NICK Reiner has been indicted in the deaths of his parents after they were found fatally stabbed in their family home in December.
Nick, 32, previously pleaded not guilty to the murders of his film director dad Rob Reiner and his mother Michele, but a newly unsealed indictment reveals an additional allegation.
Rob and Michele were found with their throats slashed on December 14 inside of their Los Angeles home.
Nick, the couple’s youngest son, was indicted by a grand jury on the updated murder charges, replacing the initial charges filed against him in 2025.
He has since pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder with special circumstances allegations of lying in wait and personally using a knife, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The indictment was returned on July 20 and unsealed on Wednesday after Nick entered his plea.
The new lying in wait allegation carries the possibility of a life sentence without parole or the death penalty.
The indictment allows prosecutors to speed up the process for Nick’s case to go to trial, avoid a preliminary hearing and avoid witnesses testifying about the circumstances and Nick’s history.
“This was a profound betrayal by someone who was loved and trusted by the very people he is accused of killing,” said Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman.
“We hope that by having a grand jury return an indictment in this case it will bring us one step closer to a trial and achieving justice.”
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Rob and Michele attended a holiday party hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien with Nick on December 13, and later got into a heated argument with their son.
Their daughter Romy found them dead inside their home on December 14 around 3:30pm PST.
Nick, who has a history of substance abuse and mental illness, was arrested later that night and has since been held inside the Twin Towers jail in California.
His arraignment in January was postponed after his star lawyer Alan Jackson, who represented Karen Read, withdrew from the case abruptly, saying he had “no choice” but to leave.
Nick is scheduled to appear in court on September 15.
Prosecutors have not yet decided whether they will seek the death penalty in his case.
A family friend told The U.S. Sun that Nick’s siblings Jake and Romy want him to avoid the death penalty.
“Rob & Michele’s family, despite everything, do not want Nick to get the death penalty, as they insist this horrific incident was the byproduct of a mental health crisis,” the insider said.
Jake released a lengthy Substack post in April titled “Mom and Dad,” where he revealed the moment he learned of his parents’ deaths.
“It was at that moment I received a call from my sister Romy telling me our father was dead,” the 34-year-old wrote.
“Minutes later, she called back telling me our mother was also dead.”
Jake took an “unendurable” 45-minute Lyft ride to his parents’ home, writing in his Substack post, “My world, as I knew it, had collapsed.”
Timeline of Rob and Michele Reiner’s death
Rob Reiner and his wife of Michele Singer Reiner were found dead in their Los Angeles home on December 14, 2025.
Timeline:
- December 13, 2025: Reiner and his wife Michele attended a holiday party on the evening of December 13 with their son, Nick.
- Sources conveyed to The U.S. Sun that the couple and their son were engaged in a heated public argument while at the event.
- December 14, 2025: Reiner and Michele were found dead in their Brentwood home in Los Angeles at around 3:30 pm PST.
- The couple’s daughter, Romy, reportedly discovered her parents’ bodies.
- Online police records show Reiner and Michele’s 32-year-old son, Nick, was arrested at 9:15 pm PST on December 14.
- December 15, 2025: Authorities in Los Angeles announce that Nick Reiner was arrested and charged with murder.
- Nick was booked into a Los Angeles jail at 5:04 am and was being held on $4 million bail, which was later revoked.
- December 16, 2025: Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman formally charged Nick Reiner with two counts of first-degree murder.
- Hochman said his office would consider the death penalty in Nick’s case.
- Nick’s scheduled court appearance on December 16 was postponed due to what his attorney said was a procedural issue.
- December 17, 2025: Nick Reiner briefly appeared in court. A plea was not entered.
- December 23, 2025: The death certificates of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner disclosed that the couple died of multiple sharp force injuries caused with “a knife, by another.”
Jake did not name Nick in his writing, referring to him only as his “brother.”
“We lost more than half of our family that night in the most violent way imaginable,” Jake said.
“Sure, any loss of a parent is devastating, but nothing compares to losing both of them at the same time and, on top of that, having your brother be at the center of it.”
Rob was a famous Hollywood filmmaker, known for directing films like The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally.
He famously rewrote the ending of When Harry Met Sally after meeting his wife.
Nick and Rob worked together to create the film Being Charlie in 2015, with characters that thinly resembled versions of the father and son.
The film explored how drugs could harm a relationship between a successful actor and his son.
Jake remembered his mother as “the engine, the backbone, and the heart of our entire family,” in his Substack post.
“My dad is my hero. I love how he would analyze my dreams or how I felt I could come talk to him about anything. No subject was ever off-limits,” Jake said of his father.
“He was authentic, passionate, and his sense of humor has always been my sense of humor.”