Nick Reiner, 32, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the stabbing deaths of his parents, acclaimed director Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Singer Reiner. The plea was entered by his new attorney, public defender Kimberly Greene, during an arraignment at a Los Angeles court on Monday.
Reiner appeared in court behind glass, wearing brown jail clothes, a change from the suicide prevention smock he wore during a previous appearance in December. He has been held without bail since his arrest on 14 December, when his parents' bodies were discovered in their Los Angeles home by their daughter. The couple died from multiple sharp force injuries, according to the LA County medical examiner.
The case is eligible for the death penalty, but Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman said his office has not yet decided whether to seek it. “We will be looking at all aggravating and mitigating circumstances,” Hochman told reporters after the arraignment. The district attorney's office is still awaiting a full autopsy report.
Reiner's former attorney, Alan Jackson, withdrew from the case last month, citing circumstances beyond his control that made it “impossible to continue our representation”. Jackson had previously urged the public not to rush to judgment, stating that “Nick Reiner is not guilty of murder”.
Reiner has a documented history of struggles with addiction and mental illness, and was under a conservatorship in 2020 due to mental health issues. He had reportedly been prescribed medication for schizophrenia before the killings, and his behaviour had become increasingly erratic. The night before the bodies were found, Rob and Nick Reiner were heard arguing at a Christmas party hosted by comedian Conan O'Brien.
O'Brien described the couple as “lovely people” and expressed shock at their deaths. “And to have that experience of saying goodnight to somebody and having them leave and then find out the next day that they're gone … it's just so awful,” he told the New Yorker.
