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Nick Reiner, the younger son of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, was charged Tuesday with killing his parents.
In addition to two counts of murder with a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, Reiner, 32, also faces a special circumstance allegation of using a deadly weapon, according to court documents.
Nick Reiner, who is accused of fatally stabbing his parents, faces a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty if convicted, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said.
“Rob Reiner was a brilliant actor and director, an iconic force in our entertainment industry for decades,” Hochman said. He called Michele Singer Reiner “an equally iconic photographer and producer.”
“Their loss is beyond tragic, and we will commit ourselves to bringing their murderer to justice,” he said.
Nick Reiner’s attorney, Alan Jackson, said his client was not medically cleared to appear in court Tuesday. Jackson would not specify what medical issue prevented Reiner from being cleared, saying only that it was “procedural.”
Court records indicate Nick Reiner is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday morning, though the district attorney’s office said Tuesday that the arraignment will be at an unspecified later date.
Nick Reiner was arrested Monday in Exposition Park near the University of Southern California and taken into custody without incident, Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief Alan Hamilton told reporters.
He is being held without bail.
Rob Reiner, 78, a legendary actor and filmmaker, and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found dead in their Los Angeles-area home Sunday. Their bodies were found with stab wounds, a source close to the family told NBC News.
The bodies were found in the master bedroom of their Brentwood home, Assistant Police Chief Dominic Choi said at the police department’s weekly commission meeting Tuesday.
Nick Reiner has a history of battling addiction, which reportedly began when he was a teenager. In a 2016 interview with People magazine, he said he was in and out of rehab for addiction treatment that started when he was 15. He also told the magazine he spent weeks sleeping on the streets.
“Now, I’ve been home for a really long time, and I’ve sort of gotten acclimated back to being in L.A. and being around my family,” he told People at the time.
His struggles with addiction to heroin and other hard drugs inspired the 2016 movie “Being Charlie,” which he co-wrote and his father directed. The movie focuses on a young man who struggles to follow the advice of recovery professionals.
“The program works for some people, but it can’t work for everybody,” Rob Reiner told the Los Angeles Times in 2015. “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.”
On Saturday, Nick Reiner and his parents attended a holiday party hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien, where he was seen being disruptive, according to two people familiar with the situation.
His parents were upset and embarrassed about their son’s behavior at the party and expressed worries about his health, according to another person.
He is alleged to have interrupted a conversation involving comedian Bill Hader. When Hader told him that the conversation was private, the source said, Nick Reiner appeared to pause and stare before “storming off.” Hader did not reply to a request for comment.
News of Rob Reiner’s death has rocked Hollywood.
He became a household name for his role as Michael “Meathead” Stivic in the landmark sitcom “All in the Family” in the 1970s. He later directed some of the most iconic films in modern history, including “The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally…” and “A Few Good Men.”
His death has also prompted an outpouring of grief from some of the country’s most prominent Democrats, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, former President Barack Obama and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former House speaker. The Reiners were longtime donors to the Democratic Party.
Former first lady Michelle Obama said in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday that she was supposed to see Rob and Michele Reiner on Sunday night.
“In a time when there’s not a lot of courage going on, they were the kind of people who were ready to put their actions behind what they cared about,” she said. “And they cared about their family, they cared about this country, they cared about fairness and equity.”
Friends of the Reiners, including Billy Crystal, Larry David, Albert Brooks and Martin Short, said Tuesday in a statement to The Associated Press: “We were their friends, and we will miss them forever.”
Beyond Reiner’s storied movie career, “Rob was also a passionate, brave citizen, who not only cared for this country he loved, he did everything he could to make it better and with his loving wife Michele, he had the perfect partner,” they said.
“There is a line from one of Rob’s favorite films, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ ‘Each man’s life touches so many other lives, and when he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?’ You have no idea,” they said in the statement.
Matt Lavietes is a reporter for NBC News.
Tim Stelloh is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
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