(NewsNation) — A clinical psychologist believes the actor Rob Reiner and his second wife, Michele Singer Reiner, may have missed red flags before their stabbing deaths.

The couple was found dead inside their Brentwood home in the 200 block of South Chadbourne Avenue around 4:40 p.m. Sunday.  On Monday morning, police confirmed that the Reiners’ 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, had been arrested late Sunday night in connection with the brutal killings.  

Dr. Leslie Dobson, a forensic and clinical psychologist, joined “Banfield” to discuss the imminent murder charge facing Rob Reiner’s son Nick Reiner, relating to the death of his parents

Dobson suggests that not considering an act such as killing to be within the capabilities of an already-troubled individual may hinder prevention.

“We learn to be helpless when people are very, very difficult in our lives… We learn that, ‘OK, they will go to this level of violence, they have this range, but they’ve been in this range for such a long time that we don’t anticipate them going further.’

“… So we stop paying attention to the red flags, and they kind of fade into the background, when the red flags are still all there and the individual is still fantasizing.”

Nick Reiner reportedly argued at a Christmas party Saturday night with his parents, the day before their deaths. He is scheduled to appear in court to be formally charged with their murders if medically cleared.

“People who kill their parents usually fantasize about doing it for many, many years, and they don’t tell anyone about it,” Dobson said.

“They have this long-standing intimate fantasy, and they build this vengeance towards their parents, and usually there’s this perfect storm at the end, a triggering event, unmedicated mental illness, maybe substance use.”

Nick Reiner has had a very public struggle with addiction and has been in and out of drug rehab centers over the course of his life, even battling periods of homelessness as a teen.  

NewsNation affiliate KTLA contributed to this report.