Son of filmmaker Rob Reiner appears in court on charges he murdered parents

The younger son of Hollywood filmmaker and political luminary Rob Reiner made his first court appearance on Wednesday, charged with double murder in the stabbing deaths of his parents, but the arraignment was postponed for three weeks, and he did not enter a plea.

Nick Reiner, 32, was ordered to return to Los Angeles County Superior Court for a continuation of his arraignment on January 7. No explanation was given in court for the delay in the hearing, which was requested by the defence.

Bearded, wearing eyeglasses and garbed in a blue protective vest, he appeared in court three days after his arrest and a day after he was charged with one of the most shocking celebrity homicide cases in the city's history.

He is accused of fatally stabbing his parents, actor-director Rob Reiner, 78, and photographer-producer Michele Reiner, 70, in the early morning hours of Sunday in the couple's mansion in the affluent west LA neighbourhood of Brentwood, then fleeing the scene.

The couple's bodies were discovered Sunday afternoon, hours before a planned evening gathering with former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, according to the former first lady.

Nick Reiner, who has publicly acknowledged a years-long struggle with drug addiction, was arrested that night near a downtown Los Angeles park close to the University of Southern California campus.

'DEVASTATING TRAGEDY'

Seated slightly slouched behind a glass partition in the courtroom, the defendant spoke little during his few minutes in court, saying only, "Yes, your honour," in a calm, clear voice when asked by Judge Theresa McGonigle if he agreed to waive his right to a speedy arraignment.

Speaking briefly to reporters outside the courthouse afterward, defence attorney Alan Jackson offered no additional insight, saying the proceedings were merely being paused. "Today we're going to rest on where we stand procedurally, which is, this was a continuance of arraignment. Nothing happened today, substantively," he said.

"This is a devastating tragedy that has befallen the Reiner family," Jackson added. "There are very, very complex and serious issues that are associated with this case. Those need to be thoroughly, but very carefully dealt with and examined."

Family members were not present for the hearing. But Nick Reiner's two siblings, brother Jake Reiner, 34, and sister Romy Reiner, 27, issued a joint statement afterward, their first public comment since the killings. "Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day," the two wrote. "The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience. They weren't just our parents; they were our best friends."

According to a New York Times account, it was Romy Reiner who found her father's body, after a massage therapist arriving at the house for an appointment failed to get an answer at the front gate and called the daughter for assistance. The daughter was unaware that her mother was also dead until after paramedics arrived, the Times reported, citing someone close to the family.

Authorities said Nick Reiner was taken into custody without incident on Sunday night, and was booked on suspicion of murder into a downtown jail, where he remains held with bond. According to various news media reports, he had lived in a guest house on his parents' property. If convicted as charged on two counts of first-degree murder, he would face life in prison without the possibility of parole, or the death penalty.

District Attorney Nathan Hochman has said prosecutors have yet to decide whether to seek the death sentence. Capital punishment remains on the books in California, but nobody has been put to death in the state since 2006, and Governor Gavin Newsom imposed an indefinite moratorium on executions in 2019.

According to prosecutors, a knife was used in the Reiner killings, but few other details were given about the circumstances of the slayings. Authorities have made no mention of a possible motive or whether drug use was a factor.

Various news media outlets have reported that Nick Reiner quarreled with his parents on Saturday night at a holiday party hosted by comedian Conan O'Brien. Asked whether investigators had recovered the murder weapon, Hochman said on Tuesday that would be revealed in court. Autopsies, once completed, will determine the precise cause, manner and times of death, officials said.