Nick Reiner, the middle child of filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, photographer Michele Reiner, has been arrested in connection with the death of his parents, which occurred Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles, California. As the police explained at a press conference on Monday, he is suspected of murder and faces manslaughter charges. The 32-year-old man was initially given bail of four million dollars (3.4 million euros), but mid-morning the Los Angeles authorities confirmed his arrest and explained that he ultimately remains in police custody without bail.
The police have stated that “the Reiners were victims of a homicide,” and they suggest that their son Nick was responsible for it. On Tuesday the 16th his case will be presented to the prosecutor’s office. His arrest, according to Los Angeles Times y USA Todaytook place at a quarter past nine on Sunday night. However, the news was not announced until Monday morning. In fact, at nine o’clock on Sunday night, in a press conference, the police stated that no one had been arrested and that they were not pursuing any suspects.
Rob Reiner, 78 years old and well-known director of The princess bride y When Harry Met Sallyand his wife, Michele, 68, a photographer and videographer, were found in their home in Brentwood, a luxurious neighborhood in Los Angeles, on the afternoon of Sunday, December 14. They had been stabbed. Their young daughter, Romy, 28, found their bodies. The police have an open murder investigation and detectives have spent all night at the crime scene, on Chadbourne Avenue, west of Los Angeles.
Nick Reiner, born in September 1993, has dealt with addiction his entire life. Since he was little more than a child, he began using substances; At the age of 15 he already entered rehabilitation, where he went intermittently on up to 17 occasions. He moved away from his parents and lived on the streets in Texas, Maine or New Jersey for periods. For more than a decade, he was reconnected with his family. In fact, he wrote a book about his experience that his father transformed into an autobiographical film. Being Charlie, in 2015. On Sunday night, Los Angeles Times already claimed that detectives were investigating someone in the family in connection with the death, and the magazine People He quickly announced that his son had committed the crime, citing close sources.
According to several local media, the three, Rob, Michele and Nick, were together on Saturday at the Christmas party held in the city by actor and comedian Conan O’Brien, a family friend. In it, the two men had a high-pitched discussion, so much so that it made many of those present turn to listen to them. Shortly after, the couple left the party. In recent months, always according to the American media, Michele had told some of her closest friends about her concern for her middle son, his addiction and mental health problems.
Son of the famous comedy actor Carl Reiner, Rob was one of the best-known and most prolific directors of the eighties, nineties and two thousand, making titles that permeated popular culture, such as the aforementioned The princess bride y When Harry found Sally, but also adaptations of Stephen King such as Misery y count on meand many others like some good menGhosts of the Past, A Boy Called North, History of Ours, Now or Never, The President and Miss Wade or the mockumentary about rock Spinal Tap.
In addition, Reiner also developed a prolific career as an actor, thanks to his roles in both series and films. His career took off with his interpretation of hippie Michael Stivic in more than 180 episodes of the 1970s series All in familywhich made him a very popular face in the United States. He never left television, participating in series like The Simpsons, Frasier, Rockefeller Plaza and, the last, in The Bear, the award-winning series about Chicago kitchens. In cinema, he was present in almost a hundred titles, among which stand out Something to Remember, Bullets Over Broadway, The First Wives Club, The Wolf of Wall Street, Postcards from the Edge, Crazy Day o Primary Colors.
Rob and Michele Reiner married in 1989, after meeting on the set of When Harry met Sally. He had already been married, between 1971 and 1981, to the actress and director of the film Big Penny Marshall, whose daughter, Tracy, he adopted. Later, the couple had three children: Jake, 34, Nick, 32, and Romy, 28. This Monday, Tracy Reiner spoke briefly with NBC News and said: “I come from the best family that ever existed. I don’t know what to say. I’m in shock”.
The world of culture and politics has been turned upside down by the death of the Reiners, known for their cultural involvement but also for their activism, since they raised their voices and fought for children’s rights and also to achieve gay marriage in California. The Obamas have been “heartbroken,” and former Vice President Kamala Harris, California Governor Gavin Newsom (who assured that “his empathy extended far beyond his films”) and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have also had kind words for them. Maria Shriver, businesswoman and former first lady of California (ex-wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger) has stated that the couple was among her closest friends and that she hopes they will be remembered “as two talented, kind, fun, loving, good, patriotic people who loved each other deeply.”
In the world of cinema, condolences have come from actors such as Elijah Wood, John Cusack, Josh Gad, James Woods, Christopher Guest and Sean Astin, actor and president of the actors’ union. “Rob Reiner is one of the most important figures in the history of film and television. His impact on American culture is simply incalculable,” said the interpreter of the lord of the rings in a statement. Flowers have been placed on his star on the Walk of Fame, which he received in October 1999 along with his father’s.
One of the most controversial reactions has been that of the current president of the United States, Donald Trump, to whom Reiner was openly opposed. The president wrote on social media that the filmmaker and his partner died “due to the anger he provoked in others through his enormous, inflexible and incurable illness that paralyzes the mind: Trump Derangement Syndrome.” “He was known to have driven people crazy with his furious obsession with President Donald Trump,” the Republican noted, “as the Administration exceeded all goals and expectations of greatness and, with America’s Golden Age upon us, perhaps like never before.” And he sentenced: “May Rob and Michele rest in peace!”