The oldest child of Hans and Nina Reiser testified in the murder trial Tuesday he wrote repeated letters to his father asking where his mother was after she mysteriously vanished more than a year ago.
Rory Reiser, 8, said he wrote the letters — shown in court by the prosecution — because his father “hides Nina.” When asked by Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Paul Hora why he would say that, Rory responded, “Because who can do something to Nina except Hans?”
Hora had Rory review and explain a handful of letters and some drawings he has made since he moved to Russia in December. One of the letters asks nearly a dozen times, “Were (sic) is Nina?” and is addressed “Too (sic) papa.”
The two drawings shown in court show a figure, which Rory says is Hans, carrying a bag. Rory claims he heard what he thought was his father come down the steps to the basement, late at night, carrying something big the night after his mother disappeared.
Rory said he didn’t tell police and social workers initially about the incident, but that his memory is better now.
Hans Reiser’s lawyer, William DuBois, disputed that take.
“His memories have changed since he moved to Russia,” DuBois said outside of court Tuesday. DuBois again said Rory has been seeing a therapist since he moved to live with his grandmother in St. Petersburg.
“Memories can be changed and his have been,” DuBois said.
Rory took the stand just two days after arriving in the United States from Russia — where he now lives with his grandmother. In the morning session, he told the jury he has not heard from or seen his mother since she disappeared last year after dropping him and his sister off at their father’s home. The testimony seemingly refutes speculation the defense raised that Nina Reiser may be alive and living in her native Russia.
When asked by the prosecution how he felt about not hearing or seeing his mother, Rory replied, “Sad.”
Nina Reiser disappeared after dropping off the couple’s two kids at Hans Reiser’s home in Oakland’s Montclair District on Sept. 3, 2006. The two were undergoing a bitter divorce. Her body has never been found despite exhaustive searches in the Oakland hills. Rory and his sister, Nio, now 6, have been living in Russia with Nina’s mother, Irina Sharanova, since December.
Rory seemed timid on the stand, and often gazed over at his father. He got confused on dates, saying the last time he saw his mother was Sept. 1, 2006. He also did not remember going to the Berkeley Bowl grocery store with his mother the day she disappeared — an outing evidence seems to support.
When asked by prosecutor Paul Hora if he loved his father, Rory replied, “At that moment, yes,” referring to the day his mother went missing. Hora asked if he felt differently now, and the young boy said, “Yes,” but couldn’t explain exactly why.
Before Rory’s testimony, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman removed Sharanova from the courtroom at the request of Hans Reiser’s lawyer DuBois.
DuBois said he’s concerned that Sharanova might influence Rory’s testimony. Sharanova will testify at a later point in Hans Reiser’s trial.
That action also prompted the removal of Hans Reiser’s mother from the courtroom, with Goodman saying it is easier to bar all people who will testify in the case from the courtroom instead of issuing certain exceptions.
“It’s cleaner if we just exclude all witnesses,” Goodman said.
Before the trial started last week, Hora had agreed to allow Reiser’s mother into the courtroom at her request.
