Nick Reiner diagnosed with schizophrenia before parents’ murders

(KTLA) — Nick Reiner, son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, was reportedly diagnosed with schizophrenia and was being treated by a psychiatrist in the weeks leading up to his parents’ murders.

On Dec. 14, Rob, 78, and Michele, 70, were found stabbed to death inside their Brentwood, California, home. Their bodies were reportedly discovered by their daughter in the master bedroom around 3:40 p.m., the Los Angeles Times reported.

On Dec. 16, following an investigation, Nick, 32, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the death of his parents.

A new report from TMZ revealed that Nick was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and in the weeks before his parents’ murders, there was a change in the medications that he was taking, which had allegedly made him more “erratic and dangerous.”

Sources told TMZ that Nick had been under the care of a psychiatrist and had recently received care at a Los Angeles-based rehab facility specializing in substance abuse and mental health conditions. 

In the month before the murders, however, his behavior had reportedly changed for the worse. The outlet claimed that his doctors were working to adjust his medications, but did not receive the results they were hoping for.

Nick had dealt with addiction since he was a young teen. By the time he was 22, he had been in and out of rehab over 18 times, People magazine reports. 

Nick had also been public about his struggles with drug addiction and homelessness, which later inspired the 2015 film “Being Charlie,” which he wrote and was loosely based on his experience with addiction. The film was directed by his father, Rob.

On Dec. 13, Rob, Michele and Nick were seen arguing at a party hosted by Conan O’Brien. Some guests claimed Nick was acting strangely, staring at people and appearing to be under the influence. The family later returned to their Brentwood home, where Nick also lived in the guest house.

The next morning, Nick checked into Santa Monica’s Pierside Hotel. When staff entered his room later that day, they said the shower was full of blood, and blood was found on the bed. 

On Sunday night, a few hours after Rob and Michele were found dead, surveillance video showed Nick entering a gas station convenience store to purchase a bottled beverage. Not long after, he was arrested near the Expo/Vermont Metro Station in Exposition Park, police said. 

Nick appeared for the first time in court at an arraignment hearing on Dec. 18, while handcuffed and wearing an anti-suicide vest. The arraignment was postponed until Jan. 7, as Nick’s attorney, high-profile defense lawyer Alan Jackson, told KTLA that Nick wasn’t medically cleared to make the appearance at the time.

“Every inmate has to be medically cleared before they can be transported to court, and he has not been medically cleared,” Jackson explained. “It’s just a procedural issue.”

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said that, “Prosecuting these cases involving family members are some of the most challenging and heart-wrenching cases this office faces because of the intimate and often brutal nature of the crimes involved.”

Jake and Romy Reiner, two of the couple’s children, released a statement, saying, “Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day. The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience. They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends.”

In the meantime, Nick is being held without bail at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown L.A.

If convicted on all charges, he could face life in prison or the death penalty. Hochman told the L.A. Times that no decision had been made on seeking capital punishment in the Reiners’ slayings.