Since his arrest on suspicion of killing his parents, director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle, their son Nick Reiner has been held behind bars under close supervision while wearing a suicide-prevention suit. The special measures reflect concerns over the suspect’s fragile mental state.
According to US media reports, the 32-year-old Reiner was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was treated for an extended period at a Los Angeles mental health center. Assessments indicate that a change in his medication regimen, made on doctors’ advice several weeks earlier, led to a significant deterioration in his condition and may have contributed to the attack on his parents, who were stabbed to death.
According to an initial report by TMZ, later confirmed by other outlets, Nick Reiner regularly attended a medical center specializing in mental health and addiction. About a month before the killings, his doctors decided to change his medications, triggering what was described as “scattered and dangerous” behavior. Reiner has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and has not entered a plea. At a preliminary court hearing, which he attended wearing the suicide-prevention suit, his attorney, Alan Jackson, requested a delay before formal arraignment in early January, in part to gather comprehensive information about his medical condition.
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The evidence of mental illness will be presented at trial; Rob Reiner and his son Nick
(Photo: Noel Vasquez/Getty Images)
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman initially said he intended to seek life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. However, in light of the schizophrenia diagnosis and Reiner’s history of mental illness and drug addiction, the defense may argue insanity and seek to replace a prison sentence with lifelong hospitalization. Prosecutors say it is too early to address that possibility. “If there is evidence of mental illness, it will be presented at trial,” Hochman said.