Nick Reiner, the 32-year-old son of director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, pleaded not guilty this week to two counts of murder after a grand jury indicted him in his parents’ deaths. The indictment, returned July 20, was unsealed on Wednesday.

Prosecutors have attached special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and lying in wait, a detail that keeps the death penalty available as an option. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has said his office has not yet decided whether to pursue it.

Rob Reiner, the director behind This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me and When Harry Met Sally, and Michele Singer Reiner, a photographer and producer, were found stabbed to death in their home in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles on December 14, 2025. Nick Reiner was arrested hours later and has remained in custody without bail at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility since.

He is due back in court September 15 for a pretrial hearing. Authorities have released almost nothing about a possible motive, and a court order has sealed most details of the autopsy.

Reiner’s legal team has also gone through changes. High-profile attorney Alan Jackson took the case initially, then withdrew about a month later for reasons he said he could not disclose. In June, Reiner’s civil attorneys filed a separate petition in Los Angeles County court seeking money from a trust his parents set up for him in 1993, arguing he needs the funds, which he says he was owed once he turned 30, to pay for his defense. The petition says the trust holds at least $1.5 million, though the trustee overseeing it has not disclosed the exact amount.

Rob Reiner’s other children, Jake and Romy Reiner, had initially agreed to cover Jackson’s fees before reversing course, according to the June filing. Jake Reiner has since described the case publicly as a living nightmare that is too devastating to comprehend.