New indictment alleges Nick Reiner was lying in wait before killing
parents Rob and Michele Reiner
[August 13, 2026]
By ANDREW DALTON
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles County grand jury has indicted Nick
Reiner on murder charges in the killings of his parents, Rob Reiner and
Michele Singer Reiner, and adds the allegation that he was lying in wait
before attacking them.
The grand jury, which had been meeting in secret, returned the
indictment on July 20, and it was unsealed Wednesday, when 32-year-old
Nick Reiner entered a not guilty plea.
Rob Reiner, a director, actor and Hollywood luminary, and his wife, a
photographer and producer, were stabbed to death in their home in the
upscale Brentwood section of Los Angeles on Dec. 14. Nick Reiner was
arrested within hours and charged two days later.
The grand jury indictment is a major step toward trial and allows
prosecutors to skip California’s preliminary hearing process, where
evidence is publicly aired.
Lying in wait means a suspect waited for or hid from victims in order to
ambush them, and as an allegation it's meant to show premeditation. A
finding that he was lying in wait along with a murder conviction would
make Reiner eligible for the death penalty, but prosecutors said they
haven't decided whether to seek it.
“This was a profound betrayal by someone who was loved and trusted by
the very people he is accused of killing,” Los Angeles County District
Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “We hope that by having a
grand jury return an indictment in this case it will bring us one step
closer to a trial and achieving justice.”
Unsealed indictment gives few new details in secrecy-shrouded case
Prosecutors have said nothing about possible motives, and leaks in the
case have been virtually nonexistent on both sides.
The Los Angeles County chief medical examiner told The Associated Press
he would like to make their autopsy reports public, but a court order
has prevented him from doing so.
The unsealed indictment reveals few new details in a case that has been
shrouded in secrecy. It does not explain how or why Reiner was lying in
wait. Without elaborating, prosecutors have said since December that the
parents were stabbed. The indictment includes a special allegation of
use of a deadly weapon — a knife — that could also contribute to a
stiffer sentence.
Indictment released as Nick Reiner seeks trust funds
The indictment comes as Reiner is seeking unpaid money from a trust his
parents established for him, saying he needs it to help in his defense.
Reiner said in a court petition that the trustees who oversee the funds
have denied them to him without legal justification. The money was to
have gone to Nick Reiner even if his parents were alive, legal filings
say. The petition says the trust has at least $1.5 million in assets,
but trustees would not share the exact amount.
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 “Nick loved his parents, and he is
devastated by their deaths. But the facts about what did and did not
happen to them are not at issue,” the petition says.
He is seeking to hire back high-profile criminal defense attorney
Alan Jackson, who initially represented him before Reiner’s siblings
would no longer agree to fund his defense and a public defender took
over.
A hearing on the petition is set for next week.
The LA County Public Defender’s Office, which is representing
Reiner, declined to comment on the indictment.
Grand jury process happens in secret
California prosecutors can charge a defendant and take the case
through a preliminary hearing — a sort of trial in miniature where
evidence is publicly aired and a judge decides whether it should be
sent to trial — as recently happened with singer D4vd.
Or they can use a grand jury to go through the process in secret.
They can also publicly file charges and later seek a secret grand
jury indictment, essentially creating a new version of the case, as
happened here and in the Los Angeles prosecution of Harvey
Weinstein.
Rob Reiner had prolific career as actor and director
Rob Reiner began as an actor, starring in the TV sitcom, “All in the
Family,” as Michael “Meathead” Stivic, the liberal son-in-law to a
much more conservative and bigoted Archie Bunker, played by Carroll
O’Connor. Reiner won two Emmy Awards for the role, and last month
got a posthumous Emmy nomination for his work as a guest star on
“The Bear.”
He became a prolific director whose work included some of the most
memorable and endlessly watchable movies of the 1980s and ’90s. His
credits included “This is Spinal Tap,” “Stand By Me,” “A Few Good
Men,” and “When Harry Met Sally…” during the production of which he
met photographer Michele Singer. They wed soon after and were
married for 36 years.
Nick Reiner was the second of the three children they had together.
He and his father co-wrote the script for the 2015 film “Being
Charlie,” which was partly based on the son’s teenage struggles with
addiction and homelessness.
His older brother Jake Reiner wrote in April that the experience of
losing his parents and having his brother at the center of it was “a
living nightmare” that is “too devastating to comprehend.”
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