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Topics: Celebrity, Crime, Entertainment, News, TV And Film, US News, World News
Madison Burgess
Topics: Celebrity, Crime, Entertainment, News, TV And Film, US News, World News
Nick Reiner has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder after the deaths of his parents, actor and director Rob and his photographer wife, Michele.
The couple were found dead in their Los Angeles home on Sunday (14 December).
Reiner, 78, was a beloved Hollywood director who was behind some of the most well-known movies of the 1980s and 1990s, such as 1992's A Few Good Men and 1989 rom-com When Harry Met Sally, where he met Michele, with whom he tied the knot in 1989.
The news of their shock deaths has shaken Hollywood, with many paying their respects and sharing their disbelief online.
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For several hours in the aftermath of the tragedy, there was no public confirmation of what happened, including a suspect or motive. Officers said they were speaking to family members and others connected to the couple.
But then, Nick Reiner, the famous couple's 32-year-old son, was arrested on Sunday night, and it was reported he was being held without bail after being 'booked for murder'. Specifically, he is facing two counts of first-degree murder, ‘with a special circumstance of multiple murders,' which relates to the fact that there were two murders. These charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, or the death penalty.
Los Angeles district attorney Nathan Hochman said no decision had been made on whether to seek the death penalty in the case, but they will take the ‘thoughts and desires of the family into consideration’.
It's been revealed that he was arrested around 14 miles from the scene and taken into custody.
The screenwriter has not entered a plea and did not appear in court on Tuesday (16 December) as expected because of unspecified health reasons, according to his lawyer Alan Jackson, reports PA.
He is expected to appear before a judge on Wednesday.
Hochman said: "Their loss is beyond tragic and we will commit ourselves to bringing their murderer to justice."
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."
As per Metro, the prosecutor also told press that the crime was believed to have been committed with a knife.
Before being brought to court, Nick must receive ‘medical clearance’, which Hochman explained is standard procedure.
Nick Reiner is the 32-year-old son of Rob and Michele arrested on suspicion of murdering his parents.
The Hollywood couple also share two more children together - Romy, 28, and Jake, 34, while Rob was also previously married to actor-director Penny Marshall from 1971 to 1981 and adopted her daughter, Tracy Reiner, 61.
Nick is a screenwriter who worked with his father on the 2016 film Being Charlie, which was loosely inspired on Nick’s experience of addiction and attending rehab. The movie, which he co-wrote, was directed by his dad and follows the son of a US governor, Charlie, played by Nick Robinson, as he battles with drug abuse.
In a previous interview with PEOPLE Magazine, Nick explained that the film was not about him, but he had experienced parts of the story himself, including going to rehab throughout his teenage years and his own experiences of homelessness and spending 'weeks' on the streets for refusing to return to a rehab facility.
We know that police were called to the couple’s Brentwood property on Sunday afternoon, where both of them were pronounced dead at the scene.
The Los Angeles Fire Department initially said it responded to a medical aid request shortly after 3.30pm on Sunday and found a 78-year-old man and 68-year-old woman dead inside.
At first, authorities didn't confirm the identities of the couple, just that they were 'investigating an apparent homicide'.
A spokesperson for the Reiner family confirmed the deaths in a statement, which read: "It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner. We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time."
The couple are reported to have been found with stab wounds, although their official cause of death it yet to be revealed.