The eldest son of the late Hollywood director Rob Reiner has told how his world “collapsed” after his parents were stabbed to death, and his own brother was charged with their murders.
Jake Reiner, 34, wrote in a blog post that “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”.
“My world, as I knew it, had collapsed,” the actor wrote of the moment his sister phoned him with the devastating news. “I was in a trance.”
Rob and Michele Reiner were found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home in December. Their youngest son, Nick Reiner, 32, has pleaded not guilty to murder. He is due back in court next week.
In a lengthy Substack post published on Friday, Jake Reiner wrote: “We lost more than half of our family that night in the most violent way imaginable.”
“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.
He continued: “I understand that people have questions about what happened. Some of those answers will come in time. But some parts of this belong only to our family, and keeping them private is the only way to protect what little remains of something that was taken from us.”
Rob Reiner, 78, directed films including This Is Spinal Tap, the Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally and Stand By Me.
Michele Singer Reiner, 70, was an actress, photographer and producer, and the founder of Reiner Light, a photography agency and production company.
The Reiners were found dead in their Brentwood home by their daughter Romy on 14 December.
The couple died from “multiple sharp force injuries”, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner.
Nick Reiner was arrested in Los Angeles the same day, as US outlets reported that he and his father had attended a party the previous night and had a row.
Prosecutors allege that Nick Reiner fatally stabbed his father and mother inside a bedroom of their home before fleeing.
He faces two counts of first-degree murder, with a special circumstance alleging multiple murders.
He remains in custody and is next due in court on 29 April.
Jake Reiner said he keeps thinking about how frightened his parents must have been the night they died and that they were “the last people in the world to deserve what happened to them”.
“They deserved to be loved, they deserved to be respected, and above all they deserved to be appreciated for how much they gave to all three of us and to the world,” he wrote.
His 1,625-word essay follows a statement released jointly with his sister in December in which they did not directly address the allegations against their brother.
Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c74v2enw8l7o
