A judge on Friday accepted a plea deal that reduced the murder charge for a software programmer who led authorities to his wife's body after his initial conviction.
Hans Reiser, 44, was found guilty in April of first-degree murder, even though the body of his estranged wife, Nina, had not been found. He maintained his innocence during the trial, and defense attorneys suggested that Nina Reiser, 31, could have run away to her native Russia.
But Reiser led authorities to his wife's body after his conviction in exchange for the possibility of a lighter sentence.
After Alameda County Judge Larry Goodman agreed Friday to reduce the charge to second-degree murder, Reiser apologized to his children and the public.
I'm very sorry for terrible harm I've caused my children, Reiser said. I wish to humbly apologize to society for my crime. I know human life is sacred, and I took the life of a human being.
The reduced charge still carries a potential life sentence, but Reiser will now be eligible for parole after 15 years, compared to 25 years for first-degree murder.
As part of the plea deal, Reiser described how he killed his wife in September 2006.
In a statement submitted to court, Reiser said he punched her in the face and then strangled her while their children played downstairs at his mother's Oakland home. He then put her body in a duffel bag and buried it in a hole he had dug in the Oakland hills, according to prosecutors and his defense attorney.
In court Friday, Reiser said he had started a trust fund for his two children, who now live with their grandmother in Russia.
