Nick Rayner expected to enter a plea in the stabbing murder of his parents, Rob and Michelle Rayner
Nick Rayner is expected to appear in court on Wednesday to enter a confession to his parents’ murder. Famous director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle Reiner.
The 32-year-old faces two counts of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of multiple murders.
Nick Rayner appeared in court briefly on December 17 and waived his right to a speedy trial.
Since his last appearance, sources told ABC News that law enforcement and defense attorneys have been working on it piece together nick Rainer’s psychiatric history and drug abuse. Legal experts say California law allows defense attorneys to sign early in Wednesday’s hearing Whether they will seek mental health use In their defense.
Nick Reiner attends the Los Angeles premiere of Spinal Tap II: The End Continues at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles, California, September 9, 2025.
Audie Gerucci/Reuters
Nick Rayner has a documented history of Addiction and Substance abuse treatment, friends He told the investigators That his mental health was deteriorating before the murders.
He can He entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on Wednesday, though that could come later as well.
Under California law, a jury can find a defendant not guilty by reason of insanity, which would render him or her insane Imprisonment To a government psychiatric hospital instead of prison. This process can be started on call but is not necessary to do so.
To pursue this defense, attorneys must prove that the defendant had a mental illness before he developed the addiction. Mental illness resulting solely from addiction does not meet the legal criteria.
Nick Rayner’s defense attorney, Alan Jackson, issued a statement last month, saying: “We ask that, throughout this process, you allow the system to move forward the way it was designed… not by jumping to conclusions, but with restraint, with dignity, and with the respect that this system and this process deserve and that the family deserves.”
Rob Reiner and Michelle Reiner They were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home on December 14.
Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle Singer Reiner arrive for the 2019 Human Rights Campaign Los Angeles Dinner at the JW Marriott Los Angeles Live on March 30, 2019 in Los Angeles.
Jean-Baptiste Lacroix/AFP via Getty Images
The night before the murders, Nick Reiner — who has been open about battling drug addiction since he was a teenager and lived on his parents’ property — got into an argument with Rob Reiner at a holiday party, and was seen acting strangely, sources told ABC News.
Nick Rayner was taken into custody in downtown Los Angeles hours after the bodies were discovered.
Rob and Michelle Rainer’s other children, “Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing,” Jake and Romy Rainer said in a statement last month.
An aerial photo shows the home of actor and director Rob Reiner in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California on December 15, 2025.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
They said: “The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michelle Rayner, is something no one should ever have to experience. They were not only our parents, they were our best friends.”
“We are grateful for the outpouring of condolences, kindness and support we have received from not only family and friends but from all walks of life,” Jake and Romy Rayner said. “We now ask for respect and privacy, for speculation to be tempered with compassion and humanity, and for our parents to be remembered for the wonderful lives they lived and the love they gave.”
