Hans Reiser is a pretty well known Linux programmer. His ReiserFS file system has "...played an integral part in Linux’s core kernel." He parlayed his prominence in the Linux community into his own company, Namesys, and put his wife, Nina, in the Chief Financial Officer slot. He eventually accused his wife of mismanaging his funds, and they separated. Yesterday, a California jury convicted him of murdering her, and he's looking at spending the rest of his life in prison.

... suspicions of Reiser’s involvement in his wife’s disappearance were growing. Shortly after Nina was last seen, Reiser’s Honda CRX also disappeared, and police began following him. After searching his house, they found a mixture of Reiser and Nina’s blood near the entry of Reiser’s house.

After following him to his abandoned CRX, they find the car contained garbage bags, towels, masking tape, books about police procedures, and blood matching Nina’s. The front passenger seat had also been removed and the car’s floor recently been washed. Though there was no body, and evidence was circumstantial, Reiser was arrested in October 2006 and charged with Nina’s murder.

During the trial, Reiser portrayed himself as a “computer nerd” to explain his odd behaviour as simple social ignorance, rather than signs of guilt. He reinforced this with his actions during the trial, often arguing with members of the court and his own attorney, until the judge threatened to ban him from his own trial if he did not behave.

Wow. I knew Open Source developers were hardcore, but I figured they would continue to just use Photoshop and message boards to attack people they didn't like. I'm not surprised that the "Eating Cheetos and drinking Jolt Cola at the Defense Table while yelling about Ron Paul" defense didn't work. He should have stuck to the tried and true Chewbacca Defense.