LOS ANGELES — A grand jury indictment unsealed Aug. 12 by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charges Nick Reiner with murdering his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, and adds a lying-in-wait allegation that could expose him to life in prison without parole or the death penalty if convicted.
The District Attorney’s Office said, “Nick Reiner pleaded not guilty to the two counts of murder with the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder by means of lying in wait.” Additional allegations include the use of a knife as a deadly weapon.
Rob and Michele Reiner were found stabbed to death Dec. 14 in their home in Brentwood, California. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, as cited by USA Today, the couple died from “multiple sharp force injuries.”
Twelve hours later, their 32-year-old son, Nick, was found and arrested in Exposition Park, according to the Los Angeles Times. He was charged with two counts of murder Dec. 16, 2025.
The grand jury began proceedings after Nick Reiner’s Dec. 23 arraignment. Evidence and witness accounts are not public because grand jury proceedings are closed to the public.
With the return of the indictment July 20, the grand jury added an allegation of lying in wait to Nick Reiner’s charges. This is a special circumstance that allows for a sentence of life without parole or the death penalty.
Speaking about the alleged murders, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said, “This was a profound betrayal by someone who was loved and trusted by the very people he is accused of killing.”
Hochman was referring to Rob and Michele Reiner, who were well-known Hollywood creatives and known to collaborate on the romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally” (1989). Rob Reiner directed other hit movies, such as “The Princess Bride” (1987), “Stand by Me” (1986) and “This Is Spinal Tap” (1984).
Michele Singer Reiner began working as a photographer — taking the photo for Donald Trump’s “The Art of the Deal” cover — and then produced the movies “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues” (2025) and “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” (2023).
In 2015, Rob and Nick Reiner co-wrote “Being Charlie,” a film that NBC Los Angeles credits as being loosely based on “Nick’s experience with addiction and homelessness.” In a 2016 interview with People magazine, he spoke about being homeless: “I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It was not fun.”
Now, the Los Angeles Times says that although Nick Reiner has spoken about mental health and addiction, “a motive in the slayings has not been made public.”
On June 8, 2026, Reiner requested access to a trust fund in his name to pay for legal services. The trust outlined $1.5 million to be released to Nick Reiner at age 30 and $1.5 million at age 35. According to NBC News, this trust had “unambiguous instructions.”
The 140-page request by Reiner’s defense has yet to be decided. Judge Ruben Garcia ordered limited media coverage at this hearing, as reported by NBC Los Angeles: “There is to be no recording, photography or broadcast of any kind with this or any device.”
Hochman stated that the office “hopes 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.”
Nick Reiner’s pretrial hearing is set for Sept. 15 at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles. If convicted, the District Attorney’s Office states that Reiner “faces death or life in state prison without the possibility of parole.”
The office further disclosed that the decision on whether to seek the death penalty “will be made at a later date.”
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