Creative CommonsFollowing the tragic news that Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were found killed in their LA home, police have confirmed that their son Nick Reiner has been arrested. Warning: some may find this content distressing.
The Los Angeles Police Department arrived at the couple’s home on the 200 block of South Chadbourne Avenue on Sunday (December 14) at approximately 3.40pm local time, where the Reiners were found dead in an “apparent homicide”.
Multiple sources told People on Monday that Rob, 78, and Michele, 68, were killed by Nick Reiner, 32, one of their four children. Nick has previously opened up about his struggles with addiction, which inspired his 2015 movie Being Charlie, directed by his father.
Since the investigation was ongoing, police initially did not confirm Nick’s involvement in the crime that has left the world shaken. But the LAPD has now revealed that the son has been arrested.
Nick found “responsible” for the deaths of Michele and Rob Reiner
The LAPD’s Robbery Homicide Division and Homicide Special Section conducted an investigation regarding the circumstances of the deaths, revealing that they were homicides and that Nick was “responsible for their deaths.”
Nick Reiner was located and arrested at approximately 9.15pm local time and charged with murder. He’s been in custody at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in LA since Monday (December 15), where he’ll remain as there is no bail.
The case is set to be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday (December 16). The LAPD requested that anyone who might have information about the investigation to get in contact.
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LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said in a press conference on Monday evening (via ABC), “We have our robbery homicide division handling the investigation. They worked throughout the night on this case and were able to take into custody Nick Reiner.”
LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman added that officials obtained a search warrant for the Reiners’ home to avoid complications down the line.
“They make sure that you get the search warrant ahead of time because they don’t want to have any problems later in the case if there’s some allegation that they illegally got the evidence at the get-go of an investigation,” he said.
The news arrives as tributes continue to pour in across the globe, many of which reiterate the impact Rob Reiner had on cinema. He started his career as an actor, playing Mike “Meathead” Stivic in the landmark sitcom All in the Family.
Rob went on to make his directorial debut with the 1984 mockumentary classic, This Is Spinal Tap, for which he recently helmed a sequel. He also directed a long line of classic movies including Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, and A Few Good Men.
Nick and Rob opened up about their past struggles as a result of Nick’s addiction while on the press round for Being Charlie, a semi-autobiographical film in which a young man battles with addiction and his relationship with his parents.
Why did Nick Reiner kill his parents?
YouTube: Build SeriesNick’s motives have not yet been confirmed, but multiple sources have claimed Nick had an argument with his father at a holiday party hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien on Saturday (December 13) night.
TMZ first reported this after being told by Reiner family sources, who said Rob and Nick got into a “very loud argument” that others heard, before Rob and Michele left the party.
They added, “Michele had been anguishing to friends over the last few months that she and Rob were at their wits’ end over Nick’s mental illness and alleged substance abuse issues, and did not know what to do with their son Nick, saying, ‘We’ve tried everything.’”
Three attendees at the event also told the New York Times that the argument had unfolded, during which Rob allegedly told his son that his behavior was “inappropriate,” although it was unclear what they were fighting about.
Another insider then told People, “Nick was freaking everyone out, acting crazy, kept asking people if they were famous.”
The Hollywood Reporter journalist Steven Zeitchik has since published an in-depth account of the time he had dinner with Rob, Michele, Nick, and Romy Reiner during the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, saying “it sheds [light] on a dark dynamic.”
During the dinner, they discussed the film Being Charlie, with Rob saying to Zeitchik, “I’m so proud; it’s incredible. He’s been through everything; it’s so hard, you’re in this position of no control. And how he’s sober, here on his 22nd birthday, and he wrote this movie.”
But according to Zeitchik, “Nick seemed less sure.” The son went on to explain the difficulties he had with rehab, saying, “I just couldn’t get by in these programs. I had resistance every time they tried to reach me.”
Romy, the Reiners’ daughter who reportedly was the first to find Rob and Michele’s bodies, was also present, and had told the reporter, “It’s weird but good to see it on the screen.”
Zeitchik commented, “She struck me as someone deeply admiring of her brother, but also, perhaps, a little tired of explaining his behavior, to her parents, to everyone.”
After this back-and-forth continued, Zeitchik said, “For all the talk about catharsis and success, something about it felt unsuccessful.
“I checked later with the publicist, who wasn’t at dinner but had been spending time with the family. Did she pick up on anything? She thought everything was fine. But it didn’t feel fine.
“It felt like things were better but far from resolved; it felt like the festival had arrived and a lot of what hadn’t been resolved had been hurriedly shoved in the closet, like the last pile of living-room mess before company arrives.”
He continued, “At the dinner I saw a man who wanted so badly for resolution to be true, for reconciliation to find its way to them, that maybe he was pushing harder than things should be pushed – that maybe he was trying to will his son into someone he couldn’t be.
“And I also saw a man – not a boy – who had to take responsibility for himself, who was no longer a teenager, who couldn’t simply point his finger at a father, much as his body language suggested he wanted to.”