Posted on 02/25/2008 8:08:59 AM PST by ShadowAce
OAKLAND, Calif. -- When Nina Reiser disappeared in September 2006, investigators suspecting foul play looked long and hard at her estranged husband, the computer genius Hans. Eccentric, awkward and notoriously difficult as a human being, Hans Reiser proved quite accommodating when it came to providing clues.
After taking no part in the massive public effort to search for the mother of his two children, he listed the reasons he was happy that Nina was gone in a phone call monitored by police. He discreetly purchased copies of "Masterpieces of Murder" and "Homicide" from a local bookstore. Police discovered his passport in his fanny pack along with $8,000 in cash and a cellphone that could not be tracked electronically because its battery was removed, just like the phone found inside Nina's minivan, which was found abandoned on a side street smelling of rotting groceries; she had been to the store before dropping the kids at Hans's house.
Police also found soaked floorboards in his car and an empty space where the passenger seat should have been.
In the courtroom where Hans Reiser is on trial for murder, all this might appear to indicate guilty knowledge. But his attorneys cast it as evidence of an innocence peculiar to Hans, a computer programmer so immersed in the folds of his own intellect that he had no idea how complicit he was making himself appear.
"Being too intelligent can be a sort of curse," defense counsel William Du Bois said. "All this weird conduct can be explained by him, but he's the only one who can do it. People who are commonly known as computer geeks are so into the field."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I've always felt that way. ;^)
I tried the geek defense many times. It doesn’t work.
Now I’m trying: “Yes, I did it, but it wasn’t my fault.”
It’s a stupid statement, implying that Hans is more of a savant than truly intelligent.
This trial is a complete joke. Hans Reiser needs to just STFU because he’s acting like a nutjob in court. If he could just act like a normal human being then he could win the case. The prosecution has no real evidence on him AND Nina’s boyfriend Sean Sturgeon is an eight-time confessed serial killer.
Shut your mouth Hans.
For yourself or your clients? (Smile) Given your pen-name, I guess the latter.
I'll keep your advice in mind next time I plan something antisocial.
Geek = wears pocket protector with tux at wedding.
Complete freak = has a crossdresser into bondage serving as maid of honor
This trial is a complete joke. Hans Reiser needs to just STFU because he’s acting like a nutjob in court. If he could just act like a normal human being then he could win the case. The prosecution has no real evidence on him AND Nina’s boyfriend Sean Sturgeon is an eight-time confessed serial killer.I'd rather see ol' murdering Hans incriminate himself and fry. But that's just me.Shut your mouth Hans.
Here’s a thought... Maybe he actually did it.
Ecce Homo
Oh, myself. My clients used to be politicians and for them the Bart Simpson defense was de rigueur...
He should shut up, but he’s RIGHT about the cell phone battery....
Among other things.
And I figured out the other in taking a type of a water bed apart.... (the kind that had the long tubes of water) that if I ever had to kill someone and hide their body, it’s all over, because I sure as hell am not going to move someone’s dead weight from the house, the trunk of a car and dump a body someplace.
Good God, I’m a strong guy, but dragging 180-230 lbs of DEAD WEIGHT is atrocious!
“Police also found soaked floorboards in his car”
Soaked? With what? Water? Wine? Beer? Coca-Cola? Blood? Urine? Aqua-Velva?
Well maybe this is evidence of murder and maybe this is evidence that he's certain she ran away and isn't coming back. But spare us the BS of how "normal" this is.
I was about to post that same question, almost verbatim!
"His undergraduate thesis is on how if you change the perspective, the reality is different," said Ramon Reiser, the defendant's mathematician father, folding a pair of pants in the courtroom hallway as he waited to testify.
I can think of better places to do my laundry.
He is a savant, from his courtroom behaviour he’s pretty obviously socially retarded.
Even if he completely alienates the jury to the point where they convict him, I’d think the judge would have to vacate the conviction. Without a confession from Hans there has to be reasonable doubt given the weak evidence.
I’m really surprised that they even brought him to trial with what they have so far. They’ve only got one shot, and they blew it. They should have watched him and waited for him to make a mistake, or waited for the body to turn up.
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