Nick Reiner indicted on lying-in-wait allegation in parents' stabbing deaths

Rob Reiner, 78, directed This is Spinal Tap, Misery, A Few Good Men

The grand jury indictment, returned on July 20 and unsealed Wednesday, allows prosecutors to bypass California’s preliminary hearing process and pursue the case directly toward trial. The indictment did not specify details on Reiner’s alleged actions the night his parents died, beyond the lying-in-wait allegation.

“This was a profound betrayal by someone who was loved and trusted by the very people he is accused of killing,” prosecutors said in a statement.

The “lying in wait” special-circumstance allegation amplifies the murder charges by adding an aggravating factor that makes Reiner eligible for the death penalty. California executions have been temporarily halted in the state, and prosecutors have not said whether they will pursue capital punishment against him. Reiner also faces a separate special allegation that he personally used a knife — another aggravating factor because a knife is classified as a dangerous and deadly weapon under California law.

“We hope that by having a grand jury return an indictment in this case it will bring us one step closer to a trial and achieving justice,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement.

Reiner is scheduled to return to court on September 15 for a hearing. He previously pleaded not guilty in February to the initial charges filed against him in the case.

Rob Reiner, 78, was a filmmaker known for directing This is Spinal Tap, Misery and A Few Good Men. His wife, photographer Michele Singer Reiner, was 70. The couple was found dead on December 14, 2025, in their home in the affluent Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles; their bodies were reportedly discovered by their daughter. The LA County medical examiner said at the time that the couple died from “multiple sharp force injuries.”

Nick Reiner was arrested in Los Angeles on the same day the bodies were discovered.

In April, Jake Reiner, the couple’s eldest son, wrote on Substack about how his world “collapsed” after his parents died and his own brother was charged with their murders. “Nothing compares to losing both of them at the same time and, on top of that, having your brother be at the centre of it,” he wrote.