What we know about the hours before and after Rob and Michele Reiner’s deaths

By Chelsea Bailey, CNN

(CNN) — In the hours after police discovered the bodies of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner inside their Brentwood, California, home, speculation was rife over what could have led someone to murder the beloved Hollywood director and his other half, a charismatic photographer and producer.

That speculation reached a fever pitch when it became clear authorities suspected the Reiners’ middle son, Nick, of killing his parents – and was further fueled by rampant interest in his past struggles with addiction.

On Wednesday, three days after his parents were found dead, Nick Reiner stood before a judge in a Los Angeles courtroom, accused of their murders.

The 32-year-old has been charged with fatally stabbing his parents in the early morning hours Sunday.

And his appearance in court, while brief, marked the first time Nick Reiner spoke publicly about the incident. He only said three words:

“Yes, your honor,” he said, acknowledging he was willing to waive his right to a speedy arraignment on the murder charges.

If convicted, he could face life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.

The Los Angeles Police Department and the city’s district attorney’s office have declined to share many details about the case as the investigation continues. But what sources have revealed to CNN paints a fragmented and fraught picture of the hours before and immediately after the Reiners’ murders.

A Christmas tradition turned tragic

By all accounts, Conan O’Brien’s annual Christmas Party is attended by a veritable who’s who of comedy legends.

Adam Sandler – O’Brien’s neighbor – has joked he looks forward to the gathering every year because of the ham. Bill Hader once regaled O’Brien’s TV audience with a tale of a Christmas “inferno” after a wayward flame ignited an outdoor couch.

Tom Hanks has been known to stop by, as has comedian Martin Short.

Rob Reiner – who had long cemented his place among Hollywood’s comedy set with his affable nature and signature observational humor – fit right in at O’Brien’s festivities Saturday night.

But, according to a source familiar with the incident, the holiday cheer that typically forms the soundtrack to the celebration was ruptured when an argument broke out between Rob Reiner and his son.

The source did not share details of the argument, but they said Rob Reiner’s wife, Michele, had also attended the party.

Nick Reiner drew the attention of some partygoers earlier in the evening because of his scruffy appearance and how little he engaged with the other attendees, another source told CNN.

That partygoer recalled seeing Nick Reiner standing alone by the firepit, smoking a cigarette and speaking to no one. At a party where most guests were dressed up, the source told CNN, he was dressed casually in a hoodie, hat and jeans.

Investigators are now zeroing in on the critical hours between when the Reiners left the holiday gathering and when their bodies were discovered the following afternoon.

A daughter’s grim discovery

Romy Reiner lives across the street from her parents’ home. The 27-year-old went to check on her mom and dad around 3 p.m. Sunday, according to an individual close to the situation.

That’s when she discovered their bodies, the source said.

Romy Reiner fled the home, found a friend, and asked them to call 911, a source familiar with the incident told CNN. LAPD officers arrived at the house in Brentwood around 3:40 p.m., where the bodies were discovered in their bedroom.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said the Reiners were fatally stabbed, and a report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office cited their cause of death as “multiple sharp force injuries.”

Through interviews with the Reiners’ surviving family members, detectives learned that Nick Reiner had been staying in the guest house on his parents’ property, a source told CNN.

Detectives were also told about Nick Reiner’s history of drug addiction – a topic he’s been open about – and the argument at the Christmas party the previous night, the source said.

Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner’s deaths were declared a homicide, and investigators soon began searching for their son.

Cameras capture Reiner’s arrest

According to a gas station employee, around 8:20 p.m. on Sunday evening, surveillance video captured Nick Reiner ambling across an ARCO gas station parking lot near the University of Southern California – nearly 15 miles from his family’s home.

He appeared to be wearing a baseball cap, jeans and a jacket, and as he entered the store, he was carrying a red backpack slung over one shoulder.

Inside, he begins to make his way toward the gas station’s refrigerators before pivoting and immediately walking back out. About 12 seconds later, he re-enters again, walks to the back to grab a drink from the cooler, and stands in line at the register.

Video obtained by CNN shows him swaying and pacing slightly and occasionally glancing over his shoulder as he waits for his turn in line. He appears to pay for the drink in cash before exiting the store.

The cameras outside the gas station captured Nick Reiner walking across the parking lot and into the night.

Less than an hour later, the gas station’s cameras were trained on the intersection of Exposition Blvd. and Vermont Ave. when an ambulance barrels through the intersection, closely followed by a police car.

Then, as if synchronized, cars – that just moments before seemed to be waiting for the light to change – turn on their police lights and converge on a man standing across the street.

Bathed in the flashing lights of multiple unmarked police vehicles, Nick Reiner put his hands up in the air. Police took him into custody at 9:15 p.m., according to a statement from the LAPD.

Speculation ‘tempered with compassion’

Two weeks before Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were killed, their daughter, Romy, posted a series of photos from a family vacation.

The images capture the Reiners smiling and laughing as they swim in clear blue water during a day at the beach. In the caption to the post, Romy wrote that she was “thankful for family, health.”

But later that month, the family’s life would be turned upside down.

In a statement Wednesday, Jake and Romy, two of the Reiners’ surviving children, said “words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day.”

“They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends,” the siblings said.

“We now ask for respect and privacy, for speculation to be tempered with compassion and humanity, and for our parents to be remembered for the incredible lives they lived and the love they gave.”

CNN’s John Miller, Jason Kravarik, Nick Watt and Josh Campbell contributed to this report.

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