I like the Reiser story.<p>It's one of the higher profile crimes that's not really related to the technology at all. This is simply about a dude who murdered his wife. But he also happened to be a brilliant programmer writing one of the more advanced filesystems of its time.<p>Then you get into all of the details. All the steps he took in hiding it. All of the stuff with Russian brides, sex, drugs, and presumably rock and roll.<p>And how they arrested, tried, and convicted Reiser of the murder without even having direct evidence a murder took place. It's one of my go to examples when people start harping about "circumstantial evidence". Because people often use that term when they want to mean "weak" or "specious". Circumstantial evidence is evidence pertaining to the circumstances of the situation.<p>Yes, it's a bit circular, but you can't really avoid it as it's literally what it says on the tin. Anything that isn't direct evidence is by definition, circumstantial. And direct evidence is a short list. And often worse than circumstantial evidence. Eyewitness testimony is a form of direct evidence. It is often not that strong because it relies on a person's memory and their senses. Both of which are extremely fallible.<p>A dead body is direct evidence someone has died. Someone being missing for over a month is circumstantial evidence that they are dead. Reiser insisted that Nina had run off and was in hiding. No one could find her or prove she was dead. He had a vehicle that was bleached down with a missing seat and a bunch of books on "How to get away with murder".<p>Everything was based on circumstantial evidence.<p>All of that was what led to his eventual arrest and conviction. He pled down the charges in exchange for showing authorities where the body was.