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I, of course, have no idea if he committed the crime, but I find his bizarre explanations far more believable than the jury. He really is just that kind of person...a bit paranoid, extremely analytical, and significantly smarter than the vast majority of people. This is true even among extremely smart folks, like those on the Linux kernel mailing list, he's probably among the smartest in the conversation. But he's also lacking in many social skills to the point that his involvement in a discussion usually hurts more than helps--reading his numerous arguments on the LKML is like seeing a warm up for his bizarre performance on the stand.

So, one could make the case that Hans' feeling of superiority, which might be hard to avoid for someone as smart as he is, and his paranoia combined to produce this very result. Perhaps he figured he'd get away with it, because he's so much smarter than everyone else. And perhaps his paranoia convinced him that Nina had plans to steal away with his children and he'd never see them again (there is some evidence that this was actually her plan). Since the average American has a rather deeply ingrained mistrust of really smart people, his particularly ornery and superior attitude certainly didn't help him.

Sounds like OP has some personality issues that need to be worked out. And, I got a distinct "mad with power" vibe, as well. Early stage company founders do not need a boss. If they do, they're already doomed to failure. It sounds like this fellow just likes the idea of being chief of something, and isn't all that good at it. Many nerds have started companies without management chops or a good personality, but they made up for it by producing code that solved a problem. I'm getting the distinct impression the OP (who may or may not be strong on the code front) is definitely weak on the management and personality front, but wanted to spend all of this time managing and "networking".

I don't claim to be an expert on this stuff, but I am a nerd, and I do produce (when it's my place to do so, though in my current startup, I produce far less code than my co-founder), and I think I would have ditched this startup, too. Nerds, in general, aren't good at being bossed around, and the kind that start companies definitely aren't good at being bossed around.

Thanks for asking, though.

I've started two startups now. While I'm very nearly the most even-keeled person I know from an emotional standpoint (I've been described as "a robot", "mellow", "a cold fish", and worse), a couple of years of running a startup is like being bipolar. Perhaps for folks who are already bipolar without outside influence, it's even worse, I dunno.

Here's how I think it goes for most startups:

Stage 1

Great idea(s). I have a blinding flash of insight--first time my insight was "the Internet is too damned slow!" (in 1999, this was a pretty good insight). This time, with Virtualmin, it came as the gradual dawning of a Many Faceted Great Truth rather than a flash. These feelings are akin to messianic visions of the past. If they weren't we wouldn't be willing to quit our real jobs and spend three to seven years tilting at windmills to make them happen. This is exciting and very uplifting. I bet Jesus felt pretty good, too, when he woke up with the flash of insight that he was the most important human on the planet (and a god to boot!).

Stage 2 (where most folks start showing up to events)

Talking about the idea with friends and peers. Taking this leap of committing to the idea enough to share it with others and defend it feels like an accomplishment, which is emotionally rewarding. You get some validation, and you maybe spot a few problems and you work through them, which also feels good.

Still feeling great at this point. But you haven't actually done anything.

Stage 3

Now you've got to build something. A demo, if you just want to get to that next stage of big validation that is raising money. This one is harder. If you don't actually have the level of skill you thought you did (and we all hit this sometimes, no matter how great we might be at some areas) you run into roadblocks to completing this stage. This is where folks begin to drop out of the event scene and start to think maybe this whole startup idea wasn't so great after all. I've occasionally run into roadblocks that took me weeks or months to resolve, either by learning enough to scale the wall or by hiring or befriending someone who happened to have just the right knowledge (this is harder than it seems). And these are the worst parts of the ride.

Stage 4 (wherein validation reaches new highs)

Money. Some folks get addicted to raising money, and never actually get around to building their product (these are the same people who never actually succeed, by the way). When you raise money, not only is someone saying, "Yeah, that's a pretty cool idea", they are saying, "I'm putting my money where my mouth is, and I'm placing a huge bet on you being a big success."

However, before you get to that validation you will get numerous "no" responses, and that's usually a big downer: people are saying your baby is ugly, and kinda stupid. And you can't punch them in the mouth for saying so.