'Ticking Time Bomb': Nick Reiner Wouldn't Sleep For Days, Punch Walls In 'Meth-Fueled Rage'

Last Updated:December 17, 2025, 10:00 IST

Nick, 32, was arrested and charged with murder hours after the bodies of his father Rob Reiner and mother Michele Reiner were found at their Los Angeles residence over the weekend.

Nick Reiner (L) has been charged with first-degree murder for stabbing his parents - Hollywood filmmaker Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Reiner - to death. (Reuters)

Nick Reiner, the younger son of Hollywood filmmaker and political activist Rob Reiner, has been charged with first-degree murder for allegedly stabbing his parents to death. Nick was a habitual drug user who would not sleep for days after consuming meth and often punched walls, according to a report.

Nick, 32, was arrested several hours after the bodies of his father and mother, Michele Reiner, a photographer and producer, were discovered at their LA estate over the weekend. Officials said evidence gathered by the Los Angeles Police Department led homicide detectives to Reiner, who was taken into custody without incident on Sunday night at a park in downtown LA.

Notably, Nick had publicly acknowledged a years-long struggle with substance abuse. Several US media outlets reported that Nick Reiner had a heated quarrel with his parents on Saturday night at a holiday party hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien.

‘Ticking Time Bomb’

An insider told Daily Mail that Nick Reiner was a “ticking time bomb" whose drug use spiralled out of control after his parents threatened to kick him out of their home. Nick was reportedly living in the parents’ guesthouse for the last five years and his behaviour had become increasingly erratic and frightening.

“He would do meth and not sleep for days and then have outbursts, breaking things, punching walls. He was a ticking time bomb. His drug use was getting worse and his parents wanted him out," said a source close to the Reiner family.

As per the source, Nick often 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 laughed about destroying his parents’ guesthouse more than once. He was so nonchalant about it."

Nick also refused to get help for his drug addiction and would fight with his parents because they gave him an ultimatum – take medication and stop using or get out of the house. “When he started threatening his sister for confronting him that’s when all hell broke loose. His parents threatened to call authorities multiple times, but in the end didn’t," the source told Daily Mail.

Argument With Parents Raised Eyebrows

Nick reportedly had a “very loud argument" with his parents at Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party on Saturday, which terrified onlookers and left Rob Reiner worried about what he would do next, along with a seperate confrontation with comedian Bill Hader. “Nick was freaking everyone out, acting crazy, kept asking people if they were famous,’’ a source told People magazine.

The argument took place after Nick refused another treatment after at least 17 stints in rehab since the age of 15, sources told the New York Post. Rob Reiner reportedly told a friend that he was scared about the deterioration of Nick’s mental state.

The killings of Rob and Michele Reiner ranked among the most shocking celebrity murders in Los Angeles history, eliciting comparisons by some to the stabbing deaths of O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and a friend, Ron Goldman in 1994.

News world 'Ticking Time Bomb': Nick Reiner Wouldn't Sleep For Days, Punch Walls In 'Meth-Fueled Rage'

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