Just two days before the shocking discovery of director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele’s bodies in their luxurious $13.5 million Brentwood home, they enjoyed what seemed to be an ordinary dinner at a local favorite restaurant. The couple, whose lives were tragically cut short by a violent attack, had their throats slit in what has been described as a gruesome incident.
Their son, Nick Reiner, aged 32, who has struggled with addiction and resided in the guesthouse on their property, was apprehended mere hours after the bodies were found on Sunday night. He now faces serious charges, including two counts of first-degree murder.
Authorities believe the murders took place in the early hours of Sunday morning. On the night preceding the tragedy, the Reiners attended a holiday party hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien. Nick accompanied them, and during the event, the couple reportedly expressed their fears to other guests about what Nick might do if left unsupervised.
The festive gathering turned tense as a heated argument erupted between Nick and Rob, prompting the family to leave the party amid growing concerns. Just hours before this altercation, their lives seemed untouched by the impending tragedy that would soon unfold.
The Reiner’s reportedly left the party after an angry blow-up between Nick and Rob got out of hand.
But for the evening prior, the family appeared worlds away from tragedy.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Amici restaurant owner Tancredi DeLuca revealed that Rob, 78, and Michele, 70, dined at his Brentwood, Los Angeles eatery with friend Maria Shriver on Friday, December 12.
Less than 48 hours before Rob and Michele Reiner would be found dead in their $13.5 million Brentwood mansion, their throats slit in a grisly attack, the couple shared a festive dinner at a favorite restaurant nearby (Reiner family pictured out for dinner in 2024)
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Amici restaurant owner Tancredi DeLuca revealed that Rob, 78, and Michele, 70, spent their final night out dining at his spot with friend Maria Shriver; (Rob, Michele and Maria leaving Giorgio Baldi in May 2024)
‘They were very good people, always very approachable and so very kind to the entire staff,’ DeLuca said Thursday.
‘We are all in complete shock. We are all saddened about what happened. They are very good people, very down to earth and always treated everyone here very well.’
The trio enjoyed Amici’s winter special, Sogliola Alla Mugnaia — imported Dover sole in a lemon-caper sauce, served with broccolini and roasted potatoes — along with pasta, staff said.
The Reiners were regulars at the busy Italian restaurant, often ordering their favorite dish, the artichoke salad, and were known for being warm and personable.
Hauntingly, the restaurant sits just across the street from the Sinclair gas station where surveillance cameras captured Nick walking late Saturday night before the alleged murders — the same gas station where employees noticed Nick’s behavior had shifted in the days leading up to the killings.
Staff described him as ‘drained’ and ‘abnormal’, compared to his usual demeanor. (The Reiner family were regulars at the gas station.)
The shift was particularly jarring, staff noted, because just months earlier Nick had been friendly and talkative — often lingering to chat during his visits.
They emphasized that he did not appear impaired or under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
The Reiners were regulars at the busy Italian restaurant (pictured), often ordering pastas and artichoke salad, and were known for being warm and personable
Ironically, the restaurant sits just across the street from the Sinclair gas station where surveillance cameras captured Nick walking late Saturday night — the same gas station where employees noticed his behavior had shifted in the days leading up to the killings
As recently as September, Rob Reiner publicly expressed confidence in his son’s recovery.
In an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air, the When Harry Met Sally director said, ‘He’s been great,’ adding that Nick hadn’t ‘been doing drugs for over six years.’
‘He’s in a really good place,’ Reiner said.
Nick is now being held without bail on suicide watch in administrative segregation at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles.
Investigators quickly focused on him after the bodies were discovered by his sister, Romy Reiner, who reportedly told police her brother was ‘dangerous’ and ‘should be a suspect.’
On Tuesday, law enforcement sources revealed that Rob and Michele had likely been dead for several hours before they were found at around 3.30pm on Sunday, noting their bodies were already in rigor mortis.
The filmmaker and his photographer wife were stabbed to death, with their throats slashed, authorities said.
A source close to the investigation told Daily Mail the couple were in bed together and may have been asleep when they were attacked.
In the aftermath, Shriver shared a heartbreaking tribute remembering the couple she described as among her closest friends; (pictured November)
In the aftermath, Kennedy scion Shriver shared a heartbreaking tribute remembering the couple she described as among her closest friends.
‘I loved Michele and Rob Reiner,’ she wrote. ‘We raised our kids together, from mommy and me on up. We laughed together, we cried together, we played together, we dreamed together.’
She continued, ‘We had dinner this past week, and they were in the best place in their lives: loving one another, loving their friends, their family, their country.’
Shriver praised the Reiners as lifelong optimists devoted to family and civic duty, saying they ‘never gave up on our country’ and always wanted ‘to make our world better.’
‘I’m devastated, gutted, shocked, stunned,’ she wrote. ‘Life will not be the same without you here, that’s for sure.’
Hours later, she publicly condemned Donald Trump after he declined to offer condolences and defended a controversial social media post about Reiner.
‘Well I wasn’t a fan of his at all,’ Trump said when asked about the director. ‘He was a deranged person, as far as Trump is concerned.’
Trump had earlier suggested the killings were tied to what he called Reiner’s ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ in a Truth Social post.
Nick is now being held without bail on suicide watch in administrative segregation at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles; (pictured September)
As recently as September, Rob Reiner publicly expressed confidence in Nick’s recovery; (pictured 2016)
‘I think he hurt himself, career-wise, he became like a deranged person, [with] Trump derangement syndrome. So I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all, in any way shape or form. I thought he was very bad for our country,’ Trump wrote.
Shriver fired back on social media, writing: ‘I try to rise above the noise all the time, but this individual has no human decency. This goes beyond. It’s absolutely disgusting. We should all be horrified and disgusted by this inhumane behavior, because that’s what it is.’
She added: ‘Rob and Michele Reiner were good human beings and good friends to me and countless others. Their family is in deep, unimaginable pain. What kind of human being would share a statement like this, much less a president?’
Though she said her late friends would have urged restraint, Shriver felt compelled to speak.
‘Rob and Michele would tell me to just ignore him, but I can’t. I just can’t. And I hope you don’t either,’ she wrote. ‘They deserve so much better, as does their family.’
She closed by rejecting speculation surrounding their parenting.
‘Rob and Michele Reiner were devoted parents. They deeply loved all their children and they never gave up trying to care for them. Every single one of them.’
