OAKLAND

Convicted murderer leads police to body

A prominent software programmer who denied having anything to do with his estranged wife's disappearance even after he was convicted of her murder led police Monday to what is believed to be her body, defense attorneys said.

The abrupt about-face came just two days before 44-year-old Hans Reiser was due in court to face sentencing on a conviction of first-degree murder handed down by a jury in April. Nina Reiser, 31, was last seen alive on Sept. 3, 2006.

The discovery late Monday afternoon came after Reiser, handcuffed to another of his attorneys, William Du Bois, led police through Redwood Regional Park, defense lawyer Richard Tamor said.

The body was found in a grave about 4 feet by 4 feet, Tamor said. Reiser did not have difficulty locating the spot, the attorney said.

Police confirmed a body had been found but would not speculate on the identity or disclose details of the search.

LOS ANGELES

Regulators revisit canceled health plans

California health insurance regulators are scrutinizing 1,770 patient policies canceled by Anthem Blue Cross to see if they can impose a penalty stiffer than a $1 million fine they announced but never enforced last year.

Each case of a canceled policy carries the possibility of a $200,000 maximum fine against the state's largest insurer, which could dwarf the now-abandoned 2007 fine.

The renewed enforcement effort comes after The Associated Press reported last week that the state didn't pursue the announced fine against Anthem Blue Cross because it was intimidated by the insurer's legal resources.

After announcing a million-dollar fine against Anthem Blue Cross in March 2007, regulators instead tried reach a negotiated settlement to reinstate health insurance policies but failed.

MISSION VIEJO

Cheating leads to retake of AP exams

At least 300 high school students in Orange County must retake their advanced placement exams after national test administrators found some of them cheated.

Dan Sullivan, principal at Trabuco Hills High School, sent a letter to parents dated July 1, saying the College Board and Educational Testing Service canceled students' test scores after finding "a number of students" cheated on a statistics exam. The letter was reported Monday by the Orange County Register.

Steve Fish, Saddleback Valley school district's superintendent, said 10 students cheated.

—From wire reports