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CBS Paying Nina Reiser's Mother $20,000 as Part of Trial Broadcast

By Ryan Singel, Kevin Poulsen, Sarah Lai Stirland, Kim Zetter, and David Kravets

OAKLAND, California -- CBS News paid Nina Reiser's mother $20,000 for family pictures and for a videotape of her daughter's 1999 honeymoon and wedding to murder defendant Hans Reiser, CBS News representatives and the mother said Wednesday.

CBS News paid the money to Irina Sharanova last year. The woman, 59, is a gynecologist in St. Petersburg, Russia, and earns about $18,000 a year. CBS said the payment was "standard" procedure.

"CBS News entered into a standard and non-exclusive licensing agreement," read part of a statement from the New York-based news organization, which soon will broadcast a feature story on the case under its "48 Hours" label. The statement added that "CBS' News policy prohibits paying for interviews, and that policy was not violated here."

The mother disclosed the payment here Wednesday, on her second day on the witness stand at her son-in-law's murder trial. Hans Reiser, the popular Linux guru, is accused of killing Sharanova's daughter -- Nina Reiser -- in 2006.

Here is how the testimony of the payment surfaced:

"Were you approached by some news agencies that offered to financially help you out?"prosecutor Paul Hora asked.

"Yes," she replied, speaking through a Russian-language interpreter.

"Who offered to financially help you out?"

"CBS."

"Did CBS actually pay you?"

"Yes."

"How much money?"

"$20,000"

"And what did they get in exchange for that?"

"The possibility of taking pictures of the kids to see how they are and also pictures of our house?and?her friends."

(Part of that last response was inaudible in the gallery. Sharanova has custody of the Reisers' two young children, now 6 and 8.)

"Why did you decide to do that?" Hora asked of the payment.

"I wanted people to know what kind of person Nina was?"

"Did ABC "20-20" come to St. Petersburg and interview you on camera, on television?"

"Yes."

"Did ABC provide any money?"

"No."

"But you still agreed to speak with them?"

"Yes."

"And why did you agree to speak with ABC?"

"For the same reasons," Sharanova replied, referring to why she interviewed with CBS, which also broadcasts "60 Minutes."

At least one, and sometimes two, producers from CBS' "48 Hours" have been in the courtroom here daily. The jury trial began Nov. 6. CBS has also staffed pretrial proceedings.

Hans Reiser, 44, the popular open source programmer, has pleaded not guilty. He maintains his wife, who was divorcing him, abandoned the couple's two kids and moved back to Russia, where the couple met in 1998.

Nina Reiser vanished, at age 31, on Sept. 3, 2006. She was last seen dropping off the kids to her husband's house in the Oakland hills.

Paul LaRosa, a "48 Hours" producer and a regular at the trial here, told THREAT LEVEL during a lunch break that "We licensed photographs and videotape from Irina and her representatives. That's all that's in the agreement."

He added that "This was a routine licensing agreement done all of the time in journalism."

(Wired News has a policy against such payments.)

THREAT LEVEL is providing gavel-to-gavel coverage. For earlier testimony from the mother on Wednesday, click here.

Photo chattycathy7575

See Also:

• Last Prosecution Witness to Take Stand in Hans Reiser Murder Trial ...
• Nina Reiser's Mom Sobbing on Witness Stand -- UPDATE
• Nina Reiser's Last Phone Call Was to Hans Reiser on Day She ...
• Hans Reiser Murder Trial Delayed 2 Days
• Hans Reiser in the Sierra Nevada Mountains 21 Days After Wife ...
• Judge Threatening to Exclude Hans Reiser From His Murder Trial
• Cops Find $9000 and Passport on Hans Reiser
• Defense Seeks Mistrial in Hans Reiser Murder Case

Full post as published by Threat Level on February 13, 2008 (boomark / email).