Harrowing details about how exactly Rob and Michele Reiner’s bodies were found have emerged.
Holywood director Rob Reiner and his producer wife Michele Singer Reiner were expected to join Barack and Michelle Obama for dinner last Sunday, but tragically, they never arrived, and their shocking deaths have rocked Los Angeles.
The couple, who first met on set while Rob directed the 1989 hit ‘ When Harry Met Sally’, had attended Conan O’Brien’s star-studded Christmas party the night before, accompanied by their troubled son Nick Reiner.
Guests reportedly saw a heated argument between the trio, allegedly over Nick’s drug use and refusal to seek treatment. After the row, Rob, 78, and Michele, 68, left the party.
Just hours later, both were dead. Nick, 32, has been charged with their double murder, ending the lives of a couple who once seemed straight out of a rom-com.
Now, details have emerged about how the couple was discovered. Rob and Michele had scheduled a massage at their Brentwood mansion the afternoon before their planned dinner. When the therapist received no response, they reportedly contacted daughter Romy Reiner, who lives nearby, reports the Mirror.
Romy arrived with a housemate and walked into a crime scene. After seeing her father’s body, she “fled,” according to The New York Times. Heartbreakingly, she did not immediately realise her mother was also dead. A paramedic broke the second piece of devastating news, a source told the outlet.
Police quickly launched an investigation. Officers arrested Nick that night, and detectives “immediately” began “a comprehensive investigation,” LA Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said.
“This case is heartbreaking and deeply personal, not only for the Reiner family and their loved ones, but for our entire city. We extend our deepest condolences to all of those who are affected by this tragedy,” McDonnell added.
A medical examiner ruled the Reiners died from “multiple sharp force injuries,” with a source telling the Daily Mail that their “throats were slit in bed.”
During a press conference, LA officials confirmed Nick has been charged with murdering his parents. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said no decision has yet been made about the death penalty.
Hochman said: “I’m here to announce that our office will be filing charges against Nick Reiner accused of killing his parents. These charges will be two counts of first degree murder with a special circumstance of multiple murders. He also faces a special allegation that he personally used a dangerous and deadly weapon, that being a knife.
“These charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. No decision at this point has been made with respect to the death penalty. Nick Reiner is being held without bail. I want to announce these are just charges. Charges are not evidence. Evidence is something that will be presenting in a court of law.”
Nick appeared in court for the first time on Wednesday, uttering just three words when asked if he understood his right to a speedy trial: “Yes, your honour.” He waived his right to enter a plea and appeared shirtless, in shackles, and wearing what appeared to be a suicide prevention vest.
Outside the courthouse, his lawyer Alan Jackson said there were “complex and serious issues” and urged the public not to “rush to judgement,” noting that “nothing substantive has happened in the case as of yet.”
Following the hearing, Rob’s children Romy and Jake spoke out in a joint statement: “Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day.
“The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience. They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends.
“We are grateful for the outpouring of condolences, kindness, and support we have received not only from family and friends but people from all walks of life. We now ask for respect and privacy, for speculation to be tempered with compassion and humanity, and for our parents to be remembered for the incredible lives they lived and the love they gave.”
