Rob Reiner’s son Nick arrested in connection with parents’ deaths
Rob Reiner and Michele Singer’s son Nick has been arrested in connection with his parents’ deaths.
The 32-year-old has been taken into police custody following the deaths of When Harry Met Sally director Rob, 78, and 68-year-old actress and photographer Michele on Sunday.
According to Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department records, seen by Metro, Nick was taken into custody and is being held on $4million (£3,007,744) bail.
Nick was arrested at 9:15pm, documents show.
Yesterday afternoon, the bodies of the couple were discovered inside their Brentwood mansion in Los Angeles.
At the time, a police source said they appeared to have suffered knife wounds, and their death was being investigated as a double homicide.
‘It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner,’ a family spokesperson previously said.
‘We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time.’
People had reported that sources alleged Nick killed his parents and that he was alive and being questioned before an arrest was made.
He has been open about his struggles with drug addiction and homelessness in the past, telling People in 2016: ‘I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas; I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It was not fun.’
In 2015, Nick and his father made the drama Being Charlie, inspired by their family struggles.
The movie followed 18-year-old addict Charlie Mills, whose film star father is running for Congress.
The family admitted that the character’s resentment for the way his parents treated his addiction – including stints in rehab – reflected their own interactions.
‘When Nick would tell us that it wasn’t working for him, we wouldn’t listen. We were desperate, and because the people had diplomas on their wall, we listened to them when we should have been listening to our son,’ Reiner told the LA Times.
Nick added that he got clean because he ‘got sick of it’, explaining: ‘I come from a nice family. I’m not supposed to be out there on the streets and in homeless shelters doing all these f***ed-up things.’
It was claimed that their daughter, Romy, who lives across the street, discovered her parents’ bodies in their home.
In a press conference, the Los Angeles Police Department’s Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton confirmed plans to ‘speak to every family member that we can to get to the facts of this investigation’.
The couple met on the set of When Harry Met Sally and got married in 1989, the year it came out, and went on to have children, Jake, Nick, and Romy, together.
While married to the late Penny Marshall, the All in the Family actor also adopted Tracy. He and Marshall were married from 1971 to 1981, and she died in 2018, with him remembering her fondly as a ‘gift’.
Tracy, now 61 and who appeared in 1992’s A League of Their Own, said in a statement after his death: ‘I came from the greatest family ever.
She added to NBC News: ‘I don’t know what to say. I’m in shock.’
Filmmaker Reiner has directed classic films, including the likes of Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, and This Is Spinal Tap, as well as its recent sequel.
Singer was an actress in her own right, as well as a producer. She was known for Misery, Albert Brooks: Defending My Life, and Mixed Nuts.
A neighbour told ABC7 that Billy Crystal – who starred in When Harry Met Sally – was seen looking ‘like he was about to cry’ as he visited the crime scene, while Larry David was also reportedly spotted visiting the scene.
LA Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement: ‘Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate throughout American culture and society, and he has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice.’
She added that she was ‘heartbroken’ by the couple’s deaths, which she described as ‘a devastating loss for our city and our country’.
Tributes from A-list stars and public figures continue to flood the internet in the couple’s memory, with the likes of former president Barack Obama, Stephen King, and Eric Idle – who had a lengthy chat with Rob just hours before he died – speaking out.