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Jul 10, 2008 12:07 am US/Pacific
Killer Reiser In Jailhouse Interview: Sorry I Lied
DUBLIN (CBS 5) ―
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Hans Reiser during a jailhouse interview in Dublin Tuesday.
CBS
The Oakland computer software programmer who agreed to lead authorities to the body of his slain wife in exchange for a reduced sentence is now speaking publicly for the first time since his murder trial.
In an exclusive interview with the CBS News program 48 Hours at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, 44-year-old Hans Reiser said he was sorry he lied on the witness stand during his trial when he maintained he had nothing to do with 31-year old Nina Reiser's death. He and his defense team had also suggested at the time that Nina was alive and well and fled to her native Russia.
Reiser said in the interview that he did everything to protect his two children, Rory and Nio, now living in Russia with their grandmother.
"I did what I could to keep them safe." Reiser said, contending as he had during his trial that his estranged wife had abused the pair. "Everything I did was for my children."
Reiser was originally due to be sentenced Wednesday, but Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman postponed the sentencing to Aug. 13 given this week's developments.
Goodman also revealed in court Wednesday that Reiser had
turned down a pretrial plea bargain for manslaughter that would have resulted in him only serving three years in prison and being released next May, if he led authorities to her body and told what happened. Reiser decided instead to go to trial.
Reiser was convicted of first-degree murder in April, but prosecutors said they would accept a guilty plea to a lesser charge of second-degree murder if he pointed them to Nina's body, making him eligible for parole sooner.
Nina Reiser's body, unearthed by police after Hans Reiser guided them to a ravine about a mile from his house in the Oakland Hills where she was last seen, was identified using dental records.
Reiser's attorney offered elaborate stories about the slain woman's whereabouts during his trial, but the jury delivered a guilty verdict without the body. Now the family will be able to have a proper burial, prosecutors said, even as one of the jurors who convicted Reiser, Vince Dunn, criticized the plea deal to CBS 5.
It gives Reiser a minimum of 15 years to life instead of 25 to life. As part of that deal, he has agreed not to appeal. Judge Goodman must ultimately decide whether to accept Reiser's plea and grant the lighter sentence, but prosecutors said they were confident that the deal would be approved.
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