A son of Hollywood filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner is in custody after the couple was found dead at their Los Angeles home Sunday afternoon, according to the LA County Sheriff’s Department.
Nick Reiner, 32, has been arrested and booked for murder at the LAPD Metropolitan Detention Center, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell confirmed at a Monday press conference. Police said in a statement that an investigation revealed that Reiner was “responsible for their deaths.”
Officers were called to the family home on Chadbourne Avenue in Brentwood around 3:40 p.m. Sunday. The bodies of the director, 78, and his wife, 68, were discovered by their daughter Romy, who lives nearby, according to reports.
”Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the Reiners, a tragic incident,” Chief McDonnell said.
Nick was arrested around 9:15 p.m Sunday. He was initially held on $4 million bail but is now being detained with no bail, records showed late Monday morning.
"As a result of the initial investigation, it was determined that the Reiners were the victims of homicide," the LAPD statement reads. The case will be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office for filing consideration Tuesday.
Reiner is also slated to be in court Tuesday morning, records show.
There was no sign of forced entry at the Reiners’ sprawling home on Chadbourne Avenue in Brentwood. The couple had injuries consistent with being stabbed, sources told the Los Angeles Times.
TMZ reported that the couple’s throats were “slit” following an argument at the home.
Nick Reiner and his father got into an argument at a party at Conan O’Brien’s home on Saturday night, family friends told the Los Angeles Times. The same friends further said that several people had noticed that Nick was acting strangely at the party. Reiner and wife Michele were found dead at their home the next day.
The 32-year-old, who has been open about his struggles with addiction, co-wrote the 2015 film “Being Charlie.” The movie, directed by his father, was inspired by his own experiences with drug addiction, rehab, and homelessness.
“I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas,” Nick Reiner said at the time. “I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It was not fun.”
After he got sober, he told People in 2016: “I’ve been home for a really long time, and I’ve sort of gotten acclimated back to being in L.A. and being around my family.”
“It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner,” a family spokesperson said in a statement. “We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time.”
Tracy Reiner, the biological daughter of Reiner’s ex-wife Penny Marshall and his adopted daughter, told NBC News that she was in “shock” after hearing about their deaths.
“I came from the greatest family ever,” she told the outlet Sunday. “I don’t know what to say, I’m in shock.”
Hollywood stars, Billy Crystal and Larry David, were spotted at the home Sunday night, a neighbor told ABC7, adding that Crystal “looked like he was about to cry.”
Police took down crime scene tape and reopened the street in front of the couple’s Brentwood home. Fans have left flowers and notes to the legendary director in front of his home and on his Walk of Fame star.
Reiner was one of the most prolific directors in Hollywood, and his work included some of the most memorable movies of the 1980s and ’90s, including “This is Spinal Tap,” “A Few Good Men,” “When Harry Met Sally,” “Misery” and “The Princess Bride.”
Tributes poured in for Reiner who was an actor, writer and liberal activist as well as a director. He first rose to prominence after playing Mike “Meathead” Stivic on the CBS series “All in the Family,” a role that garnered him multiple Emmy Awards.
The son of comedy legend Carl Reiner, Reiner was married to photographer Michele since 1989. The two met while he was directing “When Harry Met Sally” and had three children together, Jake, Nick, and Romy.
Reiner was previously married to actor-director Penny Marshall from 1971 to 1981. He adopted her daughter, Tracy Reiner. Carl Reiner died in 2020 at age 98 and Marshall died in 2018.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement that it was “a devastating loss for our city and our country.”
“Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate throughout American culture and society, and he has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice,” she said, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.
