Los Angeles, December 15: The son of Hollywood actor and filmmaker Rob Reiner has been jailed on suspicion of murdering his parents after the couple were found dead at their Los Angeles home over the weekend, police said on Monday.
Nick Reiner, 32, was taken into custody on Sunday night and booked for murder, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement. He was being held in county jail without bail. Homicide detectives were expected to present the case to the county district attorney’s office on Tuesday to determine whether formal charges will be filed.
Police said their investigation determined that Rob Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele, 70, were victims of homicide and that their son was responsible for their deaths. The couple were found slain at their residence in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood on Sunday afternoon.
Local media, including the Los Angeles Times and celebrity news website TMZ.com, reported that the Reiners’ daughter was the first to discover their bodies.
Nick Reiner has spoken publicly for years about his struggles with drug addiction and periods of homelessness, including multiple stints in rehabilitation facilities. In a 2016 interview with People magazine, he said he first entered rehab at age 15 and later underwent treatment at least 17 times.
Those experiences inspired the 2016 film Being Charlie, which was co-written by Nick Reiner and his father. “It was the most personal thing I’ve ever been involved in,” Rob Reiner told podcaster Marc Maron at the time.
Local media also reported that Nick Reiner had been seen arguing with his parents on Saturday night at a holiday party hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien.
Tributes poured in for Rob Reiner, a prominent figure in Hollywood for decades. “He has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement.
Reiner was best known as an actor for his role as Mike “Meathead” Stivic on the 1970s television sitcom All in the Family, which earned him two Emmy Awards. He went on to a prolific directing career, beginning with the 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, which became a cult classic.
He later directed a string of widely acclaimed films, including Stand by Me (1986), The Princess Bride (1987), When Harry Met Sally (1989), Misery (1990) and A Few Good Men (1992). Earlier this year, he promoted a sequel, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.
Michele Reiner was a photographer who once captured the image of U.S. President Donald Trump that appeared on the cover of his book Trump: The Art of the Deal. Rob Reiner, the son of late comedy writer and actor Carl Reiner, was also active in Democratic politics and progressive causes, including campaigning against a 2008 California ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage.
Following the deaths, Trump posted on social media, without evidence, that the killings were “reportedly due to the anger he caused others” through what he described as “TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”
Rob Reiner was previously married to actress and director Penny Marshall and had three children with Michele Reiner.
