Nick Reiner is expected to face a judge again on Monday, two months after the murder of his parents Rob and Michele Reiner.
The 32-year-old was arrested on Dec. 15 on suspicion of murder in the killings of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Reiner, 68, whose bodies were found inside of their Brentwood home.
Attorney Alan Jackson was initially representing Reiner, but later announced his withdrawal from the case during Reiner’s Jan. 7 arraignment. He is now being represented by a deputy public defender.
Reiner, who has not made a plea yet, was charged on Dec. 16 with first-degree murder. District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the charges at a news conference, a day after Nick Reiner was arrested in connection with the tragic discovery of his parents’ bodies.
The charges include a special circumstances allegation of multiple murders and an additional allegation that Reiner used a knife in the killings, which took place sometime early Sunday morning on Dec. 14, authorities said.
Special circumstances elevate a murder charge to a more severe level. The charges carry the potential for a possible death sentence, if prosecutors pursue capital punishment.
Reiner’s mental state is a critical factor in the case. NBC Los Angeles has learned that there is a sealed medical order filed.
Details about a possible motive for the killings were not immediately available.
A source close to Reiner confirmed to NBC News that Reiner and his wife had apparent stab wounds. The medical examiner has not provided details about an official cause of death.
Nick Reiner was the second of the couple’s three children.
The deaths of Rob Reiner, a celebrated director whose long list of successful films included “When Harry Met Sally…,” “A Few Good Men” and “This Is Spinal Tap,” and Michele Reiner, a talent photographer and producer, stunned the Hollywood community and led to an outpouring of tributes from entertainment industry colleagues, political figures and more. The family’s challenges with Nick, including battles with drug addiction, were well-documented.
Sources told NBC News that Nick Reiner was disruptive at the party. Robert Kovacik reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025.
In 2015, Rob and Nick Reiner worked on a coming-of-age film together called “Being Charlie.” Directed by Rob Reiner and co-written by Nick Reiner, the film explored the relationship between a son and father. In a 2016 interview with The Associated Press, they talked about the film.
“It forced us to understand ourselves better than we had,” Rob Reiner told the AP. “I told Nick while we were making it, I said, ‘You know it doesn’t matter, whatever happens to this thing, we won already. This has already been good.’ We’ve worked through a lot of stuff.”
Photos: Celebrated Hollywood film director Rob Reiner through the years
In September, the family appeared together at the Los Angeles premiere of “Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues.”
Nick Reiner has spoken publicly over the years about his struggles with drug addiction, which began in his teens. He told People in an interview in 2016 that he cycled in and out of treatment facilities with bouts of homelessness and relapses in between.
“I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It was not fun,” Nick Reiner told People, adding that, “If I wanted to do it my way and not go to the programs they were suggesting, then I had to be homeless.”
