OAKLAND, Calif. -- The mother of Nina Reiser testified Monday that Nina was in love when she met and married Hans Reiser, who's now standing trial on charges he murdered her even though her body was never found.

Taking the stand as the last prosecution witness in the lengthy trial of Hans Reiser, a 44-year-old computer engineer, Dr. Irina Sharanova said the couple met in March of 1998 at a cafe in Russia, where Nina was born and raised and was completing her medical studies and where Hans had business.

Speaking through a Russian translator and occasionally shedding tears, Sharanova, who is raising the Reisers' two children at her home in St. Petersburg, Russia, said Nina was to serve as a translator for another Russian woman whom Hans Reiser had arranged to meet but he was more interested in Nina and they began dating.

Asked by prosecutor Paul Hora if it looked like they were in love, 59-year-old Sharanova, who was dressed in black pants and a black jacket, said, "I can only speak about Nina and I know she was in love."

Nina Reiser was 31 years old when she disappeared on Sept. 3, 2006, after dropping off the couple's children at Hans Reiser's home at 6979 Exeter Drive in the Oakland hills.

Her body has never been found, despite extensive searches in the Oakland hills and elsewhere, but Hans Reiser was charged with murdering her because prosecutors believe DNA and blood evidence proves he killed her.

Hans and Nina Reiser married in 1999 but Nina filed for divorce and separated from him in 2004. They were in the midst of an acrimonious divorce and battle over the custody of their two children when she disappeared.

Hans Reiser has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

William DuBois, his attorney, has said he thinks that Nina Reiser may still be alive and in hiding in Russia.

Sharanova's testimony that Nina was in love with Hans contradicts DuBois' opening statement to jurors, when he alleged that she got pregnant shortly after she met Hans so she could get him to marry her and bring her to the U.S.

DuBois also alleged Nina had a plan to dump Hans after five years in the U.S. so she could keep the couple's children and stay in the country.

DuBois also questioned Nina's medical credentials, saying she wasn't really a doctor.

But Sharanova, who's been a gynecologist for about 30 years, said Nina received a medical degree after spending six years at a medical school in St. Petersburg and undergoing extensive training.

Hora asked, "Is it fair to say that Nina was a real, live, practicing medical doctor in Russia?"

Sharanova said "yes."

Sharanova said Nina was serious about earning a credential so she could work as a doctor in the U.S. and planned to take a preliminary exam in November of 2006.

But she said Hans Reiser didn't want Nina to become a doctor.

Sharanova said that in 2002 he told her when he was at her house in Russia, "I don't need a smart wife and I don't want her (Nina) to practice medicine."

Sharanova said Nina initially was planning to take a medical exam in the U.S. in August of 2000 but she was pregnant with what would have been her second child and wound up having a miscarriage.

"It was quite a load for her," Sharanova said.

Sharanova said the couple's first child, Rory, was born in Oakland on Sept. 28, 1999, and their second child, Niorene, was born in Oakland on May 26, 2001.

Sharanova recalled many exact dates in Nina's life, such as when she came to the U.S., prompting Hora at one point to praise her for having a good memory.

Sharanova responded sadly, "I have time to remember these things."

Sharanova said Nina desperately needed money in 2006 because "Hans wasn't helping her and giving any support to the children."

She said she and her husband, who is Nina's stepfather and helped raise Nina starting at the age of 10, gave Nina $10,000 in 2006 so that she could have more money.

Sharanova will continue testifying on Wednesday, when Hans Reiser's trial continues, as Alameda County courts are observing Lincoln's birthday on Tuesday.

DuBois is expected to begin presenting the defense's case on Thursday.