Four months after the slayings of Rob and Michele Reiner, their 34-year-old son, Jake, has opened up about the “impossible to process” tragedy.
On Friday (April 24), Jake shared a touching Substack article describing the moment he was told by his younger sister, Romy, that their parents had been fatally stabbed at their home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, on December 14
Prosecutors have identified the couple’s son, Nick, as the perpetrator. The 32-year-old, who is facing two charges of first-degree m*rder, has pleaded not guilty.
Image credits: Getty/Neilson Barnard
In his article, titled “Mom and Dad,” Jake does not refer to Nick by name, only calling him his “brother.”
Rob and Michele’s eldest son said the news that he had lost his parents was “too devastating to comprehend” and recalled the 45-minute taxi ride to his childhood home, during which he was “in a trance.”
“My world, as I knew it, had collapsed,” Jake penned.
When he got the devastating call, he was at an event honoring the life of one of his best friends who had passed away in October.
Image credits: Getty/Pool
“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.”
“I was robbed of so many things that day. 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,” he wrote.
“I still wake up every morning having to convince myself that, no, it’s not a dream. This truly is my living nightmare.”
Image credits: Getty/Paul Archuleta
Jake shared that losing both of his parents overnight and learning that his younger brother was allegedly responsible for the tragedy was “almost too impossible to process.”
“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.”
Image credits: Getty/Denise Truscello
He described his everyday life since the double homicide as “horrendous,” noting that everything reminds him of the tragedy.
“Every meeting we take, every person we talk to, every tear we shed, every movement we make is connected to our parents being m*rdered.
“A lot of people have said to me, ‘I don’t even know what to say,’ and I don’t blame them. If I weren’t in the middle of this sh*tstorm, I wouldn’t know what to say either.”
Additionally, he referred to the media attention the case received and contrasted it with the horror he and his sister experienced as those directly affected by the tragedy.
“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,” he wrote.
“Because they weren’t your parents, it might be easier to move forward or even forget for a moment about what happened that day. But for us, it’s every single day.”
In the article, Jake celebrated his parents’ lives, referring to them as “the center of my life, my guiding lights, the foundation of who I am as a human being.”
He also highlighted the generosity of the renowned Hollywood filmmaker and photographer, describing them as “most giving people I have ever known.”
Image credits: michelereiner
“A lot of people don’t have the luxury of having the best parents, the best mom, or the best dad, but I did. The love they have for me, my brother, and my sister is truly unconditional,” he wrote.
Rob and Michele married in 1989 after being introduced while he was working on When Harry Met Sally. They remained together until the tragedy.
“The love they have for each other in their marriage is something I always looked up to as the standard of what a successful relationship looks like,” their son said.
Of his mother, a photographer and film producer, Jake said she was “the engine, the backbone, and the heart of our entire family” and that she “had a passion for life most people wish they could attain.”
Image credits: michelereiner
He shared that she always picked up the phone whenever he had a problem and that he often leaned on her “brilliant perspective” when facing a complicated issue.
“She loved to laugh, and I always felt like the funniest person of all time around her because whenever I’d make a bad joke, she was oftentimes the only one who’d laugh.”
Of his father, Jake said he was “authentic, passionate, and his sense of humor has always been my sense of humor.” He also described him as his “hero.”
“I love how he would analyze my dreams or how I felt I could come talk to him about anything. No subject was ever off-limits.”
Image credits: jakereiner
He further expressed his wish to have collaborated with Rob. “I wish he and I could’ve worked on a project together from start to finish. I miss him so much.”
The actor recalled some of the fondest memories he shared with his parents, including frequently watching the musical Les Misérables with his mother and going to baseball games at Dodger Stadium with his father.
“It’s not lost on me that I was able to have these incredible experiences that most people don’t get to have because of who my parents were,” Jake penned. “But I would trade every Dodger game, every Broadway show, every vacation, if I could just spend just one more hour talking to them and to say goodbye.”
Image credits: Getty/Denise Truscello
Towards the end of the article, he stated that his goal was to offer insight into what he had lost, but also to celebrate what Rob and Michele meant to him.
“I just ask for love and compassion – the same principles my parents lived by.”
Nick Reiner is being held without bail at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles. He is next due in court on April 29.
The 32-year-old was living with his parents at the time of the tragedy. A few years earlier, he was placed in a mental health conservatorship to treat his substance dependence issues. The conservatorship ended in 2021.
Image credits: X/Reiner_Jake
The night before the crime, Rob, Michele, and Nick attended a Christmas party hosted by Conan O’Brien, during which Nick reportedly exhibited erratic behavior. The father and son allegedly engaged in an argument before leaving the event.
If convicted, Nick could face life in prison without parole or capital punishment.
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