A man on death row in Texas has revealed the poignant final communications he shared with Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele, in the days surrounding their violent deaths last December.
A Friendship Forged Behind Bars
Nanon Williams, 51, told NBC News he first connected with the Reiners in 2016 after they saw a one-man presentation he wrote called Lyrics From Lockdown. The performance, which explores themes of race and the penal system, moved the couple deeply. Williams has been incarcerated since the age of 17, serving over 34 years for a murder conviction he continues to deny.
From that initial contact, a profound bond developed. The Reiners emailed Williams "almost daily" for more than nine years and had even offered him a place to live should he ever be released. Their daughter, Romy, confirmed to NBC that Williams "became like family" to her parents.
The Final Messages
Williams, who is held at the W.F. Ramsey Unit in Brazoria County, said he received an email from Michele in the hours before she was killed on December 14. Due to security delays in the prison's email system, he did not read it until days after her death.
Upon learning of the murders via a prison-issued tablet, Williams sent a desperate message to Michele: "Please, this can't be true. Please tell me the news is lying." He subsequently received three emails from the couple's account, the last timestamped at 5:26 p.m. PST on December 13, the night before they died.
The final email from Michele described a Los Angeles performance of Lyrics From Lockdown attended by the couple, their daughter, and family friends Billy and Janice Crystal just two days prior. Michele wrote that both she and Billy Crystal, Rob's longtime collaborator, found the show "amazing" and told Williams, "We all said that we can't wait to watch it with you."
A Bond Beyond Publicity
Williams stressed that the Reiners' support for him, which included efforts to have his conviction overturned, was never for show. "Rob and Michele didn’t want credit for trying to help me," he said. "It was just because they loved me." He admitted that after more than three decades in prison, he was initially unaware of Rob Reiner's fame in Hollywood.
Reflecting on their distinct personalities, Williams noted, "The more they learned the more pissed off Rob became, and the more loving Michele became. Michele was my heart." He described the couple as "an integral part of my life" who had fundamentally become a part of him.
The Reiners' son, Nick, has been charged in connection with their deaths.
