Nick Reiner has been indicted in the murders of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, in a stabbing attack inside the family’s Brentwood home last December.
Reiner was brought to a 13th floor courtroom at the Criminal Courts Building in downtown LA, to answer to the new charges, which will replace the original murder case filed in 2025. Reiner was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder with additional special circumstances allegations of lying in wait and use of a deadly weapon.
Special circumstances allegations can increase potential penalties in the sentencing phase of a trial.
His appointed defense attorney, LA deputy public defender Kimberly Greene, declined to comment following the arraignment.
The indictment also speeds the case toward a jury trial, bypassing the need for a public preliminary hearing, which had been expected to take place sometime in the fall. Reiner is scheduled to return for a pretrial hearing on Sept. 15 in Los Angeles.
Reiner was arrested Dec. 15, a day after his parents’ bodies were discovered in their bedroom.
The initial charges alleged he used a knife.
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.
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.
