Nick Reiner makes first court appearance after parents' killings

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: Washington Post

Nick Reiner briefly made his first court appearance Wednesday, a day after he was charged with fatally stabbing his parents, 78-year-old filmmaker Rob Reiner and 70-year-old photographer Michele Singer Reiner in a gruesome killing of two Hollywood icons.

The Reiners’ 32-year-old son attended the court hearing behind a glass wall, in shackles and a jail suicide-prevention smock. He did not enter a plea, as had been expected, the Associated Press reported. Instead, his arraignment was postponed to Jan. 7 while his lawyer emphasized the intricacies of the case.

“This is a devastating tragedy that has befallen the Reiner family. We all recognize that,” Nick’s attorney, Alan Jackson, said outside the courthouse following the hearing. “There are very, very complex and serious issues that are associated with this case. Those need to be thoroughly but very carefully dealt with.”

Jackson added a request for people to “allow the system to move forward in the way that it was designed to move forward: not with a rush to judgment, not with jumping to conclusions, but with restraint, and with dignity, and with the respect that the system and its process deserves and that the family deserves.”

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/administration-asks-ultra-wealthy-trump-182335474.html

[Irish_Dem]

1. Nothing complex or intricate at all.

A drug addict murdered his parents in cold blood.
One of the dying victims identified him as the killer.

Being a drug addict means this guy cannot plead "not guilty by reason of insanity."

I think his attorney is taking a very wrong turn here by dragging it out and lying right off the bat.

[FakeNoose]

2. The question might be first degree vs. 2nd degree murder

Getting the right doctors to examine him and testify, might make all the difference.

[Irish_Dem]

3. It was clearly first degree murder. But yes they may be bargaining for 2nd degree.

And of course they can get a hired gun to state whatever they want.

This guy belongs in prison for life.
He is a threat to the rest of his family and others.

[FakeNoose]

13. I don't disagree - but we've seen this movie before

Last edited Thu Dec 18, 2025, 12:39 PM - Edit history (1)

[Irish_Dem]

14. Trump gives him a pardon?

Or white rich guy gets off all by himself.

[FakeNoose]

15. My meaning was that the lawyer will get him out of a death sentence

... by pleading temporary insanity or something similar.

I don't think Chump's "pardon" (or any of his grandstanding) would mean much in California.

[Irish_Dem]

16. Drug addicts cannot get NGRI (not guilty by reason of insanity.)

And it is hard to get NGRI when it is obviously a premeditated murder.
Killing people in their bed as they sleep is not in the heat of an argument.
It is a cold blooded decision to murder them before he arrived to the home.
This is not acute psychosis.

But of course rich people can commit crimes and get away with it.
They hire attorneys who don't care about justice.

Also this guy is dangerous. His attorney doesn't care about that either.
He just wants the billable hours to get rich off the family's tragedy.

[maxsolomon]

31. CA doesn't have the DP

But I could be mistaken.

[LisaL]

32. Death penalty is legal in CA, but there is a moratorium and

nobody has been executed since 2006.

[MacKasey]

27. This is a state crime so Trump can not pardon

Only California governor

[Irish_Dem]

28. Trump would love this fight.

[blm]

4. I heard years ago that he was borderline schizophrenic.

Schizophrenia is not something ANY family can conquer - it’s a daily struggle.

[Irish_Dem]

5. I am not sure if this is Borderline Personality Disorder or Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is actually easier to treat than drug addiction or Borderline PD.
Patients are usually compliant and stabilized on antipsychotics.

He actually sounds more bipolar with his history of violence.

I have not heard about the possibility he might have been psychotic.
But with his heavy drug use it is hard to tell.

But he cannot use NGRI because of his drug addiction.
Of course the attorney will try.

[ificandream]

6. One of the dying victims identified him as the killer?

Hadn't' heard that. Where did that come from?

[Irish_Dem]

7. The reports stated that the mother was still alive when the police arrived.

She identified her son as the killer.
She died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

I read this from several sources.

The daughter found her parents and the mother may have also told
her Nick was the assailant.

[ificandream]

8. OMG.....tx.

[Irish_Dem]

9. I know.

I think everyone feels very sorry for the daughter.

I also just read some more info.

A massage therapist had shown up at the home.
The Reiners were about to host a dinner with the Obamas attending in a few hours.
There was no answer so the massage therapist went across the street to get the daughter.
So they found the body of Dad and dying mother.

I shudder to think about the Obamas so close in time to a horrific murder like this.

[milestogo]

22. I wonder how the Obamas were notified.

Michelle Obama was doing an interview with Jonathan Capehart in LA earlier in the day. I am guessing that the daughter called them.

It would have been really weird if the Obamas were the ones to report the problem.

[Irish_Dem]

24. I wondered the same.

If Michelle was doing media interviews, they would have had the info first.
The news spread like wildfire in LA I assume.

Or maybe the daughter called them too.

[milestogo]

18. I posted that a couple of days ago but I'm not sure its true.

Now they are saying that the Reiners may have been killed during the night.

Nick Reiner checked into a hotel at 4am, and when he left there were bloody sheets and a bloody shower stall.

In the early afternoon they had a scheduled massage therapist coming to the home. When nobody answered the door she went across the street to get the daughter. When they entered the home they found Rob Reiner dead. The daughter or her friend called the police.

It was after they searched the house that they found Michelle Reiner dead and informed the daugther.

The daughter called Billy Crystal who came over with his wife. Billy Crystal was at the party the night before when there was a tense confrontation between Nick and his parents. He may have been the one who told the police about that.

[Irish_Dem]

25. I agree, it seems doubtful she could be still be alive and verbal so many hours after having her throat slit.

But several sources reported it. So perhaps it is true.

At any rate the sister also told the police to look for her brother who was a drug addict and violent.

Yes I read about the massage therapist, etc.
The Obamas were due to show up for dinner in a couple of hours.

I am glad the daughter could call a family friend for help and support.

[LisaL]

21. If that's true it should be allowed at trial as a death bed statement.

As far as I understand the law.

[Bengus81]

17. Where did you read that one of the dying victims identified him? I haven't seen that.

[milestogo]

23. I saw it on social media on Monday and I posted it on DU.

There is always a lot of misinformation around a crime and this turned out not to be true.

[Irish_Dem]

26. Someone here posted it and I also read it online.

We don't know if it is true or not.
Seems unlikely someone could still be alive so many hours after her throat was slit.

[TBF]

34. Everything under the sun has been said on social media -

and random crazy websites. I didn't see that anywhere reputable either.

[diane in sf]

10. My theory was that he was self-treating mental illness with his drugs. Reading this thread confirms that. The photos of

him reveal a person with really dead eyes. I think his parents were not willing to believe just how bad his condition would get, he was their baby. And the stuff that Nick said about professionals lying about what he needed for treatment seemed very suspicious. He may have been sociopathicly good at lying, addicts often are.

He was escalating his combative threatening behavior recently. There should be a way for family members to commit someone who is spinning this far out of control and obviously dangerous. Unfortunately he didn’t commit suicide, as these kind of sick aholes often don’t. Instead he took out his parents on the way to ending his life as he knew it.

Hopefully he remains locked up the rest of his life because he’ll always pose a danger to others, especially his remaining family members.

[blm]

11. Producer of 'Being Charlie' mentions schizophrenia, as well.

Shaffer continued, “Another part of me is angry. Nick … if there were mental issues involved, that’s one thing. I don’t know what the extent that is, if he was showing signs of schizophrenia or whatever. But if he was just in a drug-induced rage, I’m so angry about that. He had a good support system with his family and his father, and all they tried to do was help him.

https://dnyuz.com/2025/12/17/being-charlie-producer-slams-sickening-nick-reiner-after-dad-robs-death-hollywood-tragedy/

[LisaL]

20. It's not easy to help someone with

either drug use of mental health issues, whether the parents believed how bad the condition was.

[TBF]

12. It's potentially a death penalty case -

the attorney has to do the best he can for Nick.

That said, the case is tragic and horrifying. I can only imagine how his siblings are feeling ...

[LisaL]

19. I doubt prosecutor would ask for a death penalty considerring

suspect's mental health and drug use issues. It also seems very unlikely that his parents would have wanted him to get the death penalty.

[TBF]

29. I wouldn't be surprised to see a plea deal

with this case. They can take death off the table and put him in a lock-down facility - whether criminally insane or incarceration. Mark David Chapman, for example, is still incarcerated decades after he killed John Lennon. They just keep denying him parole.

[Midwestern Democrat]

33. I frankly don't see the point of him having a high-priced lawyer - unless this lawyer can somehow make a jury believe

the killer was legally insane at the time of the killings (a very, very tall order), I only see one possible outcome: life without the possibility of parole. It's unlikely the DA will seek the death penalty: CA currently has a moratorium on carrying out the death penalty and as this was a murder where a son killed his own parents, it's also unlikely that any of the victims' immediate survivors - such as children, parents, siblings - will be asking for the death penalty.

[TBF]

36. Any death penalty case deserves decent representation -

there are organizations that try to make this happen. What if someone accused you of something - framed you in some way? We don't really know what happened here despite random press speculation. Especially when it is a death penalty case there should be solid representation on both sides. That's been a problem in our judicial system historically - especially for folks at the lower income levels.

[Cha]

30. There are NO Excuses... what's he gonna do

plead "not guilty"?

ETA~ I see by reading the thread that the lawyer may be working on a lesser charge?

[TBF]

35. If I were a family member I'd be hoping for a plea deal

that keeps him contained for life. I'm not an attorney, but I am the family member of a (now deceased unfortunately) addict. I don't know how close Nick's family members were to him, but I adored my brother. That doesn't change the behavior or excuse it in any way. But given the same situation I wouldn't be asking for the death penalty either. I would want him to be in a facility, so he couldn't harm himself or others.