UCI Prof’s Murder/Rape Fantasies Were Cries for Help, Friends Say

A UC Irvine professor and admitted serial arsonist accused of writing plans to kill students and administrators at the high school his son attended before committing suicide is also a compassionate mentor, loyal friend and an expert in the field of pain management, his supporters told a judge today.

Two friends and a brother of Rainer Klaus Reinscheid, 49, of Irvine, pleaded for leniency for the defendant as Orange County Superior Court Judge Gregg Prickett weighs a sentence of between three and 18 years.

Christoph Post, who befriended Reinscheid when they went to school together in Michigan in the 1970s, said the two stayed in touch throughout the years when Post lived in Germany and Reinscheid eventually ended up in Irvine.

They shared a "mutual passion for music" and formed a rock band with Reinscheid in drums and Post on keyboards, according to Post, who flew from Germany for the hearing.

"He is still one of the best friends I have," Post said. "He is one of the few people I share my innermost thoughts with."

Post called Reinscheid "one of the brightest and most intelligent people I know... and I could always count on him."

Post acknowledged he was "shocked" by the allegations.

"I can't imagine him doing anything he fantasized about," Post said, adding his friend was not a violent person, just someone affected by a "catastrophic event."

Wei Si, one of Reinscheid's graduate students, recalled how sensitive and compassionate he was when Si went through some personal problems and worried about defending her doctoral thesis. She moved to California in 2007 from China, "and beside my fiancee, Professor Reinscheid was the closest thing I had to family," Si said.

She described her former professor as a "caring, warm-hearted, encouraging person."

Si said Reinscheid's crimes were a "cry for help," and added, "It really hurts when people talk about him as a monster. They don't really know him."

The defendant's brother, Dieter, said his brother has written 75 published papers during his academic career and his research has advanced the field of treating pain and anxiety.

When Reinscheid's father had a heart attack in 2004, the defendant got on the first flight he could get back to Germany, Dieter Reinscheid said. He had to cancel a job interview at UCI to do it, his brother added.

No criminal charges were ever filed in connection with the defendant's alleged plans involving Irvine's University High School, but emails that spelled out his alleged intentions became relevant when attorneys made a case for the defendant's punishment, Deputy District Attorney Andrew Katz said.

The emails also came into play when attorneys argued Reinscheid's bail, which was ultimately denied. He has been in custody for nearly a year.

Reinscheid could have faced up to 21 years and four months behind bars if he had gone to trial and been convicted, Katz said.

Reinscheid pleaded guilty July 9 to one count of arson of another's property, two counts of arson of a structure, and three counts each of arson of forestland and attempted arson, along with a misdemeanor count of resisting or obstructing an officer.

According to prosecutors, investigators examined the professor's cell phone and uncovered emails he wrote to his wife in April 2012, allegedly detailing his plans to burn down University High School, commit sexual assaults, buy guns and kill school officials and students before killing himself. Reinscheid wrote drafts of the emails, but it's unclear whether he sent them, Katz said.

The prosecutor said investigators also uncovered evidence about Reinscheid's online searches for information regarding auto explosions and guns and about purchasing weapons, explosives, ammunition and fertilizers.

Reinscheid's 14-year-old son, who was a student at the high school, committed suicide in Mason Park Preserve in Irvine after being disciplined at school in March 2012, Katz said.

Reinscheid set fires and attempted to set another blaze between July 4 and July 24 of last year. Several of the fires were on the University High School campus, one was at Mason Park Preserve and another at a school administrator's home, Katz said.

Reinscheid was arrested about 12:40 a.m. July 24, 2012, in Mason Park Preserve. Irvine officers, who had increased patrols of the park because of the arson fires, came upon Reinscheid as he was trying to set a blaze with newspaper and lighter fluid, Katz said.

He resisted arrest, and was released after posting $50,000 bail, the prosecutor said. Irvine police investigating the case found the allegedly threatening emails on Reinscheid's phone last July 27, Katz said, and he was re- arrested that evening.

Reinscheid was an associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences who had taught at UC Irvine for about 12 years.    

- City News Service