Nick Reiner Won’t Face Death Penalty If Convicted at Trial, L.A. District Attorney Says

Reiner is facing two counts of murder for the stabbing deaths of his parents, the director Rob Reiner and photographer-philanthropist Michele Reiner

Nick Reiner will not face the death penalty if convicted at trial, Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Tuesday.

A grand jury indicted Reiner on two counts of murder for the stabbing deaths of his parents, the celebrated Hollywood director Rob Reiner and photographer-philanthropist Michele Reiner, last December in the family’s Brentwood home.

The indictment, returned July 20 but unsealed last month. alleged murder by means of lying in wait. Reiner also faces a special allegation that he personally used a dangerous and deadly weapon, a knife.

“This was a profound betrayal by someone who was loved and trusted by the very people he is accused of killing,” L.A. County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said. “We hope 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.”

The night before Rob and Michele were found dead, they attended a holiday party at comedian Conan O’Brien’s home attended by a host of A-list names, including close Reiner family friend Billy Crystal. Sources previously told Rolling Stone that Nick Reiner attended the party with his parents and appeared to exhibit antisocial behavior.

Nick was arrested Dec. 14, 2025, just hours after his parents’ bodies were found dead in the primary bedroom of their home in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, police said. Rob Reiner, who acted in the groundbreaking sitcom All in the Family before directing the hit movies This Is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, and The Princess Bride, and Michele Reiner, who met her husband on the set of his classic comedy When Harry Met Sally, died from “multiple sharp force injuries,” the county medical examiner said. Nick was initially charged with two counts of first-degree murder, with prosecutors identifying the alleged murder weapon as a knife.

After the slayings, Nick’s struggles with mental health and drug addiction made headlines. Four days after the arrest, sources confirmed to Rolling Stone that Nick had been treated for schizophrenia before the shocking double homicide. A source later told The New York Times that Nick also had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a condition that combines psychotic symptoms, like schizophrenia, with mood issues, such as depression or mania.

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Sources reportedly told The Times that Nick had been placed in a confidential conservatorship in 2020. The newspaper further reported Nick had been on psychiatric medication as part of his treatment and that the medication appeared to be working, but that side effects led him to switch to something different about a month before his parents were killed.

A spokesperson for Nick’s sister and brother said the family had no immediate comment on the indictment Wednesday.