A source close to Rob and Michele Reiner’s family has slammed online trolls for suggesting the slain couple didn’t support their son Nick enough in the lead up to their murders.
The insider told the Daily Mail that those who knew the couple are devastated by accusations they did not help or love their 32-year-old son, who suffered with addiction issues and periods of homelessness before he allegedly killed his parents in their bed.
The Reiners were found dead at their Los Angeles home on Sunday December 14. Their daughter Romy, 27, discovered their bodies at around 3.30pm that afternoon. Nick was arrested hours later and charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
The accused killer has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and went to rehab at least 17 times in recent years. In recent years he has lived in his parents’ guesthouse.
Friends have defended the couple after conservative influencer Megyn Kelly led controversial attacks on the iconic director, who was also known for his staunch anti-Trump beliefs.
Kelly claimed the vicious murders in the Reiners’ $13 million mansion ‘may involve parents who were focused on the wrong thing, like careers instead of their kid.’
‘Any reporting suggesting that Rob and Michele didn’t love all of their children is totally false. They were utterly devoted to all their children and did everything they could to support them,’ the source close to the family told the Daily Mail.
Rob and Michele Reiner’s close friends have slammed online trolls for suggesting the slain couple didn’t support their son Nick enough before he allegedly killed them
Nick, seen in September 2025, has long struggled with mental health issues and substance abuse and had been open about his numerous trips to rehab
The Reiner family are seen together in Vegas during happier times
It comes as sources previously told TMZ that Reiner’s schizophrenia worsened in the weeks before the alleged murders after doctors changed his psych medication.
Nick reportedly became ‘erratic and dangerous’ because of the medication tweaks, which saw his mental illness spiral out of control, insiders claimed.
According to the outlet, insiders said that Nick’s behavior had become ‘alarming’ and he had been attending a Los Angeles rehab facility that specializes in substance abuse, and charges a staggering $70,000 a month, the report said.
On Saturday December 13, Rob and Michele took Nick to a star-studded holiday party hosted at comedian Conan O’Brien’s LA mansion. The Reiners reportedly wanted to ‘keep an eye’ on Nick.
But guests at the A-list party have since said that Nick displayed ‘antisocial behavior’ including staring at attendees and repeatedly asking if people were famous.
A blow up came when he and Rob reportedly had a loud argument, after which the Reiners left.
Nick was suffering with worsening schizophrenia and became ‘erratic and dangerous’ when doctors changed his psych medication, insiders say
Rob and Michele were found dead with their throats slit in their $13.5 million home the next day.
The Daily Mail has previously revealed that those around Nick allegedly saw him as a ‘ticking time bomb’.
Sources said his drug use spiraled out of control after his parents threatened to kick him out their home.
The troubled 32-year-old had been living in his parents’ guesthouse for the past five years – with his behavior becoming increasingly erratic and frightening, the insiders claimed.
‘Nick had been living in their guesthouse, the same one he destroyed more than once, but it had been like a revolving door all his adult life,’ a source close to Reiner said.
‘He would do meth and not sleep for days and then have outbursts, breaking things, punching walls.
Romy Reiner, 27, seen with her brother Nick, discovered their parents bodies, and told investigators her brother ‘should be a suspect’ because he was ‘dangerous’
‘He was a ticking time bomb. His drug use was getting worse and his parents wanted him out.’
According to the source, Nick frequently laughed off the destruction he caused during drug-fueled episodes.
‘He used to brag how he could get away with anything and took money from his parents for drugs and prostitutes,’ the source claimed.
‘He would talk about this stuff in meetings, but then stopped going because he said it was too cultish. He laughed about destroying his parents’ guesthouse more than once. He was so nonchalant about it.’
