Nick Reiner has been charged with the murders of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said at a press conference yesterday (December 16) that the 32-year-old would be charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a special allegation that he used a knife (via People).
Rob and Michele were found dead at home in Los Angeles on Sunday (December 14), with sources claiming that they had been stabbed to death and were found by their daughter, Romy. The Los Angeles Police Department said at the time that their deaths were being investigated as a homicide.
A number of hours after his parents died, Nick was arrested without incident in connection with the murders, and he was booked on suspicion of murder the following morning, being held without bail at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility.
He was expected to make a first court appearance yesterday, but wasn’t transported from jail with his attorney telling reporters that he wasn’t “medically cleared” to be taken to court.
Per Hochman, the charges carry a maximum sentence of life without parole or the death penalty. He added: “Prosecuting these cases involving family members are some of the most challenging and most heart-wrenching cases that this office faces because of the intimate and often brutal nature of the crimes involved.”
The charges include the “special circumstance” of multiple murders, which could make the crime eligible for the death penalty. The District Attorney’s office will decide further down the line whether to go after a death sentence.
It was also reported that Rob and Nick “got in a big fight” at a party hosted by Conan O’Brien the night before the murders. A source told People that “Nick was freaking everyone out, acting crazy, kept asking people if they were famous,” while TMZ claimed that Rob and Michele left the party following the argument.
Nick had previously been open about his struggles with addiction and homelessness, co-writing the film Being Charlie, directed by his father, which was loosely based on his experiences.
Though they confirmed the project wasn’t autobiographical, Rob said in a 2016 interview on BUILD Series that the movie brought them “closer together” and “forced me to see more clearly, and understand more deeply, what Nick had gone through”.
Nick went on to tell People about his sobriety, and the two appeared together most recently at the red carpet for Rob’s 2025 film Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. That film was the long-awaited follow-up to the cult classic 1984 with much-loved mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, which was Reiner’s directorial debut.
Other films of his included Stand by Me (1986), The Princess Bride (1987), When Harry Met Sally (1989), Misery (1990), and the Oscar-nominated A Few Good Men (1992).
Since news broke of their deaths, countless tributes have poured in for Rob and Michele Reiner, including from Stephen King, who said that he was “horrified and saddened” by the news, and described the director as a “wonderful friend, political ally, and brilliant filmmaker”.
I’m horrified and saddened by the death of Rob Reiner and Michele. Wonderful friend, political ally, and brilliant filmmaker (including 2 of mine). Rest in peace, Rob. You always stood by me.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) December 15, 2025
Paul McCartney also shared an image of himself and Rob together, and wrote: “What a tragedy the death of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, is. It is so shocking in many ways but for me especially so, because over the last year I had been working with him. He directed me in Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.”
Yo La Tengo also paid tribute to Reiner with a cover of ‘Gimme Some Money’ from This Is Spinal Tap at their Hanukkah show on Monday. Vocalist Ira Kaplan told the crowd at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom: “Because we’re gonna salute a Jewish songwriter we were not expecting to be saluting this Hanukkah, and we certainly weren’t expecting to be memorialising him. So we’re gonna try to do a song and see how this goes.”
Donald Trump, meanwhile, launched a personal attack on the Stand By Me Director, and put forward false claims that his murder was brought about by his “obsession” with criticising him.
“Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS,” the President’s post said.
“He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before.”
Famous figures, including Jack White, Josh Gad, Whoopi Goldberg and Gracie Abrams came forward to criticise the president for his comments. Jimmy Kimmel also highlighted Trump’s comments on his show, saying: “Just when you think he can’t go any lower, he somehow finds a way to do that.”
Trump then repeated and defended his criticism, describing Reiner as “very bad for our country,” and a “deranged person”, adding: “I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all, in any way, shape or form.”