The bodies of director-actor Rob Reiner and his photographer wife Michele Reiner were cremated after they were released to the family from Los Angeles County coroner officials, according to their death certificates.
The documents showed the Reiners were cremated Friday at Mount Sinai Mortuary, TMZ reported.
Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 70, were found dead at about 3:30 p.m. Dec. 14 in the couple’s Brentwood home in the 200 block of Chadbourne Avenue. The L.A. County Office of Medical Examiner classified the couple’s deaths as homicides, with both dying from “multiple sharp force injuries.”
The death certificates note they were killed “with knife, by another.”
The couple’s son Nick Reiner is charged with the stabbing deaths of his parents. It was reported last week that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was taking medications that made him “erratic and dangerous.”
Citing two sources with knowledge of the situation, TMZ reported that the 32-year-old Reiner had been under the care of a psychiatrist for mental illness, but his behavior had grown more alarming in recent weeks.
About a month ago, doctors adjusted his medications in an effort to stabilize his behavior, but he instead grew more erratic, TMZ reported. One source told the website that Reiner “was out of his head,” with his mental health problems exacerbated by continued substance abuse.
TMZ also reported that Nick Reiner recently spent time at a high-dollar Los Angeles rehab facility known for treating children of “rich, powerful parents.”
Nick Reiner has been open about his struggles with drug abuse over the years, even working with his father to produce a 2015 semi-autobiographical movie titled “Being Charlie,” based on Nick’s drug-addiction issues and the family’s struggles to cope. In media interviews and podcast appearances, he previously described being in and out of rehab programs throughout his teen years, and spending time homeless in various states, including Texas, New Jersey and Maine. He also described an instance when he was high on cocaine for multiple days and trashed his parents’ guest house.
The revelation of a schizophrenia diagnosis raises the possibility of Reiner pleading not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder charges.
He is due back in court Jan. 7 to be arraigned on two counts of murder, which include the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, opening him to a possible death sentence if prosecutors choose to pursue capital punishment. He also faces a sentence enhancement for personal use of a deadly weapon — a knife.
Nick Reiner made his initial court appearance last Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles. He appeared in court wearing an anti-suicide vest, and he was ordered to remain jailed without bail.
