Nick Reiner repeatedly asked celebrities one very strange question at Conan O’Brien’s party before he was asked to leave.
Hollywood legend Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found stabbed to death inside their Los Angeles mansion on December 14.
Their 32-year-old son has been arrested on suspicion of fatally stabbing the couple in a shocking double homicide that has left the entertainment world stunned.
Their daughter, Romy, discovered the bodies inside the family’s $13.5 million Brentwood mansion after arriving to check on her parents when a massage therapist couldn’t reach them.
Authorities were called at around 3:30 p.m., but both Rob and Michele were already dead, with investigators later confirming they had been deceased for several hours.
The Party That Preceded the Murders
Hours before the brutal killings, Nick attended O’Brien’s annual holiday party alongside his parents, where his unsettling behavior reportedly alarmed guests.
According to The Wall Street Journal, he repeatedly asked A-list attendees a bizarre series of questions: “What’s your name? What’s your last name? Are you famous?”
Multiple guests said Nick’s behavior was erratic and uncomfortable, with one insider telling NBC News, “Nick just stood there and stared before storming off” after interrupting comedian Bill Hader’s private conversation.
Another source told People, “Nick was freaking everyone out, acting crazy, kept asking people if they were famous.”
Witnesses say tension mounted between father and son throughout the night, and according to TMZ, Rob and Michele left the party early after an argument with Nick.
Sources now believe the murders may have occurred shortly after they returned home.
The Gruesome Discovery and Arrest
Paramedics were called to the house after Romy found her mother and father’s lifeless bodies.
Investigators said the couple had been stabbed to death and that rigor mortis had already set in when their bodies were discovered.
Nick was nowhere to be found at the property. Instead, TMZ reported that he had checked into a Santa Monica hotel using his own credit card. Hotel staff later discovered a “blood-filled shower” and a trail of blood leading from the bed.
Surveillance footage later captured him at a Los Angeles gas station, appearing calm and collected, wearing a hat and carrying a red backpack. Hours later, he was arrested near Exposition Park after surrendering to officers without resistance.
He was booked on two counts of first-degree murder and placed on suicide watch at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has also added a special allegation that Nick personally used a knife.
If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole. His attorney, Alan Jackson, said Nick has yet to appear in court due to an ongoing medical evaluation.
A Troubled Life and Unresolved Tensions
Nick's struggles with addiction were well known. The son of one of Hollywood’s most respected directors, he began using drugs in his teens and entered rehab at least 17 times by age 22.
He admitted to periods of homelessness in several states: “I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas,” he told People in 2015. “I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It was not fun.”
He later turned those experiences into the semi-autobiographical screenplay Being Charlie, which his father directed.
The 2015 film explored the relationship between a young addict and his father, a dynamic that closely mirrored their real lives.
Hollywood Mourns a Legendary Couple
Rob was one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed filmmakers, directing classics such as Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally, The Princess Bride, This Is Spinal Tap, and A Few Good Men.
His wife, Michele Singer Reiner, was known for her activism and creative influence throughout their more than 35-year marriage.
During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Michelle Obama revealed that she and her husband, Barack, had planned to meet the Reiners the night of their deaths.
“Rob and Michele were some of the most decent, courageous people you ever want to know,” she said.
"What they have always been are passionate people who - in a time when there’s not a lot of courage going on - they were the kind of people who were ready to put their actions behind what they cared about."
“And they cared about their family. And they cared about this country. And they cared about fairness and equity. And that is the truth," she added.