The Hollywood scion, who is the younger son of the producer-director and political advocate Rob Reiner, was formally charged Tuesday with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the fatal stabbings of his parents at their Los Angeles home over the weekend.
Nick Reiner, 32, was detained a number of hours after the bodies of his father – actor-director Rob Reiner, 78 and mother – photographer producer Michele Reiner,70 were found Sunday afternoon in the couple’s home in the up-scale west LA area known as Brentwood.
Officials said forensic evidence collected by the Los Angeles Police Department had led homicide detectives to Reiner, who was arrested late Sunday without incident at a park in downtown Los Angeles near the University of Southern California campus.
The police handed the case over to the district attorney’s Office on Tuesday. Murder charges, filed later in the day against Nick Reiner, came in the form of a five-page criminal complaint alleging two counts of first-degree murder in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The killings were considered among the most shocking murders of celebrities in Los Angeles history, drawing comparisons by some to the stabbing deaths in 1994 of O J Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and a friend, Ron Goldman.
Pictures of Rob Reiner’s family that include son Nick always look like something a psychopath put together with Photoshop after stealing his neighbors’ vacation photos. pic.twitter.com/MzuRdnekLA
— Soft Targets (@weicheziele) December 15, 2025
“Their loss is unfathomable,” County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said of the Reiners at an earlier news conference in the day. “We promise to make their murderer face the justice of God and men.”
Hochman said the charges are punishable by life in prison without the possibility of parole, or death, but prosecutors have not decided whether to seek a sentence of death for Mr. Aghdam.
Prosecutors “will consider the thoughts and wishes of the family when making these decisions,” he said.
The district attorney and documents filed for one of the charging decisions indicated that a knife was used in the slayings, but additional information about how the killings unfolded has not been released.
So far, authorities haven’t addressed a possible motive.
When asked if the murder weapon had been found, Hochman said this would be disclosed in court. Autopsies, which have to be performed, would determine the exact cause, manner and times of death, authorities said.
The Reiners have two sons; Nick, their younger and middle child, has spoken openly about years-long battles with substance abuse. He has been held without bail in a Los Angeles County jail since he was booked on suspicion of murder Sunday night.
Hochman and Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell would not indicate if Reiner was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of his arrest, nor if he made any statements to police.
Prominent Los Angeles defense attorney Alan Jackson, who is representing Reiner, said his client was not yet cleared to appear in court for the first time on Tuesday but that he might be arraigned on Wednesday.
For all criminal defendants, getting medical clearance for court appearances was standard practice, according to Hochman.
Nick Reiner has opened up about stint on the streets in which time he refused to seek help for his addictions - which began with a first stay in rehab at just 15. Those experiences were turned into the movie Being Charlie, co-written by Reiner and his father.
“More than anything else, it was the most personal thing that I’ve ever been involved with,” Rob Reiner told the podcaster Marc Maron in 2016.
As an actor, Reiner was best known for his role on the TV comedy All in the Family as Mike “Meathead” Stivic, son-in-law and liberal foil to Archie Bunker ( played by Carroll O’Connor ), the lead character, a working-class bigot.
Reiner enjoyed a successful Hollywood career as a film director, helming such hit movies as This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally…, Stand by Me and A Few Good Men, Misery and The American President.
A mockumentary followed the band was released this year, 41 years after the original.
His wife, Michele was once a photographer who took the shot of Donald Trump that appears on the cover of his book Trump: The Art of the Deal. She connected with Rob Reiner while he was making When Harry Met Sally and they wed in 1989.
A New York City native and the son of the late comedy writer and actor Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner was equally famous for his political activism as he was a standard-bearer of the Democratic Party.
He was previously married to Penny Marshall, who played on the 1970s TV sitcom Laverne & Shirley, and also worked as a producer and director. He was Marshall’s daughter’s stepfather.
