Nick Reiner has pleaded not guilty in the stabbing deaths of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michelle Singer Reiner.
The late coach’s troubled son appeared in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Monday for arraignment on two counts of first-degree murder.
This is Reiner’s first appearance in a Los Angeles courtroom. He was wearing a brown jumpsuit and had his hands handcuffed during his arraignment.
Reiner, 32, sat emotionless in court, his eyes sunken and his head shaved.
At one point, he appeared to be grinning.
Reiner was represented by public defender Kimberly Greene and spoke with her attorney through plexiglass during the hearing.
When asked by the judge if he was willing to waive his right to a speedy preliminary hearing, he said yes.
His next court appearance is scheduled for April 29th.
As Page Six previously reported, his former lawyer, famed criminal defense attorney Alan Jackson, resigned before the court hearing in January. At the time, Jackson said the team “had no choice but to pull out and seek relief.”
Reiner is being held in solitary confinement at Twin Towers Correctional Facility without bail. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.
After Rob and Michelle were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home on Dec. 14, Reiner was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder with the special circumstances of multiple murder. Mr. Reiner was 78 years old and she was 70.
The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office confirmed that Rob and Michelle died from “multiple sharp force injuries” and ruled their deaths a homicide.
Three days later, Nick made his first court appearance wearing a suicide prevention smock, but was seen without it at a hearing the following month.
Young Reiner struggled with drug addiction for years and was in and out of rehab facilities. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia before his parents died.
In TMZ’s January documentary, The Reiner Murders: What Really Happened, sources claimed that Nick’s weight gain and changes in his medication for schizophrenia had made him “erratic and dangerous.”
His siblings Romy, 28, and Jake Reiner, 34, have kept a low profile as they mourn their parents’ tragic deaths.
Romy and Jake did not attend the Feb. 23 court hearing as they were seen hiking with their boyfriends on Monday.
Rob’s close friend and cinematographer Barry Markowitz exclusively told Page Six that when he was staying with the Reiners in the weeks before the gruesome murder, everything was “business as usual” between the Reiners.
Markowitz also claimed that Nick seemed to be “on the rise” and “looking great.”
“(Nick) helped me out, took out the trash, watched TV, washed the dishes, brought me drinks. He was a normal guy in that sense,” Markowitz said.
If you or a loved one is affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call SAMHSA’s national helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
