Rob and Michele Reiner’s Causes of Death Revealed
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner also ruled that the deaths occurred on Sunday, not late Saturday
By Nancy Dillon
Celebrated film director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, died from “multiple sharp force injuries” inside their Los Angeles home in a gruesome double homicide on Dec. 14, coroner investigators confirmed Wednesday.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office released the findings on its website without providing further details. The ruling that the couple died Sunday came after some reports speculated Rob, 78, and Michele, 70, could have been stabbed late Saturday night after attending a Christmas party at Conan O’Brien’s home with their 32-year-old son, Nick, who has since been charged with their murders.
On Tuesday, DA Nathan Hochman said prosecutors had identified the murder weapon as a knife. He declined to comment on whether Nick had a history of mental illness, separate from his admitted struggles with addiction. “If there is evidence of mental illness, it will be presented in court and in whatever detail the defense seeks to do that,” Hochman said.
Nick was charged with first-degree murder and appeared in court on Wednesday wearing a blue suicide-prevention gown and a waist shackle. His arraignment was postponed until Jan. 7 after his lawyer said it was “too early” to enter a plea in the “very, very complex” case. If convicted as charged, he could potentially face the death penalty. Hochman said Tuesday that his office was still considering whether to seek the death penalty. Gov. Gavin Newsom currently has a moratorium on executions in California.
The Reiners had three children together. On Wednesday, their older son Jake, 34, and daughter Romy, 27, broke their silence to share their grief and thank supporters.
“Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day. The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience,” the siblings said in the statement obtained by Rolling Stone. “They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends.”
They expressed gratitude for the “outpouring of condolences” they’ve received. “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,” they said.
Police responded to the couple’s Brentwood house around 3:40 p.m. Sunday for a death investigation. Romy found the grisly scene and called for help, Rolling Stone previously confirmed.
Police say Nick was located near Exposition Park, close to downtown Los Angeles, and arrested around 9:15 p.m. on Sunday. He is being held without bail.
Rob Reiner, the son of late comedian Carl Reiner, played Meathead in the groundbreaking sitcom All in the Family. He later directed the beloved 1980s films This is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, When Harry Met Sally…, The Princess Bride, and A Few Good Men, before working with Nick on the 2016 movie Being Charlie. Nick co-wrote the script, loosely based on his struggles with heroin addiction, and Reiner directed the film.
Nick told People in 2016 that he was 15 when he first went to rehab. He said more than a dozen stints at recovery centers followed, and he experienced homelessness in Maine, New Jersey, and Texas.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the Reiners said they sought professional help for their son, but navigating his care was challenging. “The program works for some people, but it can’t work for everybody,” Reiner said. “When Nick would tell us that it wasn’t working for him, we wouldn’t listen. We were desperate, and because the people had diplomas on their wall, we listened to them when we should have been listening to our son.”
Michele said she felt misled by professionals. “They would tell us he’s a liar, that he was trying to manipulate us. And we believed them,” she said.
Being Charlie tells the story of the troubled, drug-addicted son of an actor with political aspirations in California. In a video interview with AOL’s BUILD Series in 2016, Rob Reiner called the movie the most “satisfying creative experience” of his career.
“It forced me to have to see more clearly and understand more deeply what Nick had gone through. And I think it forced him to see things that I had experienced during this process. And it definitely brought us closer together,” Reiner said. “It did make me understand him a lot more.”