The Reiner Murders | The Trial Of Nick Reiner

Nick Reiner needs money. A lot of it. He's facing two counts of first-degree murder. He just lost his high-profile attorney. And he's now being represented by a public defender who had less than 24 hours to prepare.

Meanwhile, his parents' estate — estimated at $200 million — sits untouched.

California's slayer statute says you can't inherit from someone you killed. It's supposed to be straightforward. But there's a catch: the statute only bars inheritance for "felonious and intentional" killings. Nick hasn't been convicted. And if his defense was headed toward an insanity plea — which Alan Jackson strongly hinted at bef...

Attorney and former prosecutor Eric Faddis joins us to analyze the legal strategy behind two high-profile insanity defenses — and the judges caught in the middle of both cases.

Nick Reiner's defense attorney Alan Jackson just quit the case after three weeks, but not before telling reporters that Nick is "NOT guilty of murder" under California law. He's signaling an insanity defense built on Nick's reported schizophrenia diagnosis and a medication change that allegedly caused his behavior to become "erratic and dangerous" in the weeks before his parents were killed. But California's M'Naghten standard is brutal — the defense must...

Alan Jackson quit as Nick Reiner's attorney today. But before he left, he delivered a statement that will define this case: "Pursuant to the laws of California, Nick Reiner is NOT guilty of murder. Print that."

That's not a withdrawal. That's a roadmap — one Jackson can no longer follow.

This comprehensive breakdown examines the three legal battles ahead for Nick Reiner. First: competency. Can Nick even participate in his own defense? Sources say he was being treated for schizophrenia, with medication changes in the weeks before the killings. If found incompetent, the criminal case pauses un...

This is the defense that will define Nick Reiner's future — and it almost never works.

Alan Jackson spent three weeks investigating Nick's case before withdrawing. His parting statement made his strategy clear: "Nick Reiner is NOT guilty of murder under California law." That's code for insanity defense. And now public defender Kimberly Greene has to build it from scratch.

Here's what we know: Nick was reportedly being treated for schizophrenia at the time he allegedly killed his parents, director Rob Reiner and philanthropist Michele Singer Reiner. Sources tell NBC4 about the diagnosis. TMZ reports schizoaffective di...

The defense strategy in the Nick Reiner murder case just hit a wall — and then pivoted in public.

Alan Jackson, who was retained as Nick's attorney within hours of his arrest for allegedly killing his parents Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, withdrew from the case today. He told the judge he had "no choice" due to circumstances "beyond Nick's control." Sources tell Deadline the reason is money.

But Jackson didn't leave quietly. On the courthouse steps, he delivered what sounded like a preview of the defense Nick will never get from him: "Pursuant to th...

Rob and Michele Reiner spent seventeen years trying to save their son Nick. They didn’t fail him. The system failed all of them.

Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott joins us for a comprehensive examination of the Reiner family tragedy — not to judge, but to understand what this family was dealing with and why so many others are facing the same impossible situation.

Rob Reiner spoke openly about feeling helpless. About trusting doctors who couldn’t deliver results. About fearing that the tragic ending he dreaded was inevitable. Michele reportedly told a friend she didn’t know what els...

The biggest development in the Nick Reiner case since his arrest. Alan Jackson — the high-profile defense attorney who took Nick's case three weeks ago — withdrew this morning, telling the judge he had "no choice."

Nick Reiner now has a public defender. Her name is Kimberly Greene. She has nineteen years of experience. She was informed last night that Jackson was stepping aside. She had thirty seconds to meet her new client before the hearing began.

Jackson held a press conference outside the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center. He said his team had investigated the case...

Rob and Michele Reiner were scared of their son. Sources confirm it. They knew about the violent outbursts, the aggression, the unpredictability. Michele reportedly told a friend, "I don't know what else we can do." A law enforcement source says conservatorship proceedings were underway at the time of the deaths.

And still, Nick lived in their guest house. Still, they took him to a holiday party the night before they were killed. Still, they slept in a bedroom he could access anytime.

Why couldn't they protect themselves from someone they loved?

Psychotherapist Shavaun...

Rob Reiner once said that the family listened to professionals with "diplomas on their wall" instead of listening to Nick when he said treatment wasn't working. Maybe there was a reason it wasn't working. Maybe the treatment was never right to begin with.

According to multiple reports, Nick Reiner was diagnosed with schizophrenia — a serious psychotic disorder — years before the killings. But for a long time, the focus was on addiction. Eighteen rehab programs. Hundreds of thousands of dollars. All aimed at substance abuse.

What if the substances were never the core problem?

Psyc...

Nick Reiner was thirty-two years old. He lived in his parents' guest house. He received a ten-thousand-dollar monthly allowance. He hadn't held steady employment. His parents had funded eighteen trips to rehab, paid for seventy-thousand-dollar-a-month treatment facilities, and made a feature film together about his addiction struggles.

And then, according to prosecutors, he stabbed them to death in their bedroom.

This is a case about family dynamics as much as it is about crime. Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott joins True Crime Today to examine the Reiner family system — how it functioned, how it failed, and why lo...

The question haunting this case isn't what happened on December 14th. It's why no one could prevent it.

An LAPD insider told reporters there had been "quite a few calls for service" to Rob and Michele Reiner's Brentwood home over the years. A neighbor said Nick had been violent before. Nick himself admitted — on tape, in interviews and podcasts — to manipulating his parents and gaming every treatment program meant to help him. Seventeen rehab stints by age 22. Seventeen failures.

And the night before his parents were found dead, Rob Reiner reportedly looked at friends and said...

When Nick Reiner enters his plea on Tuesday, the legal battle over what happened in that Brentwood bedroom will officially begin. Two counts of first-degree murder. Special circumstances. A potential sentence of life without parole — or death.

His defense attorney, Alan Jackson, has made the strategy clear without saying it outright. Mental health will be the centerpiece of this case. Nick was diagnosed with schizophrenia. His medication was changed weeks before the killings. A sealed court order has already been signed regarding his psychiatric condition.

The insanity defense is coming. But California makes it extraordinarily di...

This is the story of enabling that didn't stop at death. Rob and Michele Reiner spent seventeen years trying to save their son Nick from addiction and mental illness. They paid for eighteen rehab programs. They hired private psychiatrists and therapists. They put him in a $70,000-per-month treatment facility. They gave him a $10,000 monthly allowance and let him live rent-free in their guest house. A law enforcement source says a conservatorship was in the works when they were killed.

None of it was enough. On December 14th, 2024, Rob and Michele were found stabbed to death in their...

When your adult child is severely mentally ill and refuses treatment, you get two choices. Let them go — and watch them die slowly on the streets. Or keep them close — and hope every day they don't hurt you.

Rob and Michele Reiner chose the second option. On December 14th, 2025, they were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood bedroom. Their son Nick has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

But this episode isn't about excusing Nick. It's about understanding how his parents got trapped — and why millions of other families are trapped right now.
Duration: 00:20:58

Nick Reiner is facing two counts of first-degree murder for allegedly stabbing his parents — legendary director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele — to death in their Brentwood home. His defense attorney is already signaling an insanity plea, pointing to schizophrenia and a medication change weeks before the killings. The narrative being built is that Nick was failed by a broken system.

But Nick's own words tell a different story.

On the Dopey podcast, Nick admitted to gaming rehab — staying sober just long enough to get out, then going right back to using. He described stealing OxyContin from a...

Two cases. Two different outcomes. One shared question the system still can’t answer.

In California, police say they moved quickly after Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were found stabbed to death — confident they had enough evidence to arrest their son, Nick Reiner, within hours. The legal fight now centers on schizophrenia, medication changes, and whether mental illness excuses violence.

In Kentucky, the opposite happened. Everyone saw Mickey Stines unravel — law enforcement, attorneys, medical professionals. But because he was an elected sheriff, no one had the legal authority to stop him. No red flag law. No sus...

Nick Reiner was diagnosed with schizophrenia years ago. He was in treatment. Expensive treatment. According to multiple reports, his medication was changed just weeks before his parents were stabbed to death. His defense attorney, Alan Jackson — fresh off a major acquittal in another high-profile case — is already calling this case “very complex.”

Translation: the insanity defense is coming.

But insanity is not a diagnosis — it’s a legal standard. In California, the question is narrow and brutal: did the defendant understand what he was doing, and did he know it was wrong?

In this episode, we...

By the time Romy Reiner walked into her parents’ Brentwood home Sunday afternoon, it was already over. Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner had been stabbed multiple times in their master bedroom. Their son, Nick Reiner, was gone. Investigators believe the killings happened hours earlier — giving Nick time to leave the house, check into a Santa Monica hotel, and eventually wander near USC, where he was arrested calmly at a gas station that night.

The murder weapon hasn’t been recovered. The hotel room Nick reportedly stayed in was partially cleaned before police arrived. And yet law enforcement says t...

Retired FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke, who ran the Bureau's Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program, joins us to analyze two cases that expose how predatory and crisis behavior escalates inside families while the people closest to it feel powerless to intervene.

First, the Nick Reiner case. The son of legendary director Rob Reiner now faces two counts of first-degree murder in the stabbing deaths of both his parents at their Brentwood home. Dreeke examines the disturbing timeline that emerged in the hours before the killings: erratic behavior at Conan O'Brien's holiday party, repetitive questioning of celebrities like Bill Hader...

Nick Reiner had access to the best psychiatric care money could buy. A $70,000-a-month facility. Doctors managing his schizophrenia. Parents who never gave up on him. And he allegedly threw it all away — choosing drugs over medication, manipulation over honesty, and ultimately violence over everything his family tried to give him.

For years, Rob Reiner publicly criticized the treatment industry. He said the experts were wrong. He said he should have listened to Nick instead of the people with diplomas on the wall. But here's the hard truth: the professionals were right. Nick was the one lying. Nick wa...

Where does accountability end and illness begin? That's the question at the center of the Nick Reiner case — and it's one a jury will have to answer.

Nick Reiner is facing two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances for allegedly stabbing his parents Rob and Michele Reiner to death in their Brentwood home. The death penalty is on the table. Their daughter reportedly found the bodies. Nick was arrested hours later near USC after reportedly checking into a Santa Monica hotel.

This isn't a simple case. Nick Reiner has a documented, two-decade history of severe ad...

Retired FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke joins us to analyze the behavioral red flags in the Nick Reiner case—the son of legendary director Rob Reiner who now faces two counts of first-degree murder in the stabbing deaths of both his parents.

In this exclusive interview, Dreeke examines the disturbing timeline that emerged in the hours before Rob and Michele Reiner were found dead in their Brentwood home: the erratic behavior at Conan O'Brien's star-studded holiday party, the repetitive questioning of celebrities like Bill Hader and Jane Fonda, the explosive public argument between father and son, and Nick's re...

Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were stabbed to death in their Brentwood home on December 14th, 2025. Their 32-year-old son Nick has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances — charges that carry the death penalty in California. Defense attorney Alan Jackson says there are "very complex and serious issues" in this case. The DA's office is asking the public not to rush to judgment.

So what's really going on here?

In this interview, defense attorney and former prosecutor Eric Faddis breaks down both sides of this case — how prosecutors will try to secu...

Nick Reiner's defense attorney Alan Jackson told reporters there are "very complex and serious issues" in this case and urged the public not to rush to judgment. That's not a throwaway line — it's a signal. But a signal of what?

In this interview, defense attorney and former prosecutor Eric Faddis breaks down the defense strategies most likely being developed right now behind closed doors. Nick Reiner has a documented, decades-long history of severe drug addiction. He entered rehab at 15. By 22, he'd been through 17 treatment programs. He's spoken publicly about methamphetamine, heroin, homelessness, and violent episodes while using — including dest...

Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home on December 14th, 2025. Their son Nick Reiner has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances — charges that carry the possibility of the death penalty in California.

In this interview, defense attorney and former prosecutor Eric Faddis breaks down exactly how the Los Angeles District Attorney's office will build their case against Nick Reiner. We examine the special circumstances allegation, the deadly weapon enhancement, and what prosecutors need to prove to secure a first-degree conviction.

We also discuss th...

Here's what no one wants to say out loud: Rob and Michele Reiner probably knew they were in danger. Friends say Michele had been confiding for months that Nick's mental health was deteriorating. Neighbors say there had been violent incidents before. The night before their deaths, Nick got into a screaming argument with his father at a Christmas party. Everyone saw the signs. No one could legally do anything about it.

In the United States, you cannot force a competent adult into treatment. You cannot commit someone because you believe they're dangerous. You have to wait until the...

Rob and Michele Reiner spent nearly two decades trying to save their son Nick from addiction. They sent him to rehab seventeen times. They let him live in their guesthouse. They made a movie together about his struggles. And when counselors warned them that Nick was lying and manipulating them, they eventually rejected that advice — publicly apologizing for ever believing the professionals over their own son.

Now Rob and Michele are dead, allegedly stabbed by Nick in their Brentwood home the night after a Christmas party where they'd asked the host if they could bring him just to ke...

Rob Reiner didn’t ignore his son’s struggles — he built a movie around them. He talked openly about the guilt, the missteps, the decades of trying. Michele carried the emotional weight of nearly 20 years of crisis. They were present, involved, and doing everything our system tells families to do.

And still, they were left defenseless.

In part two, former FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke explains the darkest truth: families are often fully aware someone is dangerous — but the law ties their hands. Parents cannot force an adult child into long-term treatment. They cannot limit their movement...

Rob and Michele Reiner spent eighteen years trying to save their son. Seventeen rehab facilities. A feature film about his addiction. A guest house on their property so they could watch over him. And still, on December 15th, 2025, they were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home. Nick Reiner, 32, has been charged with their murders.

This isn't a case about parents who didn't see it coming. It's about parents who saw it coming for nearly two decades and couldn't stop it.

Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott has spent thirty years working with families in crisis, perpetrators of...

Nick Reiner is in custody right now, accused of taking the lives of both of his parents inside their Brentwood home. The night before, witnesses say he got into a screaming confrontation with his father Rob Reiner at a holiday party. By Sunday afternoon, Rob and Michele Reiner were gone — reportedly discovered by their own daughter Romy.

Nick Reiner is 32 years old. He has been in and out of treatment programs since he was fifteen. He's experienced homelessness. He's struggled publicly with addiction and severe mental health issues for most of his adult life. His parents talked about it...

Rob Reiner was 78 years old. His wife Michele was 68. And on the last night of their lives, they brought their 32-year-old son Nick to a Christmas party at Conan O'Brien's house because they needed to "keep an eye on him."

That's not parenting. That's surveillance. That's what the mental health system in America leaves families with when their adult children are in crisis — no legal authority, no institutional support, no options. Just proximity. Just hoping your presence is enough to keep things from going sideways.

It wasn't. Less than 24 hours later, Rob and Michele were dead. Th...

Rob and Michele Reiner didn’t die because the red flags went unnoticed. They died because everyone noticed — and still couldn’t do a thing about it. The night before the murders, Nick and Rob had a public, explosive argument at Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party. Guests heard it. People saw it. And yet, 24 hours later, the worst happened anyway.

Why? Because in America, when an adult struggles with severe mental illness, addiction, and escalating instability, families have almost no authority to intervene unless the person voluntarily agrees to treatment — or commits an act of violence.

Former F...

Director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were found dead in their Brentwood, Los Angeles home on Sunday, December 14, 2025. Authorities are investigating the deaths as a double homicide. According to People Magazine, citing multiple sources, the couple's 32-year-old son Nick Reiner is allegedly responsible. Both victims reportedly suffered stab wounds. Their daughter Romy discovered the bodies.

Rob Reiner was 78. He won two Emmys playing "Meathead" on All in the Family before becoming one of Hollywood's most celebrated directors. His filmography includes This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery...

Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were found dead in their Brentwood home on Sunday, December 14, 2025. Both had their throats slit. Their daughter Romy discovered the bodies and immediately told police that a family member was responsible — and that he was "dangerous."

Hours later, their 32-year-old son Nick Reiner was arrested near USC and booked on suspicion of murder. He's now being held without bail.

But here's what makes this story even more disturbing: the night before the killings, Rob, Michele, and Nick attended a Christmas party at Conan O'Brien's house. Witnesses say Nick wa...