Breaking News Alerts

OAKLAND (CBS 5 / KCBS / AP / BCN) ― A prominent Oakland computer software programmer convicted of killing his estranged wife even though her body had not been found led authorities to her corpse on Monday evening, lawyers and police said.

The abrupt about-face came after Hans Reiser had repeatedly and publicly denied having anything to do with Nina Reiser's disappearance, even after he was convicted of her murder.

An attorney for Reiser confirmed his client led police to a wooded area along the 8200 block of Skyline Blvd. in the Redwood Regional Park in the Oakland Hills, where the woman was buried.

"Hans Reiser, today, lead authorities, including the District Attorney's office of Alameda County, backed up by numerous members of the Oakland Police Department, the crime lab, and ultimately the coroners office, to the location of Nina Reiser's body," said Reiser's attorney William Dubois.

DuBois indicated he was handcuffed to Reiser as they made their way to Nina's burial site.
 
"It was difficult to reach the body," Dubois continued. "There were steep hills involved. It wasn't as bad going down it turned out, but we had to use ropes to get back up. It was an arduous process, and a difficult emotional trip for Hans Reiser. Very difficult."

Oakland police confirmed the body had been found but would not disclose details of the search.

"The remains, which have not yet been positively identified, were found buried off a hiking trail," according to a police statement.

The body was found in a grave about four feet by four feet, said Richard Tamor, another of Reiser's lawyers. Reiser did not have difficulty locating the spot, the attorney said: "He went right to it."

Tamor described Reiser's demeanor as "pensive, as anybody would be."
 
The ravine where the body was recovered was less than a mile from the house that Reiser shared with his mother. It is an area that had been extensively searched by police with cadaver dogs in the weeks after Nina's disappearance.

It was an "extremely clever location," said CBS News producer Paul LaRosa, who noted that police at the scene told him they would never have found the body if Reiser did not take them there.

Helicopters buzzed overhead at the scene Monday evening and a small knot of people from the neighborhood stood looking on. Longtime resident Michael Arboleda said the discovery was "shocking, to say the least."

Neighbors said they were disturbed by the thought that a body had lain in the hills all these months. "I take my children walking down this path here almost every day," Arboleda said. 

Coroner's investigators worked into the night at the grave site, which was not visible from the road.

CBS News has learned that the 44-year old Reiser had offered to show prosecutors where Nina's body was hidden in exchange for a reduced prison sentence. Defense lawyers declined to comment on the deal and lead prosecutor Paul Hora could not immediately be reached.

Reiser's sentencing before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman was scheduled for Wednesday, but it has now been postponed.

Reiser was convicted on April 28 of first-degree murder by an Alameda County jury. Nina, then 31 years old, disappeared on Sept. 3, 2006 after dropping the couple's two children off for a visit at Hans' home. The Reisers were going through a contentious divorce and bitter custody dispute at the time.

The guilty verdict came at the end of two-and-a-half days of deliberations and a trial that lasted nearly six months. It also came despite the fact that the prosecution — which presented strong circumstancial evidence including traces of Nina's blood found in his home and car —  had no body, no murder weapon, no definite timeframe and no cause of death.

Reiser, known in programming circles for his ReiserFS file system company, testified for 10 days during his trial during which he was scolded by the judge for giving often-rambling answers and for arguing with the prosecutor. Hora said he believed Reiser's behavior on the witness stand alienated jurors in the case.
 
Reiser's first-degree murder charge carries a mandatory sentence of 25-years to life in prison, but the deal with prosecutors could reduce his conviction to second-degree murder and a sentence of 15-years to life.

"To be making plea bargains at the sentencing phase, instead of the trial phase is very rare. I'll tell you that in all my years as a prosecutor, this is the kind of thing that almost never happens. But for murder victims not to know what happened to their loved ones is one of the most haunting things that can happen," said legal analyst Jim Hammer, a former assistant District Attorney for San Francisco.

Throughout his trial Reiser denied murdering his wife and DuBois had suggested that she could still be alive and hiding in her native Russia, which is where the couple met before marrying in 1999.

John Fuery, who first represented Reiser in his divorce case which with Nina which began in 2004, said he thought that Reiser made "a mistake" by taking police to the spot where he apparently buried her.

Fuery said leading authorities to the location of a murder victim's body "proves your guilt and is hard to undo" in the future when a convicted murderer goes before a parole board to ask to be released from state prison.

As a result, he believed even with a reduced sentence that Reiser would have a hard time ever being released from prison. "It will still be difficult to get out and he must prove that he's been rehabilitated," Fuery said.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)