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LOS ANGELES — Nick Reiner was diagnosed with schizophrenia several years ago and his medication was changed or adjusted at some point before the killings of his parents, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the case.
A sealed medical order was signed Friday by the judge overseeing the case’s initial stages. Nick Reiner, 32, is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his parents, renowned filmmaker Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 70.
That sealed order may have to deal with Reiner’s mental health condition and treatment. The sources declined to discuss the contents of the order.
Reiner was being treated for a serious psychiatric disorder at the time of his parents’ murder, the three sources said.
He was diagnosed with schizophrenia several years ago and was treated with medication, the sources said. It’s not clear when his medication was changed.
As of Friday, the weapon used in the slayings had not been found, two of the sources said. However, they said it was of limited investigative value given all of the other evidence in the case, which includes what was found at the crime scene, items recovered during the arrest and Reiner’s alleged statements to police.
The Reiners were found dead in the master bedroom of their Brentwood home, on the west side of Los Angeles, the city’s assistant police chief, Dominic Choi, said Tuesday. The couple had been fatally stabbed “in the early morning hours” on Sunday, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said.
Their cause of death was concluded to be multiple sharp force injuries, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled.
Nick Reiner was arrested shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday in University Park, near the University of Southern California, about 15 miles from his parents’ home.
He was being held with no bail at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles, according to inmate records.
He appeared in a Los Angeles courthouse on Wednesday wearing a blue vest. His arraignment has been postponed twice, and his next appearance is set for Jan. 7. His attorney, Alan Jackson, has said the arraignment was initially postponed because Reiner was not medically cleared in time.
The Reiners’ other two children, Jake and Romy Reiner, called their parents’ death “horrific and devastating, saying they were their best friends.
“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.
Andrew Blankstein, Eric Leonard and Dennis Broad reported from Los Angeles, and Marlene Lenthang from Chicago.
Andrew Blankstein is an investigative reporter for NBC News. He covers the Western U.S., specializing in crime, courts and homeland security.
Eric Leonard is an investigative reporter and joins NBC4 with more than 20 years of experience in the news business.
Dennis Broad is a producer at NBC Los Angeles and Telemundo 52 Los Angeles.
Marlene Lenthang is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
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