Two children of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner released a statement on Wednesday after their brother appeared in a Los Angeles courthouse in connection with their parents’ murder.
“Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day,” Jake and Romy Reiner said in the statement.
“The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience. They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends,” the statement added.
Rob Reiner, the 78-year-old legendary actor and filmmaker, and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found fatally stabbed in the master bedroom of their Los Angeles home on Sunday, authorities said.
Shortly after 9 p.m. on Sunday, authorities found their son, 32-year-old Nick Reiner, in University Park and took him into custody, authorities said.
Nick Reiner is facing two counts of first-degree murder in connection with his parents’ deaths, with special circumstance allegations of multiple murders, as well as using a deadly weapon — a knife — in connection with the deaths of his parents. He did not enter a plea during a brief Wednesday court hearing in Los Angeles, and his arraignment has been pushed back to Jan. 7.
“We are grateful for the outpouring of condolences, kindness, and support we have received not only from family and friends but people from all walks of life,” Jake and Romy Reiner added in the Wednesday statement. “We now ask for respect and privacy, for speculation to be tempered with compassion and humanity, and for our parents to be remembered for the incredible lives they lived and the love they gave.”
His defense lawyer, Alan Jackson, said Tuesday that Nick Reiner was not medically cleared in time for his initial hearing that day, but did provide further details.
On Wednesday, Jackson told reporters outside court that there are “very, very complex and serious issues that are associated with this case.”
“We ask that during this process, you allow the system to move forward in the way that it was designed to move forward … not with jumping to conclusions, but with restraint and with dignity and with the respect that this system and this process deserves, and that the family deserves,” he added.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell confirms Rob Reiner’s son, Nick, was booked for murder of his parents.
