Nick Reiner was reportedly not at the Brentwood, California home of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, when their bodies were discovered.
Per a Monday, December 15, report from ABC News, investigators believe Nick, 32, left the Brentwood neighborhood and traveled to an area near the University of Southern California in University Park, Los Angeles. According to the outlet, authorities were able to “quickly” find him at a metro station near the campus and arrested him for murder around 9:15 p.m. local time, approximately six hours after his parents were found dead.
Per photos obtained by Page Six, Nick, wearing a black jacket and white stripes, could be seen pressed to the ground by a Los Angeles Police Department officer before being escorted to a police car.
Us Weekly has reached out to the University of Southern California for comment.
Rob, 78, and Michele, 68, were found dead in their home on Sunday, December 14. The LAPD later confirmed that the couple both suffered “apparent stab wounds.” Us confirmed the following day that Nick had been taken into custody and arrested on a murder charge. He is currently being held in Los Angeles’ Twin Towers jail with no bail.
One day prior to their deaths, Rob and Michele attended a holiday party at Conan O’Brien’s home alongside Nick on Saturday, December 13. A source exclusively told Us that Nick was acting “creepily” at the celebration before leaving, going “up to people” at the gathering and “asking if they were famous.” Per TMZ, Nick and his dad engaged in a “very loud argument” at the party before his exit, which other attendees overheard.
Nick’s troublesome history and fraught relationship with his parents was well documented over the years. A second insider close to the situation told Us that Nick has “always been hostile and volatile” toward his family, noting that his “problems were going on for so long, so while everyone is in a state of shock right now, it’s not entirely surprising.”
“A lot of his anger was directed at his parents for many, many years,” the source continued. “They did everything a parent could possibly do to help him. Even in his younger years, they really tried to get him help. And then it became a cycle of seeking treatment for him, kicking him out, or him leaving the house, him moving back in.”
His hostility also extended toward his siblings, the insider shared, saying that sister Romy “has been so traumatized by Nick’s behavior,” adding, “She has always been so close with her parents, and watching their constant pain over Nick has impacted her and the whole family so much.”. (Rob and Michele shared kids Nick, Romy and son Jake. Rob was also the dad to daughter Tracy, whom he adopted while married to late ex-wife Penny Marshall.)
Another insider revealed that Rob and Michele’s issues with Nick had been “so much of their life,” noting that the pair were “honest” about the struggles with this son. “Everyone who knew them and loved them is struggling right now, because it was never a secret,” the source explained.
Nick himself has been vocal about his struggles with drug addiction over the years, which led to his first rehab stint at the age of 15. After several treatment attempts and subsequent relapses, he ended up homeless while traveling through multiple states.
“I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas,” Nick told People in 2016. “I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It was not fun. “If I wanted to do it my way and not go to the programs they were suggesting, then I had to be homeless.”
Nick eventually got clean, and in 2015, he cowrote Being Charlie, which was directed by Rob and followed the early days of his addiction battles. Cary Elwes portrayed the father, while Nick Robinson starred in the titular role.
Although the father-son duo said that working together was “therapeutic” and allowed them to see things from each other’s point of view, they admitted while promoting the film that there were “disagreements” along the way.
“There were disagreements. At times it was really rough [working on the film,” Rob told the crowd at an event for the movie, while Nick said, “Sometimes it would get overwhelming for me. I really wasn’t sure I wanted to do this.”
Nick opened up even further about his ups and downs with drugs during a 2018 episode of the “Dopey” podcast, where he confessed to stealing $200 dollars from his parents at age 15 to lose his virginity to a sex worker. He also revealed he once “wrecked” his parents’ guest house while high.
“I got totally spun out on uppers — I think it was coke and something else — and I was up for days on end,” he shared on the episode. “I started punching out different things in my guest house. I literally punched the TV.”
When asked if there was a thought process to destroying the property, Nick replied, “You’re crazy. No logic.”
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