The brother and sister of Nick Reiner, who is accused of killing his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, appeared before the grand jury that ultimately indicted him in the couple’s murders, according to new information.
Reiner, 32, was formally indicted in July in connection with the December 2025 deaths of his parents, who were found killed inside their $13.5 million mansion.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office confirmed to People on Wednesday that Reiner’s siblings, Romy Reiner, 28, and Jake Reiner, 35, gave testimony before the grand jury. Details of what they told jurors have not been made public.
The indictment, which was unsealed earlier this month, includes an added allegation that Reiner was lying in wait, expanding on the murder allegations he was already facing.
That special-circumstance allegation could significantly increase the stakes in the case, potentially making Reiner eligible for life in prison without the possibility of parole or even the death penalty if convicted.
Reiner has pleaded not guilty and has denied the accusations against him.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and the Reiner family for comment.
Nick Reiner’s siblings testified before the grand jury that indicted him in the murders of their parents, Rob and Michele Reiner. Nick is pictured far right with sister Romy, 28, brother Jake, 35, and their parents in 2014.
A Los Angeles County grand jury indicted 32-year-old Nick Reiner on murder charges in relation to the stabbing killings of his parents. He has pleaded not guilty
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office announced the charges, alongside another allegation that he used a dangerous and deadly weapon when he allegedly killed the This Is Spinal Tap director, 78, and his mother, 70
Reiner has a long history of mental health and substance abuse issues and was living in a guesthouse on the grounds of his parents’ home at the time.
Nathan Hochman, the LA County District Attorney, has said that the death penalty is on the table for Reiner if he is convicted.
Reiner has been locked up without bail since his arrest and will next face court in September.
Lou Shapiro, a top legal analyst, criminal defense attorney and former LA County Deputy Public Defender, gave his insights to The Daily Mail on why Romy and Jake could have testified.
He said, ‘There’s a few possible reasons. One reason is because it’s a highly publicized case, and the prosecution didn’t want to deal with a lot of, cameras, questions and media and so forth, while conducting a preliminary hearing. So, the quiet back door approach to arrive at the same result, which would be an indictment, is to go through the grand jury proceeding.
‘That’s one reason. Another reason would be that his siblings obviously have been through immeasurable pain, anguish, and grief, and perhaps the prosecution felt that.
‘They they would spare them the cross examination experience by defense attorneys because at a preliminary hearing, there’s cross examination. However, at a grand jury proceeding, the defense is not in the room.
‘During cross examination at a prelim, the witnesses are questioned and attacked on the stand, but on indictment it’s done afterwards on paper, by way of briefs. Preliminary hearing is done by way of orally on the record, So I think that was probably one of the possible reasons as well, that they chose to do it that way.’
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office announced the charges, alongside another allegation that he used a dangerous and deadly weapon when he allegedly killed the This Is Spinal Tap director, 78, and his mother, 70.
Reiner remains held on no bond and is next set to appear in court for a pretrial hearing in September.
The Hollywood heir, who has a long history of mental health and substance abuse issues, had earlier been seen having a loud argument with his father at a holiday party thrown by Conan O’Brien hours before his parents’ bodies were found, reportedly by his younger sister Romy.
Nathan Hochman, the LA County District Attorney, has said that the death penalty is on the table for Reiner if he is convicted.
He previously said: ‘This case is a death penalty-eligible case. Along those lines, we take the process in which we determine whether or not the death penalty should be sought extremely seriously. That goes through a very rigorous process.
A representative for the Los Angeles County District Attorney confirmed to People on Wednesday that Romy and Jake testified although the content of their testimony is not known at this time – pictured wit their brother in 2016
‘We will be looking at all mitigating and aggravating circumstances, and we have invited defense counsel to present to us both in writing and in a pleading any arguments they would like to make in consideration going forward or not going forward with the death penalty. So that is an ongoing process.’
California has not executed a death row prisoner since 2006 and Governor Gavin Newsom enacted a moratorium on the punishment in 2019, meaning Reiner will be unlikely to ever face the death penalty even if he is ultimately sentenced to it.
In an essay in April, Reiner’s older brother Jake shared his horror at finding out that his parents, who were married for 36 years, had been murdered and that his younger brother Reiner was charged with their slayings.
He described how his sister Romy, 28, gave him the terrible news, which he said was ‘too devastating to comprehend.’
‘The only thing I could focus on was that I needed to get to my childhood home. I needed to get to my sister. I needed to figure out what the hell just happened,’ he recounted.
‘I was robbed of so many things that day,’ Jake, 35, continued. ‘My parents won’t be at my wedding, they won’t get to hold their future grandchild, and they won’t get to see me have the successful career I’m still seeking. It simultaneously breaks my heart and enrages me.’
As he was still reeling from the news of his parents’ deaths, Jake said he was horrified to then learn that his brother was the alleged murderer.
Reiner had earlier been seen having a loud argument with his father at a holiday party thrown by Conan O’Brien hours before his parents’ bodies were found, reportedly by his sister
‘We lost more than half of our family that night in the most violent way imaginable,’ he wrote.
‘Sure, any loss of a parent is devastating, but nothing compares to losing both of them at the same time and, on top of that, having your brother be at the center of it. It’s almost too impossible to process.’
‘Every day since then has been horrendous,’ he continued. ‘Every meeting we take, every person we talk to, every tear we shed, every movement we make is connected to our parents being murdered.’
‘When you are not living through a tragedy the specific way Romy and I are, it’s hard to wrap your head around just how horrific this has been,’ Jake explained.
‘Because they weren’t your parents, it might be easier to move forward or even forget for a moment about what happened that day,’ he wrote. ‘But for us, it’s every single day.’
Jake also paid touching tributes to his parents, saying that they were ‘the center of my life.’
While his famous father was a Hollywood legend, Jake described his mother, Michele, as ‘the engine, the backbone, and the heart of our entire family.’
