Rob and Michele Reiner were stabbed to death in their Brentwood home last December. Their son Nick was arrested hours later and charged with killing them. Now their other son, Jake, is speaking for the first time about losing his parents and his brother in a single night.
Nick Reiner, 32, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, who were fatally stabbed inside their Brentwood, California, home in the early hours of Dec. 14, 2025.
His older brother Jake sat down with KABC-TV’s Mark Cota-Robles for his first interview since the killings, portions of which aired Aug. 27 on Good Morning America.
“It’s been 8 months. It feels like 8 years at the same time. And it also feels like 8 minutes,” Jake said. “Because every moment that I wake up, I’m reminded of my reality.”
He recalled the phone call from his sister Romy that broke the news. “Romy told me our dad was dead and then she said, ‘I can’t find mom.’”
Nick was arrested later on Dec. 14 near the University of Southern California and has remained in custody without bail at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility. The indictment, unsealed Aug. 12, added a special circumstance allegation that the murders were committed by lying in wait, plus an allegation involving the use of a knife.
Jake and Romy testified before the Los Angeles grand jury that indicted their brother, PEOPLE reported. Nick is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on Sept. 15, and if convicted he faces death or life without parole. Prosecutors have not said whether they’ll seek the death penalty.
Jake described the compounded loss in his own words. “I physically lost my parents. And then Nick was arrested. And now it’s me and Romy.”
Before the KABC sit-down, Jake had written about the killings in a raw personal essay on Substack in April, calling his life since a “living nightmare.” “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,” he wrote. “It simultaneously breaks my heart and enrages me.”
He and Romy have since worked to honor their parents through the Los Angeles-based Children’s Institute, which created the Michele and Rob Reiner Champion for Change Award. Longtime family friend Jamie Lee Curtis will be its first recipient.
Jake’s full interview is set to air Thursday evening on KABC-TV, with more portions on Good Morning America Friday.
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