Reiners’ son Jake speaks out about parents’ deaths

LOS ANGELES (KESQ) - The eldest child of Rob and Michele Reiner wrote in an online post today that he is still in a "living nightmare'' following the deaths of his parents, allegedly at the hands of his brother Nick, in the family's Brentwood home.

"My world, as I knew it, had collapsed. I was in a trance,'' Jake Reiner posted on Substack, describing the day he found out his parents had been killed. "The only thing I could focus on was that I needed to get to my childhood home. I needed to get to my sister. I needed to figure out what the hell just happened." 

Jake Reiner said he was at Union Station attending a celebration of life for a close friend on Dec. 14, 2025, when his 29-year-old sister Romy called to tell him his father was dead.

"Minutes later, she called back telling me our mother was also dead,'' the 34-year-old wrote.

Nick Reiner, 32, who remains jailed without bail, has pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charges against him. He is set to return to court Wednesday, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for him to stand trial.

Nick Reiner was charged Dec. 16 with two counts of murder in connection with the slayings of his 78-year-old father and 70-year-old mother, who were found dead about 3:30 p.m. Dec. 14 in the couple's Brentwood home in the 200 block of Chadbourne Avenue between Sunset and San Vicente boulevards.

The murder charges include the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, opening him to a possible death sentence if prosecutors choose to pursue capital punishment. He is also facing an allegation that he personally used a deadly weapon -- a knife.

The L.A. County Office of Medical Examiner classified the couple's deaths as homicides, with both dying from ``multiple sharp force injuries.''   

The death certificates noted they were killed ``with knife, by another.''   

Nick Reiner was arrested by Los Angeles police in the Exposition Park area near USC less than six hours after his parents' bodies were discovered. He remains behind bars without bail.

"I was robbed of so many things that day,'' Jake Reiner wrote in his Substack essay, which was accompanied by a photo of his parents holding him when he was a baby. "My parents won't be at my wedding, they won't get to hold their future grandchild, and they won't get to see me have the successful career I'm still seeking. It simultaneously breaks my heart and enrages me."  

He said nothing can prepare someone for losing both parents at the same time.

"It's too devastating to comprehend,'' he wrote. "I still wake up every morning having to convince myself that, no, it's not a dream. This truly is my living nightmare."  

Rob Reiner was best known for his iconic role as Archie Bunker's liberal son-in-law Michael ``Meathead'' Stivic on the classic sitcom ``All in the Family'' -- a role for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards, along with being the director of films including ``Stand By Me,'' ``The Princess Bride,'

"A Few Good Men,'' ``Misery,'' ``This Is Spinal Tap'' and ``When Harry Met Sally.''  

According to multiple reports, the couple's 28-year-old daughter discovered her father's body. One report suggested that a massage therapist had shown up at the couple's home for a pre-scheduled appointment but got no answer at the door and contacted their daughter, who went inside the home and found Rob Reiner slain. She contacted authorities, who subsequently found Michele Reiner's body in the house.  

Rob and Michele Reiner, along with Nick, attended talk-show host Conan O'Brien's Christmas party the night before, and sources said Rob Reiner and his son got into a heated argument over his son's odd behavior at the event. Rob and Michele Reiner wound up leaving the event, but it was unclear when Nick Reiner left. TMZ reported that Nick Reiner checked into a Santa Monica hotel around 4 a.m. the next day, and that blood was later found in the room.   

It was reported in December that Nick Reiner had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was taking medications that made him ``erratic and dangerous.'' 

Citing two sources with knowledge of the situation, TMZ reported that he had been under the care of a psychiatrist for mental illness, but that his behavior had grown more alarming in recent weeks.

Nick Reiner has been open about his struggles with drug abuse over the years, even working with his father to produce a 2015 semi-autobiographical movie titled ``Being Charlie,'' based on Nick's drug addiction issues and the family's struggles to cope.

In media interviews and podcast appearances, he previously described being in and out of rehab programs throughout his teen years, and spending time homeless in various states, including Texas, New Jersey and Maine. He also described an instance when he was high on cocaine for multiple days and trashed his parents' guest house.

Rob Reiner -- who was married for 10 years to actress/director Penny Marshall before they divorced in 1981 -- married Michele Singer in 1989 after meeting her while he was directing ``When Harry Met Sally.'' Reiner often told the story about how his romance with Singer led him to change the ending to the movie -- with the characters played by Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan reuniting rather than going their separate ways.   

Rob Reiner was a vocal Democratic Party activist, helping to spearhead efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in California and to pass a 1998 initiative that created the First 5 California childhood development services program, funded by a tobacco tax.