Hans and Nina Reiser
Several people have asked me my opinion about Hans Reiser in the last few days. Apparently, 20/20 has returned to their normal scheduled time, and I didn’t realize it so I missed the show sadly. Furthermore, I had not seen this story in the news.
A reader pointed me to 20/20 where there is video of Hans Reiser talking about his missing wife. When I watched it, I was immediately troubled by Hans’ demeanor. It didn’t sit right with me.
When Jim Availa says to Reiser that his father and others say that Nina ran away and is alive and well, I don’t like the way Reiser says, “Well, this is very reasonable.”
Read moreHis voice is weak, and he shows fear and doubt in his expressions. If you believe something fervently, I would not expect to see this. Clearly, Reiser doesn’t believe with any certainty what he is saying here. This is a notable red flag for me.
I also saw in the 20/20 transcript text the following:
Asked if he thinks that Nina is alive today, Reiser said, “I think I’m a person who doesn’t know.”
Who talks like this? What is up with this guy? And he is a genius? One plus one isn’t equaling two here. This is another red flag — perhaps thinking-on-his feet behavior?
I also searched and found another video of Reiser here from an ABC news affiliate in California. In this video, Reiser talks about being a good father, a traditional father. When he does, he shows normal emotions and inflections when he talks. Yet when he talks about his wife later (time marker 1:00), Reiser is completely lacking emotions and voice inflection here. He is a blank slate when he says things that should provoke serious emotions for him. Yet strangely there is none. This is not normal.
I also wanted to see if I could find video of Reiser prior to the disappearance of his wife and I lucked out. I found a video of him here on YouTube talking about his Reiser4 Filesystem back in February of 2006. This video shows you what Reiser looks like when he is not under pressure. You see the real man. You see his baseline personality by which to compare his behaviors. In this video, while it is notable that Reiser is softer-spoken, we can see that he does show normal emotions, facial expressions and behaviors.
Why have they now changed?
If anything, I would expect his emotions to be more pronounced if he is wrongly accused of killing his wife — most specifically when he talks about her. I would expect him to say a lot more than he did. Stress evokes strong reactions. Instead, I see the exact opposite. I see a withdrawal and a lack of emotions which is another huge red flag for me.
Do I trust Hans Reiser? No, I do not.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Updates added July 8, 2008:
Hans Reiser was tried and convicted by a jury in the Spring of 2008. On July 7, 2008, Hans Reiser led police to Nina’s body in exchange for a lesser sentence just two days before his sentencing hearing. To read more, click on the labels below to see all of my posts on Hans Reiser.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
