Nick Reiner, 32, was arrested for the murder of his parents, famed director Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 70, on Sunday night and is set to be charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
Rob and Nick Reiner got into a terrible argument at a holiday party at talk show host Conan O’Brien’s home Saturday evening, according to other party guests, who said Nick was acting strangely. Some of the guests suggested calling 911, so Nick could be taken for a psych evaluation and held for 72 hours, but Conan refused, saying, "It’s my house, my party, I’m not calling the police," and he talked them out of calling for help.
Rob and Michele were stabbed to death in their home on Sunday afternoon. Nick's hotel room at the Pierside Santa Monica, where he had checked in hours after his argument with his father, was found covered in blood, including the shower and the bed. He had covered the windows in his room with bed sheets. Sources told TMZ that Nick seemed "tweaked out" when he arrived at the hotel.
Prior to that, he had been living in a guest house on his parents' property. Nick had struggled with addiction for years and had been in and out of rehab. He and friend Matt Elisofon, who also had struggled with addiction, wrote a screenplay about Nick's struggles, titled Being Charlie, which was directed by Rob Reiner. They promoted it at TIFF and came to our TIFF lounge to talk about it.
Cinematographer Barry Markowitz, who was a close friend of Rob's, told Page Six that Rob and Michele “never, ever, ever” gave up on Nick during his years-long battle with drug addiction.
“They gave him everything; they tried a million things with him… Not giving him money but sending him to top-of-the-line places,” he verified, referencing Nick’s multiple stints in rehab.
“Rob never gave up. He tried everything. If you knew Rob, he was just a bundle of love.”
Nick Reiner will first need to be medically cleared before he can appear in court to face two charges of first-degree murder. Watch our interview above with Nick Reiner and co-writer Matt Elisofon at TIFF about their 2016 movie Being Charlie, based on Nick's life. ~Alexandra Heilbron