People walk past a memorial shrine that formed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame star of actor turned filmmaker Rob Reiner, who was stabbed to death along with his wife Michelle Dec. 14. Their youngest son, Nick, has been accused of killing his parents.
Photo by Lorenzo Gomez
Wave Wire Services
LOS ANGELES — Rob Reiner’s youngest son made his first court appearance Dec. 17 on two murder charges stemming from the stabbing deaths of his filmmaker father and mother, with a judge ordering him to remain jailed without bail.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Theresa R. McGonigle ordered Nick Reiner, 32, to return to the downtown Los Angeles courthouse Jan. 7 for arraignment, which was postponed at the defense’s request.
Reiner was charged Dec. 16 with two counts of murder for the killings of his 78-year-old father and 70-year-old mother, Michele Singer Reiner, who were found dead around 3:30 p.m. Dec. 14 in their Brentwood home.
The murder charges include a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, which could open him to a possible death sentence, if prosecutors opt to pursue capital punishment. That decision will be made later in the case, District Attorney Nathan Hochman said during a Dec. 16 news conference.
Reiner also faces a sentence-enhancing allegation of the personal use of a deadly weapon — a knife — during the crime.
The county medical examiner officially classified the couple’s deaths as homicides, with both dying from “multiple sharp force injuries.”
“First of all, and most importantly, this is a devastating tragedy that has befallen the Reiner family … Our hearts go out to the entire Reiner family,” one of Nick Reiner’s attorneys, Alan Jackson, told a crowd of reporters outside the courthouse after the brief hearing Dec. 17.
He said there are some “very, very complex and serious issues that are associated with this case,” explaining that they “need to be thoroughly but very carefully dealt with and examined and looked it and analyzed.”
“We ask that during this process you allow the system to move forward in the way that it was designed to, not with a rush to judgment, not with jumping to conclusions, but with restraint and with dignity and with the respect that this system and this process deserves and the family deserves,” Jackson added.
Rob Reiner was best known for his iconic role as Michael Stivic on the classic sitcom “All in the Family,” but also as a director of films such as “Stand By Me,” “The Princess Bride,” “A Few Good Men,” “Misery,” “This Is Spinal Tap” and “When Harry Met Sally.”
Nick Reiner was arrested without incident around 9:15 p.m. Dec. 14 in the Exposition Park area near USC and was booked into jail the following morning.
Law enforcement sources told TMZ that Nick Reiner was being held in administrative segregation at Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles and has been on suicide watch. He wore an anti-suicide vest during his brief court hearing.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell declined to provide any details on what led to Nick Reiner being identified as the suspect in the case. No information was provided on a possible motive for the killing.
Hochman confirmed that a knife was used in the killings. TMZ reported earlier that Reiner and his wife suffered “lacerations consistent with a knife,” describing the victims as having their throats slit.
“Prosecuting these cases involving family members are some of the most challenging and most heart-wrenching cases that this office faces, because of the intimate and often brutal nature of the crimes involved,” Hochman said.
“Rob Reiner was a brilliant actor and director, an iconic force in our entertainment industry for decades. His wife, Michele Singer Reiner, was an equally iconic photographer and producer. Their loss is beyond tragic, and we will commit ourselves to bringing their murderer to justice.”
According to multiple reports, the slain couple’s 28-year-old daughter, Romy Reiner, discovered her father’s body. One report suggested that a massage therapist had shown up at the couple’s home for a pre-scheduled appointment Dec. 14 but got no answer at the door and contacted their daughter, who went inside the home and found Rob Reiner slain. She contacted police, who subsequently found Michele Reiner’s body also in the house.
Sources told multiple outlets that Rob and Michele Reiner, along with Nick, attended talk-show host Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party Dec. 13, and Rob got into a heated argument with Nick over his odd behavior at the event. Rob and Michele Reiner wound up leaving the event, but it was unclear when Nick Reiner left.
TMZ reported that Nick Reiner checked into a Santa Monica hotel around 4 a.m. Dec. 15 and that blood was later found in the room.
Nick Reiner has a documented history of drug addiction. In 2015, he worked with his father to write and produce a semi-autobiographical movie titled “Being Charlie,” based on Nick’s drug-addiction issues and the family’s struggles to cope. Nick Reiner was publicly open about his addiction struggles, discussing the issue in multiple interviews with media outlets and on podcasts.
Nick Reiner described being in and out of rehab programs throughout his teen years, and spending time homeless in various states, including Texas, New Jersey and Maine. He also described an instance when he was high on cocaine for multiple days and trashed his parents’ guest house.
According to TMZ, Michele Reiner had allegedly lamented to friends in recent weeks about Nick’s mental health and addiction issues, saying, “We’ve tried everything.”
A statement issued by the Reiner family was published by Variety, saying, “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner. We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time.”
The son of celebrated writer/producer/comedian Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner began his career in 1968, writing for “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” on a writing team that included a young Steve Martin. Reiner also had bit roles in various TV shows, including “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “Batman.”
His big break came with his casting as Archie Bunker’s liberal son-in-law Michael “Meathead” Stivic on the groundbreaking sitcom “All in the Family” in the 1970s. The role won him two Primetime Emmy Awards.
But it was his work behind the camera that saw him achieve even more success. “A Few Good Men,” the 1992 courtroom thriller starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson, was nominated for an Oscar for best picture. His other credits included “This Is Spinal Tap,” “Ghosts of Mississippi,” “The American President” and “Misery.”
Rob Reiner’s final film, “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues” was released in theaters Sept. 12.
Rob Reiner was married for 10 years to actress/director Penny Marshall, but they divorced in 1981.
He met photographer Michele Singer while he was directing “When Harry Met Sally.” Reiner often told the story about how his romance with Singer led him to change the ending to the movie — with the characters played by Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan reuniting rather than going their separate ways.
Reiner and Singer married in 1989 and had three children — sons Nick and Jake, a former Los Angeles television reporter, and daughter Romy.
Rob Reiner was a vocal Democrat Party activist, helping to spearhead efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in California and to pass a 1998 initiative that created the First 5 California childhood-development services program, funded by a tobacco tax.
