Rob Reiner-Michele Reiner Double Murder: A Timeline Of Events - Heated Argument With Son Nick Reiner At Conan O’Brien's Christmas Party To Suspect's Arrest

Hollywood director and actor Rob Reiner and his wife Michele's lives ended in a tragedy at their Brentwood home on December 14. An ongoing investigation into the deaths revealed their son Nick Reiner's (32) alleged involvement in the gruesome double murders. What has come to the fore is Rob and Michele's complicated relationship with their son. Nick reportedly struggled with substance abuse issues and mental health disorders for years and may have killed his parents the night after they got into a heated argument at a party. Reports detailing the scene of crime reveal the couple was brutally stabbed to death, with their throats being slit and their lifeless bodies, soaked in blood, discovered by their daughter Romy.

Rob and Michele shared three children: Jake, Nick and Romy.

Los Angeles police said Nick Reiner, the middle son of Hollywood actor and filmmaker Rob Reiner, has been jailed as a prime suspect in the double murder case. Nick, 32, who had struggled with substance abuse, was taken into custody on Sunday night and "booked for murder" in the county jail, where he remained with bail set at $4 million, the police department said in a statement.

As Hollywood mourns the shocking murders of Rob and Michele Reiner, here's piecing together a timeline of events before and after the fateful night of the double murders in Brentwood, LA.

Dec 13: Big argument between the Reiners at Conan O’Brien's Christmas party

According to The New York Times, the couple attended a holiday party with their son Nick at Conan O’Brien’s home the night before their deaths. During the event, Rob Reiner and his son got into a bitter verbal clash. Reiner openly called out his son’s inappropriate behaviour. While the exact reason for the argument remains unclear, sources believe it centred on Nick’s drug use. One source told PEOPLE, "Nick was freaking everyone out, acting crazy, kept asking people if they were famous."

A close family friend who lives near the Reiners’ home told The New York Post that after the argument, the When Harry Met Sally director shared concerns about Nick. The friend said the family feared for his safety and believed his mental health was worsening.

Sources close to the Reiner family also told TMZ, “Rob and Michele then left the party. We do not know if Nick left as well.”

Some reports also say a dispute may have happened because Nick had returned to drug use and refused another attempt at treatment, despite having completed at least 17 rehabilitation programmes since the age of 15.

Dec 14: Rob-Michele’s throat slit, LAPD discovers dead bodies in their Brentwood home

On Sunday at around 3 pm, firefighters responded to a medical emergency at a house in the 250 block of Chadbourne Avenue, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. Officials initially identified the deceased only as a 78-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman.

Police later opened a death investigation, which turned into a murder case, LAPD sources told ABC News. They added that property records list the home under Reiner’s name.

By 9 pm, the Reiner family confirmed in a statement that the victims were Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer.

As per TMZ, one of Rob Reiner's daughters discovered the parents' dead bodies at their home and alerted the police. Rob and his wife Michele’s throats were slit. The room was allegedly patched with blood. Their daughter, Romy, is said to have told the police that the suspected murder is the doing of a "family member", who she described as "dangerous".

Dec 14: Where was Nick Reiner at the time of the murder and after?

When police responded to a call for a death investigation around 3:40 PM Sunday, Nick was nowhere to be found. Romy told officers that Nick was not there when she arrived, suggesting that he had fled the scene.

According to TMZ, Nick Reiner, the son of Rob and Michele Reiner, remained missing for several hours after his parents were discovered with their throats slit inside their Brentwood residence.

TMZ also reported that Nick Reiner checked into a Santa Monica hotel early on Sunday morning and later left behind a trail of blood without formally checking out.

As reported in the investigations, Nick checked into The Pierside Santa Monica around 4 AM Sunday, using his credit card. His check-in came hours after he got into a heated fight with his father at Conan O'Brien's Christmas party. Later that morning, hotel staff entered his room and discovered the shower “full of blood”, along with blood on the bed. TMZ also stated that bed sheets covered the room’s window.

Authorities later traced and arrested Nick at around 9:15 pm on Sunday in Exposition Park, roughly 20 miles away near downtown Los Angeles.

The Reiners had struggled for years to help Nick overcome his substance abuse issues, but their efforts largely failed. The couple’s complicated relationship with son Nick was previously explored in a movie Rob worked on with his son: Being Charlie.

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