, who retired in 2005 after 27 years with the Oakland police. Under cross-examination by defense attorney William Du Bois, Denson confirmed that he never had to restrain Hans Reiser. But he told Du Bois that his client "used to loom over her. He used to glare at her. The hostility was palpable." People embroiled in domestic situations "don't care if the police are there or not," Denson said. "That doesn't enter people's minds because they're so wound up. They're so emotional." Also Thursday, Sandra Starr Rudd, an employee of the now-shuttered Barnes & Noble bookstore in downtown Berkeley, testified that she sold two books about murder and homicides to a man whose image was caught on a store videotape. Prosecutor Paul Hora flashed a store receipt for jurors on a screen and played store surveillance videos showing the defendant paying $28.25 in cash for the books on Sept. 8, 2006, five days after his wife went missing. The books were "Masterpieces of Murder" by Jonathan Goodman, about true notorious murder cases, and "Homicide," a book by David Simon about the Baltimore police homicide squad, Rudd said. Rudd said she didn't independently remember the transaction and would not be able to identify the purchaser. Another witness, U-Sef Barnes, who answered the child abuse hot line run by Alameda County's Department of Children and Family Services, testified that he received a phone call from Hans Reiser in September 2005. Reiser said he believed his wife had Munchausen syndrome by proxy, in which parents exaggerate or make up medical problems for their children to get attention or sympathy for themselves. Helen Campbell, the principal at Grand Lake Montessori that the Reiser children attended, testified that the defendant believed teachers there were "attacking his child as not being normal and that there was something seriously wrong about his son, and he was saying that was adamantly not the case." Hans Reiser also complained that his wife believed that their son had something wrong with his grip, affecting his ability to learn how to write. Teachers had concerns over pictures that the boy drew involving "violent images of persons or robots" and complained that Hans Reiser directed his son during a classroom visit instead of simply observing, Campbell testified. The defendant told her of his belief that his wife was "connected to the KGB and was a good liar," Campbell said. The trial resumes Monday. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/30/BA98TLC8P.DTL HANS REISER'S MOM TESTIFIES HE TOOK HER CAR AFTER HIS WIFE VANISHED Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, December 4, 2007 Hans Reiser took his mother's car after his wife disappeared and wouldn't tell her what he had done with it, the mother testified Monday in her son's murder trial. When police later seized Beverly Palmer's Honda CRX, they found that its front passenger seat had been removed and the floorboard was soaked with water, and traces of both Hans Reiser's and his estranged wife's DNA were found on a sleeping bag cover inside the car, prosecutors said. Palmer testified in Alameda County Superior Court that she was angry her son had "stranded" her by taking both her CRX and her Honda hybrid after his wife, Nina Reiser, disappeared in September 2006. At the time the mother of two vanished, Palmer, a 64-year-old multimedia artist, was attending the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert, she testified. Under questioning by prosecutor Paul Hora, Palmer said she had asked her son where the CRX was, but he "didn't tell me," saying only that it wouldn't start. Palmer said she wouldn't have noticed if her CRX was missing its front passenger seat because she "very rarely" drove it. "You wouldn't have noticed that the front seat is missing?" Hora asked. "I just never noticed that car," Palmer said. "I wouldn't have any reason to look inside it." Police found the car near Highway 13 in Oakland more than two weeks after Nina Reiser disappeared. They theorized that Hans Reiser might have removed the seat to transport his wife's body somewhere, then tried to clean the Honda of incriminating evidence. Prosecutors believe that Reiser, a 43-year-old computer programmer, killed his wife about the time she was last seen dropping off their two children at his Oakland hills home Sept. 3, 2006. But her body has never been found. Palmer said she had been upset after her son told her Nina Reiser was missing on Sept. 6, the day after Palmer returned from Burning Man. Her son waited to break the news because he knew she was tired, she said. "He didn't seem to know anything about it," Palmer said. "I asked him about it, and he didn't seem to have any information." Palmer initially told police that Nina Reiser would never have left her two children. Under questioning by Hora, however, Palmer said it was possible her daughter-in-law had gone away willingly because she had left her children twice before, once with a nanny and once with Nina Reiser's parents. Hora asked if she later thought "maybe she ran away to Russia," her native country. "That's possible," Palmer said. She acknowledged there was a difference between making arrangements to leave children with a caretaker and vanishing without a trace. Palmer also conceded that she had had "second thoughts" about whether Nina Reiser chose to disappear after Hans Reiser was accused of murder. Hora asked Palmer if she believed Nina Reiser would have ever wanted her children to be in foster care. "No, I don't think so," she replied. The children are now living with their maternal grandmother in Russia. Defense attorney William Du Bois has suggested that Nina Reiser might not be dead. Outside the Oakland courtroom Monday, he said that Palmer's testimony showed that Nina Reiser is "not the type of mother who would never leave her children" and that the prosecution's arguments to the contrary are "being overdone." Palmer will be back on the stand Tuesday. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/04/BALGTNFHS.DTL 'Nina is dead' tape replayed at trial HUSBAND RAILS ABOUT MISSING WIFE IN CALL TO HIS MOTHER Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, December 5, 2007 Less than three weeks after his estranged wife disappeared, Hans Reiser said in a phone conversation that she was a lying spendthrift who endangered the couple's children, according to a tape of the call played Tuesday at his murder trial. Reiser railed against Nina Reiser in the Sept. 23, 2006, call to his mother, whose phone had been tapped by police. Nina Reiser had disappeared 20 days earlier after dropping off the couple's young children at his Oakland hills home. As he talked to his mother, Reiser essentially gave a list of reasons why "Nina is dead," prosecutor Paul Hora told jurors in Alameda County Superior Court when he first played the call during his opening statement last month. Reiser said his wife falsely ascribed illnesses to their son, stole money from him as his software company was having financial problems and should have gone to jail for kicking him during a fight that brought a visit from the police, he told his mother, Beverly Palmer. "Things would have gone better" for Reiser and his children had his wife gone to jail, he said. Nina Reiser wasted money on purchases he considered unnecessary, such as a laptop computer, he complained. "She looks for every possible way to screw me," Reiser said in the phone call, which was played again for jurors Tuesday. Nina Reiser was 31 years old when she vanished, and her body has never been found. The defense has hinted during the Oakland trial that she may have chosen to disappear, possibly to her native Russia. Palmer told her son during the phone call that no matter what his wife may have done, she "didn't deserve whatever it is that's happened to her. Don't you think?" Reiser replied, "I think my children shouldn't be endangered by her. Because all I ever wanted was to be nice to her, give her an opportunity to come to the United States" and for her to "have some children." Palmer repeated, "Still, Nina didn't deserve whatever it is that happened to her." "And neither did I, and neither did (the Reisers' son)," Reiser answered, a reference to the fact that his young son and daughter were put in foster care when she disappeared and he came under suspicion for murder. On cross-examination, defense attorney William Du Bois asked Palmer if her 43-year-old son was violent, and she said no. He is, however, a social "klutz," she said. "Hans is a computer programmer and programmers have a reputation for lacking social skills," Palmer said. Palmer said that neither she nor her son had searched for Nina Reiser after the disappearance because they felt "unwelcome." Nina Reiser's mother, Irina Sharanova, and best friend, Ellen Doren, were both angry at them, she said. "Also, I can't walk through the Oakland hills, which is what they were doing, because . . . it's full of poison oak and I get violent poison-oak reactions," Palmer said. "Does Hans have a similar reaction to poison oak?" Du Bois asked. "Yes, he gets bad cases of poison oak also," she answered. The trial resumes Wednesday, despite Reiser's request to Judge Larry Goodman that he be excused so he could attend a family court hearing dealing with his children. The judge said no. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/05/BA6OTO01T.DTL REISER KIDS CALLED MOM A LYING THIEF, BOYFRIEND TESTIFIES Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, December 6, 2007 Nina Reiser's own children accused her of being a lying thief who stole their father's money at the time the couple were going through a bitter divorce, her boyfriend testified Wednesday in the estranged husband's murder trial. The Reisers' son, who was 6 years old when she disappeared in September 2006, and their then-5-year-old daughter called her "a liar, a thief that stole their dad's money," Anthony Zografos testified at the Alameda County Superior Court trial of Hans Reiser. The language was similar to that used by Hans Reiser, who shared physical custody of the children, when he railed against his wife as they argued over terms of their divorce. In a phone call he made to his mother after Nina Reiser disappeared, a tape of which was played in the Oakland courtroom Tuesday, Reiser complained that she had stolen money from him even as his software company was having financial problems. Zografos, however, said Nina Reiser was a good mother who was "very caring and very devoted" and would never have abandoned her children and vanished voluntarily. He said he thought the divorce had been causing psychological problems for the children. "Did she love her children?" prosecutor Paul Hora asked. "Very much," Zografos said. Zografos said he had passed along the children's remarks to Nina Reiser and said her son, in particular, "needs help." He testified that he had urged her to consult with a child psychologist because the boy and girl appeared to be affected by the Reisers' bitter divorce proceedings and Nina Reiser did not seem to be able to handle the problem on her own. Zografos testified that he also urged her to call Hans Reiser and "tell him what (his son) had just said." Nina Reiser had legal custody of the children, but she and Hans Reiser shared physical custody. Zografos began dating Nina Reiser in January 2006, more than a year after she and Hans Reiser separated following five years of marriage. Tears welled in his eyes Wednesday as he described his last days with her before she disappeared Sept. 3, 2006. He last saw her that day at her home shortly before he took his two children on a camping trip. The day before, she and her two children joined Zografos and his children for a trip to the beach in Alameda and dinner. The prosecution showed a video that Zografos shot at an Emeryville children's gym in 2005 at a birthday party for Nina Reiser's son. She is seen in the video jumping around and tending to children. "From what we saw there, was that typical Nina?" Hora asked Zografos. "Yes," he said. The jury was also shown one of her last text messages to Zografos on Sept. 3. It read, "We are at the BB finally and are having lunch. I'm sorry I missed your call, my love. It's great that you stopped to say goodby. Have a fun trip, pirates. Love you lots." BB refers to Berkeley Bowl, where Nina Reiser took her children shopping. She called Zografos' family pirates because they liked the ocean and "tend to be a little rowdy," he said. The prosecution says Hans Reiser, 43, probably killed his wife later that day when she dropped off the children at his Oakland hills home. She was 31. Her body has not been found. Zografos, a medical-equipment company director, said he met Nina Reiser after posting an online ad seeking play dates for his two children. The two never discussed marriage but had talked about moving in together, he testified. She had plans to take a job with San Francisco's public health department assisting Russian immigrants and was also preparing to take a medical licensing exam at the time she disappeared, Zografos said. Nina Reiser was a gynecologist in her native Russia, and she was seeking her license to practice in the United States. Zografos said he looked for his missing girlfriend at her home, posted flyers and had billboards plastered with her picture. Hans Reiser didn't take part in the search effort, he said. Hora played a half-hour of voice-mail messages left on Nina Reiser's cell phone after she disappeared. All the callers pleaded with her to phone them back. Hans Reiser was not among those leaving messages. Zografos cried as he heard himself leave a message telling his girlfriend, "I want to see you. I'll come pick you up." Outside court, defense attorney William Du Bois said Zografos' testimony "has been very helpful to us." He declined to comment further before cross-examining Zografos but said, "There's going to be some real interesting revelations about this testimony, and we'll wait with bated breath for that." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/06/BACLTON22.DTL DEFENSE LAWYER GRILLS NINA REISER'S BOYFRIEND Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, December 7, 2007 Nina Reiser's boyfriend was questioned sharply Thursday by the attorney for murder defendant Hans Reiser, as the defense suggested that she either ran away or was killed by another lover or someone she met through online personal ads rather than her estranged husband. Defense attorney William Du Bois asked Anthony Zografos what he meant when he left a voice mail message on Nina Reiser's cell phone after she disappeared last year in which he assured her, "Everything can be fixed." Zografos was among numerous people who left worried messages for Nina Reiser after she vanished. Prosecutor Paul Hora played several of the recordings in the Oakland courtroom Wednesday. "Obviously, if something had happened to Nina, she would have assumed that something was wrong," Zografos testified Thursday. " 'Everything can be fixed' is a generic statement that everything can be fixed. It didn't have a specific meaning." Nina Reiser was 31 when she was last seen Sept. 3, 2006, after dropping off her two children at the Oakland hills home of Hans Reiser, 43. Prosecutors believe that he killed her, probably that day. Her body has not been found. Throughout his questioning Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court, Du Bois clearly was raising the possibility that Nina Reiser voluntarily disappeared. Zografos said he had suggested in another call to her cell phone that it was OK if she wanted to take some time off. He told Du Bois that "these were calls of a desperate man." Zografos denied the defense attorney's suggestions that Nina Reiser had been under financial pressure when she disappeared, saying she had just been offered a job with the San Francisco Public Health Department. Asked whether she had been dating other men besides himself at the time, Zografos responded, "I know she wasn't." "You say that with some authority," Du Bois said. "I knew Nina well," Zografos said. Zografos also said he didn't believe Nina Reiser had been seeing Sean Sturgeon - Hans Reiser's best friend until she had an extramarital affair with him - at the time she disappeared. Du Bois asked Zografos whether he had tried to convince Nina Reiser's best friend, Ellen Doren, that "Nina was depressed and whatever she did, she did to herself." "I never pressed Ellen Doren for anything," Zografos said. Du Bois then asked whether Zografos' estranged wife was angry at Nina Reiser "because she felt that if it hadn't been for Nina, you and she would have gotten back together." Hora objected, saying Zografos' wife's feelings were "totally irrelevant." Du Bois told Judge Larry Goodman that "it goes to what might have happened to Nina," but the judge sustained Hora's objection. Du Bois showed the jury copies of Craigslist personal ads that Nina Reiser had been viewing the weekend she disappeared. Zografos testified that he had turned over printouts of the ads to police. Du Bois asked Zografos whether Nina Reiser could have disappeared because of something related to the ads, and he said no. The defense attorney asked why Nina Reiser would be looking at the online ads. "I believe this was (out of) boredom," Zografos said. "She was entertaining herself." "So what you're telling us is, while you're heading over to Nina's house to go to the beach with she and her children - the love of your life - she is bored and going over Craigslist personals?" Du Bois thundered. "She had told me before that she was doing this for fun," Zografos said. "In fact, she sent me an ad in an e-mail." Also Thursday, Dr. Dorit Bar-Din of Berkeley testified that she told Nina Reiser in 2005 that she could no longer care for the Reisers' son and daughter because Hans Reiser had written her an angry letter saying that he didn't want her to treat them without his permission. He also threatened to sue her, she said. The trial resumes Monday. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/07/BA6ITPHGG.DTL COUPLE TESTIFY REISER, AT PARTY, SAID KIDS, WIFE WERE A BURDEN Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, December 11, 2007 Five months before authorities say he killed his estranged wife, Hans Reiser told fellow parents at a party that he'd be better off financially if he didn't have to take care of her and their two children, a couple testified Monday. Reiser told a shocked group of parents in April 2006 during a class party that "his family and Nina Reiser were a financial burden to him," said Clare Conry-Murray, whose son went to the same school in Oakland, Grand Lake Montessori, that Reiser's son attended. "He was complaining about Nina," who wasn't at the party, Conry-Murray testified in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland. "I thought it was a very strange thing to say," Conry-Murray said under questioning by prosecutor Paul Hora. "It really stood out, because it just seemed so inappropriate. Normal things that parents would complain about aren't on that level." She said she learned in November 2006 that Nina Reiser had been missing for two months and e-mailed police about Hans Reiser's statements, which "stood out enough for me because it seemed like it could be important." The prosecution says Hans Reiser, 43, killed his wife Sept. 3, 2006, after she dropped off the couple's son and daughter at his Oakland hills home. She was 31. Her body has not been found. Asked by the prosecutor to describe Nina Reiser, Conry-Murray said she was a patient mother. "She was very, very gentle, very soft-spoken," she said. "She was just really, really great with her kids, always trying to find educational, fun things for them to do. She was a great parent." On cross-examination, she acknowledged to defense attorney William Du Bois that she hadn't had any conversations with Hans Reiser before or after his remark at the party. Du Bois suggested that she may not know "what (Reiser) really meant," and she agreed. Conry-Murray's husband, Andrew Conry-Murray, testified Monday that he, too, was taken aback at the party after hearing Hans Reiser say that "having a wife and children were making things hard on him in terms of his life and business." He said Reiser's "tone was kind of vehement. I just felt like it was just not the kind of thing you would expect to hear at an occasion like this, a casual social occasion." On cross-examination, Du Bois asked if Reiser's comment was consistent with someone who is "socially retarded" or lacks social skills, and Andrew Conry-Murray replied, "I suppose so, yes." The defense has said Reiser may have been inept in dealing with people, but that his poor social skills didn't make him a killer. Conry-Murray agreed with the defense attorney that many parents lose sleep and spend money raising their children, but he said he wouldn't broach those topics in the way Hans Reiser did at the party. "I suppose I could, but in a social situation, usually that's leavened by humor or some sort of commiseration by the parents," he said, adding that "99.9 percent of the time, there's sort of an underlying humor that accompanies it." Also on Monday, Nina Reiser's landlord, Anthony Britto, testified that she disappeared from her home on 49th Street in Oakland's Temescal neighborhood without ever saying she had plans to leave. Had she given notice and moved out, he said, she would have been entitled to her $2,000 security deposit. Du Bois has told jurors that Nina Reiser, who was going through a bitter divorce from her husband, might have chosen to disappear and could still be alive. The jury also heard from Monica MacDonald, who taught the Reisers' son at Grand Lake Montessori school in Oakland. She said the boy acted up at the school last year, was rude and once told her to "Shut up," saying, "I don't need to listen to you, you're a woman and women shouldn't have their rights in this country." "They were odd remarks for a 6-year-old," MacDonald said. The boy also drew pictures with "a lot of guns and a lot of dead people and violence," MacDonald said. Asked about the pictures, the boy told teachers that this was what he saw while playing video games at the father's house, MacDonald said. Among Nina Reiser's grievances during the couple's divorce was that Hans Reiser was subjecting their son to violent video games and movies. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/11/BA5OTRH6F.DTL NINA REISER PLANNED 'FRESH START' WITH BANKRUPTCY, LAWYER TESTIFIES Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, December 12, 2007 Nina Reiser was planning to file for bankruptcy and wanted a "fresh start" with her finances just before she vanished last year, an attorney testified Tuesday in the murder trial of Reiser's estranged husband. But the mother of two never had the chance because she disappeared about two weeks before she could finalize the paperwork, said Darya Druch, Reiser's bankruptcy attorney. Druch was brought to the stand in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland to bolster the prosecution's argument that Reiser was making plans when she vanished and didn't disappear voluntarily. Prosecutors say her estranged husband, 43-year-old computer programmer Hans Reiser, killed her in September 2006 after she dropped off their children at his Oakland hills home. Her body hasn't been found, and the defense has suggested that she left her children and may be hiding in her native Russia. Druch testified that Nina Reiser contacted her in August 2006 to discuss filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy to wipe out her unsecured debt, including credit-card bills. "Did you get the impression that she was serious about the process?" prosecutor Paul Hora asked. "Yes, she was determined to get it over with quickly," Druch said. Nina Reiser said she was getting a new job by the end of September 2006, and the two agreed that it would be prudent to get the bankruptcy petition filed quickly, Druch said. "She wanted a fresh start," the attorney said. Reiser owed nearly $83,000 on her credit cards, of which $75,000 was joint debt with Hans Reiser and the remaining $8,000 was personal debt, Druch testified. Nina Reiser listed $62,740 in assets, including a $7,000 bank account, Druch said. She also reported that she had an interest in her husband's software company, Namesys, "but she didn't think there would be anything there for her," Druch testified. Reiser also said Hans Reiser owed her $15,000 in child support, which is considered a claim, the attorney said. Nina Reiser disappeared Sept. 3, 2006. She was to have met with Druch 17 days later to discuss filing the bankruptcy petition, the attorney said. On cross-examination, defense attorney William Du Bois asked Druch how it was possible that Nina Reiser had saved $7,000. "She told me she was getting gifts" from an undisclosed friend, the attorney said. Reiser did not list any debts to her boyfriend, Anthony Zografos, or former paramour Sean Sturgeon, Druch testified. Zografos has testified that Nina Reiser borrowed money from Sturgeon in May or June 2006, even after Zografos began dating her that January. Reiser's landlord has testified that he received a rent check from Sturgeon's account. Also Tuesday, Deserae McClindon, who taught the Reisers' son at Grand Lake Montessori school in Oakland, testified that she was concerned that the boy had been drawing pictures depicting violence in class and reported having "dreams of wars." McClindon said Hans Reiser came to the school one day last year to dispute assertions by teachers and his wife that his son was gripping his pencil improperly. He told his son to write for 45 minutes, and the boy obeyed because "he had a desire to please Dad," McClindon said. The teacher said she had been busy with other children at the time but later told Hans Reiser that parents should be observing and not directing children in class. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/12/BAR8TS51K.DTL REISERS' SON APPROACHED U.S. TOURISTS IN RUSSIA, ASKING ABOUT MOM Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, December 13, 2007 (12-12) 18:42 PST Oakland -- Nina Reiser's son asked a group of American tourists in Russia earlier this year if they knew where his mother was and if people were still searching for her, her best friend testified Wednesday in the murder trial of Reiser's estranged husband. The 8-year-old boy, who now lives with his 6-year-old sister and their maternal grandmother in St. Petersburg, Russia, heard the tourists speaking English in July and walked up to them, saying, "Hi, I also speak English. Have you seen our mom? Are people still looking for my mom?" said Ellen Doren, an Oakland resident who said she was in Russia with the boy when he approached the tourists. The tourists had no idea what the little boy was talking about, Doren testified in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland. Doren broke down twice during her testimony, once while describing how she had met her best friend in 2003 and again when she said how the Reisers' two children eagerly played with toys "as if they had never seen a toy in their life" while in protective custody after Reiser disappeared Sept. 3, 2006. Prosecutors say Nina Reiser's estranged husband, 43-year-old computer programmer Hans Reiser, killed her after she dropped off their children at his Oakland hills home. She was 31. Her body hasn't been found, and the defense has suggested that she left her children and may be hiding in her native Russia. In court Wednesday, Doren, 32, said that the Reisers had bickered over who would spend time with their children on the Labor Day weekend before Nina Reiser vanished, and that they had ultimately decided to split time. Doren said she picked up the children from school Sept. 5, two days after their mother disappeared. Police believe Hans Reiser took them to school that day. Later that night, she called Reiser to say his children were with her and asked if he knew where his wife was. "He said, 'I need to talk to my lawyer,' " Doren said. "That's it?" prosecutor Paul Hora said. "That's it," Doren replied. "Didn't ask how the kids were?" the prosecutor asked. "No," she said. Doren said that she had helped search for her friend in local parks and that Hans Reiser had never participated. She said Nina Reiser had told her that she and her husband had "really different views" about raising children and that Hans Reiser didn't think school was necessary for them because "no teacher is as smart as a computer." Nina Reiser told her that she was going to have to file for bankruptcy protection because Hans Reiser wasn't paying for their children's private school as he had promised, Doren said. Earlier last year, Nina Reiser had started dating another man, Anthony Zografos. Doren said Nina Reiser described him as a caring surrogate father to the children but also as a "jealous boyfriend." Doren said Zografos called Nina Reiser "quite often," making sure he knew where she was and when she'd be home. Zografos also was able to check her e-mail, Doren said. "It didn't seem like it concerned her that much," Doren said. "She would sort of laugh about it and say that he loved her too much and that was his way of showing it." During cross-examination Wednesday, defense attorney William Du Bois asked Doren whether her friend had told her she was looking online for relationships with other men. Doren said no. The defense attorney tried to grill Doren about Zografos' jealousy and the feelings of Zografos' estranged wife, but Judge Larry Goodman sustained Hora's numerous objections. The judge then threatened to find Du Bois in contempt after the lawyer repeatedly sought to introduce evidence that wasn't before the jury, namely suggestions that the Reisers' son had seen his mother drive away on the day that she was last seen. The boy had testified at a preliminary hearing that he gave his mother a hug and that she left the home through the front door. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/13/BAVHTSQGB.DTL NEIGHBOR RECOUNTS HANS REISER'S ODD BEHAVIOR Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, December 14, 2007 (12-13) 19:19 PST Oakland -- Hans Reiser acted strangely after his wife vanished, washing the driveway of his Oakland hills home as he wore thick winter clothing late on a warm night, a neighbor testified Thursday. Jack Stabb, 51, said Reiser was "watering in his driveway" on Exeter Drive for about a half hour around 10 p.m. Sept. 5, 2006, two days after Nina Reiser disappeared. "It was odd, even for Hans," Stabb testified during Hans Reiser's murder trial in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland. "We're outdoors a lot. We never really see Hans participating in any exterior activities like cleaning or watering. He just comes and goes. I just thought it was kind of strange, especially because I had no idea what he was doing, like, Washing the driveway? It seemed out of character." Stabb said it had been a hot summer night, and that while he had been barefoot and wearing a T-shirt and shorts, Hans Reiser had been dressed for winter, wearing what looked like a hooded hunting jacket. If Reiser was trying to clean his driveway, he did a terrible job because it was still dirty the next day, Stabb said. Prosecutors believe Reiser killed his wife the previous weekend and may have moved her body in a Honda CRX that was later found with its front passenger seat missing. The floorboard was soaked, as if someone had washed the interior, according to authorities. Nina Reiser's body hasn't been found, and the defense has raised the possibility that she is alive and hiding in her native Russia, where the couple's children now live with their maternal grandmother. On cross-examination, Stabb acknowledged that he'd had disagreements with Hans Reiser over parking on the street. Stabb agreed with characterizations by defense attorney William Du Bois that Reiser was an odd, self-centered man who wasn't a good neighbor. The defense has conceded that Reiser has poor social skills and can impress people as being strange, but that none of that means he killed his wife. Also Thursday, a woman who works at Adventure Time at Joaquin Miller Elementary School in Oakland's Montclair district said Hans Reiser showed up at the after-school program the same day as the driveway-washing episode, about the time his wife was to have picked up the couple's son and daughter. Hans Reiser looked "very nervous-like," Natalie Potter testified. "There was no eye contact with me whatsoever, just very hyper. Was not calm at all." He said he wasn't there to pick up his son and daughter and instead asked if he could set up a meeting to discuss Adventure Time's enrollment policies, Potter said. He wrote down a cell phone number as a contact that turned out to be incorrect, and told Potter it would be OK for his wife's best friend, Ellen Doren, to pick up the children, she said. From that day forward, Potter said she never heard from either Hans or Nina Reiser, and the defendant never followed up on his request for a policy meeting. Prosecutor Paul Hora showed a copy of a check that Nina Reiser wrote for $497.52 and gave to Potter on Aug. 28, 2006, the first day of school. Nina Reiser didn't say anything about going on an extended vacation, Potter said. Four days later, Nina Reiser accepted a $50,000 job with the San Francisco Department of Public Health to help Russian immigrants in San Francisco improve their health and lives, Mary Jo Williams, associate executive director of Bay Area Community Resources, testified Thursday. "She was extremely qualified, and I felt that her values were consistent with our agency and she wanted to do a good job," said Williams, whose organization helped hire Nina Reiser. "She wanted to improve the health of people like her. She felt like she had a lot to offer." Williams agreed with Hora that Nina Reiser was excited about the job and that they were excited to have her. But she never made it to a Sept. 7 meeting to fill out paperwork and get fingerprinted, and she failed to show up for her first day of work Sept. 27, Williams said. Also Thursday, Oakland resident Chris Bunn testified that on Sept. 9 he reported that a 2001 Honda Odyssey minivan belonging to Nina Reiser was parked on Fernwood Drive in the Montclair district with groceries jumbled on the floor. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/14/BA1PTTLUD.DTL REISER TRIED TO BLOCK NEEDED SURGERY FOR SON, DOCTOR TESTIFIES Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, December 18, 2007 California Department of Motor Vehicles phot... Hans Reiser. California Department of Motor Vehicles phot... (12-17) 20:33 PST Oakland -- Hans Reiser threatened to sue doctors for malpractice if they performed a common ear operation on his son, who needed the procedure to be able to hear well, a surgeon testified Monday at Reiser's murder trial. The boy, who was then 5, was suffering from hearing loss and repeated ear infections when Reiser's estranged wife, Nina, brought him to see specialists in 2005, Dr. Peter Koltai said. But the surgeon said Hans Reiser insisted in two phone calls that the boy didn't need the operation and that the problems were a fabrication of his wife, whom Reiser is accused of having murdered the following year. Koltai, a children's ear, nose and throat surgeon at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University Medical Center, eventually performed the surgery despite Hans Reiser's objections and threats to sue both him and another doctor who recommended the operation. "It was bizarre - and keep in mind, I've been in this business for a very long time - I've never had a parent call and say, 'Don't operate on my child or I'll sue you,' especially with a kid that clearly needed help," Koltai said in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland. "It was so out of the ordinary. It was hard not to remember." The conversations with Reiser "almost gave me the chills," Koltai said. Reiser had "this strange, monotonal voice on the phone," Koltai said. Prosecutors believe that Reiser, 43, killed his wife during the Labor Day weekend last year. She was 31. Her body hasn't been found. The defense has raised the possibility that she is alive and hiding in her native Russia, where the couple's children now live with their maternal grandmother. In court Monday, Koltai said he had agreed with another doctor that the Reisers' son needed surgery to put tubes in his ears and to remove enlarged adenoids, which are structures near where the nose connects to the throat. The boy had a 40-decibel hearing loss, which is equivalent to plugging fingers in one's ears, Koltai said. Nina Reiser brought her son in to see Koltai, who ultimately performed the surgery in October 2005 and solved the boy's hearing problems. There's nothing unusual about the operation, said Koltai, who likened it to a tonsillectomy. The Stanford hospital does "8 to 10 adenoids a week," he said. Prosecutor Paul Hora asked Koltai why he hadn't backed down after Hans Reiser objected. "I felt that I was being manipulated and I was being threatened. I really don't like that," Koltai said, turning to look straight at the defendant. "I find that really negative, and I respond negatively to that, like (when) someone confronts you like a bully. I was right, simple as that. I was right. I was doing what was right for this child." At first, "I assumed I was talking to a rational human being, a father," Koltai said. But "Hans was not interested," said the surgeon, again fixing his gaze on the defendant. Also on the witness stand Monday was Artem Mishin, 36, who took judo classes with Reiser and figured in a pivotal episode during the police investigation of Nina Reiser's disappearance. Mishin drove Reiser from a child-custody hearing in Oakland to an Albany restaurant Sept. 18, 2006, 15 days after Reiser's estranged wife vanished. Oakland police followed the car and said Mishin made several maneuvers that indicated he knew they were there and was trying to lose them. Mishin denied that characterization, and said he and Reiser had made several turns simply because they were trying to find a place to eat. He acknowledged that Reiser had complained about police "following him without authorization" and that he had been trying to minimize his driving. With apparent discomfort, Mishin also acknowledged that he had jokingly called Reiser "Scott" when he saw him that day, a reference to convicted wife killer Scott Peterson. Reiser was arrested the following month and has been in jail since. Arthur Gomez, an inmate at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, testified that Reiser rushed up to a television set this past Feb. 13 when a news report came on about a body having been found in the Oakland hills. Reiser "seemed relieved" when the reporter said the body was that of an African American man, Gomez said. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/18/BASDU00KH.DTL REISER TRIAL FOCUSES ON FRONT SEAT OF DEFENDANT'S HONDA CRX Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, December 19, 2007 There was nothing amiss in computer programmer Hans Reiser's car and no signs of blood when he was pulled over for a traffic violation 10 days after his estranged wife disappeared, a Redwood City police sergeant testified Tuesday at Reiser's murder trial. But the front passenger seat was missing six days after that when Oakland police seized the Honda CRX, according to prosecutor Paul Hora. He showed jurors pictures of the car without the seat and brought out a similar seat that an investigator found from another CRX at a salvage yard. Hora believes Reiser may have removed the seat from his small sports car so he could take his wife's body somewhere and dispose of it. There has been no sign of Reiser's wife, Nina, since she dropped off their children at his Oakland hills home on Sept. 3, 2006. Her body has never been found. Reiser, who turns 44 Wednesday, has pleaded not guilty. Reiser appeared nervous when he was pulled over for failing to yield to a SamTrans bus as he made a U-turn on El Camino Real in Redwood City on Sept. 13, 2006, Sgt. Eric Stasiak testified in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland. But that's not unusual for someone being stopped for a traffic violation, he noted. Stasiak said he had "no idea" at the time that Nina Reiser had been missing for 10 days. On cross-examination, he said that there had been nothing unusual about the Honda, such as blood stains, that would have made him investigate further, and that the car had been full of food wrappers and clothing. "Sort of like it was lived in, almost?" defense attorney William Du Bois asked, and Stasiak agreed. Du Bois has said outside court that Reiser removed the front passenger seat because he was living in the car and wanted to make it more comfortable. Du Bois said his client threw out the seat, which hasn't been found. Hora has told jurors that police found a sleeping-bag stuff sack inside the car with stains matching the DNA of both Hans and Nina Reiser. In court Tuesday, Hora had district attorney's Inspector Bruce Brock show jurors a passenger seat taken from a 1989 Honda CRX, one year newer than the one Reiser had been driving. Also Tuesday, Oakland police crime-scene technician Bruce Christensen testified that he had processed Nina Reiser's 2001 Honda Odyssey minivan Sept. 9, 2006, the day resident Chris Bunn reported it to police after it had been sitting on Fernwood Drive near Highway 13 for several days. Among the items found in her minivan was a flip-style cell phone in the open position and with its battery detached, Christensen testified. There were also groceries and the smell of "groceries going bad," he said. On Sept. 3, store surveillance cameras photographed Nina Reiser and her son and daughter shopping at the Berkeley Bowl supermarket. Police say she then dropped off the children at her estranged husband's home on Exeter Drive in Oakland. The trial resumes Jan. 14. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/19/BA0TU0L4F.DTL COMPLEX REISER MURDER TRIAL RESUMES IN OAKLAND, STILL WITH NO BODY Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, January 14, 2008 After nearly a month off, the Hans Reiser murder trial resumes Monday with the prosecution still facing the same dilemma: how to convince the jury that the computer programmer murdered his estranged wife, Nina, even though her body hasn't been found 16 months after she went missing. Prosecutor Paul Hora has elicited testimony that Reiser, 44, was a controlling husband and martial-arts expert who may have choked his 31-year-old wife to death at his Oakland hills home in September 2006. The couple were in the middle of a bitter divorce. But the case is far from a slam dunk, defense attorney William Du Bois said. Du Bois has suggested that Nina Reiser is alive and setting up her husband by hiding in her native Russia until the end of the trial before reuniting with the couple's two children. The defense attorney also has noted that Nina Reiser was unfaithful to her husband and suggested that her family had ties to the KGB, the former Russian spy agency. So far, Hora "has proved that she's missing," Du Bois said. "I don't think he's proved that she's dead at all. Stay around for the defense case." Before that happens, Hora, who declined comment for this story, plans to call more witnesses to the stand, including Nina Reiser's mother, Irina Sharanova, as well as police officers who watched the defendant and a criminalist who is expected to testify that traces of Nina Reiser's blood were found in her husband's car and in his home on Exeter Drive. So far, the jury has heard from the couple's 8-year-old son, Nina Reiser's boyfriend, Anthony Zografos, her best friend, Ellen Doren, schoolteachers and others - all of whom have testified that she was a loving mother who wouldn't just abandon her children, who now live with their grandmother in Russia. Doren testified that the boy asked American tourists in Russia earlier this year if they had seen his mother. Witnesses have testified that Nina Reiser, a trained obstetrician in Russia, had just gotten a new job, was studying to become a licensed physician in the United States and wanted to file for bankruptcy to get a fresh start. Witnesses have painted an unflattering portrayal of Hans Reiser as an angry man convinced that his wife was a lying spendthrift and so controlling that he threatened to sue doctors if they performed a necessary ear surgery for his son. At the same time, he accused his wife of making up illnesses for their son, witnesses said. Last month, Hora showed the jury a replica of a Honda CRX car seat police said was missing from the defendant's car. The prosecution believes the defendant used the car to move his wife's body; the defense has countered that he was sleeping in the car and wanted it to be more comfortable. Du Bois said his client threw the seat away. Although the case is largely circumstantial - there is no body, no eyewitness and no murder weapon - Hora has presented pieces of a puzzle in hopes that jurors will come to only one conclusion: that Hans Reiser is the only one who could have been responsible for his wife's sudden disappearance and presumed death. By focusing on the defendant's behavior after his wife disappeared, Hora wants to show jurors that Hans Reiser's actions were those of a guilty man. But many nagging questions remain, such as when and where Nina Reiser was killed, where her body is and how it was disposed of, said Jay Gaskill, a former Alameda County public defender who has been following the case. "The problem that the prosecutor is facing is that at some stage leading up to the final argument, the D.A. will have to have a clear theory that includes stuff for which there's no real compelling evidence," Gaskill said. "A jury isn't going to be satisfied with just open-ended questions. There's got to be some discussion of how he did it and where he put the body." Du Bois has said his client will testify. That's often a risky tactic for the defense, but especially so because Hans Reiser has been pegged as a socially inept nerd and software genius with a habit of speaking in an odd monotone. But even if he doesn't testify, "there's still a chance, depending on how the argument goes and what additional evidence we haven't heard yet and how the D.A. knits it together, that there could be a hung jury," Gaskill said. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/14/BAFDUC5VR.DTL REISER DROVE LIKE HE WAS TRYING TO DODGE POLICE, OFFICER TESTIFIES Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, January 15, 2008 (01-14) 17:36 PST OAKLAND - An Oakland computer programmer charged with murdering his wife tried to elude police surveillance in the weeks after she disappeared, an officer assigned to track him testified today. Hans Reiser drove at varying speeds on Highway 13 in Oakland and got on and off Interstate 580 on Sept. 8, 2006, five days after his estranged wife, Nina, disappeared, Officer Shan Johnson testified in Alameda County Superior Court. Reiser changed lanes "without apparent purpose" and drove as if he were trying to see if he was being followed, Johnson said. There has been no sign of Nina Reiser since she dropped off their children at his Oakland hills home. Her body has never been found. Reiser, 44, has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutor Paul Hora showed jurors a surveillance video today that he said depicted Nina Reiser and her children shopping at the Berkeley Bowl supermarket the day she was last seen. The video shows only parts of them, however. At one point, there's a quick glimpse of what Hora said is Nina Reiser, wearing a sun dress and flip-flops, pushing a shopping cart out of camera view. Defense attorney William Du Bois asked Johnson how he could be so sure that it was Nina Reiser and her children on the video. Johnson responded that the store visit was corroborated by receipts and witness accounts. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/15/BAS7UF8AK.DTL NEW FOOTAGE SURFACES OF NINA REISER AND CHILDREN Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, January 15, 2008 (01-15) 17:19 PST OAKLAND - New surveillance camera footage of Nina Reiser shopping with her children on the day she disappeared surfaced today at her husband's murder trial. Oakland police obtained the footage from the Berkeley Bowl grocery store less than two weeks after Reiser disappeared Sept. 3, 2006, but a video technician who was instructed to view it had reported to officers that Reiser wasn't shown. In fact, the video shown to jurors this morning in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland clearly depicts the 31-year-old Reiser shopping with her son and daughter. The images were taken shortly before she dropped the children off with her estranged husband, Hans Reiser, at his Oakland hills home. The faces of the three are clearly visible, which is in sharp contrast to a video shown to jurors Monday that shows only glimpses of the three in fleeting images taken outside the store on Oregon Street in south Berkeley. The prosecution believes the evidence from the store shows that Nina Reiser, whose passports were found inside her home, had no plans to leave the country and never left her husband's home alive - and that it was Hans Reiser who later parked her Honda Odyssey minivan on an Oakland hills street with her rotting groceries strewn about. Before jurors were brought in this morning, Hans Reiser, 44, appeared to gaze intently at the surprise footage as prosecutor Paul Hora prepared it for viewing. The computer programmer has pleaded not guilty to charges that he murdered his wife, whose body hasn't been found, and his attorney has suggested that Nina Reiser could be hiding in her native Russia. One shot in the new footage shows Nina Reiser in a white sundress. Her daughter, then 5, and then-6-year-old son are seen walking around in the checkout aisle until Nina Reiser hoists them into her shopping cart. The footage was shown during prosecution questioning of police Officer Shan Johnson. On cross-examination, defense attorney William Du Bois didn't delve much into the new footage, but did elicit revelations from Johnson that fruit from a cherry or plum tree had been stuck on the tires of Nina Reiser's minivan when it was found abandoned on Fernwood Drive in the Oakland hills after she vanished. A leaf like that from a cherry tree was found on the floorboard of a Honda Civic used by Hans Reiser, Johnson said, citing a plant expert consulted by police. The fruit can be found growing on Fernwood and not near Hans Reiser's home on Exeter Drive higher up in the hills, Johnson testified. That may suggest that the two cars were both on Fernwood at some point, the officer said. Johnson acknowledged that the source of the leaf could not be confirmed and that no leaves had been found in Nina Reiser's minivan. Also today, Officer Eugene Guerrero testified about Hans Reiser's behavior as police followed him Sept. 18, 2006, more than two weeks after his wife vanished. Guerrero, who was among a dozen officers who followed Reiser by car and plane, testified that a friend had dropped Reiser near San Pablo and Ashby avenues in Berkeley after the two had dinner. Reiser then spent 32 minutes walking, stopping on street corners and looking around "in all directions," apparently for anyone following him, Guerrero said. Reiser then got into his Honda CRX - which police had been searching for - and parked it on Monterey Boulevard along Highway 13 in Oakland, the officer said. Four times, Reiser walked away from the car before returning and opening and closing the trunk, Guerrero said. Also today, Hora played for jurors a news clip showing Hans Reiser sprinting away from reporters Sept. 28, 2006, the day police detained him for a court-ordered DNA sample. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/15/BA4NUFMMR.DTL SEAT MISSING WHEN REISER CAR SEIZED, 2 WEEKS AFTER DISAPPEARANCE Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, January 17, 2008 (01-16) 18:21 PST Oakland - -- The front passenger seat of computer programmer Hans Reiser's car was missing when Oakland police seized it more than two weeks after his estranged wife disappeared, officers who secretly tracked him testified Wednesday. The prosecution believes Reiser killed his wife amid an acrimonious divorce and used his Honda CRX to move her body, which hasn't been found since she disappeared on Sept. 3, 2006, after dropping off their children at his home in the Oakland hills. The defense has countered that Reiser removed the seat to make the car more comfortable to sleep in. Officer Larry Robertson testified that he was surveilling Reiser on Sept. 18, 2006, when Reiser parked the Honda on Monterey Boulevard off Highway 13 in Oakland and walked away. The vehicle didn't have its front passenger seat, and it was later towed, Officer Jim Saleda said. Reiser, 44, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he murdered his wife. The defense has suggested that Nina Reiser is setting up her husband and could be hiding in her native Russia. After Reiser parked the Honda, he jogged and walked briskly up Shepherd Canyon Road in the hills before police lost sight of him, Saleda testified. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/17/BAFTUGKC4.DTL CONTENTS OF NINA REISER'S VAN DETAILED IN MURDER TRIAL TESTIMONY Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, January 18, 2008 Nina Reiser's abandoned minivan contained a rent check, rotting groceries, her cell phone with its battery detached and her purse when officers found it after she disappeared in 2006, an Oakland police criminalist testified Thursday. The purse's contents included Reiser's driver's license, credit cards and reminders for upcoming appointments, including a dental visit for her son, criminalist Todd Weller testified. To prosecutors, those items are tangible proof that Reiser had plans for the future when she vanished Sept. 3, 2006. Attorneys for her estranged husband, Hans Reiser, who is on trial for her murder, have suggested she may not be dead and could have sneaked off to her native Russia. Nina Reiser was 31 when she vanished after dropping off her son and daughter at Hans Reiser's Oakland hills home, and her body has never been found. Her Honda Odyssey minivan was located Sept. 9, 2006, on Fernwood Road near Highway 13 in the Oakland hills. It contained a $2,100 rent check and $144 in perishable groceries from the Berkeley Bowl supermarket, including yogurt, sour cream, eggs, milk and fruit, Weller testified Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland. Asked by prosecutor Paul Hora if there was an odor in the vehicle, Weller said, "It smelled like rotting food." There was a reminder from a dentist's office that her son, then 6, had an appointment Oct. 9, 2006, Weller said. Also found in the vehicle was a card from a skin-care business that read, "Your next appointment is Sept. 27, 2006." Weller said there was no blood found inside her car. "I saw no evidence of a crime," he said. Weller said he had also inspected Hans Reiser's home on Exeter Drive. In the trash, police found a copy of an e-mail Nina Reiser wrote to her estranged husband Jan. 18, 2006. "I'd like to make an argument that all our meetings and outings remain confidential and are solely for the purpose of establishing civilized relationships between kids and us and cannot be used for any legal purposes. See you soon and have a good day. Nina," the e-mail read. A bloodstain was found on a post in the entryway of Hans Reiser's home, Weller testified. He said he could not tell how old the stain was. Hora has previously told jurors that the stain contained blood belonging to both Hans and Nina Reiser. Two shovels and a pick that appeared to be brand-new or unused, along with a bloodstain on a light switch, were found in the basement of Hans Reiser's home, Weller said. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/18/BAA4UH7HC.DTL MISSING WOMAN'S BLOOD IN HUSBAND'S CAR, HOME Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, January 23, 2008 (01-22) 17:54 PST OAKLAND -- Traces of blood matching that of an Oakland woman presumed dead were found in her estranged husband's car and home, a police criminalist testified Tuesday in Hans Reiser's murder trial. A bloodstain on a sleeping bag sack found in Reiser's Honda CRX matches the DNA profile of his missing wife, Nina Reiser, Oakland police criminalist Shannon Cavness testified in Alameda County Superior Court. Bloodstains found on a pillar in the living room of the computer programmer's home on Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills contain DNA belonging to him and his wife, Cavness said. Hans Reiser, 44, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife, who has not been seen since Sept. 3, 2006, when she dropped off their son and daughter at his home. Police have not found Nina Reiser's body. Defense attorney William Du Bois has suggested that she is alive and hiding in her native Russia. Police obtained Nina Reiser's DNA from items in her home on 49th Street in Oakland's Temescal neighborhood, Cavness said. The testing linked Nina Reiser's DNA profile with such certainty that only 1 in 45 trillion women would also match, Cavness said under questioning by prosecutor Paul Hora. The Honda CRX that Hans Reiser had been driving was missing its front passenger seat when police seized it Sept. 19, 2006, Cavness said. After technicians removed the carpet from the front seat area, they found that the floorboard had been saturated with water, she said. Inside the car, police found a 40-piece socket set, Cavness said. The tools appeared to have been used to remove four bolts that held the passenger seat to the floor, she said. Prosecutors believe Reiser used the car to move his wife's body; the defense has said he removed the seat to make the car more comfortable for sleeping. Also inside the car were trash bags, absorbent towels, a siphon pump and two books: "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets," by David Simon, about the Baltimore police homicide squad, and "Masterpieces of Murder," by Jonathan Goodman, about notorious murder cases, Cavness said. Authorities believe Hans Reiser bought the books at a Berkeley bookstore Sept. 8, 2006. Police reached that conclusion on the basis of surveillance camera footage. Cavness testified that police had also found a traffic citation in the glove compartment of Reiser's car. When he was ticketed by Redwood City police Sept. 13, 2006, the passenger seat appeared to have been in the car, police have said. "No blood was detected on the exterior of this vehicle," Cavness said. There was, however, white powder on the frame of the passenger side door, Cavness said. Jurors have previously heard testimony by Oakland police criminalist Todd Weller that a white powdery substance was found near the foot of a door leading into Reiser's home. Police searching the car also found a U-Haul printout dated Sept. 17, 2006, detailing a possible trip from Manteca to Oakland on that day, and a receipt for a Motel 6 in Fremont showing an arrival date of Sept. 10, 2006, and a departure date for the next day, Cavness said. There was also a newspaper article about the Reiser case dated Sept. 14, 2006, headlined, "Police search home of missing woman's spouse," she said. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/23/BAQNUJNGP.DTL POLICE SCIENTIST ADMITS ERROR IN REISER CASE Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, January 24, 2008 (01-23) 16:07 PST OAKLAND -- An Oakland police criminalist acknowledged at Hans Reiser's murder trial Wednesday that she had made a mistake while collecting a sample of blood found on a pillar in the computer programmer's home. Under questioning by defense attorney Richard Tamor, Shannon Cavness conceded that she should have taken at least two samples - and as many as five - from the pillar in Reiser's home. Instead, she took just one sample from what turned out to be two separate stains. Cavness testified Tuesday that blood on the pillar matched the DNA profiles of both Reiser and his estranged wife, Nina, who is presumed dead even though her body hasn't been found. The 44-year-old defendant has pleaded not guilty to charges that he killed her in September 2006 after she dropped off their children at his Oakland hills home. "If you had to do it over, you would have swabbed it two different times, right?" Tamor asked Wednesday about the bloodstain on the pillar. "At least two distinct areas, yes," Cavness said. "And isn't it generally accepted in the forensic community that what you do is you swab them separately when you see two distinct bloodstains like that?" Tamor said. Cavness agreed and admitted that she had taken only one sample because she believed the blood came from a single source. That assumption was a "mistake on my part," Cavness said. She also acknowledged that DNA testing can't confirm when bloodstains were deposited and agreed that Nina Reiser's DNA could have been left on the pillar at a different time from when Hans Reiser's DNA was left there. Tamor also suggested in his cross-examination that Nina Reiser's DNA could have ended up on a bloodstained sleeping bag sack found in her husband's car because she drooled on it. But Cavness said the most reasonable explanation was that the DNA came from blood, unless someone happened to drool on the precise location of the bloodstain. Tamor implied in his questioning of Cavness that Hans Reiser had been sleeping in his car. Prosecutor Paul Hora, who believes Reiser removed the seat of his Honda CRX to transport his wife's body somewhere, objected on the grounds of speculation. But Cavness agreed with Tamor that food, toiletry items, a sleeping bag and books had been found in the car. Earlier Wednesday, Cavness testified under questioning by Hora that water can be used to wash away blood. Cavness has told jurors that the floorboard of the passenger area in Reiser's car was wet. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/24/BA3PUKDH7.DTL BANKING ACTIVITY TELLS A TALE IN MURDER CASE Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, January 29, 2008 (01-28) 13:10 PST OAKLAND -- Nina Reiser, the Oakland woman who is presumed dead but whose body has never been found, hasn't made any bank transactions since she disappeared in September 2006, a bank auditor testified Monday at the murder trial for Reiser's estranged husband. However, there was unusual activity on husband Hans Reiser's account around that time, the auditor said. Nina Reiser had an average of 35 transactions each month with Patelco Credit Union until September 2006, said Erin Morasch, an internal auditor and security manager with the credit union. She last used her debit card at the Berkeley Bowl grocery store Sept. 3, 2006, Morasch said, the day she vanished after dropping off her children at Hans Reiser's Oakland hills home. Her last Patelco check was dated Aug. 28, 2006, and was made out to Adventure Time, her children's after-school program at Joaquin Miller Elementary School, the auditor said. The account is now "dormant" and has a balance of about $4,500, Morasch said. In the days and weeks before she disappeared, Nina Reiser registered her car with the state Department of Motor Vehicles, paid for her utilities and her next month's rent, Morasch said. Hans Reiser's Patelco account, meanwhile, showed a dramatic increase in cash withdrawals after his wife disappeared, including one for $5,000 on Sept. 21, Morasch testified. In other testimony Monday, an Oakland police officer said Nina Reiser had a Chase Bank credit-card account co-signed by a man whom the investigator could not identify. The account was co-signed by a Herman Layrentiev, Officer Michael Weisenberg said under cross-examination, but a search of Department of Motor Vehicles records and a national criminal records database turned up no information on anybody by that name. But in an interview, prosecutor Paul Hora said that the last name of the man in question is actually spelled Lavrentiev, and that the man is Nina Reiser's stepfather and is known to other police investigators. Lavrentiev is Hans Reiser's father-in-law and lives with his wife, Irina Sharanova, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Hora said. Hans Reiser, 44, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he murdered his wife. His attorney, William Du Bois, has suggested that Nina Reiser is alive and hiding in her native Russia - where her children are now living with Lavrentiev and Sharanova - and that the missing woman's family had ties to the former KGB. In other testimony, Oakland Police Officer Omega Crum testified that he had placed a GPS device on a car rented by Hans Reiser on Sept. 18, 2006. When police went to retrieve the device less than a month later, someone had removed the battery, Crum said. Also Monday, Du Bois filed a motion seeking a mistrial in the case on the grounds that Judge Larry Goodman made "inaccurate, intemperate, unfair remarks" while chastising the defense attorney in front of jurors Dec. 12. Goodman threatened to find Du Bois in contempt that day after the lawyer repeatedly tried to refer to evidence that the judge said wasn't before the jury - namely, suggestions that the Reisers' son had seen his mother drive away from Hans Reiser's home the day she was last seen. Goodman has not yet heard the motion. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/29/BA52UNKP0.DTL REISER TRIAL FOCUSES ON HIS BANKING ODYSSEY Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, January 30, 2008 (01-29) 13:29 PST OAKLAND -- In the weeks after he allegedly killed his estranged wife, Hans Reiser withdrew $5,000 from his credit union account, drove to three East Bay branches on the same day to get another $5,000 and took out money from an ATM in Truckee, an auditor testified Tuesday in the computer programmer's murder trial. On Sept. 23, 2006, 20 days after his wife disappeared, Hans Reiser drove "from branch to branch to branch" to withdraw funds from his Patelco Credit Union account, which "looked unusual in my eyes," said Erin Morasch, an internal auditor and security manager with the credit union. Morasch's testimony came on a day when Reiser frustrated both his attorney and the judge, who chastised him outside the jury's presence in Alameda County Superior Court and said he could fire his lawyer if he didn't like how the trial was proceeding. Morasch testified that Reiser made three withdrawals of $1,000 each from Patelco branches in San Leandro, Hayward and Fremont in an hour and then withdrew an additional $2,000 from an ATM at the Fremont branch. Reiser had withdrawn $5,000 three days earlier, the auditor said. Reiser had obtained large sums of money before, but "not in this time frame," Morasch said. "It's uncommon for members to drive from branch to branch to branch to withdraw cash," he said. "I mean, usually you don't want to inconvenience yourself. You just take it out when you need it. My experience as a fraud investigator is it looks like a fraud pattern." On Sept. 24, 2006, Reiser made three withdrawals of about $500 each from a U.S. Bank ATM in Truckee, Morasch said. The auditor testified Monday that Reiser's wife, Nina, had received a wire transfer of $8,000 from a Latvian bank in the months before she disappeared. On Tuesday, defense attorney William Du Bois asked Morasch why the mother of two, a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, would be receiving funds from a Latvian bank. Morasch said he didn't know. Hans Reiser, 44, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he murdered his wife, who was 31 when she disappeared Sept. 3, 2006, after dropping off their children at his Oakland hills home. Her body hasn't been found, and the defense has suggested that she is hiding in Russia, where her children now live with their maternal grandmother. Judge Larry Goodman's admonishment of Hans Reiser came after jurors had been dismissed for the day. Reiser wagged his finger at Goodman and said he disagreed with the judge's assertions in open court that the issue of who had custody of the Reisers' young son and daughter was still on appeal. "Mr. Reiser, you point your finger at me again and use that tone with me, you're going to have a serious problem," Goodman said. Reiser also raised concerns about his representation by Du Bois, prompting the judge to tell him he could simply fire the attorney and hire a new one or represent himself. "Change your lawyers now, nothing's going to stop. I told you that," Goodman said. By day's end, Du Bois said it appeared that he and co-counsel Richard Tamor were still on the case. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/30/BAR6UO9VI.DTL REISER'S LAWYER BLASTS POLICE, SOCIAL WORKERS Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, January 31, 2008 Oakland police and Alameda County social workers are to blame for making Hans Reiser look guilty after his estranged wife disappeared, his attorney said Wednesday at the computer programmer's murder trial. Defense attorney William Du Bois said police and social workers were biased against his client and had worked together to persuade a judge not to give Reiser custody of his young son and daughter after their mother, Nina Reiser, disappeared in September 2006. Police used the county's Child Protective Services agency "as a vehicle to drive my client into a condition where they can describe his conduct as unusual and consistent with consciousness of guilt, when as a matter of fact his mental state was created in large part by the Oakland Police Department," Du Bois told Judge Larry Goodman of Alameda County Superior Court. Police have said Reiser acted suspiciously in the weeks after his wife disappeared. Reiser appeared evasive while being tailed by police - driving or walking in seemingly arbitrary patterns - bought two books about murder and removed the passenger seat of a Honda CRX he had been using, police said. Du Bois made his comments as he cross-examined social services worker Seng Fong, who testified Tuesday that Hans Reiser fought for custody of his children even after he was arrested in October 2006 on suspicion of murdering his wife, whose body hasn't been found. Reiser, 44, has pleaded not guilty. Du Bois asked Fong on Wednesday if Oakland police had influenced the social services agency to file a petition that led to the child-custody hearings. Fong said police "were concerned about the children's safety" and had referred the case to social services. But she denied that her agency had filed the petition simply because Oakland police urged it to do so. Fong said social services officials had no problems with Nina Reiser's mother, Irina Sharanova, taking the children to Russia for a vacation from Dec. 23, 2006, to Jan. 14, 2007. Although the Reisers' son, now 8, testified at his father's preliminary hearing before he left the country, he did not return to the United States as ordered by a judge. The boy did eventually come back to testify in the trial. He and his sister now live with Sharanova in St. Petersburg, Russia. Du Bois, who has suggested that Nina Reiser is alive and hiding in her native Russia, asked Fong, "Did it occur to your agency that they were about to move the children from the jurisdiction of the very court that was about to decide whether the maternal or paternal grandmother could get custody?" Fong replied, "I'm sure that they're aware of the fact that they're going to Russia, and that's a different country. I'm sure that was taken into consideration." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/31/BACNUOTQP.DTL COP SAYS HE FOUND $8,960, PASSPORT ON REISER Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, February 1, 2008 (01-31) 17:25 PST Oakland -- Hans Reiser was carrying $8,960 in cash and his passport in his fanny pack when Oakland police detained him for a DNA sample more than three weeks after his estranged wife disappeared, an officer testified Thursday in the computer programmer's murder trial. Reiser also had his battery detached from his cell phone when officers stopped him on 22nd Street in downtown Oakland on Sept. 28, 2006, Officer Jesse Grant testified in Alameda County Superior Court. Prosecutors have said the location of someone's cell phone can be tracked if the phone is on. In the days before they detained Reiser for the court-ordered DNA sample, police said, Reiser appeared evasive while being tailed by undercover officers, driving or walking in seemingly arbitrary patterns. He was arrested on suspicion of murdering his wife, Nina, on Oct. 10, 2006, 12 days after police obtained his DNA sample, photographed him and searched his fanny pack. Police took pictures of Reiser both clothed and unclothed to see if he had suffered any injuries, Grant said as jurors were shown the photographs on a screen. But the only marks of note were red patches on his chest and back that could have been anything from a "small scratch to a pimple," Grant said while being questioned by prosecutor Paul Hora. Under cross-examination by defense attorney William Du Bois, Grant confirmed that police found no signs that Reiser had been involved in a struggle. But Reiser expressed displeasure with the detention and at one point told Grant, "You're about to experience chaos," before passing gas as the officer bent down to take pictures, Grant said. Reiser, 44, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he murdered his wife after she dropped off their children at his Oakland hills home Sept. 3, 2006. Her body hasn't been found. She was 31 when she disappeared during a divorce battle with her husband. Grant testified Thursday that Nina Reiser's cell phone also had its battery detached when police found it Sept. 9, 2006, in her abandoned Honda Odyssey minivan parked on a street in Oakland's Montclair district. Du Bois noted that he carries a spare battery with him, apparently rejecting suggestions by Hora that Hans Reiser had been trying to avoid detection - and preventing police from finding Nina Reiser's car after he had parked it on the street. Du Bois asked Grant if the officer carried a spare battery. Grant grinned and said, "Mr. Du Bois, you're much more prepared than I am." Oakland police Officer Gerardo Melero, who detained Reiser on 22nd Street, testified Thursday that police had searched Reiser's fanny pack for weapons but hadn't found any. But officers did believe that the large amount of cash and passport were possible signs that he was leaving the country. "He was trying to leave the country via 22nd Street?" Du Bois asked. Perhaps eventually, if he kept on walking, Melero replied, drawing laughter from the jury. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/01/BA40UPPGV.DTL NINA REISER ACCEPTED S.F. JOB OFFER Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, February 7, 2008 (02-06) 12:48 PST OAKLAND -- Two days before she disappeared, Nina Reiser accepted a $50,000-a-year job with the San Francisco Department of Public Health to help Russian immigrants, the woman who hired her testified Wednesday. Prosecutors hope Patricia Erwin's testimony will help persuade the jury in the murder trial of Reiser's estranged husband, Hans Reiser, that the missing woman didn't vanish voluntarily - a theory the defense has advanced. Nina Reiser eagerly discussed the job, to help fellow Russian immigrants with their health concerns, during two interviews in August 2006 and accepted it Sept. 1, 2006, said Erwin, a project manager for the Public Health Department. Reiser was last seen two days after that, and never showed up for work at the San Francisco agency. "She was very outgoing, friendly," Erwin said in Alameda County Superior Court. "She was easy to connect with. She seemed down-to-earth, and she also seemed very committed to working with us." Echoing an opinion voiced by other witnesses at the trial, Erwin said the mother of two, then 31 years old, didn't seem to be the kind of person who would abandon her children. "My impression was they were a major part of her life," she said. Prosecutors say Hans Reiser killed his wife after she dropped off their children at his Oakland hills home Sept. 3, 2006. Her body hasn't been found. The 44-year-old defendant has pleaded not guilty, and his attorneys have suggested that Nina Reiser is alive and hiding in Russia. Also Wednesday, Richard Wilson of the TransUnion credit bureau testified that Hans Reiser was $90,000 in debt as of late last month. The figure includes $29,000 in unpaid child support, he said. Nina Reiser was about $30,000 in debt, Wilson said. Other witnesses have testified that Hans Reiser complained that his wife was a financial burden to him. In other testimony, Michael Caniglia, an employee of AT&T Mobility, said Hans Reiser's cell phone was dormant between Sept. 1 and Sept. 5, 2006, when his voice mail was checked at 5:02 p.m. At 5:04 p.m. that day, an eight-second call was made on his cell phone to Nina Reiser's cell phone, the phone records showed. Caniglia said Hans Reiser's cell phone received several incoming phone calls in the days after his wife disappeared. But the phone was either out of range, turned off or had its battery removed, he said. Caniglia testified that the location of cell phones can be determined if they are on - even when no calls are being made - but not if they are turned off or the batteries are removed. Prosecutor Paul Hora has told jurors that Hans Reiser's cell phone's battery was detached when police detained him several weeks after his wife disappeared and that her cell phone's battery was detached when police found the phone in her abandoned car. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/07/BAOFUTA27.DTL NINA REISER'S LAST CALLS WERE TO HER HUSBAND Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, February 8, 2008 Nina Reiser placed two calls to her estranged husband just before she was last seen in 2006, then never used her cell phone again, according to testimony Thursday at the computer programmer's murder trial. Prosecutor Paul Hora, who is seeking to convince a jury in Alameda County Superior Court that Nina Reiser is dead, called technicians from two cell phone service providers to the stand. The idea was to bolster Hora's argument that the missing woman was killed by her husband when she dropped off their children at his home in September 2006. Reiser's body has never been found, and attorneys for the husband, 44-year-old Hans Reiser, have suggested that she may not be dead and instead could be in hiding in her native Russia, waiting for him to be convicted of murder. A Verizon Wireless employee, Jody Citizen, testified Thursday that Nina Reiser called her husband's Oakland hills home twice on Sept. 3, 2006. The first call was made at 1:40 p.m. and lasted 62 seconds, and the second call was placed at 2:04 p.m. and lasted 22 seconds, Citizen said. Nina Reiser was shopping with her young son and daughter at the Berkeley Bowl supermarket at the time of the second call, and was preparing to drop off the children at Hans Reiser's home afterward, according to previous testimony. No calls were made from her cell phone after that day, Citizen said, and Nina Reiser has not been seen since. Many people who were worried about her after she disappeared called her cell phone, and those calls went straight to her voice mail, Citizen said. The cell phone was later found in Nina Reiser's abandoned minivan with its battery detached. Hans Reiser placed an eight-second call to the cell phone Sept. 5, 2006, two days after his wife disappeared, said Michael Caniglia, an AT&T Mobility employee. The prosecution believes Hans Reiser called the phone to make sure it was off; the defense says he simply wanted to know where she was. Another prosecution witness, however, said Reiser didn't participate in a daylong search for his wife in the Oakland hills on Sept. 23, 2006. Hans Reiser was arrested on suspicion of murder the following month. The defendant's mother, Beverly Palmer, has testified that she and her son didn't join the search because they felt unwelcome and were both susceptible to poison oak. More searches were conducted in 2006 and 2007, but no sign of Nina Reiser was found. If she were killed and her body dumped in the hills, however, even thorough searches might not locate her, said Frank Moschetti, an Alameda County district attorney's inspector who participates in search-and-rescue efforts. Much of the terrain is steep and the brush is dense, he testified. "That is the proverbial needle in a haystack, and Nina Reiser was the needle," Moschetti said. On cross-examination, defense attorney William Du Bois asked Moschetti if it was possible that the searches failed to turn up Nina Reiser because police operated on the wrong premise. "If she wasn't killed at all, and just left the area, you wouldn't find her?" Du Bois asked, and Moschetti agreed. The Reisers' divorce proceedings had been long and bitter, and Du Bois has painted a picture of Nina Reiser as a woman who conducted online searches for male companionship and had a succession of boyfriends, including Sean Sturgeon, during their marriage. Attorneys on both sides have said Nina Reiser had an extramarital affair with Sturgeon before she and her husband separated. Sturgeon's name was listed on Nina Reiser's cell phone account as an authorized user, Citizen said under cross-examination Thursday. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/08/BASIUUNE1.DTL NINA REISER'S LAST TWO CELL PHONE CALLS WENT TO ESTRANGED HUSBAND Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, February 8, 2008 (02-08) 04:00 PST OAKLAND -- The last two calls Nina Reiser made on her cell phone were to her estranged husband on the day she disappeared, according to testimony today at his murder trial. Nina Reiser called Hans Reiser's Oakland hills home twice Sept. 3, 2006, according to phone records reviewed today in Alameda County Superior Court by Verizon Wireless employee Jody Citizen. The first call was made at 1:40 p.m. and lasted 62 seconds, and the second call was placed at 2:04 p.m. and lasted 22 seconds, Citizen said. Nina Reiser was shopping with her young son and daughter at the Berkeley Bowl supermarket at the time of the second call, and was preparing to drop off the children at Hans Reiser's home afterward, according to previous testimony. No calls were made from her cell phone after that day, Citizen said. But many people who were worried about her after she disappeared called her cell phone, and those calls went straight to her voice mail, Citizen said. Hans Reiser, 44, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering his wife, who was 31 when she disappeared. Her body hasn't been found. The defense has suggested that Nina Reiser is alive and hiding in her native Russia, hoping to frame her husband for murder. Defense attorney William Du Bois has also painted a portrait of Nina Reiser as a woman who conducted online searches for male companionship and had a succession of boyfriends, including Sean Sturgeon. Attorneys on both sides have said Nina Reiser had an extramarital affair with Sturgeon, and the defense has said Sturgeon practiced sadomasochism. Sturgeon's name was listed on Nina Reiser's cell phone account as an authorized user, Citizen said under cross-examination today. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/08/BAH1UU562.DTL |