CA - Murder victims Identified as Rob Reiner and wife Michele - LA Dec 14 2025

[otto]

This is not what we're talking about at all though. He spent most of his teenage years homeless or on rehab. How many kids you know that are homeless in their teenage years and why you don't think that will have some severe mental impact on a kid still growing up? This is not a good upbringing, I don't care if his parents had quadrillion dollars.

RSBM
In the 2016 film promotion interviews with Nick and Rob, Nick claims that he has been at 17 treatment facilities since age 15. In 2016, he was 23 years old, and he claimed that he was clean for a period of time prior to releasing the film.

17 treatment facilities in 6-7 years is roughly 3 per year. He couldn't have been homeless during that time, other than homeless meaning that he was not living at home with his parents. I doubt that he was living on the streets for any length of time. He could go home anytime he needed money, food, a rest from drug life.

"Since he was a teenager, Nick has struggled with drug addiction and experienced homelessness at times as a result. He told People magazine in 2016 that he was sent to a rehab facility for the first time when he was 15 years old, and he eventually had at least 17 stays in facilities over the years."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/nick-reiner-what-we-know-9.7016778

 

[MistyWaters]

Schizophrenia is genetic.

It does not express itself 100% of the time. There's more than one such gene and having more than one of the genes is associated with more severe episodes.

So yes, people are either born with the predisposition or they are not.

IMO.

Yes genetics indeed poses a risk factor but schizophrenia can also be caused by drug use, especially at a young age. There’s an interview with Dr Drew somewhere here. He referred to the risk of addiction is that it can cause brain damage resulting in psychotic episodes similar to that of schizophrenia.

As for NR, I think it will be a rough road for his defence to prove NGRI. If the jury doesn’t buy that NR is not responsible for stabbing his parents to death, he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison. It will be interesting to see what legal route AL chooses to take.
JMO

Schizophrenia - Symptoms and causes

www.mayoclinic.org

Causes​

It isn't known what causes schizophrenia. But researchers believe that a mix of genetics, brain chemistry and environment can play a part.

Changes in certain naturally occurring brain chemicals, including neurotransmitters called dopamine and glutamate, may play a part in schizophrenia. Neuroimaging studies show changes in the brain structure and central nervous systems of people with schizophrenia. While researchers haven't yet been able to apply these findings to new treatments, the findings show that schizophrenia is a brain disease.

Risk factors​

Although the cause of schizophrenia is not known, these factors seem to make schizophrenia more likely:

• A family history of schizophrenia.
• Life experiences, such as living in poverty, stress or danger.
• Some pregnancy and birth issues, such as not getting enough nutrition before or after birth, low birth weight, or exposure to toxins or viruses before birth that may affect brain development.
• Taking mind-altering — also called psychoactive or psychotropic — drugs as a teen or young adult.

 

[otto]

He was taken out of these camps at his wish. That's enabling and appeasing (and by the way, he was homeles at his own choice, running away from the rehabs if he was not taken by the psrents soon enough). Whole family was tiptoeing around him, to not set him off. That's enabling.

He decided to take the heroin on his own, just called a kid he met in rehab to ask where to buy it. By his own words.

It sounds like Nick was a rebellious teenager. Regardless of what he was asked to do, he chose to do the opposite, or to do something that he knew would cause problems.

At age 23, during the 2016 interview, Nick said "you don't want to set me off." What that tells us is that he has a bad temper, and he chooses to act out. It doesn't tell us that his parents and siblings cowered in the corner when he destroyed property and lashed out.

Sending a teenage child to rehab 17 times between the ages of 15 and 22 is not enabling his rebellious behaviour. It's an admission that they can't manage him, so they asked professionals for help.

 

[otto]

NR did not start at the end, he started at the beginning. If you view his childhood pictures it’s obvious that all is not well with him.

People are hardwired from birth, many with mental illness that does not ‘show up’ until later but it’s still there in the hardwiring. I’m not naive at all.

This whole post is about what you did not mean. To three of us.

Perhaps you should just delete this and start again, it is you who is perhaps naive.

Nick had tantrums as a child, and Rob used a bear hug to restrain him. He never outgrew tantrums, and still had them in his 20s.

In my opinion, that's a choice. He could use words to express what he is feeling, or he could choose to express his feelings by lashing out. When Nick is angry, he wants to be violent, and now he needs to be caged for life.

Nick Reiner threw ‘terrifying’ tantrums even as a kid: ‘So much anger in his eyes’

"He had so much anger in his eyes. It was terrifying really."

www.aol.com

 

[otto]

Where did I say he ‘looked’ mentally ill in his childhood pictures?

People are hardwired at birth, ask any medical people esp neurologists.

<modsnip>

There has been a debate about nature versus nurture for a long time.

"The expression nature vs. nurture describes the question of how much a person's characteristics are formed by either nature or nurture. Nature means innate biological factors (namely genetics), while nurture can refer to upbringing or life experience more generally.

Traditionally, nature versus nurture has been framed as a debate between those who argue for the dominance of one source of influence or the other, but contemporary experts acknowledge that both nature and nurture play a role in psychological development and interact in complex ways."

Nature vs. Nurture

The expression nature vs. nurture describes the question of how much a person's characteristics are formed by either nature or nurture. Nature means innate biological factors (namely genetics), while nurture can refer to upbringing or life experience more generally. Traditionally, nature versus...

www.psychologytoday.com

 

[otto]

Nick was an angry teenage child who used to drugs. I don't believe that his parents sent him to rehab at age 15 for smoking pot. That seems like an out of proportion response.

I'm guessing that he was sent to treatment facilities for his anger problems, which made him more angry, and more determined to retaliate against his parents. He must have learned at an early age that people were shocked and uncertain how to react when he had a tantrum - and he probably felt powerful when he unsettled others ... a combination of nurture and nature.

That was followed by Nick choosing drugs like heroin, meth and whatever he could get.

Throughout his life, Nick made choices. He alone is responsible for his choice to be rude towards his parents' friend until he was asked to leave. He chose to let that anger consume him. He chose to lash out at his parents and murder them.

 

[MistyWaters]

Nick was an angry teenage child who used to drugs. I don't believe that his parents sent him to rehab at age 15 for smoking pot. That seems like an out of proportion response.

I'm guessing that he was sent to treatment facilities for his anger problems, which made him more angry, and more determined to retaliate against his parents. He must have learned at an early age that people were shocked and uncertain how to react when he had a tantrum - and he probably felt powerful when he unsettled others ... a combination of nurture and nature.

That was followed by Nick choosing drugs like heroin, meth and whatever he could get.

Throughout his life, Nick made choices. He alone is responsible for his choice to be rude towards his parents' friend until he was asked to leave. He chose to let that anger consume him. He chose to lash out at his parents and murder them.

I’m curious if the Reiners ever changed their mind in the last decade about this. At best, even if NR refused treatment, the couple might’ve benefits from counselling to learn methods to cope. I feel very sad that the Reiners had such a toxic situation happening in their private lives while putting on a jovial smile for the public.
JMO

Nick Reiner struggled with addiction and shared his recovery with the world. Now, he's accused of killing parents

On Monday, Nick Reiner was booked into the L.A. County jail on suspicion of murder, hours after his parents Rob and Michele Reiner were found dead inside their Brentwood home.

www.latimes.com

“During the interview, Rob said he regretted valuing the advice of counselors over the voice of his son.

“When Nick would tell us that it wasn’t working for him, we wouldn’t listen,” he said. “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.”

Michele added: “We were so influenced by these people. They would tell us he’s a liar, that he was trying to manipulate us. And we believed them.”

 

[MistyWaters]

Is this true and something devastating occurred in the life of NR causing him to tumble off the wagon OR was it merely wishful thinking on behalf of RR?? Time will tell.

Michael Douglas Reveals He and Rob Reiner Talked 'a Lot' About Parenting Sons with 'Drug Issues'

Michael Douglas, whose son Cameron dealt with "drug issues," said on a CBS News special that he and Rob Reiner had conversations about the difficulties of parenting sons with addiction. Douglas said the two actors talked about knowing "what you can do as a parent, what you can't do."

people.com

In a September 2025 interview with NPR, Rob mentioned that Nick "hasn't been doing drugs for over six years." He added of his son, "He's in a really good place."

 

[katydid23]

He was not taken out of the camps, he ran away.

That was his choice to run away, again and again.

And he was allowed to go back home on the condition he goes to another camp, vice versa until he was 20 or something when he said he was exhausted and gave up.

So for 6 years he could not agree to comply, stop using drugs, and see how that worked for him?

And evidently their approach didn't change at all given what we know from his own statements in Dopey and later the information coming through with the therapy and medacine stuff.

Their approach was to try and get their young son to clean up his drug usage and get back into school. I think that is understandable.

When you say he was homeless by his own choice, isn't that the case for 99% of the cases when it comes to homelessness?

Yes, homeless by his own choice. He could have quit using drugs and then stayed home in his luxurious room in his mansion. It was up to him.

His exhaustion came about because of his total resistance to following basic rules all minors must follow. Don't do anything illegal under your parent's roof and you can live your life your own way when you are independent.

This is not what he said. He said that he met a guy in rehab that was telling him how good shooting heroin was. They kept contact after their stint was over and went to shoot heroin together afterwards. He said that the first time heroin even crossed his mind was in rehab.

Just because 'he said' it was the 1st time it ever crossed his mind, doesn't make it true. It sounds more like a manipulation or gaslighting, than a true statement. IMO

I mean... every drug is 'serious'. But compared to what he started using after his rehab stints, I would argue it was pretty mild teenage stuff that most Hollywood nepobabies and actors are on.

His teen transgressions were not 'mild teenage stuff'. He began having explosive temper tantrums as a young child. And that behaviour continued and then amped up.

The boot camps were about more than just pot use. It was about him being a defiant, angry kid who needed a wake up call.

He was destructive, disobedient and unwilling to comply with basic requests. His whole family tip toed around him because of his extreme reactions.

I think you're trying to make it seem like he was a regular teenager who smoked a joint now and then, harmless fun, and his parents overreacted.

That is not what they were dealing with. He was throwing furniture across the room, throwing dishes and glasses during dinner, refusing to go to school , and purposely obstructing the family life scene.

What were they supposed to do?

 

[katydid23]

I’m curious if the Reiners ever changed their mind in the last decade about this. At best, even if NR refused treatment, the couple might’ve benefits from counselling to learn methods to cope. I feel very sad that the Reiners had such a toxic situation happening in their private lives while putting on a jovial smile for the public.
JMO

Nick Reiner struggled with addiction and shared his recovery with the world. Now, he's accused of killing parents

On Monday, Nick Reiner was booked into the L.A. County jail on suspicion of murder, hours after his parents Rob and Michele Reiner were found dead inside their Brentwood home.

www.latimes.com

“During the interview, Rob said he regretted valuing the advice of counselors over the voice of his son.

“When Nick would tell us that it wasn’t working for him, we wouldn’t listen,” he said. “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.”

Michele added: “We were so influenced by these people. They would tell us he’s a liar, that he was trying to manipulate us. And we believed them.”

Michele added: “We were so influenced by these people. They would tell us he’s a liar, that he was trying to manipulate us. And we believed them.”
The experts were RIGHT, imo. Nick was lying and he was manipulating them.

And Rob was being manipulated by his son when Rob said "When Nick would tell us that it wasn’t working for him, we wouldn’t listen..."

OF COURSE Nick is saying that 'Rehab isn't working for him.' He did not want to be held accountable, to put down the pipe and the pills, to comply with their requests for him to go back to school.

He wanted to live life on his own terms. Get a hefty allowance, live in the family mansion, and leave me alone.

 

[Dotta]

"Nick Reiner Wanted a Gun
Before Allegedly Murdering His Parents in Brutal Stabbing, Source Claims:
'He Was Focused'."

https://twitter.com/x/status/2006021718779777441

 

[Justice101]

Nick was an angry teenage child who used to drugs. I don't believe that his parents sent him to rehab at age 15 for smoking pot. That seems like an out of proportion response.

I'm guessing that he was sent to treatment facilities for his anger problems, which made him more angry, and more determined to retaliate against his parents. He must have learned at an early age that people were shocked and uncertain how to react when he had a tantrum - and he probably felt powerful when he unsettled others ... a combination of nurture and nature.

That was followed by Nick choosing drugs like heroin, meth and whatever he could get.

Throughout his life, Nick made choices. He alone is responsible for his choice to be rude towards his parents' friend until he was asked to leave. He chose to let that anger consume him. He chose to lash out at his parents and murder them.

Hindsight is 20/20 and I am not suggesting they should have done this but when I grew up in the 60s, my parents would have not hugged me when I was angry like that. They would have either beat me or taken away all of my belongings and given a lot of time to think about it.

None of my parents children were like it although I was the one who did get in trouble outside of the home as an adolescent. They certainly did not hug me as a treatment. But then again I was not mentally ill which changes everything

Again, just hindsight and not saying his parents did anything wrong with such outlying behavior.

 

[otto]

I’m curious if the Reiners ever changed their mind in the last decade about this. At best, even if NR refused treatment, the couple might’ve benefits from counselling to learn methods to cope. I feel very sad that the Reiners had such a toxic situation happening in their private lives while putting on a jovial smile for the public.
JMO

Nick Reiner struggled with addiction and shared his recovery with the world. Now, he's accused of killing parents

On Monday, Nick Reiner was booked into the L.A. County jail on suspicion of murder, hours after his parents Rob and Michele Reiner were found dead inside their Brentwood home.

www.latimes.com

“During the interview, Rob said he regretted valuing the advice of counselors over the voice of his son.

“When Nick would tell us that it wasn’t working for him, we wouldn’t listen,” he said. “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.”

Michele added: “We were so influenced by these people. They would tell us he’s a liar, that he was trying to manipulate us. And we believed them.”

There was an interview posted upthread with Dr. Drew. He compared parenting a drug addict to being caught in a venus flytrap. As soon as parents consider the emotional needs of the addict, they are sucked into the problem and lose objectivity.

Parents need regular, ongoing, independent counselling and support to keep a safe distance from the addict's manipulations.

Rob's remarks, where he concedes that he made the wrong decisions with Nick, suggest that he is firmly captured in the flytrap.

 

[303gmf]

There was an interview posted upthread with Dr. Drew. He compared parenting a drug addict to being caught in a venus flytrap. As soon as parents consider the emotional needs of the addict, they are sucked into the problem and lose objectivity.

Parents need regular, ongoing, independent counselling and support to keep a safe distance from the addict's manipulations.

Rob's remarks, where he concedes that he made the wrong decisions with Nick, suggest that he is firmly captured in the flytrap.

No different than being the spouse or family member of an alcoholic, a drug is a drug

 

[Sillybilly]

ADMIN NOTE:

Please stop the bickering and personalizing that's been going on here. Leave the "you this" and "you that" out of the discussion. Discuss the case, not the other member.

If you can't disagree with total respect toward others, don't post or you run the risk of losing posting privileges.

Thank you.

 

[otto]

Hindsight is 20/20 and I am not suggesting they should have done this but when I grew up in the 60s, my parents would have not hugged me when I was angry like that. They would have either beat me or taken away all of my belongings and given a lot of time to think about it.

None of my parents children were like it although I was the one who did get in trouble outside of the home as an adolescent. They certainly did not hug me as a treatment. But then again I was not mentally ill which changes everything

Again, just hindsight and not saying his parents did anything wrong with such outlying behavior.

It is described as a "bearhug" - not an affectionate moment, but a physical restraint where NIck was held tight so he could not move his arms or body to cause more damage to property.

 

[NuttMegg]

Is this true and something devastating occurred in the life of NR causing him to tumble off the wagon OR was it merely wishful thinking on behalf of RR?? Time will tell.

Michael Douglas Reveals He and Rob Reiner Talked 'a Lot' About Parenting Sons with 'Drug Issues'

Michael Douglas, whose son Cameron dealt with "drug issues," said on a CBS News special that he and Rob Reiner had conversations about the difficulties of parenting sons with addiction. Douglas said the two actors talked about knowing "what you can do as a parent, what you can't do."

people.com

In a September 2025 interview with NPR, Rob mentioned that Nick "hasn't been doing drugs for over six years." He added of his son, "He's in a really good place."

Six years doesn't ring true.

 

[katydid23]

This timeline of 'mental health checks' by LAPD 911 calls to the Reiner home is interesting:
once in 2013, 2014 and 2017, twice in 2019 for "for a mental health-related check on a male subject."

Nick was 20 in 2013, 21 in 2014. He was writing his Being Charlie project during this time, and collaborating on it with his Dad, because it was released in 2015.

So things were not so smooth at this time?

Nick Reiner Wanted a Gun Before Allegedly Murdering His Parents in Brutal Stabbing, Source Claims: 'He Was Focused'

Nick Reiner is being held without bail in an L.A. prison after being charged with the first-degree murders of his parents, Rob and Michele.

okmagazine.com

The news publication obtained records from the LAPD that proved authorities were dispatched to the $13.5 million property at least six times in the last 12 years: once in 2013, 2014 and 2017, twice in 2019, and on December 14, the day the Reiners were found dead.

Reasons for the police visits included alleged family violence, as well as welfare and mental health checks. Prior to the murders, authorities were last called to the residence on September 27, 2019, at around 4:24 p.m. for a mental health-related check on a male subject.

In February of that same year, police were called for a welfare check at 9:51 p.m. Nick had notably been intermittently living on his parents' property between bouts of homelessness and rehab stints.

"Brentwood is a fairly quiet neighborhood. You don't generally get a lot of calls for service at a home," the source explained. "In this case, the officers had a recollection that they responded to the home on numerous occasions. It was significant, the number of times they visited that home."

 

[Orso49]

It sounds to me like NR had Oppositional Defiant Disorder. It is marked by temper tantrums, disobeying rules, deliberately trying to upset people. It has a negative impact on the family and school environment. It is difficult to treat but includes parent training, family therapy and behavioral therapy. While NR was sent away for treatment, the parents weren't availed of tools to deal with NR's behavior.

 

[femto]

You don't know how long each "stint" was. It makes no sense. Your statement of fact that he could only come home if he promisrd them to "take another stint".

No, I don't but he specifically mentions that at least some were for months and as far as I know a rehab stint is at least a month.. About the 'another stint', it's also what he said

RSBM
In the 2016 film promotion interviews with Nick and Rob, Nick claims that he has been at 17 treatment facilities since age 15. In 2016, he was 23 years old, and he claimed that he was clean for a period of time prior to releasing the film.

I don't know which interview you're referring to but on Dopey he said he went through 18 rehabs by the time he was age 19. In one of his last appearances there he indicated he had relapsed and went to do more. This was post-Charlie

17 treatment facilities in 6-7 years is roughly 3 per year. He couldn't have been homeless during that time, other than homeless meaning that he was not living at home with his parents. I doubt that he was living on the streets for any length of time. He could go home anytime he needed money, food, a rest from drug life.

He said he was homeless for some of those because he tended to run away. As far as him going back, the way he explained it on Dopey was that he could on the condition he gets clean and goes to another rehab. And the cycle repeats.

That was his choice to run away, again and again.

Nobody suggested anything different. But the point is he was still a kid and arguing that going through them wouldn't be damaging to his psyche isn't exactly novel science.

So for 6 years he could not agree to comply, stop using drugs, and see how that worked for him?

Yeah? But that is not how drug addicts operate (or any kind of addicts in general). They will stop when they themselves reach that conclusion, not when they are forced to.

Their approach was to try and get their young son to clean up his drug usage and get back into school. I think that is understandable.

Who argued different?

Yes, homeless by his own choice. He could have quit using drugs and then stayed home in his luxurious room in his mansion. It was up to him.

His exhaustion came about because of his total resistance to following basic rules all minors must follow. Don't do anything illegal under your parent's roof and you can live your life your own way when you are independent.

But this is not what we're arguing about, that's the problem. If it went that way, then this wouldn't have happened and we wouldn't be talking about it.

Just because 'he said' it was the 1st time it ever crossed his mind, doesn't make it true. It sounds more like a manipulation or gaslighting, than a true statement. IMO

He said it on a podcast with other former junkies, I don't think he was trying to manipulate anyone.

His teen transgressions were not 'mild teenage stuff'. He began having explosive temper tantrums as a young child. And that behaviour continued and then amped up.

The boot camps were about more than just pot use. It was about him being a defiant, angry kid who needed a wake up call.

He was destructive, disobedient and unwilling to comply with basic requests. His whole family tip toed around him because of his extreme reactions.

I think you're trying to make it seem like he was a regular teenager who smoked a joint now and then, harmless fun, and his parents overreacted.

That is not what they were dealing with. He was throwing furniture across the room, throwing dishes and glasses during dinner, refusing to go to school , and purposely obstructing the family life scene.

What were they supposed to do?

Where are you getting all that from? This is all new to me. With that said, I never suggested his parents overreacted, just that they went the wrong way about it. They should have kept a closer eye on him and had him under direct supervision, not send him to people they don't know on the other side of the country. That doesn't mean they were bad parents, I get why they did that - they had money and thought that the best way to help him is to send him to exceedingly expensive fancy treatments. The best money can buy. But the problem is I don't think Nick Reiner's problems (or any other drug addict's problems) are solved by throwing money at it. I'm not at all blaming them, they tried to provide the best for their son with the means they had at their disposal, and of course there is nothing to suggest he'd have turned any better if they took a different approach, all I'm simply arguing and trying to understand is where he got so wrong. And I'm absolutely not of the belief that he was always born rotten or any of that.