LOS ANGELES, CA – Nick Reiner has pleaded not guilty after a Los Angeles County grand jury indicted him on charges that he murdered his parents, Hollywood actor-director Rob Reiner and photographer-producer Michele Singer Reiner, inside their Brentwood home last December.
The indictment was unsealed Wednesday, Aug. 12, and includes two counts of murder along with special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder by means of lying in wait, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors also allege Reiner personally used a dangerous and deadly weapon — a knife — during the killings.
The grand jury returned the indictment on July 20, but it remained sealed until Wednesday, when Reiner appeared in court and entered not guilty pleas to the charges.
“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. He added that the new indictment includes the lying-in-wait allegation and said prosecutors hope the grand jury action moves the case closer to trial and a determination of justice.
The case stems from the deaths of Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 70, who authorities allege were fatally stabbed during the early morning hours of Dec. 14, 2025, at their home in the 200 block of South Chadbourne Avenue in Brentwood.
Nick Reiner was arrested later that evening in Exposition Park, according to prosecutors.
The case initially entered the court system two days after the killings, when prosecutors charged Reiner with two counts of murder and a special circumstance allegation involving multiple murders. The original filing also alleged that he personally used a knife.
The grand jury indictment now adds the allegation that the murders were committed by means of lying in wait, significantly expanding the special-circumstance allegations prosecutors are pursuing against him.
Under the charges announced by prosecutors, Reiner faces either death or life in state prison without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged.
The District Attorney’s Office has not yet decided whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty. That decision is expected to be made at a later stage of the case.
Reiner remains in custody without bail.
The criminal proceedings have undergone several developments since his December arrest. Defense attorney Alan Jackson withdrew from the case in January ahead of Reiner’s arraignment.
After stepping away from the case, Jackson publicly maintained that Reiner was not guilty of murder under California law.
Reiner has previously spoken publicly about struggles with drug addiction and homelessness. Those experiences helped inspire the 2015 film Being Charlie, which he co-wrote and which was directed by his father.
The film drew in part from Reiner’s experiences with addiction, making the later criminal case involving his family especially stark given the father-and-son collaboration years earlier.
The prosecution, however, is focused on the evidence surrounding the Dec. 14 killings and the allegations contained in the indictment.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, the case is being prosecuted by its Major Crimes Division and remains under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division.
The grand jury process represents a different procedural path from proceeding solely through the original criminal complaint. In this case, prosecutors presented evidence to a grand jury, which returned the indictment on July 20. The charging document was then unsealed Aug. 12, allowing the case to proceed on the allegations contained in that indictment.
Reiner’s not guilty plea means the allegations will now have to be proven in court. Prosecutors emphasized that the charges remain allegations and that Reiner is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty.
The indictment specifically accuses Reiner of murdering both victims and includes the multiple-murder special circumstance in addition to the newly disclosed lying-in-wait allegation.
Authorities have not publicly detailed all of the evidence presented to the grand jury or disclosed the full factual basis prosecutors say supports the lying-in-wait allegation.
Likewise, the District Attorney’s Office has not announced when it will determine whether to seek capital punishment.
Reiner is scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing on Sept. 15 in Department 108 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles.
The prosecution is listed under case number 26CJCF04440.
The investigation remains ongoing.
