Los Angeles prosecutors charged Nick Reiner, 32, with two counts of murder in the killings of his parents, filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner and photographer-producer Michele Singer Reiner, after the couple were found dead at their Brentwood home on Sunday, Dec. 14. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said the case includes a special-circumstance allegation of multiple murders and a special allegation that a knife was used, exposing Reiner to a potential sentence of life without parole or the death penalty if convicted.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the charges at a Tuesday news conference alongside LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell. McDonnell said Reiner is being held on $4 million bail. Authorities have not described a motive, and both officials declined to say if Reiner was under the influence of drugs or alcohol when arrested or whether he made statements to police.
Police said Reiner was arrested hours after the bodies were discovered, near the University of Southern California in the Exposition Park area, about 14 miles from the crime scene, and that he did not resist. Prosecutors said arraignment will be scheduled for a later date, after an initial appearance expected Tuesday was postponed.
Defense attorney Alan Jackson told reporters his client needed medical clearance before he could be transported to court, calling it a routine procedural step for people in custody. Hochman echoed that point, saying medical screening before court appearances is standard.
The charging decision lands against a complicated legal backdrop: capital punishment remains available under California law for certain special-circumstance murders, yet executions have been paused under a governor’s moratorium that has been in place since 2019. In the coming weeks, prosecutors will have to decide whether to pursue a death notice or proceed on a life-without-parole track as the case moves through arraignment and pretrial hearings.
