Nick Reiner’s siblings have halted financial support for his legal defense as he faces charges of murdering his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele. The accusations have placed the family under intense scrutiny.

The 32-year-old, who stands accused of fatally stabbing his parents at their $13.5 million residence in Brentwood on December 14, entered a plea of not guilty in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Monday.

After the tragic incident, Reiner was apprehended and has remained in custody without the option of bail.

As the legal proceedings advance, with prosecutors indicating the case meets criteria for the death penalty, Reiner’s defense now relies on a court-appointed public defender.

According to TMZ, insiders linked to Romy and Jake Reiner have revealed there are no intentions to engage a new private defense attorney.

Previously, the outlet noted that renowned defense lawyer Alan Jackson was initially hired following the murders but later stepped away from the case due to undisclosed disagreements.

A public defender was appointed last month. At the time, it appeared to be a temporary measure. However, on Monday, Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene appeared in court and entered a not guilty plea on Nick’s behalf.

One source told TMZ, ‘Nick’s defense is Nick’s defense. They’re not involved.’ 

Nick Reiner’s siblings are no longer paying for his criminal defense. Rob and Michele Reiner with eldest son, Jake, and daughter Romy at the Primetime Emmy Awards in January 2024

The 32-year-old looked gaunt as he sat hunched over in court on Monday in Los Angeles , California, wearing brown prison garb

Public defense attorney, Kimberly Green, is seen in court speaking about her client Nick Reiner as he pleads not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his parents

The outlet reported that Jake and Romy have no plans to bring in private counsel and will no longer pay for his defense.

It remains unclear whether the siblings will weigh in on whether prosecutors should pursue capital punishment.

The 32-year-old looked gaunt and hollow-eyed as he sat hunched over in court in Los Angeles, California on Monday, wearing brown prison garb. 

Nick was heard faintly whispering ‘Yes’ in court when asked if he understood the proceedings during his appearance, which marked the first time he’s been seen in custody. 

His head was shaved as he looked into the crowded courtroom, as if searching for someone he knows. 

At one point, an unidentified elderly woman waved at him, and Nick mouthed ‘hi’ to her and the older man sitting next to her.

This was Nick’s third court appearance after he was arrested following his parents’ gruesome murders. It was the first time LA County Superior Court Judge Theresa McGonigle allowed him to be photographed in custody. 

The death penalty is still on the table for Nick, LA County DA Nathan Hochman said.

Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were found stabbed to death just hours before Nick was arrested and held without bail

The death penalty is still on the table for Nick, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said

Pictured: The home where the Hollywood couple were found murdered 

Shortly after the three-minute hearing, Hochman addressed reporters outside the Downtown LA courtroom

‘The case is on track. We have provided the bulk of discovery to defense council and we are now waiting for the coroner’s report. That will be provided to the District Attorney’s Office and we will ensure that it will provided to defense council.

‘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.

‘We will be looking at all mitigating and aggravating circumstances, and we have invited defense council 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.’

He is due to appear in court again on April 29. 

Nick has long dealt with mental health issues, as it was previously claimed that he had been placed in a mental health conservatorship five years before allegedly murdering his parents. 

He also switched his schizophrenia medication about a month before his parents were found dead by his sister, Romy.   

Nick’s latest court appearance comes just days after comedian Conan O’Brien broke his silence on his parents’ deaths. 

Nick’s public defender, Kimberly Green, is seen arriving at Los Angeles criminal court ahead of his hearing on Monday

Just hours before Rob and Michele were found, the filmmaker was seen clashing with Nick at O’Brien’s holiday party.   

‘It’s just so awful,’ O’Brien, 62, said in an interview with The New Yorker on Friday.

‘I knew Rob and Michele, and then increasingly got closer and closer to them,’ he said, adding that he and his wife, Liza Powel O’Brien, ‘were seeing them a lot.’ 

‘They were just such lovely people. And to have that experience of saying goodnight to somebody and having them leave and then find out the next day that they’re gone. I think I was in shock for quite a while afterward. I mean, there’s no other word for it.

‘And I think about how Rob felt about things that are happening in the country, how involved he was, how much he put himself out there — and to have that voice go quiet in an instant is still hard for me to comprehend,’ O’Brien added.

It was reported that all three Reiners attended O’Brien’s December 13 holiday party, where the filmmaker and his son were involved in a ‘very loud argument.’ 

It was also recently revealed that Nick has been acting ‘almost childlike’ in jail and that he is ‘not competent to stand trial right now.’ 

TMZ executive producer Harvey Levin told Fox & Friends last week: ‘He is almost childlike in jail, we’re told. 

‘He can’t process the consequences of what he’s done. He knows what he did.

A courtroom sketch shows a stoic Nick Reiner in brown jail garb during a January 7 court appearance 

‘He just can’t understand where he is right now, and I know that sounds crazy, but he is out of his head right now,’ Levin added. 

Levin said that the killings were ‘incredibly brutal’. ‘We know people in the medical examiner’s office who are traumatized just by the pictures,’ he said.

The TMZ producer added that the killings had ‘all the markings of a meth murder’ and that Nick had been using the hard drug at the time.

Prior to his hearing, a legal expert predicted that Nick’s lawyer might build a public insanity defense for him. 

‘One reason to roll out a mental defense now is that, by waiting, it can undermine the credibility of an argument later, causing people to ask, ‘If he’s so bad off mentally, why didn’t you raise the issue earlier?” lawyer Royal Oakes told the New York Post. 

Oakes said Nick’s legal time might introduce the potential mental health strategy later on now that he has entered a plea of not guilty.